Best two-player board games: everything you need to play as a pair

A board game session can seem intimidating to some. Will it mean six hours sat at a table packed with counters, trying to get your head around a labyrinth of rules? Or is it just a shortcut to family arguments?

It doesn’t have to be that way. There are loads of board games designed for just two players.

No need to spend weeks on the military operation of getting friends to agree on a date. And these two-player games are generally on the shorter side. Most of our picks below take 30 minutes or less to play.

That doesn’t mean they are basic, though. We’ve got high-concept picks, ones of devilish strategy. And if you’d rather work together, no problem. Some of our favourites are co-op experiences.

You can vote in all of our shortlists, so don't forget to show your love to any of your own favourites.

• Playing as a family? Check out our pick of the best adult board games, which can all be played as a group and the best board games for all to play in lockdown.

Best two-player board games

Carcassonne: £21.19 at AmazonCarcassonne is an absolute classic. You may have played it in groups before, but don't underestimate it as a two-player game. It absolutely holds up. It's another fast-playing game too. You can have it done and dusted within an hour, so it doesn't drag on too long.Gameplay is fairly simple. You strategically place tiles across the board to link up roads, rivers, castles and more. But working out where best to put things isn't as easy as it appears – and therein lies the joy of the game.

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7 Wonders Duel: £49.99 at AmazonAs the name suggests, this is very much a game for two players. You and your opponent are leaders of ancient civilisations, expanding your empires, investing in science and technology and growing your influence. But only one of you can win.The game also has numerous expansion packs – so if you love it, you can keep playing.

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Codenames Duet: £28.99 at board-game.co.ukA spinoff of the popular Codenames game, Codenames Duet is (obviously) designed for two. You and a friend act as covert operatives, communicating with one another in coded messages.It's fantastic for anyone into puzzles or word association games, as so much relies on you linking clues together. And if you love the game and want to play with more than one other person, you can always play in teams.

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Patchwork: £21.64 at AmazonPatchwork sees you and another player compete to build a patchwork quilt. Whoever gets more points wins.But it's not just a matter of point scoring. You also have to make sure that your quilt looks good, too. Ensuring that there are no patches or uneven areas adds a strategic edge to a simple game – and makes it incredibly addictive.

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Fog of Love: £36 at AmazonFog Of Love is essentially a romantic comedy condensed into a two-player game. You and another player act out the arc of a relationship, with all that entails – awkwardness, romance, humour, and conflict. Will your relationship survive, or will you refuge to change?Especially fun to play with a spouse or romantic partner – just don't play it just after an argument.

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Tiny Towns: £33.93 at AmazonIf you like Monopoly but don't want to spend eight hours arguing with your loved ones across a board, this is for you. The point of Tiny Towns is, as the name suggestions, to build a beautiful town. The aim of the game is to plan your town and cleverly create it from a pool of shared resources.And, unlike Monopoly, it's incredibly quick. An average game takes just half an hour.

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The Fox in the Forest: £17.99 at board-game.co.ukIn short, the Fox in the Forest is a trick-taking game. You score points by winning more tricks than your opponent. But there's a twist – alongside normal cards, there are magical characters too. The aforementioned Fox of the title is in there, as are fairies and witches that let you change the trump suit and more.Specifically designed for two players, it's a brilliant way to while away the hours. And it's beautifully illustrated, too.

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Sky Team: at board-game.co.ukLots of board games are about dominating the world or destroying your opponents. Sky Team? It sees you land a plane. You and another player take on the roles of pilot and co-pilot.It’s a co-op game, but the twist is you are not allowed to talk to each other. And there are a whole host of ways to see your plane crash rather than land safely. The game board looks like a pilot’s control panel, and this one can get pleasingly tense at points.

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Jaipur: at AmazonTwo players are traders trying to become the Maharaja’s personal trader in Jaipur. Games take around 30 minutes, and each turn you have to make trades. That involves either taking or selling cards, and you need camels in order to trade for goods.It’s a strategy game newbies can get their heads around, but has also become a favourite among board game veterans.

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Hive: at AmazonThe game board is made as you play in Hive, in which you put down pieces each turn with the aim of surrounding your opponent's queen bee tile. But with spider, grasshopper, beetle and ant tiles to consider, this is no simple game of insect Connect 4.There’s chess-level strategy involved here, but games usually are done within 20 minutes. You also don’t need much room to play, making it an excellent travel partner.

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Air, Land and Sea: at AmazonThis strategy game sees players take on the role of military generals, placing cards across three theatres of war (air, land and sea, obviously) to get an advantage.Tactics at your disposal include withdrawing from battle at strategic points, and using cards’ special abilities to mess with the other player’s army. The first to twelve points wins, a state you can get to in around 15-20 minutes.

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Bananagrams: £15 at tidd.lyIf you like Scrabble, you'll love Bananagrams. A fast moving game for two or more players, the aim is to create words as quickly as possible, using up all your letters if you can. And if your gaming partner doesn't want to play? You can even play it alone.

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