Looking for ideas of things to do together with my wife *snicker snicker - not THAT*

[Robzilla1983]

Hey folks, 

to make a long story short we're stuck in a bit of a rut. Kids go to bed at 8 usually, and after that the wife and I sit on our asses in the basement watching TV. She'll crochet, I'll colour or do Star Wars puzzles. I'd like like to do more, but I don't know what. With the kids, we're limited to staying in the house (yes we could get babysitters occasionally, but not nightly). So, for the other couples out there, what do you two do for fun?

[Twibbly]

Games.  Our collection of board games is getting epic, even after it's been pared down.  We need to play more often, though.

[Robzilla1983]

Any games in particular? I've thought of that, but I feel like there's not a lot of great board games for just 2 people

[Elastigirl]

cards are fun for two-Cribbage

Bought my husband Pandemic for Christmas, and it is super fun.It is a co-op for 2-4 players, and does really well with 2

Castles of Burgundy is another fun one, building game like Cataan, only it can also be played with 2 people

[Twibbly]

I'll look at the shelf when I get home. Zombie Dice (variation of Farkle) is a new favorite.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[Raincloak]

My folks always loved walking the dog together. When the dog went to his final rest, they just went for walks.

[trawlerman]

Hi Robzilla1983!

There are actually a HUGE amount of board games that play well with two. Check out one of the most recent episodes of the "Tabletop For Two" podcast to hear one couple's discussion of their favorite two player games from just last year. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tabletop-for-two-podcast/id987793243?mt=2&i=359197715

Just as a warning, though: some modern games can be intimidating in terms of set-up and iconography. Always research a game yourself first to see if it's something that YOU would be comfortable with.

My wife's favorite 2-player game (and one I love as well) is the card game Lost Cities.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50/lost-cities

I'll second Elastigirl's Pandemic recommendation. Especially if you've never played a co-op game, it might blow your mind. It plays well with two players, but also plays well with more if you happen to have another couple over.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic

Another "gateway" game that you may enjoy is Ticket to Ride. It also plays very well with just two, but can accommodate more players and still plays well.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride

To be completely honest, I enjoy many other games more than those, but those are two that are consistently great at making new board game converts!

I could make a list of more games for you if you want. What games have you enjoyed in the past?

My biggest advice, though, is not to get stuck in the trap that WellBS implied in his/her comment above. It's easy to start buying way more than you're playing. I suggest buying two or three games to start (like the ones I mentioned above), then just play them repeatedly until you've played them to death. So many modern board gamers (myself included!) get caught up in chasing new games that we miss out on the joys of being really familiar with a few favorites.

And if you find that board games aren't for you, well, there is always that other thing. *snicker* *snicker*

[Toshimi]

watch table top on youtube, lots of games to see, ticket to ride, forbidden desert, qwirkle

[zeroh13]

My wife and I are really into video games. There are a decent number of games that can be played with local co-op. Or sometimes I'll watch her play a game, or she'll watch me play a game.

 

My parents play a ton of tabletop games together. I don't know the names of any of them off the top of my head, but there are definitely great 2+ player ones out there. A lot of them are 2 to 4 players, so I'll play with them sometimes when I visit. They always have some new game that I'd never heard of before (part of that is because my dad backs a lot of Kickstarters).

 

Another piece of advice when buying games is to look at how long they take to play. Some games are as short as under thirty minutes, while others can go for hours and hours. It might also be nice to keep an eye out for games you could play with the kids too.

 

Aside from games, you could try picking up a hobby together.

[Karianne85]

I'm not sure as I'm having the same problem. I like board games but he doesn't (except a select few). We like some of the same things on t.v. but not much. At least you two are in the same room! That said, we have been married 44 happy years! Go figure.

 

I can think of some ideas that you all might like even if most won't work for us.

 

Cook/prep foods together. Invent your own recipes.

Just talk with room dark and candles lit.

Do an exercise video together.

Listen to music also with candles lit.

Read the same book and discuss it sometimes.

Give each other back massages.

Plan something like a trip. Look at places on the internet. Even if you don't go. My husband and I fantasized about a trip to Holland one night. It was relaxing and fun. You could do it with houses/home furnishings/remodeling ideas. I love an internet site called houzz.com. You can save your ideas in their Idea Book.

Get out photos and look through them. i got a big box out to organize but never did. Just enjoyed looking at them together though.

Teach each other something or learn something new together. 

Do a jigsaw puzzle together.

Keep and add to a scrapbook sort of thing for your kids. Write down things that happen, add photos, etc.

[SparkleFunPower]

Settlers of Catan is a super fun game, all about strategy and can be played with 2 + people. My significant other and I play it together.

[lady snow]

lol, sounds like hubby and I... Get the kids down and then I crochet and he plays his 3ds or league. We have no days off together and it is impossible to find a sitter here so that's really our only downtime together. We just hang out and talk while doing those or knock out a small project together.

â„ï¸lady snowâ„ï¸

[Robzilla1983]

lol, sounds like hubby and I... Get the kids down and then I crochet and he plays his 3ds or league. We have no days off together and it is impossible to find a sitter here so that's really our only downtime together. We just hang out and talk while doing those or knock out a small project together.

