Finish the Love Story

How to play

1. 1Read the opening line out loud.
2. 2Take turns adding exactly one sentence each.
3. 3No planning, no discussing, no vetoing.
4. 4Follow the turn prompt when one appears.
5. 5The last sentence has to end it properly. No cop-outs.

Why couples love this game

Improvising with someone reveals how they think in a way that questions do not. You find out very quickly which of you wants a plot and which of you wants chaos — and after four or five stories, whose instinct usually wins.

You get an opening line and then take turns adding one sentence each. No planning, no discussing where it goes, no vetoing your partner's addition.

What happens every single time is that one of you tries to steer it somewhere sensible and the other immediately derails it, and the tension between those two instincts is the whole game.

The starters are all romantic openings, which makes it funnier when the story ends up being about a stolen car.

Example openings

• They met in a lift that was stuck between the third and fourth floors.
• It was the worst first date either of them had ever been on, until the fire alarm went off.
• She had exactly four minutes to get to the station and he was standing in the way.
• The letter arrived eleven years late.
• Nobody had told him the wedding was fancy dress.
• They had been texting for six months and neither had mentioned the dog.

The full game has 16 of these, shuffled every time you play.

Who this game is best for

• —Long drives
• —Couples who like being silly
• —Groups — three or four makes it much less controllable
• —Video calls

Tips to make it better

• ✦One sentence means one sentence. Two is cheating and everyone does it.
• ✦Do not veto. Take whatever your partner did and build on it.
• ✦The turn prompts are what stop it fizzling. Follow them.
• ✦Record a good one on a voice note. You will not remember it otherwise.

Frequently asked questions