Top 10 Board Games for Couples
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- čas přidán 1. 11. 2022
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I share my Top 10 Couples Board Games, to play two player with your partner, wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend or friend!
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🛒 Amazon:
🔟Sobek: 2 Players - geni.us/sobek2p
9️⃣Fungi - geni.us/fungi
8️⃣Schotten Totten - geni.us/schottentotten
7️⃣Caesar - geni.us/caesargame
6️⃣Arboretum - geni.us/arboretum
5️⃣Watergate - geni.us/watergate
4️⃣Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - geni.us/sherlockholmes
3️⃣Patchwork - geni.us/patchworkgame
2️⃣Onitama - geni.us/onitama
1️⃣Lost Cities - geni.us/lostcities
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Wow married couples really begin to look alike after some time :-)
They say you are what you eat and we eat the same meals! 😮
@@actualol That’s the more scientific explanation 😅
Saucy little minx eh 🙃
@@actualol Or each other
@@actualol had us in the first half
I absolutely love your videos. You don't only talk about the games and just showing their boxes, your videos actually show gameplay. That's so freaking awesome, all while delivering a laugh!
Lost Cities is still astounding all these years later. How Dr. K managed to fit so much tension and angst into a game with like 4 rules is beyond me. And then he did it again! (ST/BL)
It sounds a little like canasta from how he discribes it.
@@janetmichel3009 Hmmm. I never thought about it that way, but I can see it. It's very rummy-like in the way you are drawing one card, then playing/discarding one card every turn, and the other player can take your discards. You also potentially lose points for starting a certain group, like canasta. However, most of the tension comes from the fact that every card you place potentially rules you out of playing others - if you go from red 1 to red 5 you never get to place red 2, 3, 4.. This definitely gives it a unique feel.
st/bl?
@@yaruuvva Scotten Totten/Battle Line
The Fox in the Forest has the same kind of “pick it up every evening after dinner” kind of vibe. Very low commitment, but a simple and fun card game for two that never feels like someone is intentionally trying to ruin your night.
I can tell that many of the conversations presented in this video were inspired by real conversations had by you and your partner. Very wholesome. 😊
I’ve seen several of these games recommended by other reviewers, but for some reason the way you explain them reveals which ones I’m interested in when I didn’t think I was before. Thanks!
I really enjoy all of your videos, but I think this one might be my favorite. I laughed so much, and wrote down a few games I've absolutely got to try like Fungi/Morels, Schotten Totten, and Arboretum. Thanks for all of the work you put into your videos!
Great Video as always! Convinced me to pickup Sobek & Schotten Totten!
I just found your channel randomly and saw your entire top 50 games; I love your channel!😊
Loved your analogies! Had me having a good giggle! The leaving the 2 years old was so apt!
Thank you! I do love an analogy 😁
Lots of great suggestions here. I have (and agree with) about half of the ones listed, so I'm sure the others will be just as good. Time to add them to the Christmas list!
Great video! I’m always on the lookout for games to play with the hubby - I guess I really SHOULD have picked up Arbetorium yesterday!😅
Great list! And great video, as usual. I love Arboretum and Fungi, but haven't played most of the others. Two others that my partner and I enjoy playing are Glasgow and Botanik.
Man! Loving this! Came for the list, but stayed for the cheeky humor. Noice! 👑
Great list! I’ve bought 3 of these games based on your recommendations. I keep coming back to this vid for ideas. Probably on my 8 watch through lol
Just stumbled on your channel with the video for couples made 8 years ago. Then yt made me watch all your most popular ones but I didn’t know they were same person. Now back to here it’s crazy what 8 years does. Love how you never changed. 😂
That was the most accurate and entertaining explanation of Arboretum I’ve ever seen. Love that game!
your videos always convince me i need every game - you explain them so well and in a way that makes each game sound more fun than the last.
Thank you 🙂 but you don't need them all, I promise! Or at least, not all at once!
This couples list has been spot on. Each game we've tried from this list has been really fun for us to play!
Got me with the mushroom pun, liked and subscribed!
Great picks.
