The 10 Best 2 Person Card Games

7 Wonders: Duel (appx. $22) will provide plenty of entertainment for fans of ancient civilizations, social engineering, and high-stakes strategy. Each player must reign supreme by either scientific, civilian, or military might, and the many paths to victory keep things interesting.

Since you occupy the role of execution master, Avalon Hill's Guillotine (about $11) lets you participate in the French Revolution by sticking it to the aristocracy. All you have to do is collect the heads of nobles, who are worth varying amounts of points depending on their notoriety.

Take on the role of haggling merchant with Asmodee Jaipur (around $16), a fast-paced diversion that blends risk, tactics, and chance. Players vying to be the most successful businessman in the capital must make split-second decisions on how best to augment their earnings and win favor.

Just as the name implies, Gloom 2nd Edition provides around an hour of delightfully diabolical amusement. It features an innovative design in which translucent cards can be layered over each other to modify your characters, and a penchant for storytelling is required.

The ultraportable Monopoly Deal (around $6) is perfect if you and your partner love the titular board game but don't want to spend hours fighting over property or can't be bothered to lug a box around. It's easy to play and ends in 15 minutes, so you can fit a round in before dinner.

The award-winning Five Crowns (about $9) puts a royal spin on the classic rummy, and it incorporates a wild card into each round to keep everyone on their toes. Great for casual and committed players alike, it tests your memory and strategy without being overwhelmingly complicated.

A cult favorite that takes ridiculousness to unprecedented levels, Exploding Kittens (around $20) is a feline-centric version of Russian roulette that has participants doing everything they can to prevent the untimely demise of an unfortunate kitty, including defusing it with catnip.

Codenames: Duet (around $15) is ideal for couples who'd rather work together instead of going head-to-head, since you must cooperate to uncover all the secret agents you need to contact via one-word clues. Not to mention, it has no adult content whatsoever, so it's safe for kids.

Vocabulary lovers will appreciate Set Enterprise's Quiddler, a word game that should delight both beginning and advanced wordsmiths, which makes it a solid choice for adult-child pairings. It's quick to pick up, and you can even up the ante by eschewing the dictionary.

If you don't think something is fun unless there's a race against time involved, then Perpetual Commotion (about $6) is for you. Designed to facilitate speed and excitement, you'll find that acting fast and an affinity for numbers will help more than strategy or decision making.