Couples Game Night Ideas That Work With Just the Two of You
In this article
Two players is enough What makes a two-player game work Games that get you talking Games that get you touching Games with something on the line Games that need nothing but you twoGame night, the way most people picture it, takes four other people, a folding table, and somebody reading the rules out loud while everyone else eats the chips.
So couples skip it. Two players sounds like half a game.
It's the better half. Nobody's watching, nothing has to be explained twice, and you two can be playing four minutes after you decide to.
When I asked couples what they miss from their early days, one wrote:
"playing games after dinner"
Another wrote:
"We spent more time actively engaging with each other like playing a game or doing some activity together rather than passively enjoying entertainment like watching TV."
Ninety-one people told me some version of that: what dropped out of the marriage was the playing.
What Makes a Two-Player Game Work
Plenty of games fall apart with only two people at the table. The ones that hold up have three things going for them.
They start fast. If setup takes longer than the first round, one of you is on a phone before the game begins, and the night's already gone.
They make you talk, or they make you touch. If you can get through a whole round without saying a word to each other, the game isn't doing anything a rerun wouldn't do.
Something's on the line. Who makes the tea. Who picks Saturday. The stake can be tiny and it still changes how you both sit in the chair.
John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman give a whole chapter of Eight Dates to this, and their summary is one line:
"Couples who play together, stay together."
They quote Stuart Brown, who founded the National Institute for Play, on what happens when it goes missing. When you "take play out of the mix, a relationship becomes a survival endurance contest."
Twelve games below, sorted by what you want out of the night. Pick one and stop reading.
Games That Get You Talking
These are for the weeks where every conversation you've had was about the calendar. Who's picking up who, what's for dinner, did anybody call the plumber back.
1. Relationship Pictionary
Who it's forCouples whose last six conversations were all logistics. Not for the pair who already talk plenty and want to get up and do something.
What you needPaper, two pens, no drawing skills required.
How it goesYou each take five to ten minutes and draw one of your first memorable moments together. Trade, guess what the other one was going for, then sit there a minute and talk about the memory itself. Two or three rounds is plenty. (The terrible drawings are the part you'll still be quoting at each other next week.)
Cost: free.
2. Would You Rather
Who it's forCouples who want a game that needs no table cleared and no rules read out loud.
What you needDinner, a drink, and about twenty questions.
How it goesTake turns. Sentimental gift or expensive gift. Beach walk or hike. More time or more money. Be surprised, or know what's coming. Make each other explain why they picked it.
Cost: free.
3. You Have to Guess
Who it's forCouples already in bed, too tired to get back up, not tired enough to sleep.
What you needNothing at all.
How it goesOne of you thinks of a memory from a date you two went on. The other asks yes-or-no questions only, until they get it. Then switch. Whoever needed the fewest questions wins.
Cost: free.
Games That Get You Touching
Plenty of the couples who write to me aren't short on conversation. They're short on contact.
These three hand you a reason to reach over, and neither of you has to make it a whole thing.
4. Mirror Me
Who it's forCouples who are talked out and still want to be near each other. Skip it if either of you has something to say tonight.
What you needTwo chairs, facing each other.
How it goesOne of you moves slowly. A hand, a shoulder, a tilt of the head. The other mirrors it exactly. Switch after two and a half minutes. Nobody talks. Whoever laughs first loses, and one of you always laughs first.
Cost: free.
5. Compliment Battle
Who it's forA house that's been tense, when neither of you wants a conversation about why.
What you needA timer.
How it goesStart the clock. Take turns giving each other real compliments, except you have to deliver them in a fighting tone. First one to laugh or pause loses, and the loser owes a back rub.
Cost: free.
6. The Blindfold Taste Test
Who it's forCouples who want a game tonight and don't want to buy anything to get one.
What you needA dish towel and five or six things from the fridge and the pantry.
How it goesOne of you plates five bites while the other waits in the next room. Blindfold, then feed each other one bite at a time and guess. Strawberries, chocolate, a pickle, whatever's in there. Most correct guesses wins, and the loser does the dishes.
