Board games are great with big groups of friends, but there are loads of great board games for just two players, too. Indeed some say it's the best way to play. There's no plotting, no balance issues, just pure one on one strategy. And the game doesn't care if it's a couple or a roommate.

In fact, there are so many games that are enjoyable with two that we couldn’t list them all. Instead, we’ve broken them down into three categories so you can find one to suit your mood: quick, cooperative, and competitive. Many of these games support more players, but play excellently when just two are at the table.

These are the best board games for 2 players — from couples on a date night to a parent spending quality time with their child, and everything in between,

Quick Games

These are easy to set up and play in less than 30 minutes. Perfect for baby nap times or killing a little time with a friend or loved one without taking up all evening.

Patchwork

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Some say that the genteel world of arts and crafts hides a beating heart of competition. That's what you'll be exploring in Patchwork as you and your opponent race to stitch together the best... quilt. Wait - don’t go. It’s actually really good. Each turn you pick a piece and fit it into your growing blanket, trying not to leave gaps. It's a simple competitive puzzle, fast and fun. Or is it? See, the gentle premise of Patchwork hides a ruthless heart. You gain resources based on progress around a time track. So you can play nasty by planning to snip critical buttons and patches off the track before your opponent gets there. It's great either way, and that makes it great for couples.

Battle Line

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Battle Line sounds more aggressive than it is. In theory you're lining up archers, elephants and warriors for ancient warfare. In practice it's more like Poker as you try to collect triplets of colour or number which you assign to one of nine flags. The secret of Battle Line is that you're forced to start making plays before you collect complete sets. That makes every card down and every card drawn an agony of anticipation where bluff and timing are everything. It's a fine game but, better still, you can also use the cards to play a related 2-player game, Lost Cities.

Jaipur

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Trading games tend to work best with multiple players, so you've got a bit of bargaining going on. Jaipur solves this problem with an elegant economic system. As an Indian merchant you want to collect goods like cloth, gold and tea to sell in bulk. But the market is one of diminishing returns. That creates constant tension between hoarding goods and selling early to get the best prices and deny them to your opponent. With other smart, interlocking mechanics, Jaipur is a slippery customer. Whenever you feel like you've mastered it, it reveals new tricks: so it rewards repeat play against the same person.

Co-operative Games

These games are challenging and only those who work together can hope to come out victorious. Plus they won’t have you going to bed angry at one another.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

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There are many H.P. Lovecraft based games on the market. And many are co-operative. After all, if you're going to go mad in the face of eldritch extra-dimensional horrors, it's best to do it with a friend. This is the best of them and, as a bonus, it's fairly fast and simple, too. Each player makes a deck for their character from the cards provided. Then you find forgotten secrets and vanquish horrors in scenarios that link together into a narrative campaign. Numerous expansions add not just more card options to add to your deck, but new horrific scenarios to defeat… or go insane trying.

Fog of Love

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Spirit Island

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Competitive Games

Competition where you go up as the other player goes down can feel mean and unfair. Fortunately lots of board game designs have found ways to let couples compete without the cruelty.

YINSH

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No, no-one sneezed. YINSH is the best of a series of abstract games known (of course!) as the GIPF project. No, I don't know, either. Ignore the names and get stuck into this fascinating challenge instead. Players go head-to-head on a hexagonal board, moving rings which leave markers behind. To win you need to make chains of your own colour, but moving rings alternate between black and white. So you need to plan patterns ahead to get those connections. With several rings in play, YINSH weaves worrying webs in your head, but when you complete a chain you lose a ring. This elegant twist makes strategy easier but winning harder and ensures timing is part of the tactics.

Race for the Galaxy

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The icons in this game start out looking like an alien language, but Race for the Galaxy is fast and engaging. It's all about building an intergalactic empire from the planets, aliens and technologies in your hand. The hook is that you aren’t always in control over what cards you can play, as the players select what game phases get executed each turn. This makes everything into a tricky balancing act, with a thousand things to do funneling down into your limited actions. Pick the right priorities and construct the right card combos and your reward isn't just a win. It's a real sense of a space-born society growing and flourishing.

Keyforge: Age of Ascension

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Many players don't want to get into the economy of collectable games like Magic: the Gathering. But what if rather than random cards, you collected whole unique decks? That's the lure of Keyforge, a collectible game where you don't have to build at all. Buy one or a hundred decks, all ready to play out of shrink. Innovative rules make it easy to combo disparate cards together, in a taut battle of wits, luck and brawling monsters. The skill is in spotting smart ways the cards in your hand and board can work together. Best of all each deck comes with a unique, random and often hilarious name.