This game immediately appealed to me the second I saw it. After all, how could anyone not like a game with such awesome little imp figures? For those who are unfamiliar with the game, it plays like a heavy Euro, but has a great theme that adds tons of flavor to the game. Each of the players is trying to build a dungeon, hire monsters, and buy traps in order to stop the heroes that come to pillage each year. The basic mechanics of the game play out like a worker placement game while building dungeons and a bit of a puzzle game when trying to figure out the best way to defeat heroes at the end of each year.

My first play of the game with 4 players proved that the game was everything I had hoped the game would be, and I immediately ordered my own copy of the game. My one lingering concern, however, was the dreaded 2-player adjustments, particularly in games in the worker-placement genre. Happily, this game does a great job of using the non-player pieces to “fill in the gaps” that are so often left by other worker placement games as the player number gets lower.

When playing with 2 players, each player takes one of the non-player boards and randomly assigns two of the actions, placing the corresponding minions of the second spot of each action. Then, while picking their own actions, each player also gets to select a third action for the non-player color, placing that minion on the first space of the selected action, possibly helping themselves out by moving their minion up to the second spot. The great thing about this mechanic is that it keeps the board just as congested as in a 4-player game, without causing too much decision-related slowdown on the players’ parts.

I have been absolutely thrilled with this game as a 2-player experience, and hope that more designers can follow the example laid out here when making their game approachable as a 2-player experience.

I just recently acquired Ra, and the newest printing from Rio Grande includes rules for 2 players. All that changes from the previous versions is that a space is marked to start placing Ra tiles from, and the rules specify what distribution of Sun tiles to start with. Nothing else changes… no “special rules”, no “tile distribution adjustments”.

I am happy to report that the game plays just fine with 2 players, with the caveat that like any auction game, more players will definitely mean more action during bidding. However, this game is definitely playable with two, and an enjoyable experience at that. I will absolutely be playing this one again.

Okay, so I’m starting off with a review of a 2 player game. No alternate rules or scaling problems here. It’s my most recently acquired game, and the one I’m most unsure about at moment.

Disclaimer: I do not plan on doing detailed step-by-step rules summaries for the games I review. I will give a quick overview, but be aware that most of my summaries will be a gross oversimplification of the game. For more detailed rules, I will link the rulebook (when available) at the top of every review.

The game contains 30 small tiles for each army, with each tile representing an individual figure with various stats. After establishing an army point total (60-100 points), each player picks an army and builds units (1-4 tiles) from the 30 tiles using the point values on each. Each player then deploys these units in front of them in two rows… Front left/center/right and Back left/center/right. Players then take turns ordering these units to attack until one player has destroyed more than half the starting value of the opponent’s army.

 I like this game a lot, and look forward to future releases in this series (the next scheduled release is Fantasy #1 – Orcs vs. Elves). One of the first things I think I should point out is that this is not a long game. If you are looking for a game that has a lot of tactical maneuvering and slow attrition of troops, this is not the game you are looking for (waves hand like a Jedi). The game plays quickly, often well under the 30 minute mark if both players understand the game. The question, then, is why am I unsure about the game? Well, so far, I have played five games, and not one of those games has the Celts player felt like they had a chance in the game. Every game has been overwhelmingly in favor of the Roman army, and while I continue to think that we just have not figured out the Celt army yet, if the two armies really are as unbalanced as they seem to be at the moment, then I have a big problem with this first set. The positive side of this is that it is a first set, and I enjoy the game enough that even if unbalanced (which I still think is a player problem, not a game problem), I will definitely be giving the first fantasy set a try. A thoroughly enjoyable game.

I also feel the need to point out that I don’t have a problem with 2-player abstracts… in fact I am a huge fan of the GIPF series of games. This game just didn’t work for me at all.

First, we will start with a little history about me. I have been a gamer most of my life, with my family playing many of the Ravensburger games for as long as I can remember. About 6 years ago I attended Origins when I qualified for day 2 of the Lord of the Rings TCG Nationals. That trip changed my gaming life forever, as I discovered the larger world of hobby boardgaming. Since that time my wife and I have become avid boardgamers, playing games whenever possible. I have been married for 7 years, and have 4 children, ages 6, 4, 2, and 9 months. Obviously, this can have a detrimental effect on finding a group of players for any given game, thus much of my gaming is 2 player.

The primary subject of this blog is to review games, old and new, with a primary view towards the viability of any given game as a 2-player pastime. There are many great games out there that, when played with the minimum 2 players, suddenly become horrible games. I am sure far too many of my readers have purchased a highly hyped and eagerly anticipated game that claimed it worked for 2-? players only to encounter that dreaded phrase: “Rules changes for 2 players at the end of the rulebook” (Thus the name of the blog). Sometimes, these adjustments are minor and barely affect the play of the game. On the other hand, there are some games that go so far as to create a completely different game out of the components merely so the box can say its a 2-player game. My goal is to separate these two categories so that readers can find those games that are truly good with 2 players and those that really have no business advertising themselves as a 2 player game.

I currently have almost 300 games in my collection, with more being added as often as I can. In order to help readers understand my game tastes, here is a quick list of my current favorites:

Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Middle-earth Quest
Galaxy Trucker
Dominion
World of Warcraft: The Boardgame
Power Grid
Kingsburg
Nexus Ops
Starcraft
Dungeon Lords

If you wish to see a 2 player perspective on a certain game, let me know and I will see what I can do.