Spice up your Valentine’s Day ... with Scrabble

FOR couples looking to add that extra Valentine’s spark to the day, dusting off your board games might help.

Long-term partners get a surprising surge in the ‘cuddle hormone’ oxytocin when they play games, a scientific study has found. Just an hour of Monopoly, dominos or Battleship creates more eye contact and communication between married and co-habiting couples.

Researchers found that women’s levels of oxytocin – the hormone which helps to create romantic bonds – shot 40 per cent higher than men’s after they had played a board game with their partner. Experts believe the importance of board games for romance may be as simple as encouraging face to face contact and attentiveness to one another.

Study leader Dr Karen Melton, from Baylor University in the US, said the findings have ‘implications for the everyday family – to find those small, meaningful ways to interact’. Researchers asked 20 couples who were married or had been living together for at least a year to play a simple board game or take part in an art class for an hour. They say couples playing games may get competitive and interact more with each other.

The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, also found that men produced most oxytocin when they were taking part in an art class.