What we‘re looking for:

  • Easy to learn, hard to master
  • small footprint
  • It has to be great with both 2 or more players (up to 5)
  • exciting (push your luck or take that or similar mechanisms, maybe bluffing? A coop small engine builder tycoon game heavier than Bohnanza maybe?)

What we already have and like, but are bad with 2p

  • The Crew: Awesome, but sucks at 2p
  • For Sale
  • High Society

What we didn‘t enjoy:

  • Sushi Go Party
  • Cascadia (also too big)
  • King if Toyko (awesome but a bit too big, we‘d prefer a game without dice)
  • Love Letter
  • Coup
  • @chordnine
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    141 year ago

    Have you tried Skull? You can get the official set or play with coasters. Bluffing and push your luck. I think you’d like it!

    • @derelict
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      101 year ago

      Strongly agree, Skull is super simple to teach and even to make a copy, and can have great group dynamics. I don’t think it works with 2, though, but it’s small enough that having it as an option is reasonable

    • @wet_squidOP
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      31 year ago

      Oh, I forgot about that, thank you!

  • @[email protected]
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    61 year ago

    Have you tried Regicide? I love it because the footprint is literally a poker set and your smartphone. It’s also kinda hard, and really gripping by the end.

    • @wet_squidOP
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      21 year ago

      I disn‘t think of this one! I should finally check it out at BGA.

  • @[email protected]
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    1 year ago
    • Hanabi co-op deduction, the deluxe edition that uses blocks rather than cards might work even better in a pub.
    • Point Salad simple but fun drafting game that works well at all player counts (2-6)
    • Coloretto or Port Royal for the push-your-luck. Zombie Dice and Martian Dice are fun too if you want a light option with lots of dice chucking
    • Fantasy Realms rummy-like hand-crafting but with much more interesting scoring possibilities
    • Liar’s Dice or Spicy for bluffing
    • Super Mega Lucky Box bingo but good!
  • @[email protected]
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    51 year ago

    You might want to look at some laminated games with erasable pens. We really like Welcome To, and recently discovered Aquamarine as a 4 dollar game.

    5 minute dungeon is a quicktime game that is coop, but was hard to get in Europe.

    Picomino (regenwormen in Dutch) is a dice push your luck game that has a small footprint. I know you said no dice but still wanted to give the tip :p

    Lastly you have walletgames such as Sprawlopolis (coop) which might be worth looking at, they are meant to be small.

    • @wet_squidOP
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      31 year ago

      Roll & Writes: We didn‘t enjoy Cartographer, it didn‘t feel exciting for us. Ganz schoen clever was another suggestion, but we‘d prefer no dice.

      5 Minute Dungeon is awesome, but I played it so many times with my kids that I can‘t stand it anymore. But great suggestion! I‘ll have a look into your other suggestions.

  • @[email protected]
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    41 year ago

    On the lighter side i would suggest king of the dice as a yahtzee+ game, or port royal. A little mire involved and a great game is rajas of the ganges - the dice charmers (roll & write with good decisions)

  • @Skasi
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    1 year ago

    My personal favorites that fit your criteria are:

    • Honshu - Haven’t played it with just 2p before, but the BGG community says it works.
    • Hey that’s my Fish!
    • The Shipwreck Arcana
    • So Clover!
    • @wet_squidOP
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      21 year ago

      Is there a version you can play with 2+ players? I know there‘s Duel (2p only) and the other versions (3+/4+).

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        Ah sorry, I meant the dice game. The main game is a card game.

        Lowest number is three players for the dice game.

  • @ace_garp
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    31 year ago

    These are all great fun with 2-5, and may fit your requirements:

    Port Royal

    Century: Spice Road

    Camel Up

    Incan Gold (AKA Diamant)

  • Verpenndroid
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    31 year ago

    Push: Easy game but lots of fun. As the name suggests a highly concentrated push your luck game that we always enjoy for some quick rounds.

    Kakerlaken-Poker: Man this game is pure stress - Stress the game. A game where somebody removed everything apart from the STRESS - No fat - Filet Au Stress. Either you love it or you hate it. But exciting non the less! I only played the base game but some people suggest other versions of this game. So if you are interested you might want to have a look at the other versions as well

    • @wet_squidOP
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      31 year ago

      I love both of your recommendations, thank you! Kakerlaken Poker Royal seems to be a version you can play with or without the Royal cards. Maybe that‘s the one I‘ll get!

  • @derelict
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    21 year ago

    Coloretto is one of my favorite simple games, and has a good 2-player variant

  • @[email protected]
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    11 year ago

    Three Cheers For Master. Struggles a little with the small footprint aspect, board states can get pretty large, but it is small and portable, quick to play, and a LOT of fun.

    I often refer to it as the good version of Munchkin, in that its very funny, and features a lot of direct attack mechanics. The key difference is that every attack relies on exploiting a weakness in the opponent’s board state. Instead of just feeling like you got fucked, you’re always left thinking “Shit, I should have seen that coming. I’ll do better next time.”

    Also, the card art and flavour text are some of the best I’ve ever seen.

  • @wet_squidOP
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    11 year ago

    Is there sth like Jaipur, that plays equally great with more players (but still great with 2)?

      • @wet_squidOP
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        11 year ago

        Looks awesome but it can‘t be played with 2p, can it? Well maybe I just buy two games… Jaipur if we‘re two, sth like Archaeology, Startups,… if we‘re more. They all don‘t look very expensive.

  • @[email protected]
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    11 year ago

    Have you tried Fluxx? Not sure it’s a game you can ‘Master’, but it does have some fun moments, and moments when you know a decision you make can totally change the game.

    • Yoast
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      11 year ago

      Never played the original but Star Fluxx is FANTASTIC. It’s been my groups go to bar game for a while

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        We have Zombie, Pirate, Space, and Cthulhu Fluxx. Zombie is the simplest one that we play the most and they get more complicated (cards affecting other cards/players more, etc) with some of the other decks. Personally I am not a fan of Cthulhu Fluxx but the other three are great!