I really enjoy the Express version of Patchwork too. It adds a few small changes and some blue tiles that improve the overall experience in my opinion.
Great entertaining video. A lot of useful suggestions for people to go out and get.
Love these kind of videos..and your humor. Only problem is it leaves me wanting to buy every single game afterwards since these are mouthwatering reviews ;)
Great list! A few I may need to add to our collection. One of our current favourite 2 player games is Mandala. Easy but full of strategy and quick to play.
I love your jokes! I find myself laughing many times and then having to skip back because I'm missing parts of the video. :P
Nice top 10. I also have a wife who likes lighter / shorter games
I'd put 1. Carcassonne (amazing with 2-3)
2. Patchwork
3. All Creatures
4. Santorini (it would be my number 1, but the others hit the table more)
5. Lost Cities
6. Tiny Towns (not best with 2, but still good and she loves it)
7. Red 7
8. Kingdomino (best with 2)
9. 7 Wonders Duel
10. Calico
Cascadia is like a simpler version of Calico if you haven't tried it yet
7 years back you had done a video on games for couples and that too included Battle line, Arboretum, Patchwork and Sherlock Holmes. Good to see so many games continuing your top 10 couple games list even after so many years. And now even Lost cities added to the list. All these games are Classics and great to play.
Nice list, we do own and love Caesar, Sobek, Patchwork and Arboretum. I really miss Finca, Botanik, 7 Wonders: Duel and Kingdomino - beside Patchwork I think these are our top two player games. I suggest them to everyone regularly. Have been already looking at Fungi already, will try it definitely.
Great list! I have half of these games and enjoy playing them a lot. Schotten Totten will go on my Christmas wish list. Lost Cities has long been one of my favorites. This video brought a smile to my face today.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it 😊
Your analogies are insanely good. The way you were able to explain the emotions of Arboretum was a work of art.
True that!
Thank you! I love a good analogy. I'm really pleased they land. My analogy inspiration is a comedian/podcaster called Hamish Blake.
Very entertaining!
Hamish Blake the Aussie? Are you from down under also?
Thank you so much! My boyfriend and I love playing games but a lot of the best ones are for 4-6 people and we don't have friends we can regularly play with. We play Splendor a lot but have wanted to expand into other games. I bought two games off this list for Christmas. Thanks again!
As exceptional as always - I’ve been working at a board game cafe for around 6 months now and have taught Patchwork 66 times, been an amazing success 65/66 of the occasions so an absolutely top recommendation!
Wow, great hit-rate!
Great picks, most of them are also our top couple games. I would add Quest for Eldorado, Cascadia and (the best 2 player game) 7 Wonders Duel.
Such a great list! Patchwork is one of our all time favorites, we even play it on the app! Going home now to play Sherlock, the best rainy day game!
I think Radlands could constitute as a couples game. Easy to learn and setup. Over in half an hour. Usually really close and tight knit matches. It’s really damn good.
Radlands is my favourite! Together with Everdell💕
These are so funny! We aren't in the market at this time for any new games, but I have to watch these videos just to laugh.
Castles of Burgundy belongs on any good 1v1 list, I am also a really big fan of the deck builder Ascension. Unlike many deck builders, Ascension is really fast and easy to play rather quickly and isn't that complicated to setup or remember. Castles does take slightly longer, but for any couple that has played it a few times, it goes by rather fast and every game is different.
“…but then you won’t be doing what you love, taking mushrooms!” 😂
I need to get THAT game…
🤣
Great selection! Jaipur, 7 Wonders: Duel and Splendor: Duel would surely be one in my top ten list too!
hahahaha!!! I absolutely love your Arboretum explanation!!
The Arboretum analogy was gold!
You, sir, are very funny. Loved the review. You have my subscribe
That is an amazing list, which i come back to once in a while to determine which game comes next.
An upfront improvement could be timestamps for your recommendations.
Greetings and keep up the good work.
Great list. Own half of them because of Actualol! You can’t be more right about Lost Cities. I love playing it with my wife. Schotten Totten is great but with our competitive natures, it really works out our brains! For something so simple it really offers a lot of hard choices!
