My family didn’t play many games growing up. It was mainly just Uno and Life. Life was my favorite because I could pile my minivan full of babies! Sometimes, my parents would let me cheat and land on every “It’s twins!” space. Those instances were my favorite! Simeon, on the other hand, is game-obsessed. He even listens to a podcast all about the best games out there. Pre-kids, we’d often spend hours playing games at his parents house.

My favorite games are party games. Scattergories is my top favorite, but I also enjoy others like taboo or decrypto. Simeon loves strategy games. The longer and more thought-provoking, the better. That said, our game styles are very different. We’ve learned to compromise and enoy games that the other one likes. Well, except for Rummikub. Simeon won’t cave and play that with me. And, I draw the line at Catan. I know it’s a favorite for many, but the first time we played it took over 3 hours. That ruined me!

Simeon and I love watching TV. Actually, it’s something we’ve had to be intentional about working on in our marriage. When we first got married, we had at least one show we watched every night of the week. We realized that while we were spending time sitting together on the couch, we were not connecting and sharing our hearts together. The process of trying to break our bad TV habits and implementing something that promoted more bonding time landed us on playing games together. I wish we did this more than we do. But, you know, life happens! We always enjoy the evenings when we get the kids settled in bed, and we pull out a game to play together. It’s becomes an even greater experience when the game is accompanied by a delivery pizza!

Here’s a list of some of our favorite 2 player games:

• Ticket to Ride: There are many different versions of this game. We have the Europe edition. This is one of our top favorites! You build trains between different cities, trying to have the longest train, or collect the most points by hitting the most destinations. (2-5 players, 30-60 minutes)
• Azul: I LOVE Azul! Maybe it’s because I always win this one! In this game, you place mosaic tiles arranging them in patterns on the board to collect points. (2-4 players, 30-40 minutes)
• Forbidden Island: This is a great budget-friendly game. It’s a cooperative game that is a race against time. All players are stranded on an island that is sinking into the ocean. You must work together to collect 4 treasures and get off the island before it sinks. (2-4 players, 30 minutes)
• Hive: I don’t think I’ve yet to win this game against Simeon. He has a much more strategic mind than I do. It is fun none the less! Each player has tiles that represent different bugs. You create the board as you place your tiles. Each bug allows the tile to move in different ways. You place your tiles with the objective of surrounding the other persons queen bee with your bug tiles. (2 player, 15-20 minutes)
• Pandemic: We haven’t really had the desire to play this game since March of 2020, because, well, we’re living it! It is a fun one though! All players are members of a disease-fighting team. You work together to keep the world safe from outbreaks and epidemics of deadly diseases. (2-4 players, 60 minutes)
• Blokus: We both love this one! Each player has 21 colored pieces that you place on the board. You place your pieces attempting to have the fewest squares left at the end of the game. While I’m not a huge fan of strategy games, I do really enjoy this one. (2 or 4 player, 30-45 minutes)
• Carcassonne: This is an awesome tile-laying game where you create the landscape of Carcassonne and collect points for completing various features like roads, cities, and monasteries. As you place your tiles, you seek to outscore your opponent. (2-5 player, 30-45 minutes)

What are ways that you and your man connect and have fun together? Do you like board games? If so, what are your favorites? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments!

I hope this post leads to some awesome date nights!