Games and Novelty Gifts

A sex game is any structured way to take the decision making off two people. Some are card decks of prompts, some are dice, some are physical games you play with your hands. The structure is the product. Without it you are just talking, which you could already do for free.

They split by how many people are in the room. Couples games assume two and get filthier as you move through them. Party games assume a group and stay just the right side of the line, which is why bachelorette weekends buy them by the armful.

The honest version: a prompt deck gets read once and then lives in a drawer. The ones that get played again have a mechanic, something to roll, pull, stack or race. If you want the game to survive past the first night, buy for the mechanic rather than the packaging, because in this category the packaging is doing most of the selling.

Sorted by what the game actually asks you to do, plus the novelty end of the aisle.

• Card and prompt decks: questions, dares and prompts that escalate as you work through the deck. Strong as a gift and as a first night, weaker on repeat.
• Dice games: roll for an action and a body part. No reading and no deciding, which is exactly the point when neither of you wants to be the one who suggests something.
• Tumbling and stacking games: a physical mechanic with a forfeit attached. These are the ones that survive, because the game is a game before it is anything else.
• Party and bachelorette games: charades, bar cards and group games built to be played with clothes on and an audience present.
• Novelty gifts and ornaments: body paint, lip gloss, plush novelties and the seasonal ornaments. Cheap, funny, and bought by the handful to fill out a gift bag.
• Candy: novelty sweets for gift bags and party favors, including the popping candy made for oral.