Game night with 2 players - Samurai Spirit and The Duke

A friend came over for board games last night. Just one friend. It seems that most games are designed with groups in mind, so finding quality games for just two players can be a challenge. Some of the modern classics, like Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and Love Letter can technically be played with 2 players, but they lose a lot of the depth that make these games favorites.

We did find that these two games worked well with 2 players, so if you find yourself in that situation, I'd recommend you give them a shot.

First up was Samurai Spirit. This is loosely based on the Kurosawa film Seven Samurai. Each player assumes the role of a samurai, defending a village from bandits. It's a cooperative game, and very tough to beat. You find yourself having to choose between several different options, none of which are appealing, in an attempt to hold off the horde of invaders. The fantastical twist to this game is that each samurai also has an animal spirit inside (as seen in the pic below) that gets unlocked if the samurai is injured. This makes the samurai more powerful, but also brings him closer to death. It's a game of balance and decisions. This game also works well with up to seven players, so it's really a great game to have in your collection for a variety of situations.

Second, we played The Duke. This is a 2 player strategy game. It's a bit like chess, but more complicated in that each piece has 2 sets of prescribed movement patterns, one on each side. When a piece moved, it flips over and must obey the movement rules on the side now facing up. There is also an element of chance that is lacking in chess, as you don't start with all your pieces on the board, and you randomly choose which piece enters the game. We found it to be a fascinating strategy game, and each play was vastly different from previous ones. This is one we will definitely come back to over and over. Below are 2 situations we found ourselves in during the course of the night.