Two for the Show

By Ben Baldanza

Every two weeks (depending on his demanding schedule), Ben Baldanza—a game reviewer for Counter and gaming advocate who uses Beyond Monopoly courses to teach Eurogames to neophytes—will offer his take on two-player games.
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Headlines September 2, 2007 - Tracy Baker: Two for the Show—Wise Fwom The Gwave! January 29, 2007 - Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—Trick-Taking for Two January 15, 2007 - Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—Predatory vs. Non-Predatory Games January 1, 2007 - Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—My Top Ten Two-Player Games

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Articles

Tracy Baker: Two for the Show—Wise Fwom The Gwave!

I was dismayed to learn that Ben Baldanza was forced to abandon this column so he could focus on work, so dismayed that I asked W. Eric Martin if I could make a feeble grab for the baton and at least try to keep pace with the sterling example Ben set. I know I’m no match for the creative wit he brought to this column, but I can at least guarantee to approach the subject of two-player gaming with the same amount of passion.

I adore two-player games. It’s easier to find foes who match your skill level and easier to find people who are interested in the types of games you like to play. Downtime is cut to the bone, and overall playing times for most two-player games are short enough that you can pack a lot of them into a single session. Best of all, as Ben pointed out in his initial column, there are just a ton of options to choose from these days if all you can scrounge up is a single opponent.

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Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—Trick-Taking for Two

The most popular trick-taking card games require four players, usually playing in partnerships. Bridge and Spades, two of the most popular card games ever, are like this. Tichu and other climbing variants also usually follow this pattern even though one could argue that “trick-taking” doesn’t fully apply since the goals are usually different. Hearts is a four-player singles trick-taking game that remains popular and has grown with its ubiquity on the Internet. The popularity of four-player partnership games is improved in that in addition to playing the cards effectively, there is the added dimension of working two hands together well and signaling intentions the help to optimize this. So when discussing two-player games, trick-taking doesn’t immediately come to mind.

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Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—Predatory vs. Non-Predatory Games

Predatory is defined in the dictionary as “characterized by plunder, pillage, robbery, or exploitation.” In game terms, this means that in order to win, some physical thing or things must be destroyed. Chess is a predatory game, as there are no tournament games on record where no pieces are captured prior to a checkmate or draw (excluding forfeits, of course). Any game can be predatory or not, but the topic is most interesting for two-player games because the idea of “one against the other” lends itself more to predatory contests.

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Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—My Top Ten Two-Player Games

In early 1996, my wife Marcia and I were living in Houston, TX and wandered into a game store on the north side of town. That store introduced us to Settlers of Catan and, like many other gamers, this started us down a road that has been much longer and more interesting than we expected at the time. But I remember asking “Is there anything good for just two players?” and the store keeper’s response was “Other than war games, of course, there’s really not anything out there just for two.” In hindsight he obviously was uninformed or just overly conservative, but the fact remains that since then the world of gaming for two players has grown at least at the same pace as the general Euro-game scene overall. In early 1996, for example, the Settlers Card Game, the first of the now expansive Kosmos two-player line, wasn’t even available yet.

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