There is a reason couples keep coming back to games. In a 2000 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, couples who did a short new and slightly challenging task together reported a bigger rise in relationship quality than couples who did a dull one. A game night is the easiest new and slightly challenging thing you can do on a weeknight.
The games below need two people and little else. Pick by mood.
At a glance
| Game | Mood | Time | You need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four in a row, best of five | Rivalry | 15 to 30 min | A phone or a board |
| Dots and boxes | Rivalry | 10 min | Paper or a phone |
| Tic tac toe, hard mode | Rivalry | 5 min | A phone |
| Card speed race | Rivalry | 10 min | A deck of cards |
| Truth or dare | A good talk | 20 to 60 min | A phone or this page |
| The couples quiz | A good talk | 15 min | Paper |
| This or that | A good talk | 10 to 20 min | Nothing |
| Highs and lows | A good talk | 10 min | Nothing |
| Charades for two | A laugh | 15 min | A list of words |
| Draw and guess | A laugh | 15 min | Paper or a phone |
| The story game | A laugh | 10 min | Nothing |
| Hum it | A laugh | 10 min | Nothing |
| Twenty questions | Apart | 5 min a round | A call |
| Photo hunt | Apart | 30 min | Two phones |
| Same game, two phones | Apart | 5 to 30 min | Two phones |
For a bit of rivalry
1. Four in a row, best of five
Drop discs into seven columns; four in a line wins. A game takes 5 to 10 minutes, so a best of five fits an evening, and it is deep enough that the better player does not always win. Put something small on it: the loser makes the coffee tomorrow. Tips that help: start in the middle column and never play right under a line your partner is about to finish. Read the four in a row strategy guide or play it in your browser.
2. Dots and boxes
A grid of dots, one line per turn, close a box and go again. It looks like a kids’ game and turns out to be a game of patience: the player who understands chains wins. Draw a 5 by 5 grid on a receipt at a restaurant. How to play dots and boxes.
3. Tic tac toe, hard mode
Ordinary tic tac toe between two adults is usually a draw. Make it interesting: play the same opening five times and keep score, or take turns playing the hard computer and see who holds the draw longer. Our tic tac toe strategy guide shows why the corner opening is the hardest to answer.
4. Card speed race
With a normal deck of cards: each of you takes half, flips one card at a time, and slaps the pile when two cards in a row match in number. First to slap takes the pile. Ten minutes, loud, and surprisingly physical.
For a good talk
5. Truth or dare
Take turns picking a truth (answer honestly) or a dare (do a small task now). Agree first that anyone can pass any card without explaining, and start with mild cards. Our guide to truth or dare for couples has ground rules and a heat level system. Some easy first questions:
Easy questions to start with
From the mild truths in the free truth or dare deck in the app. Where a card says the person on your left, that is your partner.
- What is the silliest thing you were afraid of as a kid?
- Who in this room would survive longest on a desert island?
- Which animal would be the rudest if it could talk?
- What is the most childish thing you still do?
- What is something you are really bad at?
- Have you ever waved back at someone who was waving at someone else?
- Have you ever walked into something while looking at your phone?
- Who here would win a talent show, and with what talent?
6. The couples quiz
Each of you writes ten questions about yourself (“What is my comfort food?”, “Which city do I want to visit most?”), then quizzes the other. One point per right answer. The questions you get wrong are the best part.
7. This or that
Ask two options; both answer at the same time on the count of three: “Mountains or beach?”, “Plan everything or decide on the day?”. Talk about every answer that does not match.
8. Highs and lows
Each of you shares the best and the hardest moment of your week, and the other asks one follow-up question before reacting. It is barely a game, and a good one to end the evening with.
For a laugh
9. Charades for two
Charades usually needs teams, but it works with two: one acts, the other guesses, and you count how many words you get through together in two minutes. Then swap and try to beat your joint score. Use our easy charades words to start.
10. Draw and guess
One draws a word, the other guesses before the timer runs out; swap after each word. Bad drawing makes it better. Ideas: things to draw.
11. The story game
Tell one story together, one sentence each, where every sentence must start with the last word of the one before. It tends to end somewhere absurd within five minutes.
12. Hum it
One hums a song, mouth closed; the other names it. Then swap. Score one point per song named in ten seconds or less.
For when you are apart
13. Twenty questions
One thinks of a person, place or thing; the other asks up to twenty yes or no questions to find it. It works perfectly on a call.
14. Photo hunt
Send each other a list of five things to photograph within 30 minutes: “something blue”, “the oldest thing in the room”, “your view right now”. Compare when the time is up.
15. Same game, two phones
Play the same game, each on your own phone. In the app, one of you opens a room and the other joins with a 4-letter code, for four in a row, dots and boxes, tic tac toe or truth or dare. More ideas in our guide to games to play over text or a video call.
Tips for a game night for two
- Phones down for everything except the game.
- Keep a running score on the fridge across weeks; a season makes it more fun than a single night.
- Alternate who picks the game.
- Stop while it is still fun, not after someone has lost three in a row.
More ideas for two: date night games at home and all our games for couples.