Cost: free if you shop your own kitchen.
Games With Something on the Line
This is where game night turns into flirting. You're two people who agreed to do something a little difficult in the same room, and one of you is about to win.
The Gottmans' co-author Doug Abrams says it plainly:
"There is something about facing a challenge together that binds you closely and prevents you from taking each other for granted"
Set the stake before the first move, not after somebody's already won.
7. Winner Sets the Stakes
Who it's forCouples with a board game in the closet that neither of you has opened since somebody's birthday.
What you needAny two-player game you both like.
How it goesBefore the first move, you each write down what you want if you win. Cooking a meal. Saying yes to everything for a day. Playing hooky together on a weekday. Trade papers, so you're both playing for a prize you can see.
Cost: free if the game's already in the house, or $15 to $50 for a new one.
8. The Puzzle Race
Who it's forTwo competitive people who both insist they aren't competitive.
What you needTwo copies of the same crossword or sudoku book.
How it goesSame puzzle, same start, first one finished wins. Bet something before you open the book: chores, a favor, who picks the next date night. Then whoever finishes first makes the other one a cup of tea while they're still working, which is either sweet or unbearable depending on the marriage.
Cost: two puzzle books.
9. Trivia, Course by Course
Who it's forCouples who are already making dinner and don't want date night to be one more thing to plan.
What you needA trivia app on one phone, and dinner split into three parts. Crackers and cheese, then whatever you were making anyway, then ice cream.
How it goesPlay a round before each part. Whoever wins picks one thing about that course: the music, the topping, which one of you clears the plates. Three rounds, three small decisions, and neither of you has to make any of them alone.
Cost: free with a trivia app.
Games That Need Nothing but You Two
No box, no pieces, nothing to buy. You could start any of these standing in the kitchen right now.
10. One Word Story
Who it's forCouples who don't have an evening, just the sixty seconds while the pasta water comes up.
What you needA timer.
How it goesBuild a story out loud, one word at a time, taking turns. See how ridiculous it gets before the minute's up. Play three rounds and it gets dumber every time, which is the point.
Cost: free.
11. The Love Loop
Who it's forThe compliment game for people who think compliment games are corny.
What you needSixty seconds.
How it goesCompliment each other one at a time, and each compliment has to start with the last letter of the one before it. Whoever breaks the loop loses. Winner picks the next date night.
Cost: free.
12. The Two-Song Dance-Off
Who it's forCouples who'd rather be laughing and out of breath than sitting down.
What you needA speaker, a cleared rug, and one move you both know.
How it goesLearn one move together first, which takes about fifteen minutes off the TV or a phone. Song one, you dance it together until you both stop counting it in your heads. Song two is the contest: take turns adding a move, and the other one has to give it back. Whoever runs out of moves loses, and the winner picks dessert.
Cost: free, once you two know a few moves.
The moves are the only part that takes any learning, and there's less of it than you'd guess. That's what I make. Date Nights Dancing is 50 easy swing dance moves across three levels, taught at home for beginners and for people who swear they have no rhythm. It streams to a phone or a TV, and you two learn it side by side in your own living room with nobody watching.
If dancing's a hard no in your house, play the compliment battle instead.
Game night is one shape of an at-home date, not the only one. If tonight's more about having any plan at all than about winning something, I keep the rest of them together over here: at home date night ideas.
You two used to do this without calling it anything. It was just what a Tuesday looked like.
Pick one off the list tonight, and let it be that again.
One snag with a list like this. Every game on it ends. Play Would You Rather three date nights running and it stops being a game, and you're back to picking a show.
That's the reason I built Date Nights Dancing: 50 easy swing dance moves across three levels, taught at home for beginners and for the two-left-feet crowd, streaming to your phone or your TV, offline too, and yours for good.
Learn one move this week and another the week after, and you two have a game that gets better every time you play it. Set the stake before the first song, and let the winner name it.
A month from now you'll have a dozen moves and a stack of songs, and the two of you will still be playing.
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