Board games for two - mix of strategy and luck

[MrsPS3]

Any suggestions for board games for two (adults)? It has to be a mix of strategy AND luck. This is to play with DP, he is quite brainy and if it is just strategy he nearly always wins!! It becomes boring and we eventually stop playing. I don't like just luck but a mix of both would be great.

I have just bought Azul, which has great reviews but haven't played yet.

Any recommendations??

Cribbage (sort of has a board)
Backgammon
Darts (definitely has a board, but one of the dullest pastimes I can think off)

DS and I love Terraforming Mars

Splendor and Azul

We like lattice - it's 2 -4 player. You have 5 tiles in your rack at a time - these have have a picture on. Could be a blue flowr, or red lizard, red bird etc. You need to place on the board one tile each turn, but needs to be colour or picture type matching- so a red bird can g next to a red flower or blue bird. If matches 2, 3 or 4 surrounding it, or placed on a specially marked bit of board you collect points. You can then spend these points to but an extra go. The aim of the game is to play all if your tiles by the end and first one to do that wins. It's a good mix of strategy and luck, and pretty easy to learn.
Also like carcassonne, carcassonne the tower (2 player only), rummikub, pandemic and exploding kittens.
Keen now to investigate others suggested on here- especially azul and jaipur.

Forbidden Island is great, but we think their second game Forbidden Desert is slightly better. That said, we play with 3 or 4 players, not two.

Patchwork is also great, but my current favourite 2-player game is Chromino! Fun mix of luck & skill - a bit like Scrabble or Rummikub, but with colours instead of letters or numbers.

I also prefer Forbidden Desert over Forbidden Island. It is harder to win so a bit more strategic thinking (and you are on the same team so no problems if one is more strategic!) you can play both with 2 players though I think it is harder as you have fewer special skills. Do not bother with the third game - Forbidden Sky - it is not as good as the other two. Haven't tried the fourth in the series yet.

Have you ever googled how to play... on YouTube? There are thousands of videos. The very best one is Rodney (I think his videos called how to play...). So much easier than reading instruction manuals (although I absolutely love, reading instruction, manuals myself!!!).

I get annoyed with backgammon as it really is too much to do with luck. But yes there is strategy too, especially if you use the doubling die

@TheLongpigs Yes, definitely videos better than instruction manuals.

I've just ordered Jaipur today from Amazon.

Pandemic is the only game I play with DH and his family, any other game I am destined to lose. I remember (not so fondly) 24 hour flight to Australia with our travel compendium board game set. Lost every single game, even snakes and ladders. Refused to play on the flight home 😂

@MrsPS3 my family of 4 are absolutely addicted to Catan. We've never played with 2, but there is a way to do it: https://howtoplaycatan.com/home/learn-how-to-play-settlers-of-catan/catan-2-players