Date Night In - Our Favourite Two-Player Board Games
My husband is (and I say this with immense love) a big nerd. My marriage vows should have included, “For better or for worse, or Lord of The Rings marathons,”. When he shared his love of board games with me, I naively assumed he meant classic, family-friendly games like Clue or Boggle. I had no idea what I was in for.
To give his obsession more context: Our living room is home to his collection of 86 games - and that’s not including expansions (he counted, there are 38). We had to add a new shelving unit to better organize them all, and it still isn’t enough. He is partial to strategy games, and regularly plays one that has a run-time of up to 8 hours. His close friends are all equally obsessed. So much so, that they plan week-long board game events, months in advance. Spreadsheets are involved to determine their strategies and schedules. It’s a whole ordeal, but it means my bestie and I get to spend the day together while our spouses argue across a tabletop.
Needless to say, the words, “I think I’ve found a game you’ll like!” used to fill me with dread, knowing I’d have to interpret a lengthy list of rules & strategies. We’ve been together for almost 12 years, and it only took a global pandemic & a stay-at-home order for me to start perusing his collection. A bit of trial and error helped us to narrow down my preferred genre: pattern building & puzzles. We’ve discovered I’m drawn to games that involve laying tiles to create a certain pattern or complete a puzzle in order to generate points. Now I’m the one who pops the board game question regularly!
Game night is now my preferred date night. I’d much rather grab a drink from my fridge, toss a record on, and enjoy some table talk for an hour or two. Plus it eliminates the need for a babysitter and a reservation somewhere. It’s been great to indulge in something that’s mentally stimulating, and lets us both embrace our competitive sides. And I’ve gotta say, it sure beats endlessly scrolling through Netflix in hopes we’ll find something we agree on!
If you’re looking for a new way to play together, here’s some two-player board games we love!
I'm no seamstress, but I can make a damn fine quilt in this game.
If you're new to the often overwhelming world of strategy games, this is a gentle way to dip your toes in. Just collect scraps of fabric to fill your board and collect as many buttons as you can.
We love to use this as a game night ice breaker because of how quickly we can run through it. I even taught this to our five-year old, it's that easy!
This simple card game has quickly become a favourite of ours, and it's not just because of the words ‘honey fungus’.
Players collect mushrooms of the same variety and cook them to earn points. It’s very easy to learn and only takes about 20-30 minutes to play, but it still has lots of strategic depth throughout.
There is also an expansion, ‘Foray’ that accommodates up to 4 players if you're keen on foraging with friends!
I've yet to visit the westcoast of Canada, but thanks to this game I can now tell you about the various biomes and animal species you can find there!
In this game your job is to build a diverse habitat and populate it with animals, while achieving various goals; and you only have 20 turns to do it!
Cascadia keeps up coming back for more because the scoring cards have enough variation to make each gameplay feel fresh. The latest expansion has us very excited, too!
If you don't think you have a competitive partner, maybe you just haven't played Azul with them yet.
This game will have you arranging beautiful Azulejos tiles, and challenges you to create certain pattern arrangements for extra points. I realize this description may make it sound a little underwhelming, but I promise the strategy can get very cutthroat! I learned just how petty my husband can be if I take one of his desired tiles (who am I kidding, I'm not much better).
If you're already familiar with classic Azul, you'll be pleased to know that there are now a few different variations available, including a travel-friendly mini version!
I'll be honest, it didn't take much to sell me on this game. The objective is attracting cats to the quilt you’re designing. What's not to love?!
Consider this the next level up from the aforementioned Patchwork, or a feline-friendly version of Cascadia made by the same designers. While this has lots of visual appeal (see: cute cats), it's also loaded with opportunities for players to score bonus points. You can even make things more challenging by switching up which cats you play to win.
Seriously, I friggin' love this game and can't recommend it enough!
If you know my husband and I, you'll quickly understand why this was a must-add to our board game collection. Though if you're new here, it's because he proposed to me with donuts (from Suzy Q, of course. Ottawa folks will understand).
This game has rival cafés competing to fill customer orders by pairing donut halves on your board. It's like a puzzle with a side of sprinkles!
What I love most about this game is the artwork. The character designs are absolutely adorable, and the assortment gives lots of great variation for future gameplay. I'll admit, I immediately flipped through the deck and was delighted to see a pink-haired cutie in the lineup. How sweet is that!
Where we buy board games
We’re big believers in shopping small, right down to where we purchase our board games from. Here are a few Canadian stores that we love to order from:
I’d also recommend checking out local Facebook buy & sell groups (like this one in Ottawa) to score a great deal on used games.
What are some of your favourite board games? Share in the comments below!