Are Two Player Variants Necessary?

Board gaming seems to have trends. We’ve had a wave of trick taking games and nature games in recent years, following on from our roll and write era which popped up at the turn of the decade. The latest trend seems to be two player versions of games which already exist. But what seems to be getting the attention of the gamers is that a lot of these games are already playable at two players. The most recent one announced is Azul Duel… which seems… odd. Azul plays perfectly well at two as it is so weird to get a two player version. I wanted to talk about how necessary two player versions are (or are not) and there will be some history as we go through this list, because… I’m a board game nerd. Frankly if you’re here, so are you, so let’s go on this journey together.

Let’s start with the first duel/duet/duo version that I can think of – 7 Wonders Duel. If you’re newer to the hobby, you would be forgiven for thinking that 7 Wonders plays from 3-7 but the original game was 2-7 for some reason. Drafting isn’t as much fun at two players, so by taking the drafting mechanism from passing a hand of cards around to an open shape on the table and giving two other victory conditions is a great way to make a two-player variant. 7 Wonders Duel gets a pass from me as being a necessary addition to the collection. In fact, I tend to play Duel over the original, so to me it’s a better game anyway.

Interesting side note: apparently Saboteur: The Duel came out before 7 Wonders Duel, but I’d never heard of Saboteur: The Duel, so I hope you can forgive my lack of knowledge. Odds are you didn’t know it existed either. Whilst I’m here, a few others I wasn’t aware existed are Imhotep: The Duel, Kingdomino Duel, Yokohama Duel, BANG! The Duel, Ubongo Duel and Res Arcana Duo.

I should also mention the ones I do know but haven’t played. This list consists of Splendor Duel, Kodama Duo, Fox in the Forest Duet, and the more recently announced or released Everdell Duo, King of Tokyo: Duel and Quacks of Quedlinburg: The Duel. Each of the games they’re based on can be played at two, and in fact Fox in the Forest is exclusively two player, so the only difference seems to be playing cooperatively instead of competitively. Of these, the only one that has any interest for me is Quacks of Quedlinburg because I love the base game so much. This does at least seem to have some direct head-to-head challenges and changes which work well for two players, much like 7 Wonders Duel. Everdell Duo has introduced a cooperative mode, which is intriguing but I’m yet to play that one.

Dorfromantik: The Duel is a weird one. The original Dorfromantik is a cooperative legacy style game, unlocking new bits and pieces as you go. But the Duel version has you go head to head, drawing the same tiles as each other to build out the world yourselves. You’re still attempting to beat the challenges, but it comes down to how well you place the tiles to fit. This one feels unnecessary to me. I didn’t enjoy the competitive experience (which I won, so no sore loser comments here!) because it felt like it came down to luck rather than strategy. Someone draws from their deck of tiles, and the other player finds the same one, and if it fits for the quest you’re trying to do, it’s great. The problem I can see is there is almost perfect information with the tiles available. I say almost because a few are removed at the beginning of the game. But the issue is the inherent risk that both players make the same moves, leading to a pointless endeavour by all. I’m all for competitive games getting a cooperative mode, but I’m not convinced it goes the other way.

Kluster Duo is, as far as I can figure out, is just Kluster… but with stronger magnets. Sure, stronger magnets would make the game more challenging, but I can’t understand it being a completely separate game for two, especially when the base game works for two easily enough.

Tokaido Duo is a two player version of Tokaido, the game that got me into the hobby, and this is a wonderful option to mitigate one of the biggest problems the game has. The two player mode is kinda awful, in my opinion. For those who don’t know, Tokaido is a game where you walk along the Tokaido trail in Japan and aim to have the nicest time. But in the two player version, the player at the back of the line controls a ghost player, which effectively is just used to block spaces, which goes against the ethos of the games. I’m hoping that when Stonemaier reprints Tokaido, the solo mode they introduce will create an interesting dummy player option. In Tokaido Duo though, you’re making your way along three different tracks as three different characters, trying to meet their respective goals. Because the agency is fully in the control of the players in their own turns, rather than a ghost getting in the way, it’s a much more enjoyable experience.

Finally we come to Codenames Duet and this, like Fox in the Forest, is a cooperative version of the game, but I think this is actually worth having. In Codenames, you’re in teams trying to guess secret agent codenames by giving clues that relate to words in the grid. In Duet, you’re doing the same thing, except you both have a double sided pattern to go off of. So whilst some of the agents will be shared, you’ll also have three game ending assassins to worry about, which may end up being just a bystander or even an agent for your teammate. I think this is the superior version to play because you get those in jokes that works with a particular partner, but if you wanted to, you could figure out a way to play a team version or mix in the words with regular Codenames.

So with all that said and done, are two player versions worth having? I think that, for the vast majority of games which have a two player count anyway, the answer is no. Kluster Duo in particular seems to be completely unnecessary when you could just include the stronger magnets into the bigger version. Everdell Duo reads like it plays the same as regular Everdell, except with some challenges and a cooperative mode, so would I need to pick that up when I have the base game? Azul I mentioned earlier would need to have a significant change in game play to make it worthwhile for me to purchase when I can play regular Azul with two players (and more) just fine.

However, if the game doesn’t play well at two, like in the way of 7 Wonders or Tokaido, then a two-player variant is absolutely worth having. You only have to look at how 7 Wonders Duel is still in the BGG top 100 close to 10 years after its release. It stands alone as its own game, and that’s perfectly fine. When it comes to a version of a game that already plays well at two, I don’t have any real desire to purchase that extra version. I might give it a go with my wife at a game café if it works out better for us, but I wouldn’t rush to buy it myself. However, if you’ve tried the base game and don’t own it, it might make sense to get the two player version if that’s your main player count. Certainly I think I’d probably only play Tokaido Duo with my wife over the regular version unless we have more than just us at the table.