Perfect For A Pair: 2-Player Board Games

Take turns placing different shaped tiles onto your grid to create the most beautiful — and most complete — patchwork quilt. Spend your button token wisely to buy the perfect patchwork pieces and nab yourself the highest score.

Trade is the game in Jaipur. Take cards or sell them to become the best trader in the land and win the favour of the maharaja. You’ll need camels, goods to sell, and a little bit of luck to win this fast-paced card game.

Vie for victory in this cozy fairytale-themed card game. Win as many tricks as you can with your 13-card hand — but not too many, or you risk losing everything and becoming the greedy villain of the story.

You and your rival are Huginn and Muninn: Odin’s Faithful Ravens! Race each other along the track to be the first to return to your master. Collect and play trickster cards, then get Loki to help you — or ask him to hinder your opponent.

Play a game of influence and intrigue and struggle through 45 years as either the USA or USSR, fighting for control of the map. Deal with historical events and score points for the countries you control to win the Cold War.

Advance through three ages of civilisation, spending resource cards to build wonders and gain advantage. Dominate your opponent with your military might, scientific acumen or sheer number of victory points to win this head-to-head version of 7 Wonders.

Focus on your animals in this downsized version of the original Agricola game. Fence in land, gather animals and build buildings to score points over eight turns. The more animals the better!

Work with your partner in espionage to find all your missing agents — while avoiding the assassin! Give one-word clues to your colleague and guess at the locations of your agents. Find all 15 before the time runs out to save the day in a collaborative version of Codenames.

Go back to the renaissance in this two player strategy game adapted from Splendor. Spend gem and pearl tokens to buy cards and gather prestige points and get one over your rival merchant.

This expansion for Wingspan is also a standalone game for two! Collect native Asian birds in your habitats and gather eggs to rack up the points and ensure your victory.

You’ve been hired to decorate the palace! Add colourful tiles to your supply and place them on the palace wall. Score higher by completing sets and patterns without wasting precious tiles. Azul has boards for four players but is just as fun with two.

Attract cuddly cats by making the loveliest quilt. Place hexagon tiles on your board, matching colours and patterns to attract the cats. Score more than your rival quilter to win. Up to four players can tempt these moggies, but two is perfectly cozy.

Place map tiles to expand the lush medieval French landscape and stake your claim on farmland, castles, monasteries, and roads to score victory points against your opponent. While Carcassonne can be played with up to five players it works just as well with two.

Originally released as Clans, Fae is a faction-based deduction game. Keep your colour a secret as you move groups of druids around the board. Work out your opponent’s colour and outnumber them in as many spaces as you can — outnumbered druids are removed from the game. Have the highest score when no more druids can move to seal your victory. Up to four players can pick from the five colour factions, but two players is ideal.

You are an artisan, crafting stained-glass windows. The panes are colourful dice that slot into your board. Roll them and place them in the slots on your board to make the most beautiful window you can. The game allows for four artisans, but two is a perfect fit.