Dr. Knizia is perhaps the most prolific board game designer of all time with 700 published games . He is a German game designer who has a PhD in mathematics.

Battle Line

One of the best games for two people with a short time window. The premise is delightfully simple. Shuffle a deck of six coloured suits containing numbers 1-10 and place a row of nine pawns across the table between you and your opponent. Then take turns laying down a single card from your hand in front of one pawn, and then drawing another, attempting to slowly build up sets of three cards on your side of the line that will beat whatever your opponent builds up on the same pawn on the opposite side. The winning side is determined in poker style: sequential numbers in the same colour is best, then a set of three of the same number in different colours, then any three from the same colour, etc. First to win five pawns, or three adjacent pawns wins. And that’s pretty much it. Except that it isn’t. That absurdly simple set of rules hides a wide ocean of absolute agony as you desperately try to make the best of your hand whilst attempting to hide your intentions from your opponent. Start to put down your strongest set of cards too early and your opponent will know where to put his big guns in response. Wrongly guess the chance of your getting a good set of three cards from likely-looking pairs you’re holding and you’ll be left with a half-played formation that will win precisely nothing. The game strikes a fantastic balance between the subtleties of timing, the demands of strategic planning and the luck of the random draw. It is utterly compelling for the entire length of its 20 minute play time.

For another dimension of thinkiness there is a second deck of tactics cards. These are cards that allow you to break the rules of the game in fundamental ways. For example, there are wild cards to add to your formations, or a card that allows you to fight over a particular pawn with four rather than three cards. They add more conundrums with endless strategies and plans in front of you.