2 Player games : the Challenge

Review by eFreeware

The people most likely to want this app are those who regularly find themselves with one phone, one tablet and two people who want to play something together. JindoBlu's 2 Player Games: the Challenge is built around exactly that situation: a shared screen, two sets of hands, and a run of short competitive minigames. It is free, it carries ads, and it offers in-app purchases, and it has been installed more than 100 million times with a 4.6 average from over 733,000 ratings.

What that gives you is a single place to settle a score instead of a drawer full of separate titles. Ping pong, air hockey, pool and tic tac toe sit alongside spinner war, snakes, penalty kicks and sumo, with minigolf, racing cars, sword duels and chess among the further options the developer lists. The pitch is local multiplayer on one device, and the developer's own disclaimer jokes that it can ruin friendships, which tells you the tone: fast, close, and a little combative.

If nobody else is around, the app still works. It includes an AI opponent for solo play, so the same minigames can be played alone when there is no second player available. That dual setup is the reason I would describe this as a household app rather than a personal one.

One screen, two players, no setup

The organizing idea is that the device never leaves the middle of the table. Both players look at the same display and use the same touchscreen. For a party, a waiting room or a long car ride, that removes the usual friction of getting a multiplayer game started.

The developer describes the graphics as minimal, and that choice makes sense for this format. Two people crowded around a small screen need clear shapes and obvious colors more than detail, and a restrained look keeps attention on the duel rather than the decoration. It is a design decision that serves the way the app is meant to be used.

The collection also keeps score between matches. That turns a loose set of minigames into something closer to a cup: play several in a row and the running tally carries the rivalry forward instead of resetting after every round. For anyone who has watched a group argue over who actually won, that continuity is the most interesting part of the package.

The racket and paddle games

Ping pong is the simplest of the touch controls: you move the racket with a finger and try to beat the person opposite you. Air hockey works on the same principle with a paddle, and the aim is to send the puck into your friend's goal. Both are the kind of thing that reads instantly on a shared screen, because each player only has to watch their own half.

Pool takes the familiar table game and adapts it to two players on one device. It is a slower, more deliberate option than the racket sports, and it gives the collection a change of pace when a group wants something less frantic than a reflex duel.

These three sit at the accessible end of the roster. The controls are finger movements on a touchscreen rather than anything that needs explaining, which is why I would expect them to be the ones a mixed-age group reaches for first.

Pushing, dodging and shooting

Spinner war is a sumo-style contest with a twist: the stage is small, and the goal is to push your opponent off it. The developer's framing is that two players on such a small area is simply too many, which captures why these rounds tend to be short and loud.

Snakes asks you to avoid touching your opponent's body and stay alive, so it is a game of positioning and nerve rather than direct contact. Sumo is described as the multiplayer take on a well-known Japanese sport, and penalty kicks flips the usual role by putting you in the shooter's place, letting the goalkeeper dive while you try to score.

Together these lean more on timing and spatial awareness than on the racket games' straightforward back-and-forth. They are also the rounds most likely to produce the accusations of foul play that the developer's disclaimer is poking fun at.

Board games, races and the rest of the roster

Tic tac toe is here in its classic form, positioned as a replacement for pen and paper when two people want a quick round. Chess appears among the further games, giving the collection a slower, more thoughtful corner for players who prefer planning to reflexes.

The wider list includes minigolf, racing cars and sword duels, so the range runs from aiming and putting to head-to-head racing and close combat. The recent update adds Fruit Merge, Snakes, Yazy Classic, Ball Run and Reflex Race, along with fixes for graphics artifacts on some devices and general bug fixes and improvements. That mix of additions suggests the roster is still growing rather than fixed.

The variety is the point. A collection like this lives or dies on whether the group can find something everyone will agree to play, and the spread from tic tac toe to racing cars covers a lot of different appetites in one download.

Playing alone against the AI

The app does not assume a second person is always there, and the developer presents the AI as the fallback for anyone who lacks a partner for the local mode.

That matters more than it might sound. With an AI in place, the app can still be opened for a quick round. It also lets someone learn a minigame's controls before handing the device to a friend, which is useful when the games are as varied as this set.

The AI is a substitute for a person rather than the main event, and the app is clearly designed around the shared-screen duel. Still, having both paths in one package is what makes it practical to keep installed.

Suited to shared screens and short sessions

This is for friends, couples, siblings and families who want a quick competitive round without passing a second device around. It is rated for Everyone, and the roster's range from tic tac toe to sumo means a group with different tastes can usually find a round that suits. The saved scores between matches give those sessions a thread to follow.

It is also a reasonable choice for someone who mostly plays alone and wants a set of small games with an AI to face. The free download and the breadth of the collection make it easy to try, and the ad-supported, purchase-carrying model is the trade for that.

Where it asks something of you is in the format itself. Two people on one screen is a specific way to play. If that shared-screen setup is what you are after, the collection covers a lot of ground for the price of an install.

A keeper for two players with one device

2 Player Games: the Challenge does one thing and does it broadly: it turns a single phone or tablet into a small arcade for two. The roster runs from ping pong and air hockey to pool, tic tac toe, spinner war, snakes, penalty kicks, sumo and beyond, with an AI opponent for the times when you are on your own and saved scores to keep a rivalry going across rounds.

The caveats are the ones that come with the package. It is free with ads and in-app purchases. The minimal graphics are a deliberate fit for that setup, but they are not trying to be a showcase.

It has had time to build out its roster, and the install and rating figures suggest plenty of people have found the format works for them.

What's new in version 7.19.2

• New game: Fruit Merge • New game: Snakes • New game: Yazy Classic • New game: Ball Run • New game: Reflex Race • Fix graphics artifacts on some devices • Bug fixes and improvements