Whether you are a competitive or cooperative gamer, you and your partner can always find great board games for couples. There are many good suggestions, with Hive and Patchwork offering quick-paced and intense gameplay. Then, you have games that invite you to use your inside knowledge of your relationship to win or gain an advantage.
Such titles include Codenames Duet and Fog of Love. Of course, there are many different board games fit for couples, but we have decided to offer a few suggestions that we know you would at least be interested to look into. No matter whether you are looking for romance or an intense space race for dominance, you and your partner will find something worthwhile on our list of board games for couples!
Top List of Board Games for Couples
- Codenames Duet
- Fog of Love
- Hive
- Patchwork
- Dice Throne
- Schotten Totten 2
- The Fox in the Forest Duet
- Santorini
- Cosmic Encounter Duel
- Unlock!
1. Codenames Duet
Players: 2 | Play Time: 60 Min | Age 11+
Codenames is a global blockbuster game. The original is an experience for 2-8 players, but Duet is a more streamlined version that is specifically designed for couples. Just like in the original game, players will try to guess words on their partner’s list but avoid an “assassin word” that would end the game for both.
This is a more cooperative than competitive game, which is perfect for couples who love to support each other in games and give each other a leg-up when they play. Not only that but in Codenames Duet you can easily use your own couple language to swap one-word coded clues to help you identify specific word cards as well.
Loving so much to have your own secret language is not technically cheating, especially so when you are taking on Codenames Duet. Your and your partner will need to keep revealing word cards by giving each other a solid clue and attempting to find out the names of all 15 agent cards, without triggering an assassin. It’s a gripping and very fun game for two which will make you work as a team to get to the bottom of it.
Buy Codenames Duet on Amazon US / Amazon UK
2. Fog of Love
Players: 2 | Play Time: 60-120 Min | Age: 17+
They say love is blindness, and in Fog of War, two lovers with different personalities and goals will try to navigate their relationship and balance their personal ambition with their partner’s happiness.
The relationship is off to a fiery start with both partners having highly individualistic personality and facing a set of professional and personal challenges that threatens to throw a spanner in the works. Each player’s goal will usually be at odds.
This means that sooner or later one or both parties will start doubting their relationship – but don’t let Fog of Love be a footprint for your own happiness and relationship! Still, trying to balance the in-game objectives will be fun, fraught with difficulties, and ultimately require sacrifice.
Whether you prefer these difficulties to be personal or professional is entirely up to you. If worse comes to worst, you can always choose to be a heartbreaker, too! All in all, Fog of Love is one of the best board games for couples, and with a good reason!
Now, Fog of Love is a bit on the lengthy side with a playtime of 60-120 minutes, but we are pretty sure that time will fly by when you crack on with this game. Admittedly, Fog of Love is not so much about discovering your romantic self, but balancing your relationship in the game based on what is important to you.
Oh, and make sure you don’t let personal feelings get in the way – you don’t want your partner to find you too cloying.
Buy Fog of Love on Amazon US / Amazon UK
3. Hive
Players: 2 | Play Time: 20 Min | Age: 9+
Hive is a brilliant board game for couples and date nights. The game comes with a nice little bag that contains everything you need for a good evening of board gaming fun and getting to know your partner a little better. Extremely portable, this board game is one that will have you compete against each other more so than cooperate.
So, adjust your expectations and remember – in the animal kingdom, only the fittest survive. Sure, the theme may not sound very romantic on the face of it, but Hive is such a fun game. Often called a lighter version of chess, the game will ask you to surround your partner’s Queen Bee with tiles before they surround yours.
The gameplay is particularly light and easy to get into, making this game fast, easy, and mighty rewarding no matter how often you win or lose. Hive usually plays in under 20 minutes which means that you will be enjoying a quick experience you can drop at any time if you are not having any fun but trust us.
You will have tons of great moments with Hive, but make sure that your affection for your opponent does not cloud your judgement. You will need to lie your tiles in rapid, deterministic succession so that your partner is distracted enough for you to conquer his Queen Bee!
