At the dinner table: invent it, name it, pitch it
No cards, no rules. One of you asks, both of you build. The sillier the first answer, the better the second one gets.
- We’re opening a tiny diner that serves exactly one dish. What’s on the plate, and what’s the place called?
- Your cat starts a band tonight. What’s the band name, and what’s the first single?
- The salt and pepper shakers need names and a backstory. Who are they, and what’s their long-running feud about?
- You have until dessert to invent a new national holiday. What’s it called, and what does everyone eat?
- A potato chip company wants a flavor named after you. What does it taste like, and what’s the slogan on the bag?
- You have sixty seconds to pitch a reality show filmed in our building. What’s the title, and who’s the villain?
- Tonight’s leftovers are going on a fancy restaurant menu. How does the menu describe them?
- A pigeon lands on the windowsill mid-dinner. If it had a day job, what would it be, and what would it complain about on its lunch break?
- You’re naming a racehorse after something on this table. What’s the horse called?
- You’re inventing a sport that can only be played in a kitchen. What’s it called, and how do you score a point?
- The dinner table becomes its own tiny country tonight. What’s the one law, and what’s the penalty for breaking it?
Sam: We tried the one-dish diner over pasta. Anna named it “Second Helping,” and the only dish was cereal at 10 p.m. By minute three we had a logo, a dress code and a strict no-milk-first policy.
On the couch, when the evening is yours and nothing is on
Nothing to watch, nowhere to be. These start with something impossible happening in your own apartment and ask what you’d do about it.
- A note slides under the door: the building held a vote, and you’re now in charge of the elevator music. What’s playing on Monday morning?
- Your phone gets an update that adds one brutally honest feature. What does the new button do?
- The couch you’re sitting on can talk, but only once a year. What does it say this year?
- The fridge starts leaving you sticky notes. What does the first one say?
- An owner’s manual for your life turns up on the doorstep. What’s the warning on page one?
- A stranger gives you a goat for one weekend and won’t answer questions. Where does it sleep tonight?
- A tiny wizard offers to make one chore magical forever. Which chore, and what does the spell look like?
- You shrink to the size of a coffee mug for one evening. How do you get to the kitchen and back?
- At midnight your blanket turns into a cape. What’s your superpower, and what’s your weakness?
- The toaster files a complaint with HR. What’s in the complaint?
- A raccoon moves in and pays rent on time. What’s the one house rule you give it?
- Every spoon in the house has vanished overnight, and the forks are acting suspicious. Who do you question first?
Which is stranger? You be the judge
You’re not picking a favorite here. You’re the judge: hand down a verdict and give one detail as evidence. If you’d rather make quick either-or picks, the this or that deck is built for that.
- A horse in an elevator, or an elevator inside a horse. Which is stranger, and what’s your ruling?
- Pineapple on pizza, or a pizza served inside a pineapple. Which one gets a waiter fired?
- A man who names his car, or a car that names its owner. Which gets the longer stare at a gas station?
- Socks with sandals, or gloves with flip-flops. What’s your verdict, in one sentence?
- A goose that answers the phone, or a phone that honks. Which do you report first?
- Cereal with orange juice, or soup eaten with a fork. Which is stranger, and what’s the evidence?
- A parrot officiating a wedding, or a person officiating two parrots’ wedding. Which one makes the local news?
- Clapping when the plane lands, or clapping when the microwave beeps. Which is stranger, and who started it?
- A ghost that only haunts the laundry room, or a ghost that only haunts the family group chat. Which one is harder to get rid of?
- A dog in a tie interviewing for a bank job, or a cat in a tie doing the interviewing. Which is stranger, and does anybody get hired?
Anna: Sam and I spent forty minutes on the horse in the elevator. He lost on a technicality: he said the horse would press every button. I said that’s not strange, that’s just rude.
Playing pretend: the two of you, cast in a new genre
Same couple, different genre. No big what-ifs about other lives, just a silly premise and a few details. Want a game with rules and rounds instead? Try 21 questions for couples.
- We’re a sitcom couple, and tonight’s episode is about the missing hair ties. What’s the episode title, and who’s the guest star?
- A true-crime podcast takes on the case of our missing Tupperware lids. Who’s the prime suspect, and what’s their alibi?