How about Schotten Totten
This guy is so funny!! I loved this
Mandala and Hive pocket have been our go to games these last few years. Perfect for taking the pub whilst on a long weekend away, neither take longer than 15-20 mins and simplicity of mechanics lends itself to tight games time after time
Thanks for the suggestions! Still fairly new to board games but have really enjoyed playing Sector escape the Dark with my partner in crime. Also Sherlock is a phenomenal game, we've enjoyed this as a party game but I do think it works better with smaller number of players!
How many people have you played it with? Does everyone take notes?
Definitely a good selection. I would include Jaipur, Air, Land and Sea, Hanamikoji, Seven Wonders Duel, and Splendor (duel...if you can get it!).
Great picks! Air, Land and Sea and Hanamikoji came close.
i didnt know about caesar and that's a really interesting game it seems.
thanks, really cool list! :)
Love this list!
Added a few to my to-buy list after this!
My additions are:
Star Realms - a very streamlined deckbuilder that's quick to set up and understand
Forbidden Island - This was the first game I played with my wife and it's a great intro to Pandemic-style co-op mechanics.
Smash Up - Easy to set up and play, but every game is different because of the different combination of factions you can play with
Truffle Shuffle - Rules are simple, but you're always in edge as to whether you should cash in your cards or hold out to get a bigger set, while hoping you're opponent doesn't get the card you want
Thanks for the suggestions!
If you like Forbidden Island, you should play Forbidden Desert. I never played Forbidden Island again because of the improvements made in Forbidden Desert.
@@cmat8424 island is good but desert is GREAT!
I’m not sure what “improvements” means. I do think that overall *Desert* is the “better” game of the two. But I really like some simple elements of *Island*, and its tight little design. Just because one game has more things going on / to do, it’s not an “improvement” (I’m 100 % sure you’ve witnessed this in the hobby; also just think about Jon’s (this channel) take on buying expansions). All else being equal, in mixed company I’m often more likely to suggest a game of *Island* over *Desert*. I love them both.
But can someone convince me to give *Sky* another chance? 😅
@@vidicate3963 > I’m not sure what “improvements” means. [re: Forbidden Desert/Island]
In Forbidden Island you have three actions (a la pandemic). In forbidden Desert you have four. When you only have three, the strategy space is a _lot_ smaller, to the point where all my decisions felt obvious and the game felt uninteresting.
You're hilarious! Love your skits! We own 7 out of 10 of the games you showed and absolutely agree with these choices being perfect couple games. I'd love to check out Caesar- thanks for the recommendation. Morels/ Fungi is one of our favorites. Another fun couple game is Silver and Gold.
Loved the idea. Yeah, my wife is also my main partner when playing hahaha
We love 7 wonders duel. Our absolute favourite. Thanks for the list!
My gaming partner, my 10 yr old son, love it and have played more games of this than perhaps any other we own
Great list, thanks for the lols 😊
i love this guy’s humor
It's great to see Fungi (aka Morels) getting some recognition. My wife and I really enjoy that one. In recent memory, Caper: Europe is a very strong 2-player-only entry.
The theme and artwork aren't the most alluring, I think it can be easily overlooked. But I couldn't help but rank it above flashier looking games like Santorini.
@@actualol I know I am in the minority, but I really like the U.S. art (the Morels version). And as an amateur mushroom forager myself, I do enjoy the theme ;-)
Seems like it plays quite a bit like Jaipur, which is one of my wife and my favorite games to play together.
Nice list! With my husband we like to play Rune, Azul and Calico.
Although more fun with more players my husband and I love Lanterns. It's a tile-laying game. Every tile has one colour of lanterns facing each direction. Every players gets a card of that coloured lantern that points in their direction. You can get bonus cards by matching the colour of an adjacent tile. You need the cards to buy points. 4 of the same colour, 1 of each colour, etc. The earlier you buy points, the more points you get. It sounds quite complicated when you have to explain it without the pieces but it's actually quite simple and so much fun!
