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Never Have I Ever is a group game that works unexpectedly well with two people, for one reason: there is nowhere to hide. In a circle of eight you can put a finger down quietly and nobody follows up. With two, every finger is a question.

How to play it with two people

Ten fingers each. Take turns reading a statement. If you have done it, a finger goes down. First to lose all ten loses — though in practice you stop caring about the score around statement fifteen and just keep going.

The one house rule worth adding: the reader has to answer too. Otherwise whoever is reading picks statements they know are safe.

15 gentle ones to start

• Never have I ever fallen asleep during a film I said I wanted to watch.
• Never have I ever pretended to know a song I had never heard.
• Never have I ever taken a photo of my food and not posted it.
• Never have I ever cancelled plans by inventing something.
• Never have I ever re-read a message I sent more than five times.
• Never have I ever gone back to bed after saying I was up.
• Never have I ever bought something because someone else had it.
• Never have I ever laughed at a joke I did not understand.
• Never have I ever pretended to be busy to avoid a phone call.
• Never have I ever eaten something after the date on the packet.
• Never have I ever forgotten someone's name mid-introduction.
• Never have I ever practised a conversation in my head beforehand.
• Never have I ever said "I'm five minutes away" from my house.
• Never have I ever looked up an ex.
• Never have I ever kept a gift I hated on display.

15 that start conversations

• Never have I ever been genuinely jealous of one of your friendships.
• Never have I ever considered a completely different career and told nobody.
• Never have I ever kept a worry from you because it seemed too small.
• Never have I ever changed my mind about something important because of you.
• Never have I ever been embarrassed by something I used to believe.
• Never have I ever wanted to say something and lost my nerve.
• Never have I ever been more nervous than I let on.
• Never have I ever imagined our life in ten years in detail.
• Never have I ever pretended to be fine when I really was not.
• Never have I ever misread a situation between us completely.
• Never have I ever been proud of you and not said it.
• Never have I ever wanted to ask you something and never got round to it.
• Never have I ever felt out of my depth in front of your family.
• Never have I ever kept a photo of us I never showed you.
• Never have I ever wished we had met earlier.

15 for a bolder round

• Never have I ever told you a story that was slightly improved.
• Never have I ever gone through your phone.
• Never have I ever complained about you to a friend.
• Never have I ever agreed with you just to end an argument.
• Never have I ever cried at something and blamed something else.
• Never have I ever spent more on something than I admitted.
• Never have I ever ignored a message on purpose.
• Never have I ever compared us to another couple.
• Never have I ever been on a date I never mentioned.
• Never have I ever kept a friendship going you would not approve of.
• Never have I ever regretted saying something the second it left my mouth.
• Never have I ever wanted to move somewhere you would hate.
• Never have I ever been the reason a plan fell through and let you take the blame.
• Never have I ever thought about giving up on something we both agreed to.
• Never have I ever known you were right and refused to say so.

A word on the last section

The bolder set is only fun with an agreement in place beforehand: nothing said in the game gets brought back up in an argument later. Without that rule this game has a habit of finding something neither of you wanted to deal with on a Thursday.

Play it without scrolling

Never Have I Ever deals these one at a time, free in the browser, with levels so you can decide how far it goes. If you want the same conversation without the scorekeeping, 21 Questions is the quieter version.