5 Board Games to Play with Your Partner Who Isn’t Into Board Games
Board gamers can get so excited about the hobby that they foul up introducing board games to their partners. I’m not here to judge—I can remember my then-girlfriend sleeping while I played back-to-back games of Catan when it came out. She’s a gamer now but recently consoled a friend when her gamer husband insisted that two-player Power Grid would be a great way to spend their ‘date night.’ Um, no.
So when my nephew asked about games to play with his new girlfriend, I needed a sure-fire list to ease her into the hobby. Here’s what I sent him to help turn ‘dinner and a movie’ into ‘dinner and a board game’ for date night.
1. Lost Cities - This is a must — gamers often call it ‘the Couples Game’. This light set collection card game from rock-star game designer Reiner Knizia is approachable, has a partner-friendly theme and plays in 20 minutes, often promptly a second and third play. A real winner and at a reasonable price, too.
2. Jaipur - This quick-playing board game jumped onto top 2-player game lists quickly when it was released. Sebastian Pauchon’s delightful trading game has short turns (a new gamer plus), clear decisions for the first play (strategy comes later), and has a little bit of luck to even things out against the serious gamer (your partner appreciates that).
Jaipur is simple, but has enormous replay value because of the strategic options and speculation.
3. Carcassonne - A eurogame classic, Carc is best when you stick with the original game (ignore the expansions that will overwhelm your partner). Carcassonne plays well with two, has a puzzle aspect to it, and you can also enjoy it when another couple or your kids join you for a game (it scales well up to five).
One variant: We like the Winter Edition, which is the basic game with a holiday theme. This is can be fun to play with family and get into the season since the tiles are all snow-covered. Yes, it is easy to say it’s fun to see everything covered in snow in beautiful Southern California (sorry!)
4. Qwirkle - Susan McKinley Ross’ award-winner is jokingly called “Scrabble for Cavemen” but it is a good way to get a similar play experience without comparing vocabularies. This is obviously better with kids, but it doesn’t hurt to level the playing field for couples, too. Don’t let your diction ruin date night!
To combat this, Qwirkle uses shapes and colors. Instead of words, you make rows and columns of like items. And it’s a blast — plus, this one scales well for more players. I also like the Travel Edition for just that purpose — so board game date night can go with you.
5.Ticket To Ride - Another classic of the genre, this rummyesque train-themed game from the mighty Alan Moon can be played on maps from all over the place, each with its own feel and sometimes new rules. To begin, stick with the US Map, which comes with the base game.
There are many expansions, large and small, but the best ones are just getting new maps, including the tight-and-exciting Ticket To Ride: Nordic Countries version (particularly good for two). The game also scales in interesting ways (the blocking and route misery with five is quite different from the two-player route grab and ticket contests). Such a great game!
What’s next? There are thousands of board games out that can fit the bill for an enjoyable night with your partner. I chose these because they are an excellent place to start and readily available from Amazon. For more suggestions, follow Boardgame Babylon for ideas about expanding your collection with a pastime that will help you build stronger connections with your partner, friends and family.
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