When the temps drop, it’s so easy to stay in and snuggle up with your partner for an at-home date. But if we’re being real, you can only binge TV or movies for so long before it becomes kinda boring. But luckily for you, we’re coming through with a ton of recs for couples card games and board games to bust out when you’ve gotta break out of your relationship rut. From conversation cards that help you get deep to spicy board games that count as foreplay, these games for couples are the best way to pass the time when it’s too cold to go outside. But if you’re like “ugh, don’t make me learn the rules of another board game, plz,” don’t stress! There are also a few classic games on here along with some easy and silly ones to bring out your playful sides.
Best of all, many of these games can be repurposed to play with friends or family at your next game night. While we might leave the X-rated ones at home, something like conversation cards or Jenga can totally be enjoyed by more than two players.
So cozy up under your blanket and pour a glass of wine to get started with these couples’ card games and board games that’ll keep you entertained.
Conversation Starter Card Games
1. Where Should We Begin
Think you already know everything about your partner? Think again! This card game from world-renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel encourages storytelling with prompts like “Share something that’s changed your worldview” or “One of the things keeping me up at night is…”
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2. Lip Service
This raunchy card game invites you and your person to answer questions like “What’s the worst thing that can happen after sex?” or “At what age should people stop having casual sex?” It’s sure to make you laugh, but you’ll also learn more about your partner through these funny and honest questions.
3. The Conversation Party Game: Love and Relationships (After Dark)
A conversation starter game is an easy, organic way to feel close to your person. This deck of cards has tons of flirty, fun conversation starters specifically about relationships. You and your partner can ask each other questions about sex and love or read statements (like, “You can tell a man’s bedroom skills by the way he moves on the dance floor”) and take turns responding with your thoughts. If you’re looking for something that you could also play with friends and family members, the brand also has a Love and Relationships deck that’s not quite as spicy.
4. Actually Curious
In addition to being gorgeous (like, I would totally leave this on my coffee table as decor), these cards have thought-provoking prompts so you can get to know your partner better. You’ll ask each other deep questions like, “How do you find fulfillment?” and “What are you willing to fight for and why?” Each deck has 52 cards, the blue ones are the “easy” questions, followed by green, yellow, and red (the most intimate ones). It’s a great way to feel closer to your partner, your BFF, your family, or anyone else in your life.
5. Lovehoney Oh! Kinky Confessions Truth or Dare Card Game
Whether you’ve been together 4ever or you’ve only been dating a few weeks, learning more about what your partner likes in bed is so exciting. This deck of cards has a bunch of H-O-T “would you rather” questions for you and your partner to discuss, like “Would you rather spank or be spanked?” or “Would you rather have sex in the bath or shower?” I foresee some very hot date nights in your future after you’ve gone through a few of these cards.
6. Our Moments
The other nice thing about conversation starter decks is that you’re not limited with time and it’s perfect for killing a few minutes here and there without committing to an hours-long game of Monopoly. This deck has 100 questions perfect for getting to know each other or for understanding more about each other.
7. Love Language
Another conversation starter deck like the above, this one is separated into color-coded categories like family, intimacy, couple, past and future, and individual, making it perfect for splitting up into separate topics or mixing and matching.
8. The Ultimate Game for Couples
If you like friendly game nights with other couples, this game is great because you can play with just two people, or with other pairs. There’s a mix of personal trivia questions and challenges.
9. Loopy
If you’re looking for a fun game with the option to make it dirty, this one is for you. Loopy is sold as a “date night in a box” and has cards ranging from stuff like the getting to know you questions, as well as physical challenges like kissing and fondling each other. Plus, the Twister-like spinning wheel adds a fun change of pace to just drawing cards.
10. Realizations
This is like The Newlywed Game, but deeper. Instead of guessing where your partner’s dream vacay is, you have to answer stuff like, “What is your partner’s deepest childhood wound?” — I know, right? You’re pretty much guaranteed to walk away with a more insightful understanding of your partner after one round of this game.
11. Whine Barrel
Another conversation deck, but this one comes in a cute wine-barrel design that makes it the perfect gift for a wine snob when paired with a bottle or two of their favorite vintage. Throw it in your bag for your next picnic and see where the tipsy convo takes you.
12. Table Topics Destination Anywhere
This sleek-looking box of 135+ questions will give you some serious vacation inspiration. You can both answer questions like “Do you prefer taking tours or seeing sights on your own?” and “Where would you like to go if it wasn’t so difficult to get there?” Better to learn your partner’s travel style now, right?
