Do you know where any game stores (non video) are? Settles is a fantastic game to get gf/kids/older people to play. I mean it isn't like TITAN! which scares away people.

Carcassonne is a great game for two players, but it's better with more. If you're looking for some good cheap games, try http://www.cheapass.com You can get great games at great prices and then use your coupon for video games

It is very well liked by most people who have played it (at least that is my finding).

Man... I havent been there in a while, and now I guess I don't have to! I think I've been to the AGP store before... But for something like that, I'd more likely just order it online.

I've been playing some of these games off and on for about 6 years now. Some of them really do hold up, particularly Starbase Jeff and Give me the Brain. The Very Clever Pipe game is an excellent two player game from them and requires no extra parts. I'd highly recommend The Works if you can find it based on Phill Foglio's Girl Genuis comic. And Blink for fast, simple fun. Hard to find good two players games, but they're out there. There are a couple of two player card games from the Catan people, but I don't know if they're any good.

Also, definitely check out http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ !!!

wow, never knew I was in the presence of such greatness

I am a board game geek, but I have only played Carcassonne once. No real desire to purchase it to play it again. Two person games are tough, once you get past Cribbage.

I recommend BoardGameGeek.com for reviews and fairplay.com (which I now use almost exclusively -- I find they have better prices than funagain.com). I used to purchase from funagain (they are reliable and prompt), but now prefer fairplay. Their website is not as professional as funagain, but they make up for it in lower prices (at least for what I have purchased) and prompt shipping.

For a multiplayer board game, I recommend Power Grid. Interesting mechanics and some nuanced game play.

I own Ticket to Ride and enjoy it quite a bit. It's my wife's current favorite. A good amount of strategy, with minimum luck factor. Gameplay is very simple but with lots of agonizing decisions. Game components are excellent (Days of Wonder puts together some very nice games with top-notch components -- other excellent ones from that publisher are Memoir '44 and Pirate's Cove)

Someone mentioned boardgamegeek.com. It's an excellent site for game research.

Here's a pretty decent list of two-player games from a fairly cheap dealer http://thoughthammer.com/index.php?cPath=33
Cross reference the titles with boardgamegeek.com and you should have a really good idea of what you're looking for.

In particular Rio Grande's cousin publisher Kosmos makes some excellent small two player games like Hera & Zeus, Kahuna and a couple LOTR themed games.

We've four of the Mayfair "crayon" rail games: Empire Builder, Euro Rails, Lunar Rails, and Iron Dragon. They are all fun, but they're best with 3 or 4 players. With just two, some of the real interactions (like closing out small cities and proactive blocking track placement) just doesn't come into play. Of these, my favorite is Iron Dragon as it has the most going on.

These games are also great for putting aside until the next evening or so, as there is little state that isn't captured by what's on the board, making the extended play time doable when you've only got an hour or so of game time available.

I've played Ticked to Ride many, many times and can highly recommend it.

I'm not as impressed with Carcassone, although I do own the Hunters and Gatherers version. It adds a few twists to make the game a little more involved and strategic.

If you're looking for something that's a little more complex, the Rio Grande game Puerto Rico is really good.