The game is also fun if you and your partner have a mind game going, trying to extrapolate from what you know about your loved one’s typical behavior and anticipate their next tile only to counter that with your own special move.
Buy Hive on Amazon US / Amazon UK
4. Patchwork
Players: 2 | Play Time: 15-30 Min | Age 8+
Patchwork is such a fun light game that you will definitely see why it makes for a great game for couples. The fast-paced gameplay and nice thee will have you tailor away as you try to put together the best quit, drawing from dozens of tiles to make the most complete and beautiful patterns.
Just like with a real quilt, players will want to fit everything tightly together, reduce the cost and boost the synergies between tiles. You will score extra points for spotting neat solutions quickly and early on and putting them to good use right away.
Now, the game itself may lack a “romantic” theme as such, but doesn’t it feel snug to you to put together a nice quilt and perhaps wrap yourself in it? This sentimentality aside, Patchwork stands well without trying to depict it as something it is not.
The game has become an addictive title and is certainly one of the best tabletop experiences for couples who are looking to play something fun and relaxing on a rainy evening or a summer night. Fun, quick and mighty entertaining, this is a game you will definitely enjoy no matter whether you are competing to the best of your ability or just taking things easy.
Buy Patchwork on Amazon US / Amazon UK
5. Dice Throne
Players: 2-6 | Play Time: 20-40 Min | Age: 8+
Dice Throne is a delightful game for two, with a brilliant theme and captivating Yahtzee-driven gameplay that will definitely become a favorite for you and your partner. In Dice Throne, you take a role of a character who battles against an opponent using a combination of abilities that are triggered through dice symbols and numbers.
There are cards to help you manipulate the dice and reduce the randomness in the game, creating a deeply competitive but somehow light-hearted experience that appeals to cut-throat players and more relaxed gamers as well.
Dice Throne strikes home with all, young and old, offering you a cool way to pick a hero and use a unique set of as many as eight skills, status effects, and an Ultimate that threatens to break your opponent and reduce their health bar to a zero. The art is superb, the mechanics and gameplay solid, and you will end up with a variety of outstanding games to try.
The mad dice-chucking that ensues and the die-manipulation accomplished with cards will have you and your partner in an uproar as the last remaining Health Points of your character often prove an intense contest that neither party can bring to a conclusion.
Dice Throne makes for some of the most fun and entertaining games that will give you a good laugh and make you feel that you want seconds right on the spot.
Buy Dice Throne on Amazon US / Amazon UK
6. Schotten Totten 2
Players: 2 | Play Time: 20 Min | Age: 8+
Schotten Totten is an interesting pick on this list. Will couples like it? That depends. Schotten Totten 2 is a game that will make you feel like you are playing a game of high-stakes poker. Yet, the gameplay is fun, quick and easy, and the abstract plot of the story will prove an anchor into the game itself where blood-thirsty muscular men fight off against enraged poultry.
Yet, for this wackiness from an art standpoint, a game of Schotten Totten is so much fun, and if you and your partner love competitive titles that are introduced lightly and don’t require too much time figuring out the rules, this game will truly be precisely what you need it to be.
The melee can get a little heated, and couples can get a little carried away trying to slaughter each other, but it’s all good because it’s all in jest. Or is it? What fowl plan may a partner have in mind? Grab an axe and split them open to find out!
Buy Schotten Totten 2 on Amazon US / Amazon UK
7. The Fox in the Forest Duet
Players: 2 | Play Time: 30 Min | Age: 10+
Ah, yes! The Fox in the Forest need not be the intense competition between two players it usually is. Rather, the game’s successor, The Fox in the Forest Duet, will transform the familiar setting into a fun and cooperative game that brings a fair bit of challenge and proves to be one of the best board games for couples.
Instead of the somewhat brutal head-to-head competition, the Duet game will have you and your partner try to advance across the track in the forest, playing high cards to win each trick and move forward to success. The two players will band together and determine what the trick for each round is, trying to put down the cards that will get them closer to victory.