â„ï¸lady snowâ„ï¸

That's awesome to find someone else who crochets. And is in basically the exact same boat  

 

I've been doing Star Wars puzzles lately. It helps lol

[trailgirl]

These are some things my husband and I do to hang out:

Read a book to one another (we're currently reading the Belgariad series)

Play a co-op video game (Left 4 Dead, Borderlands, and Portal 2 are our favorites)

Get into a tv show with a strong storyline (Lost, Dexter, Jessica Jones) and discuss it

Jigsaw puzzles

Favorite two-player games:

 

Jaipur

Machi Koro

Hive 

Star Realms

Splendor

 

 

And really, if you're hanging out in the same room together, you can be doing your own thing and still enjoying yourselves. Chat a bit about the news, or your day, or listen to music. 

[lady snow]

That's awesome to find someone else who crochets. And is in basically the exact same boat

I've been doing Star Wars puzzles lately. It helps lol

I thought we were the only weird couple that does that lol [emoji39]

â„ï¸lady snowâ„ï¸

[jfreaksho]

We read to each other- mostly it's been Terry Prachett Discworld books (Ach, Crivens!) but anything that isn't too dark has been good.

 

If your kids are sound enough sleepers (we don't have any kids yet) you could play music together.  My wife got a ukulele after seeing Amanda Palmer in concert (with her husband Neil Gaiman- awesome show) and I play guitar.  We have a number of songs for which we find the chord charts online, and just play and sing.  Our neighbors do it too, but we haven't played with them yet.

[Waldo]

After the kids go to bed, we workout and do our own thing for a bit, then we make and eat dinner and watch TV until bedtime.

 

If you are spending time together without the kids in the same room every day, you're doing better than many couples.  Doing something like playing a game seems like too much effort, we like to just relax together.

 

We used to do our own thing in separate rooms; she didn't watch anything I liked, and I'd rather play games/chat on the computer.  But that just wasn't good at all for us, eventually we decided at the very least we'd spend that few hours before bed together.  Even though we both work out after we put the kids to bed, it is mostly alone time until dinner, which for us is also needed for our sanity.  I work out and spend time in the shop, she works out and watches the TV shows she knows I don't care for.  We don't really work out together per se though except the rare occasion we do videos together.

 

Right now though we are working on a puzzle together.  Incidentally a Star Wars puzzle.

 

But we have shows that we like to watch together.  I don't care for dead people shows (dead people shows = cop/forensic shows, court shows, crime shows, etc..., shows where the story line revolves around killing people or dead people).  She doesn't care for history/science shows.  So we watch a lot of HGTV.

[Waldo]

Ugh....

[Waldo]

Ugh...#2

[Randy the Red]

If you guys are going to watch TV together, sit next to each other. I swear this one little change can make a difference. 

 

You can...

• Write a book together. Even a small book that nobody will read (but maybe your kids will!). It doesn't have to be good either. And for a bonus, you can illustrate it yourself too.
• Like Separatist posted, get a ukulele. They are fairly cheap and easy to learn and who cares if you can't sing a lick, it's still fun.
• Play 20 questions...How well do you really know each other? Do you have interesting stories about your youth? Share 'em!
• Plan a family trip. This could be a picnic or something local, or maybe a day trip to the forest, or go to see that one thing you've been wanting to see but never do. 
• Look up some jokes and see who can tell the best joke.
• Go out front and look at the stars. Learn a few constellations. Get a pair of binoculars and you'll really see how much more there is in the sky. I'm a sky nerd.
• Debate. It doesn't have to be about anything real. Debate why butterflies are better than caterpillars or why eggplant is your favorite (I know eggplant is nobody's favorite, that's what makes it fun).
• Have a whistling contest.

[jfreaksho]

 

• Like Separatist posted, get a ukulele. They are fairly cheap and easy to learn and who cares if you can't sing a lick, it's still fun.

 

 

My wife got a ukulele after seeing Amanda Palmer in concert (with her husband Neil Gaiman- awesome show)

I'm just gonna leave this here.  Despite the time spent talking at the beginning, it is totally worth it to watch the whole thing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWygYz-as_g

 

Edit: Her music stand is her husband Neil Gaiman, author of Stardust, Coraline, Sandman, a number of Dr. Who episodes, and a bunch of other stuff that's pretty awesome.

 

Amanda Palmer is a pretty awesome performer in her own right, having gotten her break as part of the Dresden Dolls.

 

Here's the studio version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZaR_4us6Ec

[Twibbly]

I totally want a ukelele now.

[RedStone]

Everyone already said games so I won't go crazy with that, but here are some variations we do to make things different!

 

Sometimes we'll watch a movie while playing scrabble, but instead of regular scrabble rules we have to make all the words relate to the movie somehow. We end up with some non-scrabble regulation words, but so long as we can justify it, it's a play!

 

Usually on a weekend morning it's Lego time, and we roll out the bins and get to work on projects together. We make sets for our fishtanks and stuff like that. Mine are mostly minecraft related... his just aren't as cool  

 

One thing that's new for us, we turned an old conversation based drinking game we used to play into a podcast! We record once a week, usually Saturday night. It's been really fun for both of us.

 

I guess one of the other things we do together is work on songs. He's been taking piano lessons for awhile now, so sometimes he'll tackle a song that I can join him on, either on guitar or vocals. We don't do anything with it, it's just fun.

 

Some great suggestions in this thread!