THE JOURNAL / STAY CLOSE
Games to play in a long-distance relationship, by call or by text
Easy games for couples apart, sorted by how much time you have: quick text games, call games for an evening, and slow games that run for weeks.
Play is underrated in long-distance relationships. So much of the contact ends up practical: schedules, flights, how the week went. A game gives you a reason to be silly together, to compete a little, to surprise each other. None of the ideas below need special equipment. Most need nothing more than a phone and a bit of nerve.
Five-minute games for text
These are for the gaps in the day: a bus ride, a lunch break, the ten minutes before a meeting.
- Two truths and a lie, the relationship edition. Send three statements about your day, your childhood or your opinions. Your partner guesses the lie. It is a sneaky way of learning things you never thought to ask.
- Emoji films. Describe a film, song or shared memory in a short row of symbols. The other person guesses. Memories are harder and better: "the night we missed the last train" in five icons.
- Finish the story. One of you writes the first line of a story. You each add one sentence at a time, through the day. By evening you have an absurd little tale that belongs only to you two.
- Photo prompt. One of you sends a word, like "red", "old" or "tiny", and the other has an hour to send a photo that fits. Then swap.
Games for a call
When you have an evening and want something lighter than a deep talk.
Twenty questions
The classic. One person thinks of something, the other has twenty yes-or-no questions to guess it. Make it personal by limiting it to things from your relationship: a place you have been, a gift, a joke.
Drawing guesses
Use any shared whiteboard or simply draw on paper and hold it up to the camera. One draws, the other guesses, with a timer. Bad drawing skills make it better, not worse.
"Would you rather", but honest
Instead of the usual extreme dilemmas, ask ones that reveal something: would you rather live by the sea or in the mountains, spend a year abroad or a year at home with no work. Let the answers turn into conversations. The game is mostly an excuse.
The trivia night
Each of you prepares five questions about yourself before the call. Score points for correct answers. It is lighthearted, and it quietly shows how much attention each of you has been paying.
Online board games
Many classic board and card games, such as chess, have free online versions where you can play against a friend. Keep the video call open next to the game so you can see each other's faces when someone makes a terrible move.
Slow games that last for weeks
These suit couples with big time differences or busy weeks, because nobody has to be online at the same moment.
- Correspondence chess, or any turn-based game. One move a day, at whatever hour suits you. A single game can last a month and becomes a small daily ritual.
- The same crossword or puzzle. Do the same daily puzzle separately, then compare times or answers in the evening.
- Scavenger hunt by post. If you are sending a parcel, hide small clues inside: a riddle that points to the next pocket, a note that only makes sense once they find the last item.
- The guessing jar. Each week, one of you hides a detail in your messages, a song title, a word, a reference to something you did together. The other person has until Sunday to spot it.
Keeping it fun
A few things help games stay playful rather than becoming another task.
Match the game to the mood. After a hard day, a competitive game may be the last thing either of you needs. A gentle storytelling game or a silly drawing round is easier on a tired brain.
Watch the scoreboard. Some friendly rivalry is lovely. If one of you always wins and the other starts dreading game night, switch to cooperative games or ones based on luck.
Let the game lead somewhere. Often the best part is not the game but what it brings up. If a question opens a real conversation, follow it. The points can wait.
Keep a record. A running tally of wins, the funniest drawings, the best story you wrote together. Those scraps make good material later, whether for a birthday letter or for laughing about it when you are finally in the same room.
When you run out of ideas
Ask each other what games you played as children and recreate one. Childhood games are often simple, translate well to a call and come with stories attached. You may find out that your partner was a fiercely competitive card player at eight, which explains a lot. If you want more ways to spend time together across the distance, there are other ideas in the journal.
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