Unlike in the original where you want to be winning – but not by too much, players in the Duet version of the game will try to advance across the path using their respective hands and accumulating points. Players will also need to work towards clearing certain spaces on the map before they can continue on their journey.
But play too many fox cards during a round, and the fox token you are trying to catch up to will advance farther out on the path and limit your own hand in subsequent rounds. Fox in the Forest Duet will ask you and your partner to communicate, strategize and try to beat the game, making for a great date night board game, especially if you love to spend your time this way!
Buy The Fox in the Forest on Amazon US / Amazon UK
8. Santorini
Players: 2-4 | Play Time: 20 Min | Age: 8+
In the city of Santorini, architects will take on the ambitious task of advancing work on architecture and accomplishing various multi-tiered feats. The game itself is not specifically geared towards couples in the romantic sense, but boy is it a good bit of fun if you and your partner love the light-hearted competition that has a tactical depth nevertheless.
If competing in a board game is something that you and your partner love doing, then Santorini does have charisma! You will muster divine powers to advance work on different and beautiful pieces of architecture, choosing to move across the city or build at every step.
Players will race to complete three levels, with the third one being topped off by a dome. There are 40 thematic heroes and god powers to put to good use and have a blast yourself, and ultimately, Santorini will prove a lot of fun with a high replay value owing to the unique cards.
Besides, who knows? The game’s solid concept may inspire you to visit Santorini yourself and go on a romantic getaway. Before you do, remember to give one of the best board games for date night a fair shot! If you want to wait around, there is a new Santorini: Pantheon Edition on its way!
Buy Santorini on Amazon US / Amazon UK
9. Cosmic Encounter: Duel
Player: 2 | Time: 30 Min | Age: 14+
Oh, it’s so on. Cosmic Encounter: Duel is all about conquering the galaxy. A scaled-down version of the real Cosmic Encounter that can accommodate 3-5 players, Duel is a more focused tale of galactic conquest. Essentially, the main game’s core objective is retained here as well, as you take over an alien species and seek to become the most powerful civilization in the known universe.
Duel is a game punctuated by funny cards and funnier ploys, but make no mistake, for this, is a game for couples that can take a defeat in stride. The game invites vicious competition and unapologetic backstabbing, where clever strategies pay off, and ill-conceived strategies end on the ground with a thump!
Each player is free to pick their favorite alien race and lean into its unique ability to deliver a more powerful combo and score more points. Players will try to conquer five planets before their partner can, making for an intergalactic tug-of-war that only one person can win. And, depending on what relationship you have, the battle could range from discreet brinkmanship to an all-out galactic war that takes down shields, and ships, and engulfs entire planets in the blazes of fire!
For players who love playing competitively against their partner, this is definitely one of the best board games for couples you can enjoy right now.
Buy Cosmic Encounter: Duel on Amazon US / Amazon UK
10. Unlock!
Players: 1-6 | Time: 60 Min | Age: 10+
The Unlock! series is some of the best board games to explore. You and your partner will set out to crack the code of countless escape rooms, with each box in the series containing its own unique mystery. There is nothing quite like the escape room genre to bring you together with your loved one, or family for that matter.
But Unlock! is a game series that truly shines at two people, which is one it’s one of the best board games for couples to try. There are numerous themes to explore, as well, which means that the puzzles will come from every possible major franchise that will appeal to you and your partner.
You get to crack mysteries in the world of Alice in Wonderland, Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes, and even The Wizard of Oz with many other possible options. Each bo also plays in somewhat under 60 minutes making it a densely-packed experience that is perhaps perfect to break the ice on date night!
There is a unique transference of the rules across all boxes, and while you still need to study the rules of each a bit, you will find the system to be very easy to get the hang of, or even jump into the next box if this is what you and your date want to do. With so many puzzles to crack, you will find this to be one of the most fun experiences for couples that board games have to offer.
Buy Unlock on Amazon US / Amazon UK
Disclaimer: The list was compiled with the help of and combines the mixed experience of Meeples Herald’s editorial team, BoardGameGeek ranking, and online search volumes.