h2>Dating : Date Night Hacks — Gaming Edition
Gamers Unite! Even if you aren’t a gamer, you can still enjoy this list of games with your Significant Other or someone you’re just getting to know. It could also be a fun alternative idea for a mid-week date.
Animal Crossing
One of my recent favorite games to play with my boyfriend has been Animal Crossing. It is a game for the Nintendo Switch and it is so much fun. If you don’t know what the game is, it is basically making your own livable island with fun tasks to do. It is a great wind down game, and you can even visit your friends’ islands and pick fruit, catch butterflies, catch fish. But my favorite reason is that we have a laid back date day playing this game. You don’t have to be in the same place to play it, all you need is an internet connection.
If I didn’t convince you enough to buy and play the game, the Washington post did a story on a couple whose wedding was cancelled because of the lockdown, and their friends surprised her with a wedding ceremony on the game. It is not legally binding, but it was adorable.
This is hands down one of my favorite games to play with my boyfriend, and you should definitely check it out. Also, this here is my first Animal Crossing date with my boyfriend on the first day of island life (it was raining)
Minecraft
Who hasn’t heard of minecraft? You must have at least seen the memes around it or your little cousin might be playing it right now, but trust me it is a great couple’s game as well. You can even buy the game on your phone if you don’t have a gaming console.
In this game you can build yourself a pixelated house by digging up parts of the map. It’s another great chilled out game, where your conversations will take precedence over the actual game. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fun date day activity, but it is also one of those games where if you’re bad at small talk, you can talk about the game. You can talk about how you want the place to look. You can create small conversations to ease yourself into more in-depth conversations.
If you are like me, I love Quality Time. I love spending time getting to know people I am interested in and this game is so good to do just that. My boyfriend got me into this game and we did spend hours just talking on the phone while playing this. A disclaimer though, my boyfriend lives more than 8,000 miles away. So, we really have tested this game. In our early years of dating, we’d joke about going on a date in Minecraft, and planting trees and flowers. I still laugh about the weird and funny conversations we had because of the game. It did make us feel like an old couple talking about the “household”.
Words with friends
A great phone game to try not only with your love interest, but friends as well. It is like ‘scrabble’ and it is a great “in between” conversation game. What I mean is, while at work or on a commute, and you can’t talk to your SO or the person you’ve just started dating, this is a good way to stay in contact without talking or texting. If you both like word games, you won’t have to have a dictionary open but it will get competitive.
This game is another good way to stay in touch with your SO, love interest, person of interest, without requiring constant attention or if you’re unable to hangout physically everyday. It’s a very non-committal game, so just play when you want to.
Overcooked 2
Overcooked is available on PC, Mac OS, Linux, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It is a great cooperative game. The goal of the game is to cook food with your partner and serve it to the guests. It might sound simple, but it really is the test of patience.
If you want to see the true temperament of your date, this game is the one for you! It can get really frustrating as the levels progress, but it is a great way to get in sync with your partner. My boyfriend and I have had countless days of playing this game, and getting equally frustrated but all in good fun. Coming to think of it, don’t play it on the first date… second or third, maybe!
This game isn’t your typical ‘lets talk and play’ kinda game, it needs attention and could be one of the date day activities that you plan if you’re stuck indoors. Again, like all of the games on our list, you don’t need to be in close proximity to each other, you just need the game, good internet, and a whole lot of patience!
Fortnite and other free to play battle royale games
This is the only super competitive game on our list. Fortnite, along with other Battle Royale games are a good opportunity to play a game with each other, against random gamers. The goal of the game is to eliminate everyone until you stand victorious at the end of the game.
The game is a learning curve, but the reason I like it is because of its ability to play on different platforms but still play together. If you don’t know the game too well, you can always learn it together. Fortnite allow gamers to choose different modes to play in, you can choose the Duos option so it’s just you and your partner against 98 other people (how Romeo and Juliet) or you can chill out with their creative mode and just play a bunch of “games” and mazes with your partner.
My boyfriend was really into this game, and when it came on mobile, I got into it. He taught me how to play the game. Well, I like it so much, I played it even by myself and eventually I became better than him! Fortnite is fun to play even with your friends, and you can start a game whenever you want from wherever you are because you’ll always find people playing it.
Jackbox Party Pack
We all at some point are likely to introduce our friends to the person we’re dating. It can be awkward, and sometimes there isn’t a whole lot of small talk happening.
Jackbox Party Pack comes with fun group games that can help you break the ice between your friends and your love interest. It can get competitive, there are a lot of laughs, and it’s just wholesome fun. The only downside is, if you aren’t playing the game in the same vicinity, you’ll need to set up screen share and be on call with all the buddies, but this game is still worth it!
Being in a long distance relationship for me means that both me and my boyfriend need to find creative ways to hangout with each other’s friends. Jackbox really helped with that. It feels like game night every time we play! If you’re stuck indoors, and are in need of some socializing without leaving the comforts of your home, let me introduce you to Jackbox Party Pack.
Also, as an introvert, this is a great way to meet the friends and break the ice before you actually meet them face-to-face.
