Board Game Recommendations To Two Friends of Mine

I wrote this blog post for a close friend of mine, Milana, and their husband, Cecil, so they can make some educated board game purchases. But hopefully this can be a resource to anybody or any couple looking to buy board games. The rest of this post I'll be speaking as if I'm talking to them directly.

Hey! Okay, so I'm not going to talk about every single game I've ever played as we discussed I might do. I decided that might be a bit much 😅 But instead I went through the top 1000 on boardgamegeek.com and looked for all the games that fit two main things. 1. They work well with 2 players. 2. I like it enough to actually recommend it in some form. Which, obviously, turned out to be a lot still, haha. 

Note: Like, almost all these games are strategy board games. Those just tend to be the type of games I play.

There's four things I put for every game:

1. Complexity (1-5 scale)

        1 = Uno levels of complexity -- you could teach/play this game with practically everyone

        2 = Catan level -- Still quite straightforward, but definitely more complex than games like Uno

        3 = Uh, losing good games to compare things to that you both would know.

        4 = Pretty dang heavy

        5 = The most complex games I've played

        Don't worry about 1-3. I would hesitate before showing 4 or 5's to friends that don't have a lot of board gaming experience. Granted, I honestly don't know how much board gaming experience you have Cecil. But you're both more than competent anyway, so y'all will be fine.

2. Core Game Mechanics

        Okay, so I've actually decided to break down many of the core game mechanics so you can have an easy reference to what they mean. So feel free to skip this section until a game peaks your interest and you want to hear more about what the game play actually looks like.

        Action Selection: Each turn you choose 1 of several different choices. Rinse and repeat. For example: Each turn you may do two of the following: 1. Move 2. Remove a disease cube 3. Build a research center 4. Find a cure. Action Selection is pretty broad though and can vary quite a bit from the very basic example I gave.

        Engine Building: I think this will appeal to Cecil since I know he likes rouge-likes. Throughout the game you get stuff that makes you stronger and stronger allowing you to get more stuff that makes you stronger and stronger. Beginning of the game you are weak. End of game you feel like you can do everything.

        1v1 Combat: Game style like Risk where you are constantly punching each other in some direct way. I know this can be a push away for some people, which is why I'm labeling it.

        Big Deck of Cards: There's this huge deck of cards that you're drawing from which makes each game different because you're drawing different cards each game.

        Deck-Building (also Bag Building): You start the game with a bad deck. You add cards to your deck throughout the game making it stronger and building up combos etc.

        Spatial Reasoning (which often goes hand in hand with Tile Placement): You have a grid of some form and are placing special shaped tiles onto it. Typically the goal is to fit everything as neat as possible or to fit certain things next to each other. Think Tetris, I guess.

        Co-op: The game is cooperative, all the players are working together to win.

        Word Association: Typically some variety of "I saw this word, which makes you think of this other word". Codenames is a prime example of a word association game.

        Drafting: Limited number of resources/cards/something. We take turns picking from the same resources/cards/something. So each time you have to pick what you think is best for you (or perhaps pick what you think is best for your opponent to block them from getting that thing because once you take it, it is no longer available for them to take).

        Resources/Resource Management: Currency in some form is a big part of the game. You have to be careful how you spend your money/wood/steel/wool etc. And then at some point you typically produce some more that you can then spend.

        Asymmetrical Powers: Everybody has something super cool about them that makes them powerful in some way that others don't have.

        Push Your Luck: You have choices that could benefit you but that come with a risk of losing some of your progress.

3. Game Length

        This section is, uh, self-explanatory.

4. A paragraph on additional thoughts/notes about the game

        Same with this one.

Highest Recommendations (in no particular order):

Scattergories

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Word Association

        Game Length: 30 minutes maybe?

        Scattergories is goated. But Milana already knew that. Hopefully Cecil already knew that too, but if you didn't I hope you learn it soon because it's true.

Wingspan

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Engine Building, Big Deck of Cards, Action Selection

        Game Length: 60-90 minutes

        This game has become a mass hit over the past 5 years. The bird theme is a big draw, super fun to see all the different birds. I enjoy the game because of it's straight forward clean engine building and because of the theme. Play birds, get stuff, do cool combinations, play more birds, feel more powerful. Feels good. And is super aesthetically pleasing.

Dominion

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Deck-Building, Engine Building

        Game Length: 30-45 minutes

        My favorite game of all time probably. Big draws to it for me are its quick and snappy gameplay and its replayability. I've played this game probably more than any other board game and each game is still fresh and fun. Really enjoy all the combinations and things you can pull off. It's so clean and simple and fun. The base game is free on Steam, so check it out there first if you want.

