Every relationship needs to have an element of carefree fun in it, and having a few favorite games to play with your girlfriend or boyfriend is a simple way of adding that element. The rules and structure take away the stress of trying to plan an activity, giving you the chance to just enjoy the moment and bond with your significant other.
Fortunately for you, your search for the perfect games to play together with your partner is over. Here are nine fun and simple ones for you to try.
1. Staring Contest
Just to show that you don't have to play elaborate games with lots of rules, props and competitive effort to have fun with your girlfriend or boyfriend, here's a very simple game to kick things off. All you'll need are your eyes and your partner's, along with a healthy dose of self-control. To play, just sit face to face with your partner and stare deep into each other's eyes – the first one to laugh or look away is the loser. Eye contact can be a very deeply connecting experience for you and your partner, so this game has the extra benefit of deepening the bond between you. You can use this game as foreplay before getting intimate, setting sexy challenges and dares for the loser. The tension it builds up can deepen the passion between the two of you.
2. Truth or Dare
Getting to know your partner's past in the starting phases of a relationship can be a little awkward, especially as you'll sometimes touch on areas you or your partner aren't ready to talk about just yet. Good thing there's truth or dare, to make things more entertaining! You ask each other – truth or dare, and the recipient of the question must pick one and either answer a question truthfully, or perform any challenge they are given.
Spice up the game with different variations. This can even turn into a fun drinking game to play with your girlfriend or boyfriend - where you must answer a question or take a shot, or you could even play sexy truth or dare, asking each other questions about your sexual history and setting raunchy challenges.
3. Reverse Writing Game
This is a game that you play via text, so you and your partner can play in the same room, or thousands of miles apart. All you have to do is type whatever you were going to send in reverse. For example, suppose you want to say.
"Been thinking about you all day. Can't wait till you get home"
You could type:
"Home get you till wait can't. Day all you about thinking been"
Or, for a greater challenge for you both:
"Emoh teg uoy llit tiaw t'nac. Yad lla uoy tuoba gnikniht neeb"
Being careful not to misspell any words of course!
This game has no winner or loser, just communication between the two of you in a fun and quirky way. Start it off without telling your partner what you are doing. It's bound to give a few head-scratching moments before they figure it out, have a chuckle and join in.
4. Rhyming Game
How good is your vocabulary? How fast can you think? How about your partner? These are the questions you will answer with this game. It's quite simple – the starter picks a word at random, and then you both take turns saying words that rhyme with it. The first one to repeat a word or hesitate more than 3 seconds, loses.
The fun of this game is in finding out how creative you are compared to your partner. If you want to spice it up a little more, pick a word that purposefully sounds like a dirty one. You can even add the stipulation that the first person says the dirty word loses for an even bigger challenge.
5. Roleplay
This is a great game you can play with your partner behind closed doors or out in public. All you have to do is pick someone to pretend to be – whether it's a real famous person, a character from a book or movie you like, or characters of your own creation with vivid and interesting personalities and life. You could even dress up for it, whether it's with normal clothes you wouldn't normally wear, or an elaborate, detailed costume.
Role-playing gives you a break from reality and the usual grind of life. It adds spontaneity back into your lives and can be a good way to prevent your relationship from becoming stale. Your roleplay will inevitably spill into the bedroom, and it can be a great way to keep your love life fresh as well.
6. Board Games
The great thing about board games is that there are so many to choose from: classics like Monopoly, Jenga, Ludo, Checkers or Trivial Pursuit will always be good board games to play with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and there are thousands more, some of which are unique to different cultures. Each game has its own rules, and learning them together can be part of the fun for you and your partner.
Don't take the game too seriously. Focus on having a good time, not on winning. If you and your partner enjoy yourselves more by being competitive, then hold nothing back, but make sure the atmosphere remains one of fun. Be loose and flexible with the rules, making up your own as you go along, and the game will become something special and unique that you share.
7. Video Games
Video games used to be an activity just for teen boys and hardcore enthusiasts, but this just isn't true anymore. Games exist for everyone of every level of interest and skill, from simple fun games that are good if either you or your partner are casual gamers, to hardcore action and simulator titles if you both take it more seriously. Be sure to pick games that are fun to play together. Competitive games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, or co-op adventure and combat games like Gears of War, Wolfenstein: Young Blood and Portal 2 Co-Op are your best bet.
If you and your partner have different skill levels, it's better to err on the side of the less skilled player and pick a game that is easier. If you're still way too good, let your partner get the upper hand on you every once in a while. Remember, the goal is to have fun together, not for just one of you to spend the entire time steamrolling the other.
8. Sticker Stalker
This is a game you play in public, with everyone you see as a participant – whether they are aware of it or not! To play. You and your partner get some stickers like the ones your teachers would stick on good work in kindergarten. You then go out to any crowded public place and try to paste the stickers on as many people as possible without being noticed. The person who gives out the most stickers wins!
The great thing about this game is that it is a private little secret the two of you can share. Throw in extra challenges, like who can put the most stickers on one person, or get a sticker on someone's skin without them noticing. Afterward, you can share a good laugh as you imagine your bewildered "victims" finding random stickers on them.
9. Twister
This party classic works with 2-4 players, so it's a perfect game to play with your boyfriend or girlfriend. You and your beau face each other across a mat with different colored dots and take turns placing randomly selected body parts on each color. Expect lots of physical contact as getting tangled up is inevitable and will lead to many moments that are either hilarious, passionate or both.
You can make up many spicy variations to the game that will heat things up in the bedroom. Try it with nothing on but your underwear – or nothing at all – and it could lead to some exciting sexy times. You can even throw some massage oil into the mix to make things extra slippery and challenging, and make the probability of "accidental" tangle-ups that much higher!
Conclusion
It has come up multiple times in the article, but it's important enough to bear repeating: always remember that fun is your first priority. Always inject just enough competition into your play to keep things exciting, but never to dominate or crush your partner. Keep this basic principle in mind and you will be playing games together for a long time to come.