6 Video Games to Strengthen Your Relationship

Gaming together is an excellent way to spend quality time with your loved one by adding common goals and excitement to your lives. When you’re gaming together, your purpose is mutual – to beat the game – which creates an environment that encourages trust, communication, and teamwork. These are all important factors when it comes to building long-lasting relationships, especially romantic ones. Video games can also help enhance other aspects of your relationship, including your emotional connection and friendship.

Make Time for these SIX video games in your relationship

1. IT TAKES TWO
Game of the year winner for good reason - this game will make you laugh, cuss, and keep on trying. Meet the Book of Love, go on wild adventures with the contents of your toolbox, and battle the terrifying wasp army!

The only certainty in 'It takes two?' You're better together!

2. HEAVENLY BODIES
When rebounding physics keep pulling you apart, you need to work together as cosmonauts keeping your space mission on track. This game is frustrating, joyful, and incredibly satisfying - seriously, getting the yellow asteroid ore was so hard we had to take a time out but when we made it we celebrated hard!

Become weightless cosmonauts and tackle steller scenarios 

3. ARMY OF TWO
Step up as your own heroes in this third person shooter that keeps you working together as you thwart enemies as T.W.O (Tactical Worldwide Operations). One of the first truly revolutionary co-ops, Army of Two's three installments remains deadly.

When one man is not enough, it takes an 'army of two' 

4. DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY
An unlikely group is thrown into an adventure together and you need to work together to decide how many of your party you'll save. Annoyed by Brad or Conrad? Maybe they don't need to survive! 

Who will live? It’s down to you

5. UNRAVEL TWO
Meet the Yarnies, limited by their own length, whose adventures are mischievously difficult. A seemingly straightforward platform game, you're literally tied together as you lasso, swing, and drag each other to succeed.

teamwork = essential!

6. LITTLE NIGHTMARES 2
Step up as returning protagonist Six and their 'helper' Mono. Be prepared to hand your controller back and forth as you travel from horror to horror in this dark tale where monsters lurk. Combine your wits, improve your stealth, and emerge from this nightmare victorious!

Embark on your journey through the perilous pale city

Gaming Together Can Give You an Edge Over Other Couples

It’s no secret that couples who share interests have stronger relationships. If you one, both - or even neither of you - is already a gamer, starting to game together in co-ops will give you an edge over other couples. It can deepen your bond with each other and bring you closer in ways that traditional date nights don’t accomplish.

According to a study conducted by Oxford University, playing video games with your partner is linked to better relationship satisfaction. The findings show that married couples who play as a team tend to be happier than those who don’t. This may be due to common goals and shared challenges, like in It Takes Two, that help bring partners closer together—an appealing trait for anyone who has played a cooperative online game.

A 2010 study from Brigham Young University found that couples were more positive toward each other after playing video games together. When someone was stuck on a puzzle or unable to get past an obstacle, their partner was more likely to help them out if they’d been working as partners instead of competitors.

strange brigade: an opportunity to take on mummies, giant scorpions, and minotaurs.

how video games benefit your love life

Video games provide many benefits to gamers, including increased cognitive function and motor skills development. However, one of their most overlooked benefits is how they can improve a romantic relationship. Many recent studies show video games can increase empathy via two theories: first-person shooter games, which use graphics depicting realistic scenes to create an immersive experience for players; and prosocial games, which focus on building relationships with characters. Results from both types of experiments generally support arguments that playing either type of game has positive effects on empathy scores in terms of taking others' perspectives and understanding others' emotions.

Gaming Together Gives You more Reasons to Talk with Each Other

If you’re in a long-distance relationship or just don’t have enough time to spend with each other every day, there are plenty of ways to make your time together or apart more connected. Teaming up for online games can unite you despite being miles apart. In addition to helping you maintain communication, playing games together can also be great for strengthening your bond.

Gaming Together Keeps You on Track, Even When Life Gets in the Way

Playing together is a great way to stay on track with each other and gives you an extra reason to look forward to your time together. Whether you just want to play a game once in a while or make it part of your routine, when you game together you stick together. Think of gaming like a classic dinner-and-a-movie date, except you switch direction with takeout and a gaming marathon.

support your partner in Unravel Two

Taking Care of Your Partner Through Gaming Is Sweet

Helping your partner reach a gaming goal, complete a level or finish a game is incredibly satisfying. You can achieve this with words and ideas, through in-game character help, or - if one of you has more practice - you can show your partner how to complete a tricky level.

While grabbing your partner's controller isn't always appreciated, learning how to support each other in difficult situations is a critical life skill. Many games place you in high-stress virtual scenarios and give you a chance to learn how each of you reacts, copes, and overcome. Chatting about the scenarios you encountered afterward helps you reinforce that connection positively and lastingly. 

Completing a single-person game as a duo is so much more fun if you're both invested in the story and adding encouragement, motivation, and problem-solving suggestions. Now double up the fun and try a co-op game where you work together in real-time to solve challenges.

solve challenges and thrive by making time for video games in your relationship

Playing Games Together Can Strengthen Any Relationship

Even if you and your partner aren’t competitive, video games can bring you closer. According to scientists at Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany, playing games like Mario Kart increases a couple’s interaction reciprocity and helps couples get along better. Basically, spending time sharing fun activities gets you to connect with each other on a more intimate level—and that connection can last even after you turn off your console.

Online gaming together can bring you closer together and make your relationship stronger. You can make one or both partners' hobbies into a shared activity, start gaming together, and deepen your relationship by taking on character roles. What once may have been just something to do may become an important part of your relationship that brings you closer together and makes you happier as a couple. Playing video games can help you improve your communication skills with each other and strengthen your relationships in ways you might not expect.

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