10 games for long distance couples that aren't terrible

The “long distance couple games” category in the App Store is a graveyard. Most of them are quizzes dressed up as games, with maybe 200 questions you’ll cycle through in a weekend. The rest are couples-themed re-skins of trivia games that exist on every other platform. Three weeks in, the app sits unused on someone’s home screen.

What we recommend instead are real games — board games translated online, multiplayer puzzles, low-key apps that have stayed installed on couples’ phones for years. The bar is: would you play this with anyone, not just your partner? If yes, it’ll work for you two. If it’s specifically marketed as a couples game, skip it.

Below: ten that actually earn their place. Sorted from “play tonight, no setup” to “worth a small monthly subscription.”

1. Codenames Online

Free, browser-based, ~20 minutes. The original Codenames is one of the best party games ever made. The online version preserves that, and it works for two players if you play the cooperative-duet mode (Codenames: Duet).

You and your partner are spies trying to identify each other’s agents using one-word clues. It requires you to think about how the other person thinks — what associations they make, what they’d take seriously, what they’d dismiss. The brain workout is real and the format is naturally chatty.

Setup time: under a minute. Just go to codenames.game and create a private room.

2. Chess.com daily games

Free, asynchronous, plays over days. If either of you has any interest in chess, a daily game with no time pressure is one of the most low-friction couples-games we’ve seen. You make a move when you have a minute. They respond when they have one. A single game might span three days. The chat box is for trash talk and good-game-eulogies.

Even if neither of you is good at chess, the slow pace makes it forgiving. You’ll get better together. Three months in, you’ll have a real shared hobby.

The asymmetric version: one of you plays Chess.com puzzles for 10 minutes a day, screenshots interesting ones, sends them to the other to solve.

3. Boardgame Arena (subscription)

~$3/month for premium. This is the single highest-leverage subscription we’ve recommended for LDR couples. BGA has hundreds of well-made digital versions of physical board games — 7 Wonders Duel, Hanabi, Patchwork, Lost Cities, Jaipur — all of which work great for two players, none of which require both of you to be online at the same time (most can play turn-by-turn over hours or days).

If you have to pick one game, 7 Wonders Duel is the one. It’s strategically deep, plays in 30 minutes when you’re both online, and never gets old.

The free tier of BGA is fine for trying out the platform. Premium gets you access to more games and unlocks the timed/realtime modes. Worth it if you’re actually playing.

4. NYT Crossword and Connections, on different phones

Free or $7/month for the full Games subscription. You both subscribe. Each morning, both of you do the same day’s puzzle independently. Compare times in a quick text. Don’t share answers; share frustrations.

For couples who like word puzzles, this becomes a daily ritual without effort. The NYT app makes it easy. Wordle works the same way (and is free), but Connections has more legs — the puzzles are more variable and produce more “wait, how did you get that?” moments.

5. Among Us with friends

Free, mobile or desktop. Look — Among Us is a couples game in the same way that any group game is. The interesting thing for LDR couples is that it lets you play together against someone else — your shared friend group from before you went long distance, college roommates who’ve also dispersed, etc.

Set up a recurring “Friday night Among Us” with 6-8 friends. You and your partner are on a video call alongside the game. The game is the excuse; the friends are the point. We’ve seen this hold long distance friend groups together for years.

6. Geo Guessr (subscription)

~$3/month for the full version. Geo Guessr drops you somewhere on Google Street View and asks you to figure out where in the world you are. It’s surprisingly addictive and weirdly intimate when you play together — you start noticing how each of you reads landscapes.

The two-player mode is the killer feature. Both of you see the same scene. You compare guesses and reasoning before submitting. By month three, you’ll have a shared vocabulary for “that looks like Eastern Bloc 1990s tile work” or “the road signs say this is Argentina.”

7. Drawful (Jackbox Party Pack)

~$15-20 one-time purchase per pack. The Jackbox Party Packs are a series of party games that work over screen-share. Drawful (you draw something, others guess) is the standout for two players. Most Jackbox games need 4+ players, but Drawful’s two-player variant is genuinely fun.

Buy one pack to start. Party Pack 7 has the strongest mix for couples. Don’t buy them all; the games get repetitive after one pack.

8. Stardew Valley co-op

$15 one-time, takes commitment. A pixel-art farming game with deep multiplayer support. You and your partner share a farm — each of you tends to crops, mines, befriends NPCs in the local town. The whole game has a quiet, low-stakes warmth that makes it perfect for long distance.

The catch: Stardew Valley is a 100-hour game. This isn’t a Tuesday-night thing; it’s a “we play this every Sunday for a year” thing. If that sounds like work, skip. If that sounds like a pleasant ongoing ritual, it’s the most rewarding game on this list.

For Stardew, you’ll need both Steam accounts and a same-platform setup (it doesn’t cross-play between PC and console well). Worth checking before buying.

9. Spyfall (online versions)

Free, browser-based. Spyfall is a deduction game where one player is the spy at an unknown location and everyone else is trying to figure out who. Online versions exist (search for “spyfall online”). Best with 4+ players (find friends), but two-player variants exist if you want to start small.

We mention it because it’s the kind of game where the couples who get hooked stay hooked for years. The bluffing mechanic is genuinely social and forces you to read each other in a way most games don’t.

10. The “share-a-puzzle” approach

Free, whatever you’ve got. Not a specific game — a category. Both of you buy the same physical jigsaw puzzle, set it up at home, work on it during evening calls without being on video. Or both subscribe to a daily logic-puzzle app (Cracking the Cryptic for sudoku enthusiasts, Puzzmo for general puzzle people) and compare notes daily.

The idea is to do the same brain-thing in parallel without it being a competition. The most underrated game format on this list, and the most accessible for couples who don’t think of themselves as gamers.

What we’d skip

A few categories the LDR-content market keeps recommending that we’d save your money on:

• “Couples’ truth or dare” apps. The questions are shallow, the spice gets thin fast, and the gamification is forced. If you want intimate questions, see our questions-to-ask-your-long-distance-partner post — actual prompts, not card-game packaging.
• Couples-quiz apps in general. Most of them have fewer than 300 questions, which means you’ll cycle through them in a few weekends and the app dies. The exception is Paired, which is more of a daily-prompt app than a game; we cover that elsewhere.
• Mobile dating-style “compatibility” games. They’re branded as fun and they’re fundamentally asking you to grade each other. Not a great Tuesday-night activity.
• Most couples-themed Pinterest games (would-you-rather decks, “bucket list” jars). These are fine in person; they don’t translate to FaceTime well.

How to actually pick

The best couples game for you two is the one you’d play even if you weren’t long distance. If you both like crosswords, the NYT puzzle ritual will hold for years. If neither of you has ever willingly opened a board game, Stardew won’t save you.

Start with the cheapest option that fits your existing taste. Codenames Online or Chess.com is free and tells you in two evenings whether you and your partner enjoy doing this kind of thing together. If yes, escalate to a small subscription. If no, save the $3 a month and pick a different ritual.

A note: we’re building Pine for You, an iOS app for couples in different time zones. There’s no game in it. We mention it here because the version of “playing a game together” we keep finding most sustainable is not gamified — it’s just the small habit of doing the same thing at the same time, every week, for a long time. Whether that’s chess, a jigsaw, a sudoku, or a slow Stardew Valley campaign, the structure beats the packaging.

Pick one. Play tonight. See whether it sticks.