Looking for a relationship spark? Try these 7 conversation games you’ll actually enjoy playing with your partner

Ever wish you knew your loved ones a little bit better? Enter conversation games. These talking games feature cards with thought-provoking ideas or questions, meant to help you get to know the person you’re playing with on a more intimate level (usually a romantic partner, but some of the games you could also play with family or friends if you wanted to!). 

You might think you don’t need a deck of cards to get to know your spouse or partner better, but these games can actually be really helpful.

“Not everyone knows how to broach [these kinds of] topics or nurture connections verbally,” explains Erin Pash, a licensed marriage and family therapist and the founder and CEO of Ellie Mental Health. “These games are a great way to make intentional time as a couple to explore and ask questions that they might not even know they were curious about or create an even deeper connection through the spoken word.”

Not to mention, they can be really fun. “These games that ask questions have some topics that really are out of left field and unless you are a professional marriage counselor you might not even know to ask, or know you wanted to talk about those things!” says Pash. Questions like “what would you want to do if we could quit our jobs today” and “what is one task you wish you could pay someone to do for you” won’t just reveal a lot about your partner, they can also be really enjoyable to think about. 

One word of warning from Pash: forging deeper connections like this can make some couples want to be physically intimate, but don’t rush it. “Try to savor the moment of being intimate without the connection jumping to being physical,” she says. “Also, these games do not mean all of a sudden that you’re a master communicator or that you should be bringing up these things in everyday settings! It’s important to set up boundaries once information is shared—how comfortable your partner is sharing it with others and/or if they want to keep it between the two of you.”

Lastly, if you’re thinking to yourself I’d love to try one of these conversation games but I don’t think my partner would go for it, Pash says her favorite advice for couples is “show up curious.” “Ask questions, play along, and support each other with an open mind,” she says. 

Want to try a talking game at your next date night? Here are seven great ones to get that conversation flowing.  

Conversation games for couples and friends

The Adventure Challenge

Connection Cards

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$29.99

This pack contains 50 thought-starter questions that range from sentimental (“What will others remember about us as a couple?”) to sexy (“What is an outfit I wear that really turns you on?”). The authors came up with the questions by researching real conversations couples have!

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BestSelf

Intimacy Deck

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$24.99

These questions will help you and your partner understand each others’ love languages: questions like “what’s your favorite way to receive affection” and “how do you like to be comforted when you feel down” are great ways to learn how to love your partner in the way they like best. There are 150 cards, and an expansion pack is available!

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Talking Point Cards

Couples

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$29.97

With 200 cards in a deck, this conversation game covers tons of topics, from the silly (“if you wrote romance novels, what would your pen name be?”) to the profound (“what boundaries can we set to protect our relationship from being damaged by technology?”). You’re sure to learn something about your partner you never knew before.

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Esther Perel

Where Should We Begin?

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$32

Inspired by relationship expert Esther Perel’s podcast of the same name, “Where Should We Begin” is unique because it’s an actual 45-minute game that can be played with up to 6 people, friends and/or a romantic partner. There are two levels of gameplay—one more straightforward, and one more advanced— that answer questions like “If I was going to be fired tomorrow, what would it be for?”

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DSS Games

The Couples Game That’s Actually Fun

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$13.29

Think The Newlywed Game! Match your answers to see how well you know each other in this game, which asks questions like “which emoji defines our relationship” and “who could live longer without a phone: me or you” to see who gets the most matches!

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Uncommon Questions

Fresh Conversations for Couples

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$18.95

This deck is massive— 400 questions— and the thought-starters really are unique, as these are questions you’re meant to answer together, like “what event has most defined you as a couple” or “what experience from your life do you wish your significant other could have witnessed.

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What Do You Meme?

Let’s Get Deep: Questions for Couples

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$14.84

The cards from this game are organized by level—ice breaker, deep, and deeper— to help you ease into the more vulnerable questions. Ice breaker questions can be simple which-do-you-like-betters, and deeper questions go all the way into “what do you spend most of your time thinking about?”

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