Buy 7 Wonders Duel for a symmetric contest with three ways to win in 30 minutes. Buy Watergate for an asymmetric one where the two sides play completely differently across 30-60 minutes. Both are published for exactly two players; Watergate is the heavier of the two.
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These are the two best competitive games on this site for people who want something with real teeth, and they answer the same brief in opposite ways.
One gives you both the same tools and asks who uses them better. The other gives you different jobs and refuses to make you directly comparable.
Quick picks
#
Game
Players
Time
Price
1
7 Wonders Duel
The strongest all-round two-player game in print, and the one most couples settle on.
Both are published for exactly two players, with no scaling rules for a third.
02
Symmetric versus asymmetric, and why it decides this
In 7 Wonders Duel both players draft from the same shared layout with the same win conditions available. If you lose, the other person played the same game better than you did, and that is legible.
In Watergate one side is the Nixon administration and the other is the Washington Post. Different tools, different win conditions, and no direct comparison to be drawn. Losing does not resolve into a clean statement about who is better.
This is the whole decision for a lot of households. If you enjoy a straight contest, the symmetry is the appeal. If being ranked against each other is the part that grates, asymmetry removes it without making the game any softer.
03
How each one creates tension
7 Wonders Duel runs three win conditions at once, two of which end the game instantly. You can be comfortably ahead on points and lose on the spot to a science collection you stopped counting. The tension is watching two clocks that belong to your opponent.
Watergate makes every card do two jobs: play it for its effect, and it then moves toward the other player where it becomes available to them. The tension is in what you are handing over, every single turn.
Both are excellent. Duel's pressure is external and sudden; Watergate's is a slow accumulation of decisions you cannot take back.
04
Weight and teach time
Watergate is the heavier game, but not because of rules volume -- it is the card interactions and the evidence chain that take a session to internalize. The board is small and the actions are few.
7 Wonders Duel's overhead is almost entirely its symbol language. Once you can read the cards at a glance the turns are quick, but that first game runs well past the stated 30 minutes with a rulebook nearby.
Neither is a good first board game. Both are excellent third ones.
05
Pick this if
Pick 7 Wonders Duel if you want the shorter game, a symmetric contest, or the single best all-round two-player game to own. It is also the better choice if you will play it very often -- 30 minutes gets to the table more than 60.
Pick Watergate if you want a historical theme handled seriously, if asymmetry appeals, or if a directly comparable head-to-head record is something your household would rather avoid.
Own both if competitive games are your thing. They do not overlap, and alternating between them is a genuinely varied rotation.
The strongest all-round two-player game in print, and the one most couples settle on.
A two-player-only card drafting game where each side builds a civilization across three ages. Three ways to win -- civilian points, military supremacy and scientific dominance -- run at once, so every card you take is also a card denied.
Players
2
Playing time
30 minutes
Age
10+
Designer
Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala
Publisher
Repos Production
Published
2015
Who should skip it
Skip it if you want a relaxing evening. Three win conditions run at once, so you are always watching what the other person is about to do.
Asymmetric, historical, and finished inside an hour -- the shortest route into serious card-driven games for two.
A two-player-only asymmetric card-driven game. One side is the Nixon administration, the other the Washington Post, and every card is both an action for you and a resource for the opponent.
Players
2
Playing time
30-60 minutes
Age
12+
Designer
Matthias Cramer
Publisher
Capstone Games
Published
2019
Who should skip it
Skip it if you both want the same experience. The two sides play very differently and one of you will prefer a side.
+−Which is harder to learn, 7 Wonders Duel or Watergate?
Watergate takes a session to internalize its card interactions, but 7 Wonders Duel has the longer first game because its symbol language must be learned before the turns flow.
+−Which is longer?
Watergate, at a stated 30-60 minutes against 30 minutes for 7 Wonders Duel.
+−Are both games two-player only?
Yes. Repos Production lists 2 players for 7 Wonders Duel and Capstone Games lists 2 players for Watergate.
+−Which is better if we do not like being ranked against each other?
Watergate. The two sides have different tools and different win conditions, so a loss does not resolve into a clean statement that the other person played better.
