I am co-hosting the Love Blog Challenge today. The prompt is “ Cooperation.” I’ve shared the prompt list for the rest of the month below but also feel free to head over to Brita’s Introduction Post for more details and ideas for each prompt. We’d love to have you join us!

I don’t know about you and your relationship, but Pearson and I can get pretty competitive. When we were dating, we used to go to various game nights that our friends would host and they were never good for our relationship. There is no need to go into too much detail but just know that it wasn’t fun and we went several years without playing any kind of games together. No card games, board games, or video games.

But now we actually really enjoy playing games together! It’s one of our favorite date nights! I would like to think that party of the reason for that is that we’ve matured. But I think most of it is because we’ve found some cooperative games that we enjoy!

What are cooperative games, you ask? They’re games in which players work together toward a common goal, rather than competing against one another. Usually players have different roles in the game and have to rely on each other as well as luck to beat the game. Either everybody wins or everybody loses.

You may think this could be worse for our relationship than competitive games, and I can see your point. But for us, even if we lose, at least we did so together, as a team. We weren’t wishing bad luck or ill will on the other the whole time. And when we win as a team, it’s that much sweeter!

We were first introduced to co-op board games by some friends of ours in Ohio. One of our couple friends kept inviting us over for game nights and we didn’t want to turn them down so we would go even though we didn’t love playing board games.

Pretty soon we realized we loved playing games with them because we always played co-op board games! These were games we had never heard of and we started asking for them for Christmas and buying them ourselves. Pretty soon we started returning the invitation for them to come to our place every other time we got together!

Co-op board games:

Pandemic

This is by far my favorite cooperative game I’ve played. Admittedly, I haven’t played them all. They are getting more and more popular and I think another one comes out every day.

From the Amazon description:
Four diseases have broken out in the world and it is up to a team of specialists in various fields to find cures for these diseases before mankind is wiped out. Players must work together playing to their characters’ strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. For example the Operation Specialist can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases. The Scientist needs only 4 cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal 5. But the diseases are out breaking fast and time is running out: the team must try to stem the tide of infection in diseased areas while also towards cures. A truly cooperative game where you all win or you all lose.

Castle Panic

Another fun one we played with our friends in Ohio. It’s more silly than Pandemic so it’s sort of fun for something different.

From the Amazon description:
Castle Panic is a cooperative tower defense board game for 1 to 6 players, ages 10 and up. The co-op element makes Castle Panic a great family game and the perfect kick-off for your weekly game night. You must work together to defend your Castle, in the center of the board, from Monsters that attack out of the forest, at the edges of the board. Trade cards, hit and slay Monsters, and plan strategies together to keep your Castle towers intact. The players either win or lose together, but only the player with the most victory points is declared the Master Slayer. Players must balance the survival of the group with their own desire to win.

Forbidden Island

I think I may have only played this game once, but I remember it being lots of fun! Plus the reviews on Amazon are great!

From the Amazon description:
Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss! The latest creation by cooperative game master, Matt Leacock who created the best seller Pandemic.

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle

Ok confession: We’ve never actually played this one. But it looks freaking amazing! So if you’re ever in the market for a gift for me or Pearson or both of us… This is it!

From the Amazon description:
Take on the role of Harry Potter and his friends to defend Hogwarts from villains and their Dark Arts in order to save the wizarding world. With every turn you and your fellow wizards must defend magical locations including Diagon Alley, the Chamber of Secrets, and even the Quidditch Pitch from villainous attacks and dark arts events.

Co-op video games:

Pearson has been a gamer for 20 years. We’ve been a couple for 13 of those years. I have always wanted to share the gaming experience with him but I didn’t want to slow him down or embarrass myself. Of course there are always silly games that I can compete in, like Mario Cart or Jeopardy. But I wanted more.

Well, guess what! Just as cooperative games are becoming more popular in the board game realm, they’re doing the same in the video game realm as well! We recently bought a Nintendo Switch and upgraded to an XBox One S with Christmas money and I think we’re both excited for the co-op games and the future date night possibilities.

We already love all the cooperative options in Mario Party and have played it several times already. I’m super excited to try the rest of the games in this video.

(P.S. we also recently discovered Girlfriend Reviews on YouTube and love them! They’re so informative, funny, and well done. And thanks to her review, we decided the co-op abilities in Mario Odyssey are not worth it.)

Do you play cooperative games with your spouse? Are you too competitive for other games like we are?

Thanks for reading! And be sure to link up any “Cooperation” posts below!

Meet Your Hosts:

Brita Long is the pink and sparkly personality behind the Christian feminist lifestyle blog, Belle Brita. On her blog and social media, you’ll discover more than authentic storytelling–she’s brutally honest about pursuing a fulfilling and joyful life even with Crohn’s Disease and depression.

Alessia is a lifestyle blogger, and writer with a post-graduate degree in History. She lives in the best borough in London, up and coming Croydon. She’s a bit like Emma Woodhouse (Pemberley Digital version) and no longer the most eligible Catholic bachelorette, as she has found her Mr Knightley in sunny Derbyshire.

Charlene is a 20 something wife and fur-mama living in Portland, Oregon. She’s a follower of Christ, watcher of SciFi, reader of fantasy, singer of show tunes, and lover of her husband! She uses her blog, Enduring All Things to help couples build a marriage that will endure whatever comes their way.

Finally, the Link Up: