As Valentine's Day approaches we thought we'd take a look at a few games that are a great option for a cosy night in for couples. It's often said that 'families that play together stay together', and that can be equally true of couples. Time spent together playing a game is time where you can connect in a different way. Sure, watching a good film or binge watching the next big show on your streaming platform of choice is a good way to relax, but playing a game together means you talk, you laugh, you bond in a way that is not there when you are passively watching something. While playing a game you are engaged, you are sharing your ideas and you can be co-operating or competing. This study talks about the positive benefits on couples of playing board games.

So, here are our recommendations for some great games to bring out the best in your relationship with your partner, some where you have to work together to win, some where you can prove who is the most competitive and earn bragging rights. Until the next game, at least!

1. Jaipur: This is a simple yet brilliant card game for 2 players, where the object is to collect sets of cards (trade goods) to sell to the market for rewards. Once three out of the six trade goods are sold out, the round ends and the player who has sold the most wins the round. The first to win two rounds wins the game. Collect your trade goods cards from the supply, exchange them for cards in your hand, or replace from the deck, when you have a set (up to 5 cards of one type) trade them to earn points and bonuses. And then there are the camels! Camel cards can be part of the exchange and are useful for this, but you can also earn points for having the largest camel herd!

   

   
   

   Great fun, and a surprising amount of thinking and strategy in such a simple concept. And if your Valentine's Day involves a trip to the pub it's a small and easy game to take and play!

   
   

2. Let's Go! To Japan: This is a great game about planning a dream holiday. So if you're planning a trip together soon, get some tips on how to work out the perfect itinerary from this wonderful little game! It can be played with up to 4 players but works very well with just the 2. In the game you're planning a trip to Japan, and have to plan 7 days spent in either Tokyo or Kyoto, with 3 activities on each day. Draw cards for the activities and place them in your day planner according to the best experiences for each day. Earn bonuses for 'highlight of the day activities' and don't forget to book your train travel between the 2 cities! Visit temples and shrines (the cards feature visitor attractions that you can actually visit and experience), eat at expensive restaurants, go to the anime museum... there are lots of activity cards for each city.

   

   This is a fabulous game where you have to share your trip with the other players so there is a lot of opportunity for Valentine's Day coupleness!

   
   

3. Stranger Things Upside Down: Whether you love Stranger Things or not (and if not, why not, it's great!) this is the first game on this list that is co-operative. You play together to beat the game, or in this case, two games as it is double-sided with a different challenge on each side of the board. In Season One you have to rescue Will Byers from the Upside Down, and in Season Two (which is a tough challenge) save Will but also close the Gate to the Upside Down. This game requires communication, working together, discussion and planning together. It features locations and characters from the series, and events that fans of the show will recognise and love. You can play as your favourite characters except for Eleven, who has a special role within the game. It's a game where you have to manage your deck of 'action cards', and pool your character's special skills and the items and allies you've collected.

   

   This is a brilliant co-operative game, whether you love the theme or not, but be warned for a game based on such an incredibly popular TV show, it can be pretty hard to win, so it definitely needs you both to play your part! We'd recommend trying the Season One side a few times, and when we play we each control 2 characters!

   
   

4. Cascadia: This game is just relaxed, beautiful fun, that could really hit the spot for nature loving couples. The aim is to build a wildlife habitat by collecting tiles and strategically connecting them, and at the same time populate your environment with animals in ways that form a harmonious ecosystem. Each turn you pick up a habitat tile and an animal token and place them to build your landscape. Connect them and place them according to the scoring cards in play to earn points towards victory. In this game you can pretty much just focus on yourself, but beware that the other players can sabotage your plans by taking the tiles and tokens you wanted forcing you to pivot your strategy when the other player snatches the forest tile and elk token you coveted! Although it can be played by up to 4 players, it works perfectly as a game for couples.

   

   A wonderful, calm tile-laying game of thinking and strategy. We absolutely love this game and would recommend it for anyone looking for a new game experience.

   
   

5. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: This isn't so much of a game as an experience. There are 10 cases to solve, and all you have is a map of Victorian London, a directory of people and places, and a newspaper relevant to the date of each case. The rest is up to you and your partner (or team) to solve the case following the leads in the casebook. The book for each case provides events and conversations for each location on the map, the newspaper will provide clues as well. The aim is to try and solve the case using fewer leads than Sherlock Holmes does it: you won't succeed but you will have a lot of fun trying! And it is a perfect way to combine your individual detective skills and instincts.

   

   So, grab a glass of wine, lay out the map on the table and join together to be the best detectives you can be. A case will take around 2-3 hours to solve if you spend a lot of time discussing the clues together and deciding on which lead to follow next. A brilliant, fun experience.

   
   

6. Viticulture World: This is a co-operative expansion to the truly amazing game, Viticulture. Combine Viticulture, the Tuscany expansion and Viticulture World and you have an almost perfect game. The aim of Viticulture World is to become the most respected winery owners in the world, by growing grapes, harvesting them, and making and selling fine wines. With this expansion, not only do you have to help each other reach the required victory ('respect') points, but you jointly have to get to a certain number of influence points for your wine producing region. The game relies on you taking actions that not only benefit yourself but help your playing partner achieve their goals too, so discussion, negotiation and planning are necessary for you to succeed together.

   

   So once again, crack open a bottle of good wine, put out a nice cheeseboard platter and while away a couple of hours together living the Tuscan Vineyard owners life! We can't recommend this game enough!

   
   
   
   

So there's a few suggestions for great games to play with your partner for an alternative Valentine's Day to the norm. I know we will almost certainly be playing one of these games, maybe even two, while enjoying a cosy Valentine's Games Night together. Let us know which of these takes your fancy in the comments, but honestly, you can't really go wrong with any of them!

And of, course we couldn't leave here without suggesting Strong Point! Strong Point really shines with a larger group, but it definitely can work as a head-to-head trivia face-off for couples!

And if you've managed to get through the original 200 category cards, expand your game with Stronger Point, released in December of 2024! It comes with 100 new category cards, and 2 extra sets of prediction counters!

That's it for now, happy gaming, and have a lovely Valentine's Day, however you intend to celebrate it!

Thanks for reading

Gill & Si