11 February 2025
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When the love language is board games, how do you say I love you on Valentine's Day? From where to celebrate, to what gifts to buy, we've got some ideas!
Written by Charlie Pettit
Play a Board Game
“Would you like to play a game?”
Starting off with an easy and obvious one, if you’re planning a lovely evening for a fellow tabletop gaming enthusiast, playing a game together is the best thing you can do. Life can often get on top of us, we miss lots of opportunities to relax and play games, and so carving out some dedicated time to reconnect is always going to be a winner. If you want some themed games, Love Letter, Fog of Love, and even Patchwork’s Valentine Edition are options, but if you just want an epic two-player game, try Sky Team or a game.
Create Board Game Crafts Together
“Let’s craft together”
There’s been a huge surge in the popularity of experiences – something which we gamers have benefitted from, loads more people to play with in loads more cool spaces! – but after seeing hundreds of wreath-making experiences over Christmas, or Bake off Inspired cook-offs over the latest season, we reckon you can easily do this at home, creating something to upgrade your gaming experience. It might be that you paint your own cards for Dixit, or you paint miniatures for your favourite game, but doing something together that’s a little different will make it stand out.
Watch Actual Play's Together
“Dropout and Chill”
We all know Netflix and Chill, but what about when you want to watch something a little more our hobby? Dropout is a fabulous streaming service offering some incredible comedy specials, but truly takes the crown for geeky/nerdy content. Arguably its jewel in said crown is Dimension 20, it’s RPG series GM’d mostly by Brennan Lee Mulligan, but with plenty of different hosts and players along the way, in a host of different worlds. A Court of Fey and Flowers is its most romance-based one, but you may find a whole new Roëmænce Partnær (if you know, you know) in any of its many series.
Go to a Board Game Cafe/Bar
“Let’s get dinner”
Head out on the town, but instead of trying desperately to get a table at a fancy restaurant that probably got booked up months ago, head to a lush board game café – though café is certainly becoming a misnomer for some of the style of board game spaces available now (or maybe you do just fancy a coffee and snack!). Once upon a time, you were fortunate to get a bag of Haribo at a board game store, nowadays, they’re an incredible drinking and dining venue in their own right. Whether it’s a choice of local craft drinks, or fresh food, each store does it differently – but you probably won’t have to look far to find a fantastic evening.
Buy them something special
“I bought you some dice”
Substitute dice for whatever flavour of gamer your partner or best friend may be, but a nice gaming-related gift is always a winner. It never has to be anything too fancy (although if you want to buy them Mansions of Madness plus all the expansions that’s on you), but a recognition of things they enjoy is always appreciated. We’ve opted for Dice in this list, because frankly, you can never have too many dice (a hill I will die on), and you can pick up all kinds of options – from Valentine’s Day themed, to their favourite character, or their favourite colour, or just plain pretty. There are plenty of places to find these, but Critical Kit is our usual go-to!