Valentine's Day is hard when you're miles apart from your partner. Watching movies over video call gets old. Sending virtual cards feels impersonal. We wanted something better.
So we built Paint Your Partner - a free online game where couples draw portraits of each other in real-time, then reveal the results together.
The Concept
The rules are simple:
- You and your partner join the same room
- You each draw a portrait of the other person
- You can see each other's canvas updating live
- When the timer ends, both portraits are revealed side by side
The results are always hilarious. Most people aren't artists, and that's the point. The worse the drawings, the funnier the reveal.
Why We Built It
My co-founder and I were both in long distance relationships at different points. The options for virtual dates were limited:
- Watch a movie together (passive, not interactive)
- Play video games (requires skill matching)
- Just video call (eventually runs out of things to say)
We wanted something that was:
- Interactive - both people actively doing something
- Creative - makes you think and laugh
- Quick - 10-15 minutes, not a whole evening commitment
- Shareable - creates a memory you can keep
Drawing each other checked all the boxes.
The TikTok Moment
We launched quietly, shared it with friends, and forgot about it for a few weeks.
Then someone posted their Paint Your Partner session on TikTok with the hashtag #PaintYourPartner. It got 2 million views.
Suddenly we had thousands of couples drawing each other every day. The hashtag #PaintYourDate started trending. People were posting their terrible portraits and tagging their partners.
The best part? The worse the drawing, the more engagement it got. Nobody wants to see a perfect portrait. They want to see their partner's genuine attempt at capturing their likeness with limited artistic ability.
How It Works (Non-Technical Version)
When you visit paintyourdate.io, you create a room and get a shareable link. Send that link to your partner - they can be anywhere in the world.
Once you're both in the room:
- You each see your own canvas and your partner's canvas
- A timer counts down (you can customize the duration)
- You draw each other simultaneously
- When time runs out, both drawings are displayed together
There's no account required. No app to download. It works on phones, tablets, and computers. Just open the link and start drawing.
Perfect for Valentine's Day
Here's how couples are using Paint Your Partner for Valentine's Day:
The Classic Date Night
Set up a video call, open Paint Your Partner in another tab, and draw each other while chatting. Reveal the portraits, laugh at the results, screenshot for memories.
The Long Distance Surprise
Send your partner the room link with a message: "I have a Valentine's surprise for you." When they join, they'll see you've already started drawing them.
The Group Activity
Some couples do this with other couple friends - everyone draws their partner at the same time, then reveals together. Competitive portrait drawing.
The TikTok Challenge
Record your screen during the drawing session, capture the reveal reaction, post with #PaintYourPartner. Bonus points if the drawings are terrible.
What We've Learned About Couples
Building this game taught us a few things:
Time pressure creates better content. When we gave unlimited time, people overthought their drawings. A 5-minute timer forces quick decisions and genuine attempts.
Imperfection is the feature. Early feedback asked for undo buttons and layers. We kept it simple on purpose. The constraints make it fun.
The reveal is everything. We spent more time on the reveal animation than any other feature. That moment of seeing both portraits appear simultaneously is the entire experience.
People want to share. We added a one-tap share button that creates an image with both portraits. It's the most-used feature after the drawing canvas itself.
Valentine's Day Stats (From Last Year)
Last Valentine's Day, Paint Your Partner saw:
- 47,000 drawing sessions
- Average session length: 12 minutes
- Most common drawing time: 5 minutes
- Peak hours: 7-10 PM across all time zones
- Most shared result: A couple where both drawings looked nothing like either person
It's Free
Paint Your Partner is completely free. No premium tier. No ads. No data collection beyond basic analytics.
We built it because we wanted it to exist, and we keep it running because people use it.
Try It Before Valentine's Day
Don't wait until February 14th to figure out how it works. Do a practice round this week.
Play now: paintyourdate.io
Learn more about the challenge: artbitrator.com/paint-your-partner
Full guide to the TikTok trend: Paint Your Partner Challenge Guide
The Sister Project
Paint Your Partner is actually a spinoff from our main project, Artbitrator - a multiplayer drawing game where AI judges your artwork with voice commentary.
If you enjoy Paint Your Partner, check out Artbitrator for competitive drawing games with friends. Same drawing mechanics, different experience.
Share Your Results
If you try Paint Your Partner for Valentine's Day, I'd love to see the results. Post them in the comments or tag us on social media.
The worse the drawing, the better. That's the whole point.
Links:
- Play Paint Your Partner: paintyourdate.io
- Paint Your Partner info page: artbitrator.com/paint-your-partner
- TikTok challenge guide: artbitrator.com/blog/paint-your-partner-tiktok-challenge-guide
- Virtual date ideas for LDR couples: artbitrator.com/blog/paint-your-partner-virtual-date-ldr
- Main game (Artbitrator): artbitrator.com
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