Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity are such popular games that many, many other games have been developed using the same mechanic — one person is the judge, everyone else puts in a card, the judge picks the winning card, and that person gets a point. That’s all well and good, but it requires at least three people for the game to be playable — and more is better.

I think I figured out a way to play these games with just two players, though. All you need is four playing cards, ideally from a game like Uno or Phase Ten, numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. (You could also use regular playing cards with the Ace being the 1.)

When you start the game, each player draws ten “response” cards (in CAH, these are the white ones). Start with Player 1 as the judge. Player 1 reads the setup card (in CAH, the black card). Player 2 then picks four responses from their hand and decides how many points each response is worth — 1, 2, 3, or 4. Player 2 then puts the response cards face-down, and next to each one, places a number card, also face-down, gambling on which card Player 1 will find the funniest. When done, Player 1 turns over all the response cards, they are read aloud for maximum hilarity, and then Player 1 picks their favorite. Player 2 then turns over the number card, revealing how many points they got for that answer. Now the turn is over, and the two players switch roles. This continues until a certain number of points is reached — 10 or 15 would be good numbers.

I tested this with one of my partners and it worked quite well. It’s a good way to do something other than watching TV or playing a more competitive game (like Catan or Ticket to Ride) when you’re on a date at someone’s house. Great two-player games are sometimes hard to find and explain, and everyone knows how to play Apples to Apples (or Cards Against Humanity).

Though, to be honest, I’m quite tired of CAH. I prefer other games, like What Do You Meme or That’s What She Said. They’re less mean-spirited.

Cards from the That’s What She Said card game.