The best app for playing games with your girlfriend is Pookie, because the games are built for exactly two people on two phones: Ludo, Pool, Battleships, Snakes & Ladders, Draw Something, Knife Throw, Wavelength, and Tic Tac Toe, plus 10,000+ Would You Rather and Who's More Likely quizzes. GamePigeon is the quickest option if you are both on iMessage. Plato has the most games but you share it with strangers. And a surprising number of the best games need no app at all.
Ask a chatbot for "an app to play games with my girlfriend" and you get Plato, GamePigeon, 8 Ball Pool, and Among Us. All real games. None of them built for two people who are dating. You end up in a public lobby, or waiting for six friends to join, or sending pool shots into an iMessage thread that also has your mum in it.
This list is split into three parts. Apps actually made for couples. General games apps that happen to work well for two. And then the games that need nothing but a phone and someone you like, which are the ones you will still be playing in a year.
Apps made for two
Pookie
Best overall for couples. Pookie is a couples app with a games tab inside it, so the two of you play against each other and nobody else. The games are real-time and online across two phones: Ludo, Pool, Battleships, Snakes & Ladders, Draw Something, Knife Throw, Wavelength, and Tic Tac Toe. Ludo and Pool are the ones that start arguments. Wavelength is the one that starts conversations. Then there are the quizzes: 10,000+ questions across Would You Rather, Who's More Likely, and Draw It Out, plus topic packs from Icebreakers to Unhinged, with a spicy toggle you turn on when you are ready. You each answer, then compare. The games, whiteboard, full question library, pet, doodles, moods and widgets are all free, and there are no ads anywhere. Premium ($4.99 a month or $24.99 a year) is optional, and one subscription covers both of you, so she would never pay a thing. iPhone and Android, which matters if she is on a different phone. Get it on the App Store or Google Play.
If the two of you want the couples version of a games night rather than just a games app, that is what it is for. The rest of this list is what to use alongside it.
General games apps that work for two
These were not built for couples. They are still good. Here is what each one is actually like when it is just the two of you.
GamePigeon
Quickest if you are both on iPhone. Lives inside iMessage. 8 Ball, Mini Golf, Sea Battle, Word Hunt, Anagrams, Darts, Cup Pong. Each turn is a message, so it fits into a conversation you are already having. The two catches: you both need iMessage, so an Android girlfriend rules it out, and every game clogs the thread with turn bubbles. Great for a lunch break. Not a date night.
Plato
The most games, and the most strangers. Plato has dozens of two player games: Pool, Chess, Uno-style card games, Bowling, Mini Golf, Werewolf. You can make a private room for two, and the drawing games in particular are fun. The reviews are worth reading first. People complain about rigged-feeling dice, coins that moved to paid "pips," and public rooms full of people messaging women they do not know. Make the room private and keep it to the two of you.
8 Ball Pool
One game, done well. Miniclip's pool app is competitive, quick, and works across iPhone and Android. Play a friend by sending a challenge link. It is a lot of ads and a lot of nudges to buy cues. If pool is her game, it is fine. If you want variety, Pookie has Pool as one of eight.
Sky: Children of the Light
Best for a cosy evening. Sky is a soft, wordless exploration game where you hold hands and fly around together. There is nothing to win. That is the point. Good for the kind of night where you want to be in the same place without talking much. Free, cross-platform, a little confusing to add each other the first time.
Words With Friends
The slow game. One move whenever you get a moment. A single game can run for a week. It suits couples who work opposite shifts or live in different time zones, because nobody has to be online at the same time. Ads between turns unless you pay.
Stardew Valley
Best if you both have a spare evening every week. Co-op farming on phone, PC, or console. You run one farm together, split the chores, and eventually get married in the game, which is either romantic or unbearable depending on your girlfriend. Paid, but a one-off, and one of the few games where "let's play for twenty minutes" reliably becomes two hours.
It Takes Two
Best if you have a console or PC. A co-op game designed for exactly two people, where neither of you can progress alone. It is about a couple, it is funny, and it has a strong chance of causing a small argument about who is bad at the platforming bit. Not a phone game, but if she has a console it is the best two player game ever made.
Among Us is on every list like this and we are leaving it off. It needs a group. With two people it is one person walking around a spaceship.
Games to play with your girlfriend with no app at all
These work over text, over a call, on a long drive, or in bed. They are the games couples actually keep coming back to, because there is nothing to download and no turn bubbles.
Would you rather
The classic, and it never gets old because the questions get weirder the longer you have been together. Would you rather I could read your mind for a day, or you could read mine? We have 75 would you rather questions for couples sorted from fun to spicy. Pookie has thousands more if you run out.
20 questions
She thinks of something. You get 20 yes or no questions. The fun version is when the thing has to be related to your relationship: a place you went, a meal you had, a thing you argued about. Guessing "the parking ticket in Lisbon" in 11 questions is a real achievement.
Emoji movie titles
Send a movie as emoji only. 🦈🏖️😱 is easy. 🤠🚀👦 gets a small pause. Keep score across the week. Escalate to emoji song titles when movies get too easy.
