Three Best Video Games For Couples

Enhance Your Relationship Through Cooperative Video Gaming.

Aug 11, 2008

Gaming as a couple can be a great way for men and women to spend quality time together while having fun and bonding. These three games are perfect examples.

Gaming is a fantastic way to bond with a significant other. The teamwork and joint problem-solving skills necessary to progress through many of today’s fantastic video games can only improve communication and cooperation skills as a couple.

There are certain types of games that are more appropriate for couples than others. Highly-competitive games do little to foster an environment of tranquility in a relationship. Highly-cooperative games, on the other hand, are a fantastic way for couples to spend time together doing something they can both enjoy without sowing discord in the relationship.

Stephen Spielberg’s Boom Blox for the Nintendo Wii is a puzzle game with some excellent cooperative features and modes. Often described as “Jenga with explosions,” Boom Blox takes the traditional puzzle-solving action from the classic party game and adds several innovative twists.

For couples, the game’s cooperative modes are an excellent way to enjoy video games together. Working as a team to solve the game’s many block-pulling, tower-smashing, and explosion-causing puzzles is a very nice way to spend an evening together. The satisfaction of cooperatively planning out a series of blocks to remove and then watching the tower a couple has worked so hard to destroy finally come crashing down is like nothing else in the video game world.

The Mario Kart series is one of video games’ true classics. Every iteration is fun and innovative and they all stand the test of time. For those unfamiliar with the games, Mario Kart is the original kart-racing series. Various colorful characters race around fantastical tracks while attacking one another with banana peels, turtle shells, and the like.

Technically, the human players are competing against one another, but all it takes is a few simple ground rules established early on (“You don’t shoot me with any turtle shells and I won’t throw any peels at you.”) and the game becomes a unique “two vs. the world” type competition. Working together with to dominate the competition is a very entertaining way to keep both players in the top spots at the end of each race.

Rock Band is the consummate rhythm-action game. Players can choose from four different instruments (bass, guitar, drums, and microphone) and play along with the game’s multitude of pre-recorded tracks by some of the rock world’s most famous artists. There’s something for everyone in this game, from the aspiring Eddie Van Halen to the Tommy Lee hopeful.

The amazing thing about Rock Band is that once players get a handle on the game’s instruments they actually start to feel like they're playing real music. The feeling of cooperatively shredding through a favorite rock anthem with a significant other is like nothing else in a relationship.

Rock Band is also loaded with customization options. Players can customize their on-screen character’s instrument, hair and clothing, even design custom artwork for the band. The realistic-feeling instruments and multitude of customization options work together to create a very immersive experience.

One more amazing thing about Rock Band? It’s an up to four-player gig. Couples can invite other gaming pairs along for the ride and take on the world tour mode together.

The copyright of the article Three Best Video Games For Couples in Video & Online Games is owned by Benjamin Sell. Permission to republish Three Best Video Games For Couples in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.