Games for two people: head-to-heads for friends and siblings

Two people is a strange number for party games. Most of them need a group, and the ones that don't are usually board games nobody has unpacked in years. But two players is the perfect number for a rivalry, and a rivalry is what makes a game night memorable.

Here's what works for two, whether it's your best friend, your brother or sister, or the cousin you've been competing with since you were six.

The head-to-heads

These are built for two, and most are quick, so the loser can demand a rematch straight away.

• Connect 4: drop discs into a seven-by-six grid and get four in a row. Who goes first is drawn at random, which matters more than you'd think.
• Rock-Paper-Scissors: first to two rounds. Both picks stay hidden until you've both chosen, so nobody can wait and read the other, and a tie replays the round.
• Dice Duel: two dice each, the higher total takes the round, first to two rounds. Pure luck, which makes it the great equaliser after a one-sided game of anything else.
• Battleships: four ships each, hidden on an eight-by-eight sea, and you take turns firing until one fleet is sunk. It's the longest of the four, with twelve ship squares to find among sixty-four.

All four are played in an online room, a phone each: start a room, send the link to the other person, and pick a game. While you're both in the room, a little trophy count beside each name keeps score of the games won. It belongs to the room, though: it's gone when the room closes (after half an hour with nobody playing, or three hours at most), or when a phone drops out for more than a minute or two. For a rivalry that runs for weeks, keep your own tally.

Battleships also plays on one phone against the computer, so either of you can practise between rematches.

Two-player twists on party games

Truth or Dare for two

Truth or Dare works fine with two, and it turns into a different game from the party version: more of a long conversation with dares in it. On one phone you pick the packs: Icebreakers for people who don't know each other well yet, Deep Talk for old friends ("What's a moment that changed how you see the world?"). Throw in a silly dare every few turns, or it turns into an interview. See how to play Truth or Dare.

Dare Tower

Dare Tower for two is a duel of nerves: you take turns to slide a block out and put it back on top, and with only two of you, every other pull is yours. There's no hiding behind a crowd. Whoever topples it takes the forfeit.

Pair Rush

Pair Rush is a memory race. On one phone, you each take a turn against the clock and compare scores; in a room, you race at the same time on your own phones, with a three-second countdown to start.

The tournament format

The simplest way to turn an evening for two into an event: play a tournament.

1. Pick five games. For example: Connect 4, Battleships, Pair Rush, Dare Tower and Dice Duel.
2. Play each one once, and keep the score yourself. The winner of each game gets a point; in Dare Tower, it goes to whoever didn't topple it.
3. Most points wins the night.
4. Agree the stakes before you start. The loser does the washing-up, or the winner picks the next film.

Tip Save Dice Duel for last. If it's two points each going into the final game, the whole night comes down to a roll of the dice.

Write your own dares

Give your rivalry its own dares. On the Dare Wheel, choose 6 slices, then take turns typing in three dares each: an impression, a dramatic reading, a terrible poem about the other person's favourite team. Each dare becomes a new slice as you type it (the wheel tops out at twelve), so your six sit alongside six of ours, and no slice comes up twice before they've all had a turn. They're saved on that phone as your own dares, ready for next time.

For siblings and old friends

Siblings and old friends already have a rivalry; give it somewhere to go. Pick one head-to-head and make it a weekly fixture, with the score on the fridge. Or keep it fresh by playing a different game each time, and let the loser choose the next one.