New research has named the best games for couples to play together this Valentine’s Day (14th February), with Portal 2 crowned this year’s top choice.
The findings, from Bonusetu, looked at each game’s popularity and ratings across multiple review sites, and paired these with Twitter data revealing which games people are most playing with their significant other, and which in-game features they’re most in love with.Each game was then awarded a score out of ten across four key categories: couple’s choice, in-game features, player ratings and game popularity, to name a winner.
The results show that Portal 2 ranked the highest with a total score of 7.6/10 – largely due to the game’s ‘cute’ in-game features. The game also came out as the most-played amongst couples on Twitter this year, scoring 10/10 for couple’s choice. Created by Valve, Portal 2 is a sequel platform-puzzle game that added a new co-op mode and additional test chambers specifically designed for co-op play; a choice that clearly still proves popular amongst fans, despite the game first being released over a decade ago.
Despite not being the most popular or highest-rated game analysed in the study, the findings show it’s still the best for couples looking to play together this Valentine’s, with players on Twitter praising the ‘cute’ artwork, ‘cool’ music and ‘fun’ puzzle aspects.
The second-best game for couples is It Takes Two, with a total score of 6.2/10. Created by Hazelight, the game can only be played between two players, who are tasked with working out their differences as separated couple Cody and May in order to help their daughter. Although divorce doesn’t sound like the basis for a good co-op mission, it seems gamers on Twitter enjoy playing It Takes Two with their significant other – particularly married couples.
Rounding out the top three best games for couples is Stardew Valley, which scored 5.6/10. It also ranked top as the most popular game analysed in the study, scoring a perfect 10/10. The demographic most likely to play Stardew Valley came out as those who are dating – suggesting it’s a good game for people to play whilst getting to know eachother better.
The game also came second for the most-praised in-game features, with the game aspects that were most-often described with positive adjectives like ‘cute’, ‘love’, ‘fun’, ‘cool’ and ‘awesome’ being the villagers that live in Pelican Town, and the scenery.
However, couples that start playing Stardew Valley together have to commit to the long game, as the average playing time is 52 and a half hours according to howlongtobeat data – making it the second-longest game behind League of Legends.
When scaled against other games in the study, some titles that are ideal for couples sit comparatively low in the ranking – such as Unravel 2, with a low score of 1 /10.
Unravel 2, created by Coldwood Interactive, sees players navigate a series of platforming puzzles as two beings made from yarn and connected by a single threat. Despite it sitting at the bottom of the top ten ranking, it’s still a great test of teamwork and coordination.
Games that are often recommended for couples that didn’t make the top ten included Rayman Legends, LittleBigPlanet, Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario Odyssey.
Happily, half of the games featured in the top ten are available for less than £15 online – with Stardew Valley, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime and Dream Daddy all £10.99 on Steam.
Couples looking for a quick gaming session may want to opt for Dream Daddy, which gamers play for an average of 4.5 hours, or Unravel 2, with games standing at five hours.
Overall, across all 25 games analysed, the demographic most likely to play video games with their significant other came out as married couples, followed by those who are casually dating, and then those who are in a relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend etc).
Speaking on the findings, a Bonusetu spokesperson said: “Sharing your hobby with the person you love is always a rewarding experience; which is particularly true for couples who enjoy gaming together, as they’re able to level-up their skills and test their teamwork. Whilst we’re sure that people will enjoy whichever games they choose to play with their significant other this Valentine’s Day, it is interesting to see which titles are the best-suited to co-op play – and that Portal 2 is still so popular with players after all this time.”
