Our top picks for Valentines Day
Looking for the perfect way to show your partner how much you care? This year, don’t say it with flowers. Say it by ruthlessly destroying them in one of these top-ten board games for couples.
Love our games? You can buy them in our board game shop
Heck Meck
You and your significant other get to role-play as chickens and compete to eat the most worms. Lovely.
A push-your-luck game by the German Cupid of board game design, Reiner Knizia. Each player takes turns to roll dice and capture worms to score points. It’s quick to play, easy to learn and it’s for up to 7 players – perfect for that awkward double date you arranged the other week.
Bananagrams
Spell out your true feelings with the most romantic fruit-based spelling game around.
Nothing says “affection” more than literally spelling it out and scoring a butt-load of points against your loved one. Empty the pile of tiles onto the table and race to spell out as many words as you can. Once all the tiles are gone, the player with the largest crossword wins.
Hive
The perfect activity for lovebugs everywhere.
Pick a set of tiles and get ready to unleash a swarm of insects onto your beloved. This one is an abstract strategy game that’s all about using your bugs to surround your opponent’s queen and win the game. Ideal if your partner’s scared of spiders – it could give you the winning edge.
Jaipur
Impress the hell out of your date by becoming the most powerful merchant in Rajasthan.
Imagine it: candles, a nice bottle of wine and an iron grasp on the silk and gold market. Jaipur is a card drafting game that’s half strategy and half luck. Take it in turns to buy, exchange and sell your wares, all the while keeping a watchful eye on those pesky herds of camels.
Klask
Dating one of those annoying anti-gamers? Look no further.
Definitely the most hands-on game in the list, Klask is like a mash-up between table football and air hockey. Just use the magnetic handles to attack, defend and slide your way to victory. Perfect for partners with a phobia of cards, dice and dominoes.
Star Realms
Alien armies compete in head-to-head intergalactic warfare. Who said romance was dead?
We know what you’re thinking, but seriously hear us out. This is a deck-building strategy game for two people, where players race to build their fleet of ships and blow their opponent out of the sky. The thing is, this game is all about reading your opponent’s every move and figuring out their plan before it’s too late. So if you want to find out how well you know each other, this might be the one for you.
Cinco Linko
Probably the best couples game ever created – but who are we to judge.
Well it’s one of our only two-player games, so obviously it was always going to make the list. If you’ve never played OK Play, it’s about as simple as games get. Grab a stack of tiles and take turns placing them down until someone sneaks in a line of five – easy peasy. Also there’s no board, so you can play it anywhere. Perfect for that really-tasty-but-really-slow restaurant you both love.
Buy OK Play from our board game shop.
Codenames Duet
Another co-operative game and a sequel to a classic in the board game world. Codenames Duet has two players move across a map and work together to uncover enemy spies by creating one-word clues for their teammate. Successfully crack enough codes to tick a location off your map. But beware – if you get it wrong and uncover a spy card, the holidays over.
Another co-operative game and a sequel to a classic in the board game world. Codenames Duet has two players move across a map and work together to uncover enemy spies by creating one-word clues for their teammate. Successfully crack enough codes to tick a location off your map. But beware – if you get it wrong and uncover a spy card, the holidays over.
…And Then We Held Hands
A co-operative game about empathising and communicating… without saying a word.
Love staring longingly into your partner’s eyes? Well great, because in this game that’s about all you can do. Each player receives a hand of emotion cards and must make their way to the centre by silently discarding either their cards or their partners. You’ll either win together or lose together, so be careful you don’t end up getting the silent treatment after the game has ended.
Fog of Love
It’s like living out your own romantic comedy, scene-by-scene. Just make sure it doesn’t end in tragedy.
Well, it’s no surprise that this one made the top slot. Released late last year, this is a game about falling in love and judging your compatibility based off things like your personality, your values and your preference in IKEA furniture. We’ve heard rumours of this game causing full-blown arguments at game conventions, which means it must be good.