- We’re auditioning as a duo for a talent show. What’s our act, and what goes wrong in the first ten seconds?
- We’re two spies whose cover is running a candle shop. What’s our code word for “abort”?
- We’re retired superheroes in a quiet suburb. What were our hero names, and which power do we still use to find parking?
- We host a cooking show where nothing ever gets cooked. What’s the show called, and what’s on today’s episode instead?
- We’re a buddy-cop duo for one weekend. What’s the case, and what’s my catchphrase?
- We’re two ghosts haunting the same old house. What’s our routine, and what do we do on our night off?
- We get cast as a famous fairy-tale pair, but with a twist. Which pair, and what’s the twist?
- We’re the only two employees at a hotel for dogs. What does the welcome sign say, and which rule does nobody follow?
On the road, with the window as the prompt
The view does the work. Whoever’s in the passenger seat calls out what they see, and the driver answers in one line.
- A billboard promises the world’s biggest ball of twine, next exit. What world’s-biggest thing would we build to get people to pull off?
- The car ahead has stick-figure family stickers on the back window. Describe ours: how many figures, and is there a pet?
- A truck passes hauling a single giant tire. Where’s it going, and who ordered it?
- A field of sunflowers, every one facing the same way. What are they all watching?
- A car passes with a giant teddy bear buckled into the passenger seat. What’s the bear’s job, and is it a good passenger?
- A motel sign with half its letters burned out. What does it spell now, and would you stay?
- A giant inflatable gorilla on a car dealership roof. What’s its name, and how long has it worked there?
- A dog sticks its head out of the next car’s window. What’s it thinking, word for word?
- A plastic bag floats along the shoulder for a whole mile. What’s its name, and where is it headed?
- An old man in a lawn chair at the end of his driveway is watching traffic. What score does he give your driving?
Sam: I asked Anna the gorilla’s name somewhere outside Columbus. “Gary, assistant manager,” no hesitation. By the next exit Gary had a backstory and a rivalry with the inflatable tube man at the dealership next door.
Tiny verdicts: rate it, rank it, defend it
One sentence per answer, no hedging. The fun is in defending a strong opinion about something that doesn’t matter at all.
- You get to pick one sound as your alarm, forever. Which sound, and would it actually get you up?
- Fresh laundry, gasoline, a new book, rain on hot pavement. Rank the smells, and defend your number one.
- Cereal mascots are getting medals. Who takes gold, and who’s overrated?
- The word “moist” gets a score out of ten. What’s the score, and which word is worse?
- A fitted sheet comes out of the dryer. Rate your folding skills out of ten and describe the technique in one sentence.
- One emoji gets deleted from every phone tomorrow. Which one has to go?
- The days of the week are guests at a party. Which day stays too late?
- Rate your sneeze from “mouse” to “car alarm.” Then I’ll rate it for you.
- The worst fruit to eat in public gets a trophy. Which fruit wins?
- A vegetable becomes your roommate. Which one is the worst, and what’s the first fight about?
Anna: The alarm question took Sam four seconds: a seagull. I gave him two days before he threw the phone. He says seagulls are motivating. We’ve agreed to stop bringing it up.
Silly confessions with nothing at stake
Small, harmless admissions that cost nothing to say out loud. If anything starts to feel like a real confession, pass and pick the next one.
- There’s a song you’ve been singing along to for years with the wrong words. Which lyric, and what did you think it was?
- Somewhere there’s a contest for a completely useless skill, and you’re quietly sure you’d win it. What’s the skill?
- Your phone asks to install an update overnight. How many times this month have you tapped “remind me tomorrow”?
- There’s one appliance at home you talk to like a person. Which one, and what do you say to it?
- There’s a dish you call “your specialty” that you’ve made exactly once. Which dish, and how did that one time go?
- There’s a word you used with full confidence for years before finding out what it actually means. Which word?
- The last time you texted “on my way,” where were you really?
- You’ve rehearsed an acceptance speech in your head. What’s the award, and who do you thank first?
- Someone mentions a band and you nod like you know them. Which band did you fake most recently?
- You laughed at a joke you didn’t get. Whose joke, and how long did you keep it up?
When you want a calmer conversation, the couples deck works on a single phone. If you’d rather get to know someone than laugh with them, start with get to know you questions. For everything else, start with questions to ask your partner or browse our articles.