Monday, October 1, 2012

games for two.

Jason and I used to play a lot of games when we had free time in the evening. It felt like a better way to spend time together than just vegging out in front of the television. But then after Lorelei was born we got out of the habit (and started watching waaaaay too much TV!), so lately we've been trying to rekindle the Parker Brothers fire, so to speak.

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Over the years, we've amassed quite the collection of two-player games. In no particular order, here are our favorites:

BOGGLE -- I love word games, and this one's great because each round only takes about 5 minutes total, including actual game play + scoring time.

BANANAGRAMS -- another word game that takes about 20 minutes per round. Make sure you play this one on a large flat surface because it ends up taking a fair amount of room before you finish! Fast-paced and requires some creative spatial thinking, too; it's kind of like creating your own crossword puzzle!

BLOKUS -- this one's good for people who loved Tetris back in the day. Your goal is to get as many of your pieces (all kinds of odd shapes) onto the board as you can, while preventing your opponent from being able to play his.

CRIBBAGE [see, we do play games that don't start with B!] -- a classic card game. If you've never played, the rules can seem daunting, but basically you're trying to make runs of three cards or more, matching pairs, or combinations of cards that add up to fifteen.

FLUXX -- an infuriating card game for control-freaks (like me!) but still loads of fun; the rules change as you play depending on the cards drawn so you never play the same game twice!

PHASE 10 -- by the makers of Uno; each round has a different pattern of cards you're trying to collect and play. This one takes a while, so make some popcorn and hot chocolate before you start!

HOOPLA -- Cranium for two people. The only problem is playing so much that you run out of cards!

Also fun: Loot, Pentago, Rummikub, Spy Alley, Scrabble Slam.

Know any good two-player games? Share your recommendations here!

5 comments:

  1. Good idea. We need to get more into this habit. Reid refuses to play hoopla because he says that it is an activity not a game because no one wins. Ours in in storage so I can't actually remember how to play, but I remember liking it.

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  2. A friend bought me Bananagrams a few years ago-- she was sure I'd like it since "it's like Scrabble for people with ADD." Sadly, Craig's not around enough to play many games, so I just took it to school to use as a reward.

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  3. We love Bananagrams! It's so fun. I am not very good at it, which I totally assumed I would be, huh! We like to play Settlers of Catan but it is more fun with 4 people. We'll have to try Hoopla.

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