Solid list. We own quite a few of these but these are all fairly confrontational. My wife and I love Castles of Burgundy which, although not exclusively 2 player, is generally regarded as playing best with two players and can be done in about an hour. It's competitive but can be played without actively screwing each other over and is just a really satisfying experience compared to a lot of 2 player-only 'filler' games. Splendor is also great with 2 players.
Id reccomend some Co-op games!
@@ChrisW777 Yeah, Pandemic is great. Got Viticulture World to try too.
@@VoiceofFox i like gloomhaven(cheaper one), spirit island, mysterium and ghost stories! All super fun games my gf and i love em!
They came out with splendor duel (a 2 player only variant). I was curious about that one
What a great list! Really keen to check out Fungi. 🙂
Our top faves in this category of shorter couples games (in addition to Lost Cities which we have loved for years!) are:
- 7 Wonders Duel
- Jaipur
- Archaeology: The New Expedition
- Biblios
- Istanbul: The Dice Game
- Oh My Goods!
- Island Siege: Second Edition
- Dice Miner
If we've got a little more time/energy:
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Caverna
- Orleans
- Concordia
- Stone Age
- Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers
Ice Team is my wife's and I favorite board game. Cute polar bears, board changes every time, and clever strategies.
The mushroom joke was top notch
Great video (as always). In answer to the question "what are your top couples games?", I have managed to get my non-board game wife to play and enjoy Jaipur, Hanami Koji, Curious Cargo, Santorini and (don't hate me for it) Monopoly Deal.
Just added Sherlock to my list, this made it look quite fun!
Great list! I'll definitely look into a couple of these. Do you have any recomendations for 2 person co-op games?
Great list. Own most of them. I would bump one in favor of Fox in the Forest Duet. I personally think it's the best weeknight cooperative 2 player.
Personally I'd probably add Targi to this list and just make it a dozen 😉
I'm surprised to not see many co-op games here! My partner and I love them! Pandemic (especially Pandemic Legacy) and Burgle Bros are both great options.
Was hoping for more coop games! Keep the list going
A great list! We love Hive, and Escape the Dark Castle works great as a 2!
I just bought Arboretum at the weekend. I can't wait to play it for the first time now ☺
First time I’m watching your videos. Couldn’t subscribe fast enough.
I haven't laughed this hard in a long time! Thanks for making this video guide to couples' games.
Thank you Jeff! 🙂
I would add curious cargo. Tons of fun and complexity packed in a cute little fairly lightweight game for two!
Rivals for Catan is our main couples game go-to. She got it for me for Christmas one year thinking it was the 2 players expansion, but it's been our favorite since.
Liked & Sub'd. Fantastic List! I'm going to ignore your other video about buying too many games and buy 4 from this list as I already have 4 others:)
Big fan of lost cities and patchwork. Jaipur and carcassonne are also pretty fun for couples, especially carcasonne gets so competitive i love it.
My wife and I have enjoyed games that aren't normally best played with 2 players, but it changes the gameplay enough to work.
Codenames is fun with 2 because you're both on the same team working to get the fastest solve, and the clue giver "plays" for the other team by strategically covering up the opponent's clues one at a time.
Magic Maze is great hectic fun in a group setting, but with just two people you can really work to develop a nonverbal system to maximize your efficiency in the game.
I also convinced her to play a cooperative version of 2-player Carcassonne in which the scoring remained the same as if we were opponents, but we collectively tried to get the highest score possible. This meant each sharing as many castles, roads and farms as possible and also coordinating with each other to use pieces as best as possible.
Terraforming mars is good, but with 2 players it's really important in our minds to have players alternate hands when picking starting cards, otherwise one player can get too lucky with their opening hand and snowball from there.
Dominion is a great 2-player option that's quick. It gets much better when mixing different expansions to keep gameplay fresh.
Nice list. We are both very passionate boardgamers. Our favorite games to play together are ark nova, terraforming mars and sleeping gods. (But we actually have whole board game nights lasting 4 hours or more with just the two of us.)
Unemployment/retirement sounds fun! 😂
@@actualol lol nopes working more then full time with two little childern in the house. But game night is date night in our house.
