Friendly Competition Builds Chemistry! Newsletter - Week 8
Welcome back to our weekly newsletter! This week we're exploring the fascinating science of how playful competition can actually strengthen your relationship and bring more laughter and engagement into your bond.
This Week's Tale for Two
Friendly Competition Builds Chemistry!
According to relationship research, couples who engage in playful, low-stakes competition experience more laughter, higher engagement, and stronger attraction. The key? Keeping it light, supportive, and just a little ridiculous.
— Fisher et al., 2006 – "Romantic love: A mammalian brain system"
This research reveals something delightful about how our brains work when we're competing playfully with our partner. That rush of adrenaline, the friendly trash-talk, the celebration when someone wins—it all activates the same reward centers as other bonding activities. But here's the magic: when you're competitive together rather than against each other's core selves, you create moments of shared joy and vulnerability. The wins feel sweeter, the losses sting less, and somewhere in between, you're falling a little more in love with each other's authentic, goofy selves.
Your Next Date Idea
Set up a 6-event challenge using whatever you have (paper plane flying, rock-skipping, blindfolded snack guessing, etc). Each person gets to invent three events!
This competitive adventure combines multiple relationship-boosting elements:
- Creativity - designing events together shows vulnerability and humor
- Playfulness - keeping it light and supportive, not serious
- Shared laughter - ridiculous competitions create lasting memories
- Novelty - you're creating something unique to your relationship
- Equal footing - both partners get to be competitive in their own way
Pro tip: The funniest moments usually happen when someone creates an impossible challenge for themselves. And don't forget—the real prize is the memories you're making together!
Personal Note
Some of the feedback has already sparked new ideas (yes, expansions are coming 👀) and shown us some of the mistakes we made along the way. But most of all, it reminded us why we made this in the first place: to help couples have fun.
It's been absolutely magical to see our game in the hands of real couples, watching them laugh, compete, and create their own adventures together. Every piece of feedback—even the constructive criticism—is shaping how we think about the future of Tales for Two. We're listening, learning, and genuinely excited about where this is heading.
Card of the Week
This week's featured card is "Game On!" – a card that invites couples to set up a mini-competition with simple household items. It's the perfect embodiment of how a little friendly competition can bring out the best in both of you: laughter, creativity, and that electric energy of playful connection.
Snapshot of the Week
Tag us on Instagram @talesfortwogame or send us an email with your photos to get featured in next week's newsletter! We love seeing couples embracing their competitive sides and creating their own crazy challenges together.
This week's snapshot captures some of our early playtesters starting to play the game!
Join the Adventure
If you're not already on our mailing list, to get these weekly doses of inspiration, science-backed relationship tips, and date ideas delivered straight to your inbox.
Until next week, keep making memories together!
With love and adventure,
— The Tales for Two Team
P.S. What's your favorite game or competition to play together? We'd love to hear about the ridiculous challenges you've created or the hilariously unexpected wins! Drop us a line at business@talesfortwo.com.
