I don’t get to play short, abstract 2-player games often enough. Most of the time when I find myself with a single opponent, I either end up playing a heavy 2-player wargame, an LCG or a light dice game, but none offer the fast thrills of a good 2 player abstract. Game such as the Project GIPF games, with their very simple, clever mechanic come to mind: I’ve owned two of the games, YINSH and ZERTZ, for quite some time but they never hit the table enough for me. This makes me very hesitant when I see a new 2 player abstract: even if the game greatly appeals to me, will I actually get to play it?
I was quite curious when I started to hear a lot of good stuff about The Duke, right after Gencon. I had missed it completely when its Kickstarter campaign was happening but now the buzz was very strong. A deep, 2 player abstract that seem to be garnering lots of fans? Maybe I could find some people to play this after all. So when I had a chance to pick it up, I did and I’m really glad I did.