CARD GAMES
13. You & Me
Get ready to get reallll intimate. This sexy card game encourages you to turn things up a notch, with prompts like “Using a drop of lubricant, massage, stroke, tickle and caress every part of your lover’s crotch.”
14. The 1998 Deck of Cards
There are actually a *ton* of card games you can play with just two people. There are the classics like War, Slapjack, Crazy Eights, Go Fish…the list goes on. But The 1998 Deck makes seriously cool card decks with celebrities like DMX, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, Lil Kim, and other artists. With these in your travel bag, you and your partner will never be bored at the airport again.
15. Uno Dare
Who doesn’t love Uno? This version comes with options to add dares onto certain cards, making drawing two somehow even riskier. There are some PG dares included in the deck, but you can also make up your own. And don’t worry, the PG dares are still guaranteed to make you laugh (like putting a card between your knees and walking around or blowing only one card off of the pile).
16. Stet
If you and your partner are both grammar nerds, you’ll love this game of calling out grammatical mistakes. It’s not too complicated and can be played with high school level English, so don’t worry about things getting too tricky. Eighteen bucks for the potential bragging rights of having better grammar than your partner? Seems like a steal, my friends.
17. Timeline
One of the easiest games to start to play quickly, the goal of Timeline is to simply place cards in chronological order. It’s trickier than it sounds (when were scissors invented?) and will get you talking things out and going down Wikipedia spirals in a hot sec.
18. Codenames Duet
The uber-popular Codenames game, but this one is designed specifically for two people, making it even easier. You and your partner work as a team, trying to eliminate words based on certain cryptic clues they give.
BOARD GAMES
19. Lovehoney Oh! Fantastic Foreplay Board Game
Board game night just got a lot spicer! Here’s the deal: Level One cards call for you to do something flirty, like play with your partner’s hair, and as you go up in levels, the prompts get more intense. There are also cards that help you discuss turn-ons, and did we mention the set comes with a blindfold and tickler.
20. Throw Throw Burrito
This goofy game is meant for two to six players and all you really need to know is that at some point, you’ll throw one of these soft burritos at your sweetheart. To quote a memorable Amazon review, “Who knew throwing a squishy burrito at the person you love most in the world would be so cathartically hilarious?”
21. A Little Wordy
If you like a little friendly competition, this two-player word game might be for you. Basically you and your partner each come up with a word from the pile of letters you have and then use clue cards to try and figure out each other’s words. Fun, right?
22. Jenga
It’s a fact: Everyone enjoys a good game of Jenga. But I’ve got a way to take it to the next level to make it an extra-fun couples game. You can get one of those conversation decks and write some of the prompts on your Jenga blocks. Whoever pulls and places the block has to answer the question or prompt written on it. Or, you could write funny (and/or sexy) activities on the blocks that each player has to do. Really, the world is your oyster, and you can personalize your Jenga blocks however you want to.
23. Quoridor
This small strategy game is easy to play, but the chic wooden pieces look nice enough to play as an adult (and justify the $35 price tag).
24. Wavelength
If you and your partner are always reading each other’s minds, you’ll love Wavelength. Not only does it look so different from typical games (alllll your friends will be like “What’s this one?” at your next get together, I promise), it’s all about guessing what’s on your partner’s mind.
25. Bananagrams
Like Scrabble without the bulky board, you can toss Bananagrams in your purse to play over dinner or a picnic easily. Once you see how convenient it is to pick up and start a game of Bananagrams, you’ll be hooked.
26. Wooden Tabletop Basketball
For adults who get jealous watching their nieces and nephews play that silly pie game, there’s this classier version of tabletop basketball, complete with six mini basketballs and two teeny-tiny side-by-side hoops. Set a timer and see who can sink the most in under a minute, or just keep going to see who can set a record. Also, it looks like it’d be fun to play alone? *Adds to cart*
27. Pandemic
For an on-the-nose two player game for our current times, there’s Pandemic. You play as a team of doctors, scientists, and other disease experts trying to eradicate viruses across the world. There’s a lot of physical pieces to the game so it might not be great on a picnic or beach day, but it’s super easy to play and you’re playing as a team, which is a fun change of pace.
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Contributing Writer
Jamie Ballard (she/her) is a freelance writer and editor who covers news, lifestyle, and entertainment topics, including sex and relationships, TV, movies, books, health, pets, food and drinks, pop culture, shopping, and personal finance. She regularly contributes to Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, and YouGov, among other publications. When she’s not working, you can find her running, traveling, or scrolling TikTok. Follow her on Twitter.