We are in a season of life where date nights are essential, yet difficult to actually make happen. There are various reasons for that- lack of family nearby to watch our kids, the cost of babysitters, the cost of going out, etc! Simeon and I have sought to get creative in planning date nights. We know the important place this has in our marriage, and we decided to think outside-the-box to overcome some of the obstacles keeping it from something we skip entirely.

In this season, date night looks like us quietly sneaking out to the kitchen after putting to the kids to bed and playing games together. (oftentimes, pizza and/or cookies are included!)

Below, you’ll find some of our favorite 2 player games!

Carcassonne

Product description

In Carcassonne, players build the area surrounding this impressive city, one tile at a time. They then place a follower on fields, cities, roads or monasteries in order to score as many points as possible. These followers will become knights, monks, farmers and thieves, depending on where they are placed. No matter their function, the player who will most cleverly use their followers will win the game. Entirely redesigned and modernized, this edition includes two expansions: the river and the abbot.


Hive

Product description

Hive is a boardless game that builds strategy skills. Hive is a fun game to play, because of its simple rules, yet challenging for its depth. Each of the tactile resin (bakelite) tiles has a unique way of moving, similar to chess and resembles the movement of the insect depicted on the tile. Choose the best tactics to place the right piece wisely and be the first to block the queen bee in the hive. Hive enhances each player’s skills of strategic planning, tactical thinking and spatial vision. To win, you must play both the offense (surround your opponents bee) and the defence (to protect your queen bee).


Product description

This Musee card scenes game, you collect impossibly valuable works of art and put them on display in your own personal art museum, the Musée. The only problem is that your opponents are doing the very same thing. Each gallery must be organized properly by exhibit number, but to succeed you must balance your passion for order with the need for public acclaim. Impress visitors by tastefully positioning works of art side-by-side showing similar themes. Make sure you do not get too greedy for applause, though in doing so might disorganize your collection and keep you from displaying any more paintings. Includes sixty unique fine art images from artists ranging from the fifteenth to the early twentieth centuries.


Parks

Product description

Parks is a celebration of the US National Parks featuring illustrious art from Fifty-Nine Parks. In Parks, players will take on the role of two hikers as they trek through different trails across four seasons of the year. While on the trail, these hikers will take actions and collect memories of the places your hikers visit. These memories are represented by various resource tokens like mountains and forests. Collecting these memories in sets will allow players to trade them in to visit a National Park at the end of each hike. Each trail represents one season of the year, and each season, the trails will change and grow steadily longer. The trails, represented by tiles, get shuffled in between each season and laid out anew for the next round. Resources can be tough to come by especially when someone is at the place you’re trying to reach! Campfires allow you to share a space and time with other hikers. Canteens and Gear can also be used to improve your access to resources through the game. It’ll be tough to manage building up your engine versus spending resources on parks, but we bet you’re up to the challenge. Players : 1–5, Playing Time : 30–60 Minutes, Suitable for age above : 10 Years.


The Crew


Product description

In the co-operative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, the players set out as astronauts on an uncertain space adventure. What about the rumors about the unknown planet about? The eventful journey through space extends over 50 exciting missions. But this game can only be defeated by meeting common individual tasks of each player. In order to meet the varied challenges, communication is essential in the team. But this is more difficult than expected in space. With each mission, the game becomes more difficult. After each mission, the game can be paused and continued later. During each mission, it is not the amount of tricks, but the right tricks at the right time that count. The team wins only if every single player is successful in fulfilling their tasks.


Forbidden Island

Product Description

Dare to discover forbidden island join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss the latest creation by cooperative game master, matt Leacock who created the best seller pandemic.


Pandemic

Product Description

Four diseases have broken out in the world and it is up to a team of specialists in various fields to find cures for these diseases before mankind is wiped out. Players must work together playing to their characters’ strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. For example the Operation Specialist can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases. The Scientist needs only 4 cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal 5. But the diseases are out breaking fast and time is running out: the team must try to stem the tide of infection in diseased areas while also towards cures. A truly cooperative game where you all win or you all lose.


Ticket to Ride

Product description

With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in under 15 minutes, while providing players with intense strategic and tactical decisions every turn. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route. “The rules are simple enough to write on a train ticket each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route, or get additional Destination Tickets,” says Ticket to Ride author, Alan R. Moon. “The tension comes from being forced to balance greed adding more cards to your hand, and fear losing a critical route to a competitor.” Ticket to Ride continues in the tradition of Days of Wonder’s big format board games featuring high-quality illustrations and components including: an oversize board map of North America, 225 custom-molded train cars, 144 illustrated cards, and wooden scoring markers. Since its introduction and numerous subsequent awards, Ticket to Ride has become the BoardGameGeek epitome of a “gateway game” — simple enough to be taught in a few minutes, and with enough action and tension to keep new players involved and in the game for the duration.


Lost Cities

Product description

Who will discover the ancient civilizations. Two explorers embark on research journeys to remote corners of the world: the Himalayan mountains, the Central American rainforest, the Egyptian desert, a mysterious volcano, and the bottom of the sea. As the cards are played, the expedition routes take shape and the explorers earn points. The most daring adventurers make bets on the success of their expeditions. The explorer with the highest score after three rounds of expeditions wins. The rules of the game are simple, but beware: The lost cities hold many unseen mysteries..

*Product descriptions taken from the Amazon game listings.

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