Well! Hello, everybody. I hope you’ve all had a great week and played at least some games, whether solo or in a group (so long as you’re doing it safely. Please be safe. Thanks.)
Today, I’m coming to you with a bit of a Valentine’s Day special, in which I’ll talk about some great games for a date night at home. You’ll find that after a few bits of the usual here.
First, it was a very Board Game Arena-focused week for us in games. We got in multiple games of The Crew, Kingdomino, and Carcassonne. On the solo end of things, I did play a solitaire game of On Tour, which was a really nice roll-and-write (or flip-and-fill, if you prefer a more specific term.) The art is gorgeous, the game is clever, and I just really enjoyed all of it while I watched a Twitch stream.
Second, I spent two-ish hours watching this great panel of Black creators in board games. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Third, I’m curious what you all think about this topic. What are some of your favorite date night games? Are games something you play with a significant other? (No judgment — while it’s important that games are for everyone, not everyone has to love games.)
Finally, if this newsletter is useful or interesting to you and you’re not subscribed, consider signing up. I’ll include a little button below if you’re not. I send this newsletter out every Monday morning. Here, you want a preview of next week? I’ll be talking about the history of the term “meeple.” Should be fun!
Alright, well, let’s get on with the show. I am curious to hear your thoughts on this one, so don’t hesitate to comment or drop me a line on Twitter or Instagram.
If there is one thing the last year of staying home has taught me, it’s that date nights are very different than they used to be. Gone are the days of flitting off to a museum (though let’s hope they can return sooner or later) or a movie; no more are we out at a restaurant for hours.
But with the change comes a new opportunity for great date nights: A little game night, which can at times be sandwiched between dinner and setting the children in front of a screen to watch a movie. (You can also play games with children, it must be noted. We don’t have any, I should also note, so take all this with a grain of salt. Maybe you don’t actually want to play Animal Upon Animal for three hours, I don’t know.)
But it really does all come back to that idea: There are some great board games that play well with just two players, both cooperative and competitive.
Competitive games just for two
Lost Cities
This Reiner Knizia classic is an all-time great two-player game. Your goal: Mount an exploration, make some risky deals to earn even more points, and try to explore enough that you don’t end up with a massive points deficit in the end. It’s a rare push-your-luck game built for two, and its staying power is no mistake.
Fox in the Forest
Trick-taking games are typically designed for pairs of players to face each other, but Fox in the Forest takes the card game classic and condenses it into a push-and-pull game for two players. The theming is great, the play is great — there are just too many good things to say about Fox in the Forest. If you' like the idea, but you want something cooperative, try Fox in the Forest Duet, which is also fantastic.
7 Wonders Duel
7 Wonders is one of those games I really cut my designer board game teeth on, and it’s one I still enjoy in the right groups. But the drafting classic is perhaps eclipsed by its spawn, 7 Wonders Duel, which is exclusively for two players, much smaller, and generally a smoother experience. It’s got plenty of replay value, too. Really, I can’t recommend this game highly enough.
Patchwork
While Patchwork lives in my mind now as the game that launched a thousand other Uwe Rosenberg games, it holds value on its own as a smart design for two players. The tile selection and tile placement mechanisms have lived on in his other titles (see basically everything he’s designed since, but especially New York Zoo, which is delightful), but this one does it all as a relaxing, lightly competitive affair.
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
While this is definitively not a date night game in our household, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation could be just the right fit if you like head-to-head conflict. The premise is pretty simple: It’s basically Stratego but, you know, really great.
Some other competitive choices, in brief
Fugitive is an asymmetric chase game with logical deduction and induction at its core — it’s a very nice little game.
Hive is a two-player abstract classic that sees players controlling bugs in a bid to trap the other’s queen.
Keyforge took the world by storm for a minute, and it’s still a neat two-player game where each player’s deck is uniquely randomized.
Onitama is a bit like chess, but smaller, less flexible, and more approachable. It’s such a smart game.
Cooperative games for two or more
Date nights come in different forms, and you might be looking for something that plays more than just two players. In any case, all of the cooperative games listed here play more than just two players, but they’re all great with just two of you.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
There is a certain romantic quality about a game where most of what you do is read, then talk about what you’ve just read — and that’s exactly what Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is, just with a bit more style and verve. This is a game that’s less about winning and more about solving a mystery, and it is not always easy.
Read more about Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective in Issue 15: 10 great cooperative games that aren’t named Pandemic.
Exit: The Game series
I actually wrote about these in Issue 14, wherein I talked about my favorite games from 2016, but they’re basically my favorite escape room-style games. They’ve often got some great physical elements, which I will not talk about lest I accidentally spoil something for you. These will take a couple hours to play through, unless you’re really great at solving puzzles. I’d make one of these the star of your date night.
The Crew
One of the games people haven’t stopped talking about over the last year is The Crew, and for good reason. (I’m also very much one of those people, and you’ve had to bear me talking about it for several issues now. I won’t apologize for that.) This cooperative, campaign-based trick-taking game is whip-smart, demands some strategic thinking, and forces you to think in some difficult, abstract ways as you progress.
Even though the game is at its very best with four players, two-player play with The Crew is still quite good and presents a different type of challenge, with an open third hand and a hidden, initially inaccessible fourth hand. It definitely takes on a little more a puzzle feel in that context.
Read more about The Crew in Issue 15: 10 great cooperative games that aren’t named Pandemic.