It's no secret that people gaming with their families or significant others has increased in the past year because of the pandemic. Every day, people ask us for fun two-player game recommendations. For many, what used to be date night at a new restaurant has turned into delivery and a board game at home. 

Maybe you're looking for a new game to play with your partner on Valentine's Day, or possibly only one person in your quarantine bubble enjoys gaming. The staff here at Labyrinth have come together to heartily recommend our favorite two-player games. From low complexity card games to epic, hours-long space duels, there's a game below for every couple.

Each game below includes a link to find that game on our online store. 
 

 

Lost Cities: 
I always struggle with the “favorite game” question. I love so many games and have too many favorites. I frequently play with just one other person. Usually it’s my son, but also frequently my husband or a friend. As I began writing this, I was still completely undecided, until I asked my husband. My husband has low vision which severely limits the games he can play easily. He doesn’t usually enjoy board games because he can’t see the board. Mostly we play card games. I asked him what his favorite game to play with just me was.
His answer: Lost Cities! We’ve played this game together for years (it was originally published in 1999), and it is still the one we play most often. I remember our first game. I had played before which gave me an advantage, so he lost badly. Later that night while I was soundly asleep, I felt him poking my shoulder. When I asked what he wanted, he said, “I figured out what I did wrong in that game. You’ll never win again.” Seriously. My husband woke me up at 3am to trash talk me. Ah, love – it’s a beautiful thing. It must be love because he’s still alive, and after many years, we still have a very fierce rivalry over Lost Cities. Now he does win some, but we are evenly matched, and the win/loss ratio is close enough to keep things interesting and the trash talk lively. 
Lost Cities is a card game in the Kosmos 2-player series. It was designed by Reiner Knizia, one of the world's most prolific game designers and a Labyrinth staff favorite. Dr. Knizia has a PhD in mathematics and the mechanics of his games usually explore various mathematical ideas in interesting ways. Lost Cities plays in about 15 to 20 minutes, but we usually play several games back-to-back keeping score to see who the overall winner will be. Sometimes we keep scores going for months - Kathleen

(This is only part of Kathleen's review of Lost Cities. She had so much to say about this fantastic game that we turned it into a blog post! You can find the full article here.)



The Shores of Tripoli: 
"Shores of Tripoli is a fantastic new two player game from local designer Kevin Bertram. It’s a card-driven war game focusing on the early 19^th century war between the US and the so-called Barbary States. It does a good job presenting an asymmetrical conflict where the Tripolitan player is concerned with making it too costly for the US to continue and the US player is struggling to squash or appease Tripolitan allies and strike a peace treaty or seize Tripoli outright. Turns move quickly as players either play an event card for a powerful action or discard a card to do important things like moving or building ships. Battles and pirate raids resolve quickly using simple (but dramatic) dice rolls.
A game can be finished in under an hour once both players are accustomed to the rules. I found the solitaire mode engaging and enjoyable, but the game is more dramatic at two players. I recommend this game to anyone interested in early US history, or any pair that enjoy games like Watergate wanting a fun diversion."- Rich

Aqualin: 
"The rules to Aqualin are simple - players are trying to score points by grouping tiles together on the board by either color or sea creature type. The trick is that before adding a new tile to the board players can slide any tile on the board to either break up their opponent's groups or connect their own groups. I really like this game because even though it is a simple game there is a fair amount of strategy involved. While my husband and I generally gravitate towards heavier Euro-style games, this is a wonderful game for when we do not have a lot of time for gaming. As a bonus, the tiles of this game are high quality which means that it is possible for us to play this game on our patio without worrying about the pieces blowing away."  - Melissa



Star Wars Rebellion: 
"In Star Wars Rebellion, the Rebel Alliance strikes out on secret missions to build support around the galaxy, while the Galactic Empire tries to conquer or destroy the hidden Rebel base. The game uses a mixture of cards and pieces on a board, so Lando Calrissian might embark on a diplomatic mission to recruit a planet for the Alliance, while Darth Vader leads an army of Stormtroopers to rule a planet by fear. The Rebels are usually outnumbered and outgunned, but if they can build up enough support they can win by convincing the rest of the galaxy to join their cause. 
Rebellion takes some time to set up and play, but it’s the only Star Wars game I’ve played that feels like it captures every part of the original trilogy. There’s also a great amount of replay value, since the two sides play very differently, and there’s a huge variety of leaders and missions that can change each player’s approach to victory. If you want to spend an afternoon building Death Stars or rescuing Han Solo from carbonite, this is the game for you." - Joe



Curious Cargo: 
"This is a wonderful 2-player Pipeline-esque experience in which you both are fresh entrepreneurs who have bought the floor plan for a factory, the sole purpose of which is to ship off mysterious cargo from a secret nighttime marketplace. Flux capacitors, robot parts, and other strange contraptions need proper shipping too, and you are capitalizing on that.
In the game, you lay down different conveyor belt pieces on a grid board, trying to link production machines to shipping doors in order to export your goods onto waiting trucks; however your opponent is trying to do the same and may well flood your loading bay with trucks that mess up your carefully laid conveyor belt lines. The game comes with several double-sided player boards, each with a different factory-floor layout, which offers significant replay value. There are several ways to win and a lot of spatial puzzling involved, but it is on the heavier side complexity-wise, so I do recommend Curious Cargo for partners or friends looking for a slightly more challenging 2-player experience." - Hannah



Fugitive: 
"This is a very clever two-player game where one player will be the Marshal and the other player will be the Fugitive. In this game the Fugitive will be moving from hideout to hideout trying to escape the Marshal. To do this the Fugitive will be playing numbered hideout cards and/or using the card value to run between different hideouts. The trick is that the Marshal and the Fugitive will be drawing cards from the same deck - this way the Marshal can use the cards in their hand to try and deduce where the Fugitive is currently hiding.
The best part of this game is that once you are comfortable with it you can start to use the variant rules that include events that may be helpful or harmful to either player. I like this game because it is quick to learn and play, but also feels really unique. I also enjoy the bluffing and feinting aspect of this game you can use when you are the fugitive." - Taylor



The Fox in the Forest Duet:
"My family always played a ton of games growing up and some of my favorites were simple trick-taking card games such as hearts and spades. Now that I've gotten to experience playing many different designer board games it always makes me happy when a game can innovate on the games I grew up playing and make those mechanics shine.
The Fox in the Forest Duet is a cooperative trick-taking game, where you will work with your partner to move along a path collecting gems. The result of each trick will determine which direction and how far the players move along the path. Players are not allowed to discuss the specific cards in their hand or what they want their partner to play. Special ability cards mix the gameplay up and help the players be as efficient as possible. Teamwork and effective hand management are key to making sure your partnership collects the necessary gems and doesn't end up lost in the forest." - Darryl