by ravenskana
I've played Vanuatu a dozen times now, but only one has been the two player game. I would happily play the two player game in most situations. It uses a third color as sort of a neutral player, but it doesn't feel like a dummy player and I thought the mechanic worked well.I don't think I would want to teach the game as a two player game though. I think a new player needs to have a more "regular" game to begin with, but once the game is known, I think a two player game would work fine for most people.
I don't think the game exceptionally shines with two players though, so if you thought you would only play with two players, I suspect there are other games that might better serve you. On the other hand, in some ways the two player game might be better than three. I've noticed that with three players there is a fragility where if two people are in competition in one area, a third player can be elsewhere and find a way to get an advantage over the other two. However, when I've noticed this happening it seems to be more by accident than my clever manipulation by the third player.
So in conclusion, I would not avoid Vanuatu as a two player game although I'd prefer the other player already knew the game, it seems as good or better with two as three although I might revise that in the future, but really I think this is best at four or five players.