Patchwork

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Spatial Reasoning/Tile Placement

        Game Length: 30-45 minutes

        This game is honestly so good. Built for two-players. The two core mechanics explain it all, really. It's all about fitting together these pieces, figuring out the best way to fit everything into your board. Trying to spend as few buttons (the currency in the game) as possible but still getting the pieces that fit the best. Great great great game, would recommend more than Wingspan and Dominion, honestly.

Just One

        Complexity: 1

        Core Game Mechanics: Co-op, Word Association

        Game Length: However long you want

        Okay, yes, yes, this game does not work with 2 players. But just go glance at this blog post and you'll understand why I put it on the list anyway.

Pandemic

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Co-op, Action Selection

        Game Length: 45 minutes

        Big draw here is good, clean, simple co-op. You're working together going around trying to stop a global pandemic. The gameplay itself is just some basic action selection, so the choices individually aren't crazy complex, which makes it not intimidating. But there's definitely can be a lot of depth to those decisions making for some tight interesting decision making.

Kingdomino

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Drafting, Spatial Reasoning/Tile Placement

        Game Length: 15-25 minutes

        Played this one with Milana before, so not going to talk much about it. Good, simple, tile drafting. Fitting it into your 5x5 grid to get you the most amount of points.

Also Recommend:

7 Wonders Duel

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Drafting, Resources

        Game Length: 30-45 minutes

        7 Wonders is a wonderful drafting game, but it requires 4-7 players to shine. 7 Wonders: Duel has taken a lot of the core awesomeness and made it into a 2-player game.

Splendor Duel

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Drafting, Resources

        Game Length: 30-45 minutes

        2-Player version of Splendor, which honestly should also be on this list.

The Castles of Burgundy

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Action Selection, Tile Placement

        Game Length: 45-75 minutes

        I think this hits a nice spot for a lot of people. Honestly just feels like a cozy game to me. Pick some tiles, build your place, get tons of points. It's great. It's satisfying.

Quacks of Quedlinburg

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Push Your Luck, Bag Building

        Game Length: 60-90 minutes

        Purchase cool ingredients to add to your bag of ingredients. Pull out ingredients and add them into your pot to make the best potion. Each ingredient has fun diverse powers. Can be a tad luck based for me even though it is definitely not all luck and the better player generally wins.

The Search for Planet X

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Puzzle Solving/Critical Thinking, Action Selection

        Game Length: 60 minutes

        Played this with Milana before. It's soooo good and clever and awesome. It's everything Clue has ever wanted to be.

Azul: Summer Pavilion

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Tile Placement

        Game Length: 30-45 minutes

        Put colors and symbols of the same type next to each other on your garden and get points! This is my favorite version of Azul because it's a bit deeper than the other versions, but feel free to look into normal Azul as well.

Wavelength

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Word Association

        Game Length: 45 minutes

        Doesn't really work well with 2 players, but it's my favorite double date board game of all time. There's a free app for it. Download it and give it a whirl and see what you think (the two player for the app is great (and obviously you could do the same two player version for the actual board game, but I just don't think it's as good with only two)).

These are also great:

Sagrada

        Complexity: 2

        Core Game Mechanics: Drafting, Spatial Reasoning/Tile Placement

        Game Length: 30-45 minutes

        Great, simple, pretty game. Rolling dice and putting them into your stained glass window. Picking which dice you think will net you the most points. Probably honestly works better with 3 or 4, which is why it's not in a higher recommendation category. I think I may have played this one with Milana at some point? Not too sure.

Qwixx

        Complexity: 1

        Core Game Mechanics: Dice Rolling

        Game Length: 15-25 minutes

        Very simple dice rolling mostly luck game. I believe I have played this with Milana.

Terraforming Mars

        Complexity: 4

        Core Game Mechanics: Resource Management, Engine Building, Big Deck of Cards

        Game Length: 90-120 minutes

        I just love this game so much that I had to put it here even though I'm not so sure Milana would like it. But maybe you would! Just great great engine building resource management fun. Tight gameplay. So so good.

The Isle of Cats

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Drafting, Spatial Reasoning

        Game Length: 60-90 minutes

        My parents have played this game a TON, which is why it's on this list. I also really enjoy it. There's the full version which I enjoy the most and a family version, which is exclusively what my parents play.

Small World

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Area Control, Asymmetrical Powers, 1v1 combat

        Game Length: 60 minutes

        My cousin Joseph played this game a TON with an old girlfriend of his, which is why it's on this list. I also really enjoy it. Imagine Risk's area control, but fantasy themed with cool powers, more strategic combat, and quicker gameplay. It's great.

Summoner Wars (2nd Edition)

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Grid-based tactical strategy, Asymmetrical, 1v1 combat

        Game Length: 30 minutes

        Love this game. Gameplay is tight and engaging. Each deck feels fresh and unique.

Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala

        Complexity: 3

        Core Game Mechanics: Action Selection??, Drag and Drop Pieces??

        Game Length: 60-90 minutes

        You know Mancala?? Now imagine that, but, like, waaay different. And you get this awesome game! Seriously super cool game that has a constant barrage of interesting decisions to make. Sorting through them all to find the best one can be tough (in a good way. But also in a bad way if it takes 90 years like it does sometimes).        

I honestly don't really know why I put these on the list:

Ark Nova

        Complexity: 4

        Core Game Mechanics: Action Selection, Resource Management, Tile Placement, Big Deck of Cards

        Game Length: 2-3 Hours

        Ehhhh, just buy Terraforming Mars instead, imo. This game is good though.

Spirit Island

        Complexity: 5

        Core Game Mechanics: Co-op, Asymmetrical Powers, Area Control

        Game Length: 2-3 Hours

        This is probably the most complicated board game I own, which is why it's probably not a move. But it's also top 3 favorites, which is why I'm putting it on this list anyway.

Chess

        Complexity: ???

        Core Game Mechanics: Abstract Strategy, 1v1 combat

        Game Length: ???

        Yeah, you already know what chess is, so I don't know why it's on this list. But Chess is great!

Rest In Peace, Pam

I wanted to make a letter to Pam who passed away a year ago today. As I began to write it, I felt that a blog post was not the proper place for it. This post is still in memory of her just not a post written to her. In experience #3 in my homecoming talk, I talk about Pam. Feel free to read that here to understand more context on who Pam is and who she is to me.

I miss Pam. I know she's doing well on the other side. I hope her kids are doing well. Pam is a truly special person. She is amazing. She is so strong. And I'm so proud of her. I wish I did a better job of letting her know that in this life. But I know she knows now. I'm so excited to see her again one day.

I could write so much more, but I'll refrain. I feel a small blog post in her memory is best for today. I'll take some time today and read through some of my journals during the months I had the blessing of getting to know her:)

Rest in peace, Pam. Until we meet again:)

I mean, it's a post, I guess

So it may or may not be 3:16am (at least it's not 4:16am -- thanks Day Light Savings*)**. And I may or may not be extremely tired. So. I'm not going to do anything crazy for this post. I came so close to missing this week's post; I'm really glad I didn't. 8 left to go in this year after this one! Pretty crazy. Not sure what I'm going to do for next year -- I think my current gameplan is to swap to an every other week schedule, but I also might just swap back to a 'I'm going to post at random times with no set schedule' schedule. Okay, I'm going to sleep. Good night***.

***Except not really good night quite yet because I've still got to write these footnotes real quick****

****Yes, yes, the footnotes are seemingly out of order. And yes, yes, that footnote did just have a footnote.

*Really wish they would just get rid of Day Light Savings, but I will still thank the extra hour we get back every fall. Except not really because it gets dark SO early. But for that singularly night of sleep, it's quite nice, quite nice.

**Friend came in town that Ben and I haven't seen in a while, so we stayed up playing Smash Ultimate with him. 'Twas a blast. I swear, like, 93% of days this semester I've gone to bed at a good time.

Report on my other 2 Lorcana Store Championships

Wanted to report on my other two Lorcana Store Championships that I went to the two Saturdays after the one that I reported on during this blog post.

Had toooons of fun. I love Lorcana and competing in Lorcana. There's this super big tournament in Seattle happening right now and part of me wishes I had made the arrangements and up and gone. There are so many fun and intriguing decisions, and I think the meta is super cool right now. Super glad I decided to go to all three Store Championships.

2nd Store Championship:

In Swiss:

I fought against 2 aggro decks, which I feel quite comfortable against. One got really close, but I managed to get the win in the end 2-1. The other one I had a tight grip on the whole time and got a clean 2-0. 

Fought against an Emerald Steel Discard deck. Got quite lucky Game 1, I put out 2 Flynn Frenemies and my opponent didn't draw any of their removal, so I won very quickly. Game 2 was a lot closer, but a well timed Be Prepared won me the game. (Neat side story: He was looking into the company that I'm currently doing my internship for, so I got to tell him a lot of information. Felt like a neat little tender mercy for him that I got to be a part of). 

Fought my good buddy Austin who I met when first going to Lorcana tournaments. Him alongside me and my two roommates were the consistent group that went to tournaments every week. We had an extremely competitive set and I was able to clutch it out in the end 2-1:) 

My last opponent in Swiss (John, the goat) and I decided to a agree to a draw so we both got guaranteed top 8 (this is very common behavior in competitive Lorcana). Finished with the top seed.

