7 Fun & Flirty Take-Turns Games to Play with Your Spouse

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my husband. No, not just sex! We’ve been playing games in the shower. No, not those kinds of games. We’ve been taking turns playing a game as we switch out our time in the shower.

Today, I’m sharing some take-turns games ideas for you to use with your spouse—for fun, increasing connection, and flirting with one another!

To play these games, you need something to write with and somewhere to write. You could put out a notebook or pad of paper and pen, and trade out as you each pass wherever those are located. You could use the bathroom mirror and a sharpie marker. (When you’ve finished the game, use alcohol to remove the ink.) You could use a dry erase marker and board. Or you can do as we’re doing and purchase Aqua Notes, a waterproof pad-and-pencil combo you can use in the bath/shower.

1. Tic-Tac-Toe

This is where we started: a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe. It’s known in some places as Xs and Os or Noughts and Crosses.

You simply draw a 3 x 3 grid, and one spouse begins with either an X or an O. The other comes behind and adds the alternate (X or O) in a different space. Each of you is trying to get three in a row. Play as many rounds as you like.

If you want, you can also vary your symbols. For instance, instead of an X or O, use your initial, or an emoji, or the male/female icons, or hearts and stars, or even something a bit naughty, shall we say.

2. Line-by-Line Poetry

My opening began: Let’s Write a Poem! The next line was: I love you more than chips.

This opening was both fun and true since tortilla and potato chips are highly prized commodities in my household, but even chips (with salsa!) cannot match the love I have for my husband. They compete but don’t match. 😉

My husband wrote the next line: of diamond or flecks of gold. Well, that took an interesting turn!

I love you more than chips
Of diamonds or flecks of gold
When you’re near, my ♥ skips
And desire stirs me to be bold…

by J & Spock

We kept going, line by line—me writing one, him writing one. And I will not share the remainder of our poem, because it got mushy and, at one point, R-rated. Suffice it to say, I’m tucking this sweet, silly poem into our memento box and the experience of writing it into my memory bank.

Your poem can be anything you want: couplet, limerick, haiku, acrostic, free verse, etc. One spouse starts with a line, the other adds theirs, and so on, until you have a complete poem. Hopefully, one that celebrates your marriage’s fun, romance, and/or intimacy.

3. Hangman

Yes, we’re following sweet poetry with a hanging—but only of a stick figure! Disclaimer: No persons are hanged or harmed in the making or playing of this game.

Every kid who grew in my area in my era played hangman. One player begins by choosing a word/phrase for the other player to guess, drawing a blank line for every letter of the word/phrase, and then sketching the gallows. The other player guesses letters until they can make out enough to guess the word/phrase.

Each correct letter gets added to the proper blank(s), and each incorrect letter adds another body part to the gallows. The usual order is head, torso, arm, arm, leg, leg. Some add other parts like eyes and mouth. But if the hanging man is completed before the word is guessed, the gallows-creator wins.

Here’s where it gets better for couples: Pick a loving, flirtatious, or sexy phrase!

I chose a phrase my husband and I have used to express our mutual love all the way back to when we were dating. It’s not constantly spoken, so it wasn’t a super-easy guess, but it’s a phrase that feels like ours. Below isn’t our phrase, but simply an example.

4. Word Morph

In this game, one spouse writes down a short word. The other writes a word below that uses all the letters of the first word but one—changing that one letter into something else to form a new word. The first spouse writes a new word using the same rules, and so on until you’ve changed all the letters of the first word and come up with a new word altogether.

That description is much easier to understand once you see it in action. Here are examples of turning MATE into FELT and LOVE into GIFT. The blue words are him, the pink words are her.

Start with whatever word you want, and make sure that whatever word you each write on your turn can be changed into something else. It will likely be a surprise what word emerges at the end!

And yes, you can make this sweet, like LOVE to GIFT, or sexy or hubba-hubba, depending on what word you choose. Four-letter words are easiest to work with, but try whatever length you want.

5. Words in Words

Most of us have played this game in which a long word is provided, and then you see how many other words you can make with the letters in that word. In the marriage version, pick a romantic phrase, a sexually enticing word, or a love-themed word.

For example:

Those aren’t all the words you can form, but enough for you to see how it works.

6. “Pin” the Hand on the Body

Don’t actually use a pin. I don’t want anyone hurt in the course of flirty games with their spouse!

Rather, draw his and her bodies on your writing surface and then stick or draw a hand where you’d like your spouse’s hand to touch you. Trade out ideas, and the next time you have the opportunity, act on your beloved’s request.

Mine are clothed below, but yours don’t have to be. You get the point.

And no, horny husbands, you cannot spend the entire time with your figures looking like this!

Show a little romance and creativity! Try a few other places first. Woo your beloved with her hand on your arm, your thigh, your face, etc. Though if you both agree, you could can switch out that hand for a mouth.

7. Our Next Position

Speaking of stick figures—were we?—you can also draw your next sex position a body part at a time. If using those stick figures, head, torso, arm, arm, leg, leg are what you have to work with.

If you’re more artistically talented, feel free to skip the stick figures the rest of us are using and add more depth and detail. But you still need to take turns adding one part at a time.

For example, lets say you get in the shower, and the drawing looks like this:

What would you draw next?

Ideally, she should draw the position of his body parts, and he should draw the position of her body parts, so that you can each see what the other would like.

But this is a flirtatious way to look forward to your next sexual encounter by drawing out piece by piece how you two will come together in lovemaking.

Why Play Games?

I tend to write about sexual intimacy, but marriage should include other forms of intimacy, including recreational intimacy. Recreational intimacy is the connection formed through doing enjoyable activities together.

Games like these are a lighthearted way to connect with your spouse and strengthen recreational intimacy. We should actively look for opportunities to form and nurture such bonds!

Games are a lighthearted way to connect with your spouse and strengthen recreational intimacy. We should actively look for opportunities to form and nurture such bonds! via @hotholyhumorous Click To Tweet

Have you played fun games with your spouse? What other games would you add to my list?