YOUR MOVE, HOT STUFF.

Game night has been tragically overdressed for far too long.

You don't need to buy anything or download a sketchy app to play a genuinely good sex game. In some cases, all you really need is another consenting adult and a willingness to lose.

We went looking for the sex games couples actually play—the ones that have been passed around and enthusiastically field-tested in bedrooms for years. Then we narrowed them down to five that are easy to learn and actually fun to play.

No purchase necessary. Pants increasingly optional. Let's play.

1. STRIP WAR

We're starting with an old-school card game and giving it a very adult set of house rules.

Remember War? The mindlessly simple card game where two people flip cards and the higher card wins? Good. Forget everything else about where or when you used to play it. This version is strictly for grown-ups.

All you need is a standard 52-card deck and another consenting adult you'd very much like to see naked.

HOW TO PLAY

Shuffle the deck and divide it evenly between you, face down. Each player flips over the top card at the same time. The higher card wins the hand, and the winner takes both cards and puts them at the bottom of their stack.

Here's where our house rules kick in: the player with the lower card removes one item of clothing.

If you flip cards of the same rank, it's War. Each player puts one card face down and then flips another face up. The higher face-up card wins the entire pile. If you tie again, repeat until somebody wins.

And because we're adults and War should have consequences, losing a War costs two items of clothing.

Keep playing until somebody is naked. At that point, we're fairly confident you'll figure out what to do with the rest of the evening.

ONE IMPORTANT RULE

Decide before you start what counts as an item of clothing. Otherwise somebody will absolutely attempt to claim each sock, earring and hair tie deserves its own round.

2. DIY SEX DICE

Because sometimes the universe should choose your foreplay.

You don't need actual sex dice for this one. Grab two regular six-sided dice, a pen and a piece of paper. One die decides the action. The other decides the body part.

DIE #1 — ACTION

1. Kiss
2. Lick
3. Nibble
4. Massage
5. Suck
6. Your choice

DIE #2 — BODY PART

1. Lips
2. Neck
3. Nipples
4. Feet
5. Pussy/Cock
6. Your choice

HOW TO PLAY

Take turns rolling both dice and match the numbers to the two lists. Whatever combination you roll becomes your assignment for that turn.

Give each player one reroll, because occasionally fate is an asshole.

There's no winner and no finish line. Keep rolling until you decide you'd rather stop playing with the dice.

MAKE IT YOURS

These aren't sacred texts. Swap out anything on either list for something you both like—or something you've been curious about. The only requirement is that everyone playing agrees to the list before the first roll.

3. THE FANTASY JARS

Each of you gets a dozen slips of paper and privately writes down twelve things you'd genuinely like to do with the other person. They can be things you've done before, things you haven't, or things you haven't gotten around to doing nearly often enough.

Now grab two jars, bowls or whatever you've got handy—one for each of you. Fold your slips and put them in your own container.

HOW TO PLAY

Before anything goes into the final rotation, go through the suggestions together. Anything either person isn't comfortable with comes out. No argument, no sales pitch required.

Once you've narrowed both jars down to things you're both genuinely up for, the game is simple: draw one from your partner's jar and they draw one from yours.

Those are tonight's picks.

KEEP THE DAMN JARS

Don't throw everything away when you're finished. Leave the remaining slips in their respective jars and pull them out again whenever the mood strikes. Add new ideas as you think of them and retire the ones you've already thoroughly investigated.

Eventually, you've got two personalized menus of things you already know the other person wants.

4. DIRTY TRUTH OR DARE

Truth or Dare was always dirty. Now we're tax-paying adults, so let's make it filthy.

You know how this works: choose Truth and answer the question honestly, or choose Dare and accept the challenge. The only problem with traditional Truth or Dare is that eventually somebody has to sit there trying to invent the next question.

We're fixing that.

Before you play, each person writes twelve Truths and twelve Dares on separate slips of paper. Put all the Truths in one bowl and all the Dares in another.

And don't rush this part. Coming up with the questions and dares is half the fun. The first few will be obvious. By number twelve, you'll probably be staring at your partner thinking, Okay, what have I always wanted to ask you? Or, considerably more dangerously, What have I always wanted to watch you do?

Then fold them up. Once they're in the bowls, nobody gets to know who wrote what until it gets drawn.

HOW TO PLAY

Take turns choosing Truth or Dare, then draw blindly from the appropriate bowl.

Truth? Answer it honestly.

Dare? Do it.

Each player gets one Nope during the game. Use it on anything you don't want to answer or do, toss that slip and draw again. No explanation required.

When the bowls are empty—or you've become sufficiently distracted—the game is over.

NEED A LITTLE INSPIRATION?

TRUTHS

Describe the most intense orgasm you've ever had—even if it was with someone else.
What's your least favorite sex position, or one you'd never try?
What part of my body turns you on the most?
Who's your ultimate hall pass?
What's the weirdest thing that's ever turned you on?
Describe how you lost your virginity.
When's the last time you watched porn? And what was it?

DARES

Show me your favorite porn.
Make a list of fantasies for us to fulfill together.
Give me a lap dance—and commit to the bit.
Make me come using just your fingers.
Show me your favorite way to masturbate.
Kiss me passionately for ten entire minutes.
Stage an X-rated photoshoot.

Those are starters, not homework. The whole point is coming up with the questions and dares that would be interesting with the particular naked person sitting across from you.

ONE RULE WE'RE NOT NEGOTIATING

The Nope is unconditional. Nobody loses points, owes a replacement dare or has to explain why.

Toss the slip and move the fuck on. There are 47 more where that came from.

5. FOLLOW THE CROP

First things first: this game is for people who already enjoy impact play. If getting whacked isn't your idea of a good time, Follow the Crop will be considerably less “sexy game” and considerably more “why the fuck are you hitting me?”

If, however, a crop already has a welcome place in your bedroom, this one turns impact play into a surprisingly simple game: keep up with the crop or feel the crop.

No crop? No problem. A wooden spoon or spatula can stand in just fine. Adjust the intensity accordingly—we're playing a sex game, not tenderizing meat.

HOW TO PLAY

The bottom starts on all fours. The top holds the end of the crop in front of them, and the bottom has one job: keep their nose touching the tip of the crop wherever it goes.

Start slowly. Lead them forward, backward, around the bed or across the room. Once they've got the hang of it, make things harder—change direction unexpectedly, speed up, slow down or take a considerably less predictable route.

Lose contact with the crop? You get a strike from it.

Keep up? The top can reward good behavior however the two of you have agreed.

That's the game: follow the crop closely enough to avoid earning it.

MAKE IT HARDER

Once following the crop gets too easy, add obstacles. Pillows, furniture and unexpected changes in direction can turn a very simple premise into a hell of a challenge.

And if crawling around the bedroom on all fours chasing a riding crop sounds slightly ridiculous, good. Sex is allowed to be funny.

BEFORE YOU PLAY

Agree beforehand on where impact is welcome, how hard is welcome and what means stop. Use a safeword or whatever established signal the two of you normally use during impact play.

The crop may determine whether somebody gets whacked. It does not determine consent.

GAME OVER? NOT NECESSARILY.

There you have it. Five sex games you can play without buying a damn thing—and enough variations to keep you occupied for considerably longer than it took to read this article.

Steal the rules. Change the rules. Make them dirtier. The only people who have to enjoy your version of game night are the people actually playing.

And if you'd rather skip the DIY portion of the evening? Fair enough. We brought games.

NOT THE DIY TYPE?

No judgment. These come with the rules already included.