Kiss, Marry, Kill

How to play

1. 1One of you names three, fitting the category on the card.
2. 2The other assigns kiss, marry and kill. All three verbs, no repeats.
3. 3Answer within ten seconds. No deliberating.
4. 4One sentence of justification each. That is all you get.
5. 5Swap and draw again.

Why couples love this game

The forced allocation is what makes it work. You cannot like all three or dislike all three — every round makes you rank people you had no ranking for, and the justifications are consistently funnier than the choices.

Kiss, Marry, Kill is a fifteen-year-old party game that survives because the mechanic is perfect: three names, three verbs, and no way to avoid committing.

Played by a couple it needs slightly more care than it does at a party. These categories are built for that — mostly fictional characters, historical figures, and absurd hypotheticals, with the "people we actually know" option flagged rather than assumed.

The correct way to play is fast, with no deliberating and no diplomatic answers.

Example questions

• Three fictional characters you would not admit you fancied.
• Three people from the last thing we watched together.
• Three villains you would kiss anyway.
• Three people who look like trouble in a hotel bar — films, shows, songs.
• Three musicians you wanted when you were sixteen.
• Three fictional characters who would ruin a relationship on purpose.

The full game has 40 of these, shuffled every time you play.

Who this game is best for

• —Groups and double dates
• —Long car journeys
• —Late in an evening
• —Couples who like being ridiculous

Tips to make it better

• ✦Ten seconds maximum. Deliberating kills it.
• ✦The final card is optional and should be treated with suspicion.
• ✦Name three the other person actually knows, or the round is wasted.
• ✦One sentence of justification. Two becomes a debate.

Frequently asked questions