There are a lot of hurdles to jump over this Valentine’s Day. With the pandemic still closing restaurants and restricting movement worldwide, arranging a special evening with your significant other can seem almost impossible. If you’re tired of zoom dates and looking for something different, you might find a fun evening in a video game. There are thousands of games you could play with your partner, and the choice can be intimidating. I thought I’d suggest some of my favourites to make the situation a little simpler and narrow down the options. All of these games are easy to run, not requiring expensive gaming hardware, and give you and your partner a goal to strive towards together rather than pitting you against each other.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is the sweetest farming simulator around. It puts you and your partner on an old abandoned farm near a sleepy countryside village before giving you free rein to spend your farming days however you like. While farming does tend to take centre stage in your activities, you are never confined to doing only that. You can spend your evenings picking shells off the beach, playing arcade games in the bar, fishing in the local stream or delving into the abandoned mines. There are such a plethora of different activities that I feel confident saying it has something that appeals to every type of player. With cute mechanics like giving presents, this game is the perfect way to spend a long distanced Valentine’s day.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
This brightly coloured space adventure is perfect for couples who want more intensity and action from their games. The goal is to work together to man a spaceship, juggling and sharing tasks that range from firing lasers to powering the shields. This game will have you sitting on the edge of your seats as your characters scramble around the ship’s interior, laughing and shouting orders and information at each other as the entire universe chases after you. Some of these more adrenaline fuelled games can lead to a bit of bickering between some couples, so this one isn’t for everyone. If however you know you can laugh with each other through the stress, this game could be a couple’s perfect adventure.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft can be intimidating to new players. It has been the most famous massively multiplayer online role-playing game around for decades, and has been depicted in media as one of the nerdiest hobbies a person can have. It’s true that some people can sink thousands of hours into WoW and take it a bit seriously for my tastes, but it shouldn’t be overlooked as a more casual game. World of Warcraft offers something that many other games simply can’t offer: an entire world to explore. Players can choose what their character looks like, with ranges from tiny green goblins to jolly pandas to graceful elves, and this customisation means that player’s can make the characters that represent them best in real life. This game offers almost limitless possibilities for partners to explore, from flower picking to exploring to good old fashioned combat. Despite the huge download size, the game runs on all modern laptops and only needs to download a fraction of the total files before you can jump in and start playing.
Minecraft
There’s a reason that Minecraft has remained one of the most popular games over the last decade. It is the perfect definition of a survival sandbox game, in which players must strive to survive in whatever way they choose. Minecraft manages to contain good points from all of the three other titles on this list, with calming farming and fishing, tough combat against overwhelming odds and a world that will generate infinitely. It’s blocky graphics aren’t for everyone, but can be surprisingly immersive when you play for a while and it’s easy to get lost in the world. The game is basically virtual Lego, allowing you to create custom structures to your heart’s content, with animals, villagers and monsters to fill out your world. Of all the games on this list, Minecraft offers the most potential and gives players the most freedom, but starting can be slow and it can be daunting at the beginning. It may not be perfect for a single date night, but it is perfect for something more long term.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s day, but it seems important to celebrate anything that we can this year more than ever. The hurdles and struggles of the last year have been numerous, and many people see Valentine’s day as a stressful date rather than a celebration. I hope this list helps any who need more ideas for their next Valentine’s, or indeed any long distance virtual date in the future, and I’d be very interested to hear about any games you think should be on the list in the comments!
All images from the press kit of their respective games.