@@bookwurmlibrary3064 that’s the same for us! 4 littles and my husband works a lot but our date nights are games. People always judge our game collection and I tell them “you spend that money, too. You just ate it”
Also love those 3 games!!!
We've been playing a lot of Azul and Jaipur along with QUIXX and Rummycube. Breaking out into a few new games as well - some of these look pretty interesting.
Great list! We play a lot of Sobek and Lost Cities. I really need to try Arboretum! I would add 7 wonders Duel, Harry Potter Defense Against the Dark Arts, Star Realms, and Caper Europe.
Lost Cities, Patchwork, and Morels are all in my wife and I's list of favorites. I love playing Morels even though I have literally never won a game against her. XD
Just found you, and love your reviews.
My girlfriend and I love Splendor Duel, Seven Wonders Duel, Res Arcana, Wingspan, and Photosynthesis for our couples play. I would love to hear your thoughts on those!
What a great video! I can't decide which one to get first. But I can't even start until I stop laughing.
I've shared my *Top 20-11 Couples Games* in my Patreon newsletter. Read that and join the Discord: www.patreon.com/actualol
Great video as always dude. What would be your next 10 games you’d recommend for couples?
That list is for my patron's eyes only in my newsletter! 🕵️♂️
Always look forward to, and love, your videos! Thanks for all the info & entertainment! Much love from California, USA
Thank you!
That chichenitsa joke was pretty fantastic
Lost cities looks so simple, but it's so gooooood!
Ok the mushroom joke convinced me to like and subscribe 😂
I LOVE Schotten Totten!!! lol and several other games on this list. Morels is next I think for us to buy.
Yes Lost Cities! My mom and I have been playing that game for 20 years and we're not tired of it.
Excellent list! Would also highly recommend Caper: Europe.
Niya, Samurai Gardener, and fresh off the presses Abducktion are my favorite fast 2 player games. Some strategy but not too much, easy to learn but with depth, and in the case of the latter 2 randomness that adds to the longevity.
Love the list and there were just SO many great lines...lol. I tried Arboretum with Becky the other day but she didn't like the way scoring worked and prefers "nicer" games. Still a great game imo. Air, Land, and Sea, Targi, and Nanga Parbat are three games I might have considered, but not sure what I would have bumped for those.
I really like Onitama, but I would choose Hive over it. Hive is very quick to learn, but can be very challenging as well.
Nice vid 👍🏻
Recommendations for couples: Caper Europe, Skulk Hollow, Trails, Fox in the Forest, Paris de la cite luminaire, Minecraft builders and biomes, Canopy, Parks. There's definitely other ones, but those are just some off the top of my head.
Some of our favorites not mentioned:
Babylonia
Fugitive
Jaipur
Codenames: Duet
Blitzkreig! (Caesar's predecessor)
Blue Moon
My City
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
Orongo
MicroMacro
Carcassone: The Castle
Hive
Santorini
Fox in the Forest
En Garde
Royal Visit
Qin
Axio
10 of those are by Knizia. He is a genius!
Fugitive, Santorini and Blitzkrieg were very close! I love Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation but I wish it would come back in print!
While I really appreciate the links to the games in the description, this video could really benefit from also having timestamps to you talking about those games as half of the games I already know about, but want to learn more about the ones that are new to me. Either way, thanks for compiling this. I'm always looking for great games to play with my wife
Just checked your 7 years ago TOP 10 list, and find 3 games are still on list, so long faithfulness👍
Joining Lost Cities as our most played couple's games are Azul (more take-that at 2 players), Century Golem, and Fantasy Realms (great for the pub).
Definitely going to check out Morels, Arboretum, Sherlock Holmes, and 7 Wonders Duel (from the comments section). Our favorites right now are Everdell (so far just the base game), Wingspan, and Atlantis Rising. Wingspan can be set up + played in under an hour but the other two could be 1-2 hours.
Maybe this is a no-no in the board gaming community because I never see it mentioned, but the first game we played together was Exploding Kittens, and we had a lot of fun with that at 2 players (it was her first time playing, I'm a veteran). We got the big box with lots of expanded content later, so that can add more variety for repeat plays.