Two Player Board Games
The classic two-player board games all play free in a browser: chess and checkers for pure strategy, backgammon for strategy plus dice, Reversi for a game you can learn in a minute and lose for years, and Nine Men's Morris for one of the oldest board games still played. All support a friend on the same device or a computer opponent.
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Two-player board games survive because they are solved problems: the rules are short, the depth is real, and nothing about them needed updating. Playing in a browser adds the one thing they lacked — an opponent who is always available.
Reversi — the one to learn today
Reversi (sold as Othello) has the best rules-to-depth ratio of anything here. Place a disc so it flanks a line of your opponent's, and that whole line flips to your colour.
The counterintuitive part is what makes it good: having more discs mid-game is usually bad. A big group restricts your own options and gives your opponent flipping opportunities. Take the corners — they can never be flipped — and avoid the squares next to them, which hand the corner over.
Chess and checkers
Chess needs no argument. If you are learning, control the centre, develop before attacking, and castle early — see the chess guide.
Checkers looks simpler and is not. Because captures are usually compulsory, strong play means offering a piece to force a capture chain that ends badly for your opponent. Keep your back row intact early to stop them crowning.
Backgammon and dice games
Backgammon is the oldest game here by some distance and the only classic that mixes strategy with luck — which is precisely why it stays fun between players of different strength. Yatzy and Quick Dice are lighter dice games in the same spirit.
The very old ones
- Nine Men's Morris — boards carved into Roman and medieval stonework. Form a line of three to remove an opponent's piece; build a "double mill" that re-forms every turn and you win.
- Dominoes — match the ends, score in fives, block your opponent.
- Ludo and Snakes and Ladders — chance games, which makes them the ones to play with a child.
Prefer cards? Two player card games. Want something faster? Best two player games.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best two player board game?
Chess for depth, Reversi for the best balance of simple rules and real strategy, and backgammon if you want luck involved so an evenly matched game is not guaranteed.
Can I play these against a friend on the same computer?
Yes. Chess, checkers, dominoes, Ludo and Yatzy all have a two-player mode where you share one device and take turns, alongside computer opponents.
Why are corners so important in Reversi?
A disc in a corner can never be flanked, so it can never be flipped, and it anchors the edges running away from it. Corner control usually decides the game.
