Number Of Players: 2-5

Playing Time: 60 Minutes

In this cooperative board game, the premise is the world almost ended seventy-one years ago from the plague. For three generations, small groups of survivors have struggled to keep the world alive. Players travel the globe delivering supplies to cities and working to complete various objectives.

This game is my favorite of all time for date nights as a couple. Your decisions carry over to future games, creating a unique game every time you play. Since it's cooperative and the game evolves over time, this is such a good one for bonding with your partner as you make decisions together and work to complete objectives as a team.

Number Of Players: 2-5

Playing Time: 30-60 Minutes

In Ticket to Ride, players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities.

If I had to choose an all-time favorite game, this is probably it! It can be learned in under 15 minutes so it's a good one to bring along to family gatherings (everyone loves this one!), but it's equally as fun to play as a couple for date nights.

There's no setup time required so you can jump straight into playing and it's one of the quicker games that we like to play.

Number Of Players: 1-4

Playing Time: 30-45 Minutes

In Ingenius, players take turns placing colored tiles on the game board, earning points for the number of matching colored symbols you get in a row.

This is a favorite game of mine to play just the two of us because it's pretty quick to play and doesn't require any setup. The description makes it sound fairly basic, but it can be pretty cutthroat if you want to get competitive!

This game only takes a few minutes to learn so it's not only good for date night, but also one that I often bring along to family gatherings.

Number Of Players: 1-6

Playing Time: 60 Minutes

Zombicide is a really fun cooperative game where each player controls survivors that are working together to battle zombies in a prison. Your team tries to clean out the prison and make it a safe haven.

There are a variety of missions in the rulebook that switch up the game board and objectives so each game feels a bit different. This is fun with two players and also pretty quick to teach friends!

We prefer playing cooperative strategy board games like this for date night because it means we get to work together so there's a lot of communication and problem solving as a team.

Number Of Players: 2-4

Playing Time: 2-3 Hours

From meager beginnings, lead one of six different historical civilizations to greatness. Players take on the roles of famous historical leaders, each in charge of a unique civilization with their own abilities.

If you love strategy games, I highly recommend this one! This is one of my absolute favorites–I love the theme, there are different ways you can win, and every game tends to be a pretty close race all the way to the end.

Note: This is a long game and pretty complex, so don't choose it as your first game if you're not already familiar with strategy board games. I'd start with one of the others on this list!

Number Of Players: 2-4

Playing Time: 30 Minutes

Dominion is a card game where you are a monarch of a small kingdom. Each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them.

Through building your deck of cards and playing your hands each turn, your aim is to earn the most victory points as you build your kingdom.

This is a long-time favorite of ours, it's one of the first strategy games I ever played and it's still a staple for our date nights. We have a LOT of the game expansions as well!

Number Of Players: 2-5

Playing Time: 45-60 Minutes

In Small World, players vie for control of an area of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all. Players rush to expand their empires - often at the expense of weaker neighbors.

Small World is inhabited by a zany cast of characters such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and even humans, who use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other races off the face of the earth.

This game always makes me laugh! The characters are funny and it's intriguing to me to see how different combinations of abilities affect the game. This is a fun choice for date night!

Number Of Players: 1-5

Playing Time: 30-150 Minutes

Le Havre is a French port where each play is vying to become the preeminent shipping magnate, outshining their competitors. The game takes place over several years and players will need to acquire materials, build ships and buildings, and feed their workers. The player with the most money wins!

David and I have played a lot of Le Havre for date nights over the years. It's great for friendly competition

Number Of Players: 2-5

Playing Time: 30-60 Minutes

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a cooperative, fixed-deck card game with a comic book feel. Each player plays as one of ten heroes, against one of four villains and the battle takes place in one of four different dynamic environments.

This card game is typically pretty quick to play so it's a nice one if you're trying to squeeze in some quality time after the kids are in bed or after dinner. It's pretty lighthearted and fun to play just the two of us or with a small group of friends.