Pairly Play

Games for long distance couples

The hard part of long distance is not the big conversations. It is that there is nothing to do together, so every call becomes a status update. A game gives you something to share instead of something to report.

Free · no signupPlay Truth or Dare2–12 players · 15–25 min · one phonePlay now — free

One phone, on speaker

Open a round on whichever phone is not holding the call, and read each card out. The other person answers as though they were across the table. That is the whole setup — there is no link to send and nothing to install at either end.

It sounds less clever than two synchronised decks and works better. One person reading means you are both looking at each other rather than at a screen, and nobody is waiting for the other to tap Next.

Swap who reads every few cards. The person holding the phone reads the question first, and on the bolder cards that is a small advantage worth passing around.

Questions written for distance

Most couples questions quietly assume you are in the same room. Anything asking you to look at each other, or to do something together right now, is useless on a video call.

The long distance set never assumes physical presence. It asks what time of day you are missed most, what ordinary part of a day the other person wishes they could just watch, what the first ten minutes of seeing each other again would look like. The prompts that involve doing something are things you can do down a camera — describe your room so it can be pictured, play the song that has been reminding you of them.

Making it a habit

A short round on a regular call works better than a long one occasionally. Six cards is enough to change the texture of a conversation without turning the call into an event that has to be scheduled.

It also gives you a reason to call when there is no news, which is the week that long distance actually gets hard.

20 truth questions

  1. 1.What’s the first thing you want to eat together when we’re in the same place?
  2. 2.What did you do today that you’d have dragged me along to?
  3. 3.Which of our calls has been the best so far, and why that one?
  4. 4.What’s one thing near you that you can’t wait to show me?
  5. 5.What’s the silliest thing you’ve done because you missed me?
  6. 6.What have you bought or kept because it reminded you of me?
  7. 7.What do you do on the evenings we don’t talk?
  8. 8.What’s something ordinary about your day you wish I could just watch?
  9. 9.What’s a small habit of mine you notice more now that we’re apart?
  10. 10.Which of my messages have you gone back and read again?
  11. 11.What’s one thing about this that’s been better than you expected?
  12. 12.What would you never say over a message that you’d say to my face?
  13. 13.Describe the first ten minutes of seeing me again, in order.
  14. 14.What time of day do you miss me most, and what are you usually doing?
  15. 15.What have you stopped telling me because it felt too small to mention?
  16. 16.When did you last feel closest to me, and where were you standing?
  17. 17.What have you told your friends about us that you haven’t told me?
  18. 18.Have you ever been jealous of someone who gets to see me every day?
  19. 19.What’s the hardest part of this that you’ve never actually said to me?
  20. 20.What do you miss most about being in the same room as me?

15 dares

  1. 21.Show me what’s on your feet right now and explain yourself.
  2. 22.Blow me a kiss that has to travel the whole distance between us. Make it convincing.
  3. 23.Sing me the first line of the song you’ve had on repeat this week.
  4. 24.Say exactly how many days until we see each other, then plan the first one in thirty seconds.
  5. 25.Hold up the last thing you bought and convince me it was necessary.
  6. 26.Look around and describe the room you’re in so I can picture it exactly.
  7. 27.Open a map, pick the halfway point between us, and find one thing to do there.
  8. 28.Give me a tour of your fridge like it’s a cooking show.
  9. 29.Send me a selfie right now. No filter, no retakes.
  10. 30.Describe what you’d cook me if I turned up at your door unannounced.
  11. 31.Describe my face from memory, in detail, without looking at a single photo.
  12. 32.Show me the last three photos you nearly sent me and didn’t.
  13. 33.Play the song that’s been reminding you of me and say nothing until it ends.
  14. 34.Say the thing you’ve been saving to tell me in person, and say it now instead.
  15. 35.Say what you’d say if I walked in right now, before you have time to think.

Play with the full set

These are a sample. The game has the rest — no signup needed.

Play Truth or Dare

Common questions

Do we both need it open at the same time?

No — only one of you needs it open. The games are built for a single device, so on a call one person holds the phone and reads the cards out while you both answer. It is the same way it works in a room, which is the point.

Is there a way to get the same questions on both phones?

No, and that is deliberate. Two people tapping through their own decks means you are both looking at a screen instead of at each other, and it is the fastest way to turn a conversation into an activity. One reader keeps it a conversation.

Does it work across time zones and bad connections?

Yes. Once the page has loaded it keeps working with no connection at all, so a dropped call does not lose your round.

All Truth or Dare questions

Truth or Dare, online and freePlay Truth or Dare online free. Hundreds of truths and dares for couples and friends, no signup and no download. Just open it and start playing.

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