With Valentine's Day behind us, it's time to move forward. While V-Day might be all about the love, it certainly doesn't mean love has to fall by the wayside afterwards. After all, what better way to celebrate the love you share with significant others than by playing a few choice games together. "But sir!" you may well ask, as well you should, "My significant other loathes/is horrible at/would rather cuddle than play video games!" No worries, my friends. Believe it or not, there's a smorgasbord of games out there that you and your honeypie/sweetiebear/sugarbob can agree on to spend some quality time together.

Step 1: Watching and Playing

Sometimes, the best way to get your S.O. to spend some time around games is to get them to watch. It may not be active participation, but it's certainly time spent together. Games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Mass Effect or the recently released Heavy Rain are excellent cinematic experiences that will hold the interest of anyone who enjoys movies and cinematic storytelling. If you're the power gamer in the couple, this will give you a good chance to introduce your S.O. to some excellent storytelling and show him or her how the gaming genre can be interesting. If you'd rather sit back and watch, I'd recommend sandbox games like Viva Pinata or Sid Meier's Pirates (because who doesn't love pirates?) for your S.O. to take the controller and run with. It may not be as interesting for the gamer in the relationship to watch, but in this way, the gamer will be able to offer some much needed guidance and tips to help his or her S.O. to the right path.

Step 2: What do you like?

Determining your common interests and likes is a key part to any relationship, and if you're going to be playing together, you should be doing the same thing. For example, if both of you are really huge fans of zombies and horror, then Left4Dead is a perfect choice. If you'd just like to run around and shoot things together, try Borderlands. If you're more of a sports fan, try the 2K Sports series or maybe Wii Sports. What I've found to be the most helpful is to determine whether or not you and your S.O. are very competitive people. If you enjoy competition, if you find that it drives you to take more chances and helps improve the relationship, most any first-person shooter or sports game will do the job nicely. If you're more of a cooperative couple, try something revolving a bit more around cooperative play, like Lego Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones (building a better relationship for you!). It could even be that while your S.O. doesn't typically enjoy the regular offerings of games that you play, they might really be into the casual games found online. Many of these have competitive online components that you can take advantage of.

Step 3: Choosing a Game

Choosing a game to play with your sweetheart can be as simple as choosing a place to go to dinner or as complicated as naming a firstborn child. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not. Neutral territory is a good place to start, like the aforementioned Lego series of games or a few of the many racing games that are on the market. If you don't mind laughing at your mistakes and don't frustrate easily, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is also a solid choice - but be warned! Games like that do have a tendency to frustrate (the popular video game webcomic Penny Arcade even called multiplayer on that game "Divorce Mode"), so choose carefully. Also, don't sell your S.O. short - the Wii may be the king of casual right now, but that doesn't mean it has the best games for you and your S.O. Make sure the game you choose balances your interests and tastes with your S.O. There are plenty of games out there to take advantage of when it comes to something like this and there's no rush. Rental services like GameFly have made it easier to sample games than every before, so it's perfectly fine for you both to take your time and sample different games before coming to one that you want to play for a while.

Step 4: Play!

When you're playing, make sure to go through the tutorials together. Don't assume that your honey knows how to operate a controller at full speed ahead. This should be a new experience for both of you to enjoy together, whether it be blasting each other to pieces with lasers or trying to save the world together. Remember, there are times when you'll both get frustrated either due to the game or because you're getting too competitive. At that point, take a step back and play another game that's meant just for fun, like Wii Fit, or go do something else. Just always be sure to play games that the both of you enjoy and that help you strengthen your relationship and games can be a conduit to a long and healthy future.