long-distance activities

Virtual Date Ideas for Long Distance Couples

Den Team

Running out of things to do on calls is a format problem, not a connection problem. The best virtual dates give you something to react to together. Not a performance for an audience, but two people doing the same thing at the same time.

The short answer: give the call a job other than "be romantic." When you have something to do together, the conversation happens around it naturally.

Why Most Calls Stop Feeling Like Dates

A video call puts pressure on both people to fill time. That pressure turns a date into an interview: one person asks, the other answers, repeat. The fix is simple. Replace the empty airtime with something to react to.

By Mood

When you want something light and fun:

  • Play a game together. Skribbl.io and Jackbox Games work well over video. Den has built-in Would You Rather and multiplayer features built for two people on a call.
  • Do a Would You Rather round where you both answer before comparing. The disagreements are usually the most interesting part.
  • Take turns sharing the most chaotic photo on your camera roll and explaining it.

When you want something cozy:

  • Watch something together. Teleparty and similar tools keep you synced. Commenting on the show is half the date.
  • Cook or eat the same meal on call. You don't need to follow the same recipe. Just eat together.
  • Put on a shared playlist and each do your own thing. Ambient calls are underrated.

When you want to feel close:

  • Go through Den's daily question out loud together before submitting. Seeing each other react in real time is different from reading the answer after.
  • Share your phone screens and give each other a tour: your photo roll from the last month, your saved places on a map, your music library.
  • Send each other a voice note while on the call instead of talking. Weird and intimate in equal measure.

When you want something with staying power:

  • Start a show together and only watch it together. The waiting is part of the ritual.
  • Work through a question list together, not to answer quickly but to actually talk through each one.
  • Make a shared playlist you'll both add to over the next month and listen to it together at the end.

The Ambient Call

Not every call has to be a date. Ambient calls, where you're both on camera doing your own thing, are one of the most underused formats in long distance. You're not performing. You're just near each other. That's often exactly what distance takes away.

For more structured game options, see games to play with your long distance partner. And if calls feel stale even with activities, what to do when you run out of things to talk about covers the format fixes that actually work.

Related reads: What to talk about with your long distance partner | How to keep the spark alive long distance

Common questions

Good options across every type: Skribbl.io and Jackbox for group-style fun, Chess.com for two-player, and Den's built-in multiplayer games and Would You Rather prompts designed specifically for calls. Our post on games to play with your long distance partner covers the best options by category.
Virtual dates work better with light structure: something to react to together, a question with a real answer, or an activity that gives you something to do besides staring at a screen. Our post on what to talk about long distance has conversation directions that don't feel like homework.
Switch the format. Ambient calls where you're both doing your own thing, a game, or something you watch together all relieve the pressure to perform. Stale calls usually come from a stale format, not a lack of connection. More in our post on what to do when you run out of things to talk about.