50 Best Date Night Board Games
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Playing a board game outside in the grass on a beautiful day? Sounds like our ideal date.
Looking for more date ideas you can do from home? Board games are the answer. They provide hours of entertainment for little money, they don’t involve screens, and they help you connect with your partner while having loads of fun. In short—they’re amazing.
We’ve rounded up the best two player board games, perfect for date night at home. We’ve broken them into the following categories:
Classic Games
These are the games you may remember from growing up, but that are just as much fun to play as an adult.
Our Top Pick
We choose Trivial Pursuit as our top pick because we play it so often on date night ourselves. It tests your knowledge and has a ton of replay value. Just be sure to buy the most recent edition for updated trivia.
Runners Up
Place the right body part on the right color dot. That’s it! Perfect for getting up close and personal on your date.
It’s like Tic Tac Toe but way more fun. Connect four pieces of the same color to win.
Use tweezers to perform an operation without touching the sides of the board. If you do—BUZZ!
Ready, aim, fire at your opponents naval ships without knowing their exact location.
Laugh Out Loud Games
There’s a new trend in modern board games: the more ridiculous the better. And we’re totally on board. These games will get you laughing without sacrificing quality gameplay.
Our Top Pick
Exploding Kittens is our top pick in the ridiculous games category, and 25,000 other reviewers on Amazon agree. "It's like UNO, except there are goats, magical enchiladas and kittens that can kill you." It’s easy and hysterical. Need we say more?
Runners Up
Build a baby-eating monster, then eat more babies than your opponents. Simple as that.
Be the first to collect seven unicorns in your stable, and ruthlessly destroy your opponents in the process.
Your goal is to become lord of the goats, which means you need the most goat followers in your herd. Goat puns abound.
Win points by making sushi and developing different menus. Yum!
Addicting Card Games
Sometimes a simple card game is all you need for a good time. These games are all about playing your cards right, but be careful—they’re addicting!
Our Top Pick
Phase 10 is the perfect game for a chill evening. Be the first to complete ten phases and win. We love how you can put down and pick up the game between rounds if you’re short on time.
Runners Up
Be the first to get rid of your cards by sequencing stacks of cards in ascending order. Easy to learn, strategic to play.
Be the first to get rid of your cards while others aim to sabotage you. It’s tricky—and when you’re down to one card you have to yell “Uno!” There goes all that secrecy.
Modern Masterpieces
Forget what you thought you knew about board games—these games have reinvented the genre. These are the best and most popular of 21st century board games. Beware—frequent board gamers will scoff if you say you’ve never played them!
Our Top Pick
One modern gaming trend we love: the collaborative game. That’s why we chose Forbidden Island as our favorite modern masterpiece. Each person takes the role of an adventurer on a sinking island, trying to recover four lost treasures. You must work together to get the treasure and escape the island before it is too late.
Runners Up
Settlers of Catan has a devoted following, but requires four players. Luckily, Rivals for Catan immerses two players in the world of Catan and has its own challenging gameplay.
You’ve entered a dungeon full of monsters. What do you do? Defeat them and steal their treasure, of course! While this game says 3-6 players, we frequently play it with two without any trouble.
You are the monarch of a small kingdom. Your goal is to expand your dominion, racing others to claim new land, hire minions, and construct your castle. Long live the Queen—or King!
You are a railway tycoon who wants to be the first to claim routes between cities. This game is fast-paced and competitive. Plus, now you can play with (or against!) Alexa with a compatible Echo device.
We asked other bloggers around the internet their favorite date night board games.
Find out which they picked!
Forgotten Classics
These games have been around for a long time and deserve more recognition. They would be the perfect addition to your date night at home.
Our Top Pick
Forget charades—Guesstures is the best forgotten classic, and perfect for a hilarious date night. Act out the word on the card and pull it out of the slate before the clock runs out and it falls. While you would ordinarily play on teams, you can play “in good faith” with just two. That means you both try your hardest no matter who is winning.
Runners Up
Risk is the predecessor to many popular modern games but it still holds its own. Strategize to lead your armies to victory in this classic game of conquest.
Remember this simple yet vexing game of revenge? Be the first to bring all of your pieces home and stop your opponent along the way. The best part? Muttering a sarcastic “sorry!” after every vindictive move.
Match tiles, score points. Sounds simple right? Quirkle is the perfect game for “non-gamers” because it is easy to pick up and deceivingly strategic to play.
You may or may not recall Sequence, the bingo -esque game that uses regular playing cards and a complex board. Don’t let that deceive you—it’s easy to pick up and so much fun.
Games with No Boards or Cards
While we generally call all of these games board games, not all of them have boards, or cards even. (And “table games” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?) These games use other things like dice, blocks, or dominoes and are too fun not to make the list of date ideas.
Our Top Pick
While you may consider Yahtzee old news, we still play it all the time. It’s quick and relatively mindless—so much so you can play it while watching TV if you want to. Pull it out whenever you have a few minutes to spare.
Runners Up
Jenga has one thing really going for it: suspense. Stack up the tiles and take turns pulling them out one at a time until the whole tower comes crashing down.