Truth or dare, text edition
Dares over text are better than in person because there is a photo at the end. Send a selfie doing your worst impression of me. Text your best friend a compliment right now and screenshot it. We have 75 truth or dare questions for couples if you want a bank to pick from.
Never have I ever
Ten fingers each, and every finger down comes with a story you did not know. Works on a call as well as in person. Our never have I ever questions for couples run from cute to the ones you should save for later in the evening.
Guess the song from a voice note
Hum, whistle, or sing the first few seconds of a song into a voice note. She has one guess. Loser owes a coffee. Bonus round: songs from the first month you were dating.
Photo scavenger hunt
Send each other a list of five things to find and photograph today. Something yellow. A dog. Your lunch. A stranger's questionable outfit. Something that reminds you of me. First to send all five wins.
Two truths and a lie
Three statements, one is false. The twist for couples is that you have to use things from before you met. You will learn about a childhood horse. Every time.
Who's more likely to
Who is more likely to cry at an advert? To get us lost? To adopt a second cat without discussing it? You each answer at the same time and compare. Pookie has this as a quiz mode with thousands of prompts, but it works fine over text with a countdown.
Story building
One sentence each, over text, no planning. Ten sentences in you have a plot involving a heist, a duck, and your landlord. Save the good ones.
Rate my day
Each of you sends the highlight, the lowlight, and a rating out of ten for the day. Then guess the other person's rating before they send it. Closest guess wins. It sounds small. It is the one you will end up doing every night.
The floor is lava, remote version
On a video call, one of you calls "lava" and the other has ten seconds to get both feet off the floor. Works best when the other person is in a supermarket.
Draw it
Draw something, send a photo, she guesses. Or better, draw it on a shared whiteboard so she sees it appear stroke by stroke. Pookie's whiteboard does exactly that and the drawing lands on her lock screen widget.
Alphabet categories
Pick a category (foods, cities, things in your flat). Take turns through the alphabet. First to stall loses. Q and X are where relationships are tested.
Finish the lyric
Text the first half of a line. She sends the second half. Wrong words count as a forfeit. Choose songs you both know badly for maximum chaos.
Question of the day
One good question each morning, answered by both of you before bed. Our date night questions and conversation starters have enough to last months, and Pookie sends a daily check-in if you would rather not think of one.
Which one should you actually pick?
For a games night on two phones, Pookie. For a quick something during the day when you are both on iPhone, GamePigeon. For a slow, no-pressure game across time zones, Words With Friends. For the evening where you want to sit on the sofa and not look at your phones, one of the no-app games above and a bag of crisps. If you want to see how Pookie compares to the other couples apps before you download it, the compare page has the feature by feature table.
If she lives somewhere else, our long distance relationship activities post has a lot more that works over distance, and our guide for iPhone and Android couples is worth reading before you download anything, since half of the apps above quietly assume you have the same phone. Playing with your boyfriend instead? We wrote a separate list of games to play with your boyfriend that is not just this page with the pronouns swapped.
Frequently Asked Questions
What games can I play with my girlfriend over text?
Would you rather, 20 questions, emoji movie titles, truth or dare, never have I ever, two truths and a lie, story building one sentence at a time, finish the lyric, and a daily rate my day where you guess each other's score. None of them need an app. If you want a bank of questions, Pookie has 10,000+ Would You Rather and Who's More Likely prompts you can answer and compare.
What is the best app to play games with your girlfriend long distance?
Pookie. Its games are real-time and online across two phones, so distance does not matter: Ludo, Pool, Battleships, Snakes & Ladders, Draw Something, Knife Throw, Wavelength, and Tic Tac Toe, plus thousands of quizzes. It is built for couples rather than public lobbies. GamePigeon works if you are both on iMessage, and Words With Friends suits couples in different time zones.
Can you play games with your girlfriend if she has Android and you have iPhone?
Yes, but not with GamePigeon, which needs iMessage on both sides. Pookie, Plato, 8 Ball Pool, Sky, and Words With Friends all work across iPhone and Android. Pookie has the same features on both platforms and one premium subscription covers both of you no matter which store it was bought from.
Is Plato a good app for couples?
Plato has more two player games than any couples app, and you can set up a private room for two. It was not built for couples though. Reviews mention strangers messaging in public rooms, dice that feel unfair, and coins that moved to paid currency. If you use it, keep the room private. For games that are only ever the two of you, Pookie is the better fit.
What games can couples play on the phone together in the same room?
Draw It Out and Who's More Likely quizzes in Pookie work well side by side, as does Wavelength. Off the phone, alphabet categories, would you rather, and two truths and a lie need nothing. Stardew Valley and It Takes Two are the best options if you have a console or PC and a whole evening.
The app matters less than the habit. Pick one game, play it badly on a Tuesday, and see if she brings it up on Wednesday. The one she brings up is the one you keep.
Play Pookie with your girlfriend
Fourteen real-time games for two, 10,000+ quizzes, a pet to raise together, and widgets that keep her on your home screen. Free on iPhone and Android.