9 best two-player board games that are competitive and fun

Best: For creativity

Rating: 9/10

Budding interior designers, this is your moment. Or your 30 to 40 minutes, as this is how long it takes to play a game of Azul, where the aim is to decorate the Royal Palace of Evora with colourful tiles.

Players, in their role as the king’s artisan tile layers, each collect tiles, which are inspired by Moorish ceramics before earning points based on how expertly they have organised and arranged them. Players will lose points for wasting supplies. And the player with the highest score wins.

Although this can be played with up to four players, we can confirm that a two-player dual is highly competitive and super intense. Poor planning or shaky strategy has nowhere to hide. What we especially loved about Azul is that each player must create something aesthetically beautiful in order to win. This is a rare feature in a board game – and we’re here for it.

Best: For movie buffs

Rating: 8/10

This two-player game will put your knowledge of films and cinema to the test, but, and here’s what makes it unusual, you are playing together in order to beat the game.

If you’re anything like us, you’ll be instantly thrilled with the packaging which is in the exact shape and proportions of a traditional VHS – complete with a cardboard slide-off cover. That this is considered a “retro vibe” will be slightly mortifying for anyone born before 1997. But the game itself is bound to impress all generations.

Gameplay seems pretty straightforward. You will, as a pair, be challenged to list films within a certain category – for example, movies with ghosts. But be warned, it has a habit of sneaking up and landing you both with late fees which can kill your chances of victory. We found you needed to read the rules really carefully at first – it isn’t the simplest thing to explain or understand. However, once you get going it’s a quick-moving game perfect for movie buffs.

Best: For maths geniuses

Rating: 8/10

Chess is arguably the most famous of all two-player games (and last year gained a renewed surge of popularity after Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit series). It requires a great deal of intelligence, concentration and forward planning. Those with a natural aptitude for maths usually make very good chess players.

This set is Harry Potter-themed, specifically from the giant chess game in The Philosopher’s Stone which might not please purists but we think is a brilliant way of getting younger players into the game. What’s more, it’s lovely quality and of course totally functional.

Best: Retro game

Rating: 8/10

A different sort of board game, four in a line is a vintage two-player game that we found came with a hit of nostalgia. We loved the wooden frame and the retro aesthetic. The premise is so simple: you just need to get four of your coloured counters in a line – be it horizontally, vertically or diagonally – before your opponent does. It might sound easy – but it’s not!

Best: Conversation starter

Rating: 7/10

This looks like a beautiful machine found in a cartoon science lab. It turns out that Wavelength is hard to describe – it’s such a strange concept. You need to try to find a specific but hidden point on a spectrum by guesswork and discussion. This makes for a pretty intense experience given the aim is to read each other’s minds and guess abstract quantities – like hot or cold. The closer players get to the “bullseye” the more points they score.

What we will say is that while this is technically a game that can be played by two, we think it works best when more people are involved. This is because the beauty of Wavelength is the scope for heated discussion.

Best: For embracing your mean streak

Rating: 8/10

Thieving sewer rats might not be the chicest premise to anything, but we have to admit that this game of strategy, skill and a bit of luck makes for moreish fun. Players are rats who must steal whatever they can get their paws on in a bid to elevate themselves into a better class of sewer.

What we loved about this is that you get to be the very worst version of yourself: you must scheme, lie, cheat and swindle your way into a better life and a bigger sewer. You must sink others in order to swim yourself. It’s a game for anyone who fancies being Machiavellian for a while. You can play with up to five players but when played with two the heat really turns up.

On a practical level, the board is built into the box which was a nifty design perk – there’s nothing worse than having to navigate too many contents.

Best: For intergenerational players

Rating: 7/10

This is the ultimate trivia game between the generations. Parents must answer questions that kids are likely to know the answer to and vice versa. There are also physical challenges including who can most successfully fly a paper aeroplane, so it isn’t all cerebral.

We played three games with one adult in her thirties against a child aged eight. The child won every time. Adults beware: you’ll need to brush up on your science. Overall we found this to be great fun – but considering younger children might find some of the questions a bit of a struggle, we would definitely say it’s one for children aged eight and over.

Best: For word nerds

Rating: 9/10

The ultimate board game for word nerds for almost 100 years and with 150 million sets sold worldwide, Scrabble works brilliantly as a two-player game. The competition is more intense and the play speed is quicker.

In basic terms, each player needs to create the “best” words out of letter tiles – you each begin with seven – and place them across the board. However, each letter has a different value and each place on the board offers a different number of points. So, it’s not always about having the longest words; it’s about how to best use what you have.

It’s a game of skill, intelligence and a little bit of luck. Prepare to accuse one another of making up words and count how many times you each say “I’m looking that up”.

Best: Classic game

Rating: 9/10

Versions of backgammon have been around since 3000BC, so it’s arguably one of the best two-player games of all time. It’s so addictive you’ll easily lose entire evenings, weekends and holidays to the task of moving all of your counters off the board – thanks to skill and luck – before your opponent.

There are hundreds of different versions of backgammon sets out there – from antique beauties costing hundreds of pounds to pocket-sized travel sets – but this 14-inch wooden set gets our vote for anyone new to the game, or on a budget. It’s a neat little set, so will travel easily and while it couldn’t be described as an heirloom piece, it is a brilliantly functional set.