The Best Board Games For Couples For At Home Date Night

Turn off the TV, stop scrolling, and play a game! Whether you like card games, word games, engine-building games, strategy games, or cooperative games, this list of the best board games for couples will have something you’ll have fun playing!  

Photo by Tono Graphy on Unsplash

Once the kids are finally asleep (fingers crossed they stay asleep), there’s nothing I love more than settling into a cozy at-home date night. Sure, I love trying new restaurants and traveling, but today, we’re stepping a little out of the box (literally, because board games come in boxes). Sometimes the best way to reconnect isn’t with a reservation or a big night out. It’s curling up on the couch, pouring a drink, and breaking out a board game. 

Playing games together has become one of our go-to ways to slow down, laugh together, and actually talk without a TV or a toddler competing for attention.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

I’ve always been a board-game girl at heart. Growing up, my sister and I logged hours of Monopoly, Life, Guess Who?, UNO at airport gates (including one unforgettable marathon match in Milwaukee), and even cribbage—thanks to my aunt and, later, a friend in college who brought her board to the bar. Cribbage and cocktails? A truly elite combo.

Somewhere between angsty teen hood and semi-functional adulthood, games fell off my radar… until AJ and I moved in together and rediscovered how fun they are. 

Now, game nights are one of our favorite ways to unwind—whether we’re hosting friends, roping relatives into holiday shenanigans (we once played Heads Up with AJ’s grandma and it was legendary), or just playing the two of us for a cute little date night at home . It’s easy, fun, inexpensive and feels like a good reset after long days of work and parenting. 

So if you’re looking for new ways to connect, unwind, and make your next cozy night in feel special, I’m sharing the best board games for couples that we personally love playing together. Grab a drink, grab a snack board, and let’s play.

Tips for a Board Game Date Night at Home

Set the Scene 

A board game date night at home feels instantly more fun when you lean into the cozy factor. Dim the lights, light a candle or two, turn on a playlist you both love, and reclaim the living room or kitchen from the chaos of the day. 

You don’t have to go full “romantic dinner” vibes (in fact a themed cocktail or a charcuterie board could be nice), but a little ambiance makes the whole evening feel intentional.

Keep Snacks Simple but Delicious

Snacks are a non-negotiable, this is a food blog after all. 

Whether you throw together a simple cheese board, warm up some popcorn, share some chips and dip (like who can say no to salsa or guacamole) or split a pint of ice cream, having something to nibble on keeps the night feeling relaxed. If you want to elevate things a bit, pair your game with a cocktail, maybe a cozy one like a Cranberry Bourbon Fizz or Christmas White Russianchristmas white russian recipe. The point is not to cook; it’s to treat yourselves.

Create a Distraction-Free Zone

Phones on silent, TV off, dishwasher roulette postponed. It’s easy to let the to-do list or texts pull you out of the moment, but part of the magic of a board game date night is actually being present. Treat it like you would a real date—minus the babysitter bill—and give yourselves permission to unplug.

How to Choose the Best Games

Pick the Right Game for the Mood. Not all games fit every kind of date night. Want something flirty and fast-paced? Grab a quick card game. Feeling competitive? A strategy game might be perfect. Totally exhausted but still want to do something together? Choose a cooperative game where you’re on the same team. Keeping the mood in mind helps avoid turning date night into the Great Uno Fight of 2025.

Choose Low-Conflict Games

The whole point of a date night is to actually enjoy each other’s company, so steer clear of anything that’s going to turn into a strategic battle to the death. Save the cutthroat, steal-your-resources, sabotage-your-opponent games for another night. For a cozy evening at home, pick something low-conflict and easygoing—games that let you chat, laugh, and connect without squabbling over rules or who “definitely moved twice.” This doesn’t mean everything has to be cooperative, just low-stakes and fun.

