Could board games replace Tinder for people looking for love?

When Toria Papworth became single just before Christmas, she could not face endless swiping through profiles and having conversations that led nowhere.

She is far from alone. Adults in the UK are spending less time on dating apps compared to three years ago, according to Ofcom, which claims the biggest platform, Tinder, has shed one million British users since 2023.

With the swipe culture losing its grip, some single people are turning to board game get-togethers, book clubs and group beach walks in the hope of finding a romantic partner.

Papworth, 35, from Earith, Cambridgeshire, said she has been on and off dating apps for the past decade and found them "pretty pants, to be honest".

"I thought I surely can't be the only person who feels like that and I would think about how my parents and grandparents met.

"They certainly didn't have apps, they met in real life, at the pub, going to dances and doing things," she says.

This realisation of how the dating world has shifted over the years is what led Papworth, who is a teacher, to try something new.

By February, a few months into single life, she had set up a free group for singles to meet up and socialise.

Over the past five months, the group has got to know each other over board games and walks along the beach in Heacham on the Norfolk coast.

Six women turned up to the first SocialSingles Cambridge event. Eventually one man came along and more men have joined recent events.

Ben Ramswell is one of the members and found the group when he saw a walk being advertised on a local Facebook page, which he joined with his dog in tow.

The 40-year-old has been single for about 18 months after leaving an 11-year marriage.

He said he felt it has become harder to build trust with people on apps since his marriage ended, but meeting fellow singles face-to-face had been "better than I expected".

"Everyone is friendly in the groups, but whether you can find love or not is still to be seen," he adds.

Papworth says the aim of the events is not to collect phone numbers and go on dates.

"You're turning up to hang out, chat, and be open to building friendships potentially into a relationship," she says.

Siobhan Copland, a dating coach from Brentwood, Essex, runs mixer events where singles can mingle over a drink and a card game.

"They work really well because they're small, intimate gatherings but people are actually talking to each other and meeting in person," she says.

"I think that's what people are craving – that human connection."

An Ofcom report published last year found Tinder's UK user base dropped from 2.5 million in May 2023 to 1.5 million in May 2025.

It was better news for the rest of the most popular dating apps – Hinge, Bumble, and Grindr – which maintained steady user numbers.

Jackie Jantos, the CEO of Hinge, which is owned by the same company as Tinder, says she has noticed a rise in social dating groups but does not see them as competition.

The cost-of-living crisis has also changed the way lots of people are dating, Jantos told the BBC.

"We are seeing a rise in daytime dates. We are definitely seeing a decline in bar meet-ups," she said when speaking to the Big Boss Interview podcast.

Regardless of user numbers, singles are spending fewer hours swiping on the apps, which does not surprise dating agency owner Copland.

"The tide is turning and people are more value-centred now," she says. "I do think we're going to start to see a bit of a return to the old-school courting, which is what I would love to see."

Teacher-turned-broadcaster Bobby Seagull is no stranger to both approaches.

The 42-year-old Cambridge academic recently found love online after being single for 14 years, but says he had tried everything, from dating mutual friends to sparking conversations at run clubs.

He has also hosted social dating nights with a group called Bored of Dating Apps and says they are good at building resilience.

"In real life you have to have the courage to go up and ask someone, 'hey, here's my number,' and they might politely decline or not message you back," he says.

"It builds up your ability to take rejection in a really healthy manner."

Back at SocialSingles, has anyone found love?

Not yet, not as far as Papworth knows anyway, but she remains hopeful.

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