Recommendations for Two Person Games

The brand "Think Fun"... makes AWESOME games!
Amazon and Barnes & Noble has it.
Really great for kids or adults... ages 1-100.
Or it can be played with even 1 person.
I wish I could get ALL their games.... !
My kids love it too... and they are 4 and 8 years old. Me and my Hubby play it too.

The game Go... is also great fun.
Also the game "Yahtzee." GOOD fun.
ALSO.... (and to me there is no age limit on this game)... is playing good ol' Marbles! My kids LOVE playing marbles and with us too. They have cute marble sets on Amazon.
Also... playing Jacks!
Or Sudoku
Or puzzles

Lots of "solo" games can also be played together... not just one against one. But together... even crossword puzzles.

all the best,
Susan

Dominoes
Bananagrams
Puzzles/ Mystery puzzles
Battleship
Boggle
"Labyrinth" by Ravensburger _ this is a great game..

I like Phase 10. It's a card game where each level you have to do something specific in order to "put down." An example would be Phase 1: 2 sets of 3...Phase 2: 1 set of 3 and a run of 4, and so on.
At first it's a little confusing, but it's actually pretty fun and I have played it with as young as 6 (I just had to remind them what a set was and what a run was). They come with little reminder cards too.
The goal is to complete all 10 phases with as little points as possible. On ea. phase when you put down you still have cards left in your hand, if someone goes out completely, your left over cards have points assigned to them, you want as little points as possible.
Have fun.

chess checkers, battle ship, jenga, connect four

There are mini games at Big Lots and Target(stocking stuffer section). We bought Kerplunk, Flippin Frogs(way too hard), Battleship, Hungry Hungry Hippo(only 2 can play the mini version), and Connect 4.
Guess Who with disquises is our favorite(not the electronic one which is heavy and takes up a lot of space). I also have the THINK FUN brand of games including River Crossing, Bricks, and the twisty numbers 1-10 which i find maddening, but my husband can do.

Sorry
Uno
Phase 10
Mexican Train (domino's game)

All very fun w/2 people and Mexican Train helps develop some mental skills since it requires some planning (but an 8 year old can still understand it). Uno has a ton of different, fun varieties available now.

Yahtzee, Scrabble, Lego Minotaurus, Piranha, card games (rummy, gin rummy, etc.), Dominoes, Chess. Also check out Cranium games. Then there are Wii games. Good luck and have fun!

Skip-Bo
Memory
Go Fish
Slap Jack
Rummy - usually considered an adult game but I was playing it at 8.

uno, connect four, tic tac toe, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders

Teach him/her chess.

It's just my son and I the vast majority of the time as well. Here are our top 5 (mancala would make it our top 6)

- Zilch http://zilch.playr.co.uk/rules.php for the rules (We usually play to 10,000... takes about 20 minutes most games with just kiddo and I... but an hour + with more people... game's the same, just one has to wait longer between rolls)

- Ingenious (the playing "board" shrinks or grows depending on how many people are playing... so it's equally challenging whether you have 2, 3, or 4 players. It's a cousin to "blockus"... but I like Ingenious SO much better!)

- Risk (we actually play the Halo version of Risk)

- Yahtzee

- Chess

sequence - there are different versions - we have the kid version and the basic adult version, chess, checkers, cribbage (my husband's family plays this game a bunch), card games - basic deck of cards or even uno cards, battleship (one of my favorites)

Just because a game is more fun with more people, doesn't mean you and your 8 year old can't have fun just the 2 of you! I remember playing monopoly, sorry and other such games with just my sister and having a blast! You could also google some card games (crazy, crazy 8s, etc).

Have you ever played any German-style games? You may consider slowing introducing some of those--they'll be more interesting for you and you'll be able to play them together as he gets older without him losing interest.
Ticket to Ride or Catan Dice Game (regular Catan is probably too hard for him and the Kids of Catan game others say is too easy) would fit that description.
I have fond memories of playing Scrabble, Boggle, Yahtzee and many, many card games as a child.
Our local game store has a great selection of children's games and the owners are wonderful in explaining how each game is played and even letting you try them out before you buy them. If you have a small, family-owned game store near you, check it out. You'll find more variety and something that will be more fitted specifically for your needs.