Match numbers of dots (or “pips”) to make a long train and get rid of your dominoes first. You can play Mexican Train Dominoes with any set of dominoes, though it is nice to have the markers and colors provided in this set.
Suspend resembles Jenga but requires adding pieces instead of subtracting them. Add one piece that’s out of balance and the whole thing could come crashing down.
Farkle operates differently than Yahtzee. Keep rolling, build up your score, and risk a “farkle” where you lose your points.
Games Suitable for Royalty
Unlike in life, in board games you get to take on the role of someone else, like a King or Queen or . . . executioner. Check out these games that tackle riches and royalty.
Our Top Pick
It’s the French Revolution and you and your opponent are rival executioners. Be the one to behead the most elite prisoners and win. Matthew and I play this one all the time. It’s irreverent, strategic, and a head-rolling good time.
Runners Up
If you like rummy style games, you’ll love Five Crowns. Arrange your entire hand into books and runs and be the first to go out. But watch out for the rotating wild card!
You both are competing merchants trying to buy up valuable gem mines and woo the nobility. Collect chips and create jewelry to become the richest of all.
Fill in the countryside around the fortified city of Carcassonne by laying tiles to create cities, roads, monasteries, and fields. Hugely entertaining.
The Queens are asleep and you need to wake them up using strategy and luck. This one is great for the whole family, but it’s not just for kids.
all about the wordplay
For those of you who love word games, we’ve got you covered. These board games require you to know your vocabulary. Just don’t get too tongue-tied while you are on your date.
Our Top Pick
If Scrabble lacks pace and energy for you, it’s time to try Bananagrams. We chose it as our top pick because it is portable, quick, and a whole lot of fun. Spread the tiles out on a table and create your own crossword of tiles until they are all gone. The first to use up their tiles wins.
Runners Up
Scrabble is another classic we play all the time. Create words and connect them to other words using randomly drawn letters. The one with the most points wins. Just be sure to buy a tile-lock board or your letters will go flying.
Challenge your mind with Boggle. Shake up the container of letter blocks. Then start the timer. Find as many words as you can in the block to win.
Describe the words on the cards without using any of the “taboo words”. Get the most to win. While Taboo is marketed to play in teams, we play it with two people “in good faith” all the time. That means we try our hardest no matter what.
We love Catchphrase. In fact, we created a 15 Minute Mini-Date out of it! Describe the word, then pass to your opponent. Whoever is holding the game when the timer runs out loses a point!
Games of Intrigue
Have you always wanted to be a spy? Do you love uncovering secrets? Then these games are for you. Add a little intrigue to your date.
Our Top Pick
House of Danger is a collaborative game created by Choose Your Own Adventure. Investigate suspicious happenings at a strange mansion, making your own path along the way. This game has several “chapters” and keeps us at the edge of our seat!
Runners Up
You are a powerful government official in a dystopian future. Bluff your way towards absolute power and try to unveil your opponent’s secret identities in the meantime.
This two player version of the massively popular Codenames allows you to work together to identify agents and avoid assassins. Beat the clock or lose the game. It may be better than the original!
You will adopt a secret identity as a spy for another country while trying to uncover the secret identity of your opponent. Obtain codebooks, keys, and passwords to compromise your opponent.
If you are looking for a truly unique date night, try Exit: The Secret Lab. Essentially it is an escape room you can do from home. Take on the role of volunteers in a research study that has gone terribly wrong. But note: you can only play this game once!
Card Versions of Classics
If lugging out a big game board and playing for hours doesn't appeal to you, there are many card versions of classic games that rise up to the originals. They're portable and tend to involve shorter games.
Our Top Pick
After you play Monopoly Deal you will forget the original ever existed. Be the first to collect three sets of properties and win. Instead of a game you never finish, you get fast and quick-thinking play. I always insist on another round. It’s that fun!
Runners Up
Start with a four letter word, then change it one letter at a time. First one out of cards wins!
This version of Scattergories is much more interactive. Draw one card from each deck, then slam your hand on the “I Know” card when you have a connection and shout it out. Make the most connections and win.
How can you possibly play Pictionary without drawing? Here’s how! Combine simple drawing cards and gestures to get your partner to guess the clue. No more “I suck at drawing” excuses.
Trade and hold on to career, adventure, family, and wealth cards to make your “life story” as exciting as possible. Every new experience gives you more points and the one with the most wins.
Adult Party Games for Two
If you are fans of games like Apples to Apples, What do You Meme?, or Cards Against Humanity, you probably already know that none of them can be played with two people. But you’re in luck—these ones can! Just beware that many of these games contain adult themes with varying levels of offensiveness.
Our Top Pick
The Metagame has six different game options. The two player game called History 101 asks you to put culture references in chronological order. Three strikes and you’re out!
Runners Up
Both of you flip a card. If the cards match, the first person to shout out a suitable answer wins. While this calls for three people, it can also be played with two.
Flip a topic card and a letter card. The first person to shout out a relevant answer starting with the correct letter wins.
Like a more adult-themed Scattergories, role the die for a letter, then fill out your category card with answers starting with the correct letter. Get the most points to win.
In this game, the rules are constantly changing. Flip over three special rules cards for each hand and follow them—or else!
Let us know your favorite board game on instagram or facebook @makeadateofit!
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