Keep Games Short and Sweet

Unless you both love a multi-hour strategy marathon, stick to games that fall in the 30–60 minute range. Shorter games are perfect for date night because you can play once, play a few rounds, or leave room for another relaxing activity afterward—like a movie, a dessert run, or simply going to bed early because parenting is exhausting. Quick playtime = flexible vibes.

Don’t Limit Yourself to Two-Player-Only Games

While there are some fantastic two-player games out there, don’t feel boxed in by that category. Plenty of group or party games play beautifully with just two people—or can be adapted to work. Sometimes the best date night games aren’t designed “for couples,” but end up being hilarious, strategic, or surprisingly intimate with only two players. If you love it and it works for the two of you, it absolutely belongs in your rotation.

Keep It Light and Have Fun

The best board game date nights are the ones where you laugh, joke, and let go of the day. Don’t worry about winning (unless you thrive on competition—then game on). The goal is connection, not perfection. Celebrating a silly victory, teasing each other in good fun, or turning an epic fail into an inside joke is what makes these nights memorable.

Photo by Dave Henri on Unsplash

Ticket to Ride

Ticket is ride is my current favorite, and has been for a few years.

It’s a cross-country travel game where you collect and play matching train cards build specific train routes between different cities, and points are awarded for all the routes you complete (the longer the routes the more points you get)..but your opponent can block your progress.

They have a ton of different maps, including USA, Europe, Nordic, Germany, Heart of Africa, Asia, India, United Kingdom, Rails and Sails, and two specific cities, New York and London.

We also have a special house rule for Ticket to Ride (that we picked up from our friends Tina and Dan when the introduced us to the game): you have to say layin’ track every time you play your train pieces.

Cribbage

Cribbage is a card game played with a standard card deck and a distinctive wooden board to keep score (our cribbage board was a gift from my sister and brother in law made with Hawaiian Koa wood…before that we played using a board I’ve had since childhood where we’ve lost all the scorekeeping pegs so have a couple of old matchsticks instead.)

Each cribbage hand goes through three steps, the deal, the play and the show.

Players are dealt six cards, and everyone must discard two into “the crib” and keep the other four to score points with.

Points are scored for combinations of cards that total fifteen, runs, pairs, flush, and having the “nob” (a jack that is the same suite as the starter card.)

Highly recommend playing cribbage with an old fashioned, or even a pumpkin old fashioned. It makes it feel very midwestern.

Also Cribbage is a game that travels really well! We’ve taken it to a coffee shop, cocktail bars, and even the hospital when our son was born.

Codenames Duet

If you love word games, Codenames Duet is such a fun option for two players. You work together to give each other one-word clues to identify the right words on the table—while avoiding the dreaded assassin card that ends the game instantly. It’s quick, clever, and surprisingly tense in the best way. Perfect for couples who love a little brainpower without any direct competition.

Pandemic

What I like about Pandemic is that it has different levels (easy, medium hard) which means on an easier level it can go by quickly (compared to a more involved game like Dominant Species or Risk that you need to invest several hours in). 

I also loved that it was a strategy game, but it was a cooperative game. Rather than working against each other, you work together as teammates to try to cure the world of four different plagues.

Scrabble

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

I feel like basically everyone knows what Scrabble is. The classic games caters to wordsmiths and I think it’s just fun to see how people get so competitive over words.

PS: there’s a Scrabble app so you can play online against friends or family who are spread out across the country. I’ve beat my mom two times so far and it is the greatest accomplishment of my life.

Photo by Clarissa Watson on Unsplash

Wingspan

Wingspan is a gorgeous, relaxing engine-building game where you collect birds, build habitats, and create combos that score points as your ecosystem grows. It’s strategic without being stressful, and the art and components make it feel like a peaceful little escape. This is an excellent choice if you want a slightly longer, more immersive date night game.