In top 8:

My first opponent was an aggro deck, which as stated before I feel comfortable against. Won with a clean 2-0.

My 2nd round opponent was a super cool guy named Alex. We had a very tight set and he clutched it out 2-1. Some of the most fun games I've played (he stated this the following week as well). Was happy with how I played because he said he normally feels super comfortable against my deck (Ruby Amethyst) with his deck (Emerald Amethyst) and thinks the match up is heavily in his favor, so to get that close to winning was awesome. He said he was very impressed with how I played.

Final placement: 3rd.

3rd Store Championship:

In Swiss: 

Was one turn away from losing to a Queen combo-wombo, but won the turn before that happened. Won 2-0. 

Fought in the mirror match, which is such a wonky match-up. We split 1-1.

Won against a hyper aggro deck, 2-0.

Had two of the closest games you could possibly dream up, barely winning 2-0 when my opponent was at 19 lore at the end of both games (quick reminder: you need 20 to win). Heckin' wild games.

My last opponent (Tim, super cool dude) and I agreed to draw to both get guaranteed top 8. Finished with the 2nd seed.

In Top 8:

Round 1 was not somebody I wanted to fight against and I was quite nervous going into it. They played Emerald Steel Discard, and I know I won that match-up against a different player the previous week, but I don't feel comfortable in the match-up. Feel like I made some smart decisions and was able to get a dominating board presence in both games. Big Sisu (a card I added in for this tournament) being the finisher in one of them. Won 2-0 advancing into top 4.

Round 2 I fought John who was piloting Steel Sapphire. He got some really unfortunate draws and I won in a fairly anti-climatic 2-0.

Round 3. Fighting Tim piloting Ruby Sapphire. Winner takes the tournament. And I'm fighting against a good match-up for me! Too bad I lost 0-2, haha. Yes, I got some bad card draw luck, and he stated that he got some really good card draw luck, but that's the way it is sometimes. Really wanted to take home to victory, but my run ended at 2nd.

Final Results:

So in the end I placed 5th/24, 3rd/25, and 2nd/18. John totaled up the points from all the tournaments and I ended up getting 3rd overall. Tons of fun.

Winnings:

Won a $10 gift card in a drawing completely unrelated to my placement. Spent a couple bucks extra to get 2 packs with it.

Won a lot of packs (19 in total from the 3 tournaments, I believe), got some very playable cards, although nothing really pricy. Still waiting to open my first enchanted. 

Won 3 Mirabels valued around $40 each right now, one for each top 8 (picture below).

Won a Mirabel playmat for my top 2 placement (picture below).

I, uh, can't seem to find a way to rotate the images from within blogger, and I've decided to let them be the way they are.

My Staple Party Game Recommendation

Is Just One the best party game of all time? Quite possibly. Is it my favorite party game of all time? No, I really like Scattergories, but let me tell you why if I'm to recommend a party game to somebody, I will almost always bring up Just One.

Just One might just be a perfect party game. It honestly kind of blows me away. Here are some reasons why in no particular order:

1. Super flexible with player counts.

It says 3-7 on the box. 3 player games are fun, although miss some of the magic. 4 player games are good if you're up for a challenge. But 5-7 work just wonderfully. I've played games with more than 7 and it still works great, even up to 10 works great. Other games need more specific numbers*, but Just One really works fantastically with any count between 5-10, which is just so convenient.

2. Players can easily flow in and out of them game.  

New player shows up at the party? Not a problem, they can hop in at any time.

Player gets a phone call? Not a problem, they can hop out at any time.

It is simply so easy for people to come and go and needed, which is incredibly nice for a party game.

3. Variable time length.

In the rulebook it gives a specific number of rounds to play, but you can really do however many you want. Only got 10 minutes? A-okay, give it a whirl for 10 minutes. Want to play for 40 instead? Go for it! This is yet another reason it is so easy to get to the table.

4. It's incredibly simple to explain.

It legit takes, like, less than a minute to explain. Such a good thing for a party game.

5. (Practically) all ages can understand and play.

Young? Middle-aged? Old-ish? Don't matter. I've seen all age ranges have a blast with this game.

6. It's simply fun.

Perhaps the most important of them all. It's just a lot of fun. Literally every individual I've introduced to this game has a great time. Literally every single one. Okay, I guess my gramps struggled understanding what was going on so he didn't have a great time, but besides that: Literally every single one.

Seriously, I swear this is the best party board game of all time. It blows me away. And it's sold at a very affordable $20-25 (amazon link here). Like, it's actually insane. If I had to name good qualities for a party game, Just One has every single one.

Is it even a game though?? Or just an activity?? Perhaps I shall have to write a different blog post about some thoughts on this fascinating ongoing discussion of what counts a game and what doesn't.

*See last week's blog post.