Best Video Games to Play With Your Girlfriend or Boyfriend

Regardless of whether your boyfriend or girlfriend is a gamer, playing co-op games is one of the best ways to sweeten your relationship. Not only is gaming more accessible than ever, but this form of interactive media offers a wide variety of activities you wouldn’t have otherwise experienced in the real world. Whether you’re slaying a monstrous boss together or working side-by-side to solve a challenging puzzle, the gaming space features extraordinary, unforgettable experiences for couples. That said, here are ten unranked picks for the best video games to play with your girlfriend or boyfriend.

It Takes Two

You’d be hard-pressed to find any list involving gaming with your significant other that doesn’t contain The Game Awards 2021 winner, It Takes Two. While mostly an action-adventure 3D platformer, this title offers much more than newcomers might expect. On the brink of divorce, May and Cody are transformed into immortal dolls that must travel through diverse worlds, ranging from a space station to the inside of a snow globe. 

It Takes Two is relatively fast-paced and on rails as it takes its two protagonists through one vividly colorful setting to another, introducing a host of ever-changing mechanics along the way. Paired with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you’ll fight bosses, solve physics-based puzzles, and discover gorgeous vistas in semi-open-world areas. Everything has been meticulously crafted with the focus of requiring “two” individuals to progress. It Takes Two is a delightful, unforgettable, mind-bending package that is both accessible and thrilling to experience, making it one of the best games that no couple should miss out on.

Overcooked

Treating or being treated by your significant other like Gordon Ramsay in a disarrayed kitchen might sound traumatic but serves as the focus of Overcooked and its sequel. Overcooked takes the simple concept of putting together a hamburger and turns the anxiety gauge to its max. For instance, you’ll need to serve customers with your boyfriend or girlfriend while riding separate air balloons or atop two semi-trucks on the freeway. 

The madness doesn’t end in just the diverse environmental settings. Overcooked has you prepare and cook ingredients with your SO while managing a tight line of orders from impatient customers. The experience can be both wild and fun as you must cooperate with your partner to rapidly cook up dishes while maintaining your sanity. The Overcooked series offers two of the best games to play with your boyfriend or girlfriend. But if you find the experience too nerve-racking, we recommend Moving Out, a less hectic but similarly engaging Overcooked-style title.

Stardew Valley

Moving from the frenzied cooking mania of Overcooked, Stardew Valley is one of the greatest laid-back games for couples looking to manage a farmstead together. One of the best things about this game is that you can take things at your own pace when playing with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Working with your SO to achieve record earnings can be thrilling if you’re all about accumulating profit. Conversely, decorating your farmhouse while picking flowers and berries together can be just as immersive and engaging.

Another couple-oriented benefit of Stardew Valley‘s mechanics is being able to watch your farm grow and develop together. Of course, accomplishing in-game achievements or unlocking progression-related activities with someone you love is fantastic. But the visual splendor of seeing a small empty ranch turn into something you and your partner created will become a lasting memory. If the pixel-esque design of Stardew isn’t your cup of tea, we suggest giving Farm Together a go. It offers an online community-focused farming sim experience that’s just as couple-friendly.

Spiritfarer

If you don’t mind shedding a tear or two with your boyfriend or girlfriend, Spiritfarer is one of the best narrative-driven games for couples. As protagonist Stella ferries wandering souls to the afterlife, she is accompanied by her cat, Daffodil, controlled by Player Two. While Daffodil cannot speak to spirits or accept quests, the cat can perform Stella’s duties aboard the ferry. Despite this limitation, the spirits’ narratives and in-game progression feel natural in a stylish, hand-drawn co-op package.

Death is a bleak topic to discuss, but exploring the idea of moving on past this life can compel us to treasure our relationships more. When playing with your significant other, Spiritfarer might draw you closer together. Gameplay-wise, co-op play has perks, such as gathering extra resources during in-game events, catching additional fish, and doing chores that would have taken longer solo. Experiencing the stories of Spiritfarer with your boyfriend or girlfriend will make the emotional moments all the more impactful.

Monster Hunter

Monster Hunter Rise, in particular, is one of the best games for couple co-op play with customization and playstyle variety. Not only do you get to show off to your girlfriend or boyfriend how well you wield a flashy weapon for monster-slaying, but you can do it in a fashionable way. Persevering together to take down a deadly beast is an exceptional date idea that no gamer couple should turn down. Nonetheless, Rise is fast-paced and accessible enough for even those less skilled in reactive mechanics. 

Suppose you and your SO prefer a slower-paced approach to slaying monsters for decorative top hats and snazzy kneepads. In that case, Monster Hunter World can be just as enjoyable for couples. Monster Hunter will help you develop a strong cooperative spirit with your boyfriend or girlfriend, as taking down a giant monster in combat is no casual activity. Whether you’re creating hunting strategies or messing about in the hub areas with poses, MH Rise and World both feature awesome gaming experiences for couples.