Monopoly Deal

Even if regular Monopoly gives you board-flipping flashbacks, Monopoly Deal is a different story. It’s fast, funny, and way more strategic than you expect. You race to collect property sets using action cards that let you steal, swap, or sabotage—without the hours-long commitment of classic Monopoly. Great for couples who like a little playful chaos.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

The Game

Despite the dramatic name, The Game is a simple, fast, cooperative card game where you work together to play numbered cards in ascending and descending piles. The challenge? You can’t openly discuss what’s in your hand, so you have to rely on intuition and teamwork. It’s easy to learn, surprisingly suspenseful, and plays in under 20 minutes—perfect for a low-pressure date night.

Risk

Risk is probably AJ’s favorite of all time and it’s probably because he always wins.

When we celebrated our first wedding anniversary we spent a long weekend at a cabin near Boone, and I spent most of that weekend getting my ass kicked over and over and over again by AJ in Risk.

Risk is one of the OG strategic games where you’re trying to achieve world domination.

Each player controls different colored armies that start in different territories and attempt to capture more land from other players by attacking and rolling the dice.

It can take a pretty long time to play the entire game, especially if you’re stubborn and prevent your husband from winning the one or two territories he needs to have control of all six continents at the end of the game. So this game may go against some of the rules I laid out above (see keeping games low conflict and short and sweet) but this is a special one for us.

Dominant Species

Another strategy game (can you tell we love strategy games?) my biggest feedback about this one is that you’ll need to carve out a lot of time to play this one…it’s complicated, but fun!

Each player assumes the role of one of six major animal classes and tries to adapt to the ever changing world…think of it as survival of the fittest.

Each turn involves multiple steps so it took us a while to get everything straight…but slowly and steadily we got the hang of it. Would definitely recommend for a cold, rainy or snowy winter afternoon when you have a lot of time to focus!

Backgammon

Our backgammon board has seen better days.

(I have no idea how old it is, but I do know that it traveled with us to Mexico on family vacation in 2007…we found the scorecard tucked inside when my mom brought it to our house a few months ago.)

Backgammon is another classic that has been around for centuries.

The Internet says more than 5,000 years!

Each player has fifteen pieces (they look like checkers) and the goal of the game is to be the first one to move all of your pieces off the board through a combination of strategy and luck with the roll of dice.

Castles of Burgundy

For a meatier strategy experience, Castles of Burgundy is a fantastic two-player pick. You’re building estates, trading goods, and filling in your personal board with tiles for points. It’s thoughtful and deeply satisfying without feeling aggressive or cutthroat. If you love a quiet, thinky puzzle together, this one hits the spot.

The Duke

The Duke is a tactical, two-player strategy game where you move medieval characters around a grid—think chess, but with each piece flipping over to reveal new movement patterns. It’s clever, dynamic, and endlessly replayable because no two games feel the same. Perfect for couples who enjoy strategy without needing a full chess rematch.

Yahtzee

On a classic kick here! My love for Yahtzee was reignited a few years ago by my boss, Tony. You score points by rolling a set of five dice to make certain combinations, like aces, twos, threes…as well as three and four of a kind, full house, straight, and of course, Yahtzee!  (All five dice the same.)

By far, the most fun part of Yahtzee is yelling Yahtzee at the end of the game.

Patchwork

In Patchwork, you and your partner compete to build the coziest, most efficient quilt on your personal board using quirky Tetris-style fabric pieces. The gameplay is simple and soothing, with just the right amount of strategy. It’s cute, quick, and perfect for a relaxing date night when you want something low-key and satisfying.

Hive

If you like the idea of chess but want something quicker and quirkier, Hive is a great pick. You each control a group of insect tiles, and the goal is to surround your opponent’s queen bee. There’s no board—you build the play area as you go—and the movement rules are simple but surprisingly deep. Quick to learn, fun to master, and super portable.

Jaipur

Jaipur is one of the best two-player card games out there. It’s quick to learn, quick to play, and endlessly fun. You and your partner compete to become the Maharaja’s most trusted trader by collecting goods, selling sets, and timing your moves just right. It’s fast, clever, and has that “just one more round” energy.