Grounded

If “open world survival crafting” is your genre of preference, Grounded is one of the best survival games to play with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Shrunken down to the size of an ant, you must navigate across a massive backyard to determine the cause of the drastic change in your physical size. Standing in your path on all six to eight legs are the bugs of now monstrous proportions. Accordingly, you and your SO must construct a base, assemble contraptions, and gear up with mandibles and exoskeletal remains to brave the backyard. 

Exploring Grounded‘s dynamic and dangerous biomes is engaging as a solo experience but double the fun with a significant other. Like Monster Hunter, the enemy bug mobs will become a normal part of your microscopic lifestyle and diet as you kill, eat, and even wear them for survival. If facing oversized spiders or beetles isn’t your thing, we suggest Raft as an excellent alternative, as long as you and your partner aren’t afraid of the ocean.

Genshin Impact

While Genshin Impact might be the last game most couples might consider for their gaming session, it does stand as one of the best experiences for co-op gameplay. The world of Teyvat is stunning, diverse, dynamic, and, above all, open to exploration and discovery. While Inazuma is locked behind the Archon questline, a massive portion of the rest of the regions can be accessed freely. After both of you have reached Adventure Rank 16 or higher, Genshin will let you both travel the landscapes together. 

Like Zelda‘s BotW or TotK, Genshin Impact has no shortage of little puzzles, treasures, and secrets scattered across Teyvat. While the main story quests can only be completed in solo play, exploring the visually pleasing and content-packed regions while fighting enemies together is an engaging yet serene experience. However, if your boyfriend or girlfriend is not a fan of gacha, we suggest giving Final Fantasy XIV a try if you can both invest the time into an MMO.

Phasmophobia

Just as huddling close during scary movie nights can be a thrilling yet comfy activity, Phasmophobia offers an excellent experience for couple co-op gameplay. Hunting down all manner of ghastly haunted entities can be overly frightening for many. However, doing so with your boyfriend or girlfriend makes the horror much more palatable and exciting. Together, you’ll accompany your lover in exploring desolate maps searching for clues connected to what ghostly being haunts the place.

Whether you make it out alive, you’re bound to have a few jump scares, screams, and even laughs when playing Phasmophobia with your SO. Knowing your boyfriend or girlfriend is nearby in the same dreary abandoned farmhouse can be comforting when hunting fearsome demons. Indeed, there are more than a dozen or so similar cooperative ghost-hunting experiences, such as Demonologist. Still, Phasmophobia‘s low price point, accessible gameplay, and polish make it one of the best horror games to play with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

We Were Here

If you’re not a fan of “pure horror,” but still love a suspenseful atmosphere to experience with your partner, then the We Were Here series might suit you. As room escape sims, each game in the franchise has you working with your counterpart to solve puzzles to progress. Communication is key, as you’ll need to use walkie-talkies to transmit vital information about clues and solutions to each other. Even if you’re gaming side-by-side in real life, the We Were Here games will take you on surreal and unforgettable adventures that will boggle your mind.

If you’re on the fence about if such an escape room co-op experience is worth your and your partner’s time, consider giving the first We Were Here a go. The first of the series serves as a free-to-play “pilot episode,” letting you try out the puzzle mechanics without any financial investment. If the puzzle-solving intrigues you, but you’d like a less-dark atmosphere, Escape Simulator is another great escape room title for couples.

VRChat

Delving into the world of virtual reality, VRChat is one of the most “metaverse-esque” games available now and an amazing simulated space for couples. While this free-to-play game can be played on a desktop, purchasing two relatively affordable VR devices grants you and your significant other a host of worlds and experiences beyond reality. With a plethora of free and paid avatars at your fingertips, you can journey across VRChat‘s ever-growing cyberspace with your boyfriend or girlfriend. 

Accompanied by your partner in VRChat, you can explore mind-bending vistas, visit clubs, enjoy scenic dates, and much more. The ability to choose, customize, or even create your own avatars gives the idea of roleplaying via gameplay whole new dimensions — literally. Accordingly, if virtual reality interests you at all, VRChat is the best game to experience with your boyfriend or girlfriend. If you’d like to dip your toes into VR with your SO in a more streamlined experience before VRChat, Bigscreen Beta is another solid cyberspace for a good virtual date.

Baldur’s Gate 3

If there were any game more deserving of being on this list, it’d have to be TGA’s Game of the Year — Baldur’s Gate 3. To be fair, Larian Studios’ Divinity 2: Original Sin was also an excellent cooperative game, but it is nowhere near the level of transcendence that BG3 achieved. The experience isn’t just a turn-based RPG; it’s a living, breathing adventure full of dynamic twists and turns that can change the course of your story in an instant. In a game like Elden Ring, making a mistake like killing an NPC might lock you out of a questline. In  Baldur’s Gate 3, there are no “mistakes,” per se, just diverging paths of you and your party’s narrative.

That said, Baldur’s Gate 3 offers a seamless cooperative experience that will let you and your partner share a fantastic fantasy journey together. The amount of interactivity the world and environment provide becomes ever more engaging when your mate is able to affect the choices made as well. While BG3 does have an overarching main narrative, you and your girlfriend or boyfriend can craft the story you want with all the wild, outlandish, and hilarious memories you create during your co-op playthrough.