Communication is the secret to a long and happy relationship, according to a Shirley couple who have found a fun and romantic way to keep the spark alive this Valentine’s Day.

Married couple Marie and Clif Reid, of Lake Road, have created their own couples card game that encourages players to discuss what different topics, like romance, passion and love, means to them.

They stumbled across the idea during one of their weekly “family time evenings” after Marie scribbled down some words on scraps of paper and encouraged Clif to tell her what they meant to him.

The cards have a single word on them and the aim of the game is to tell your partner what those words mean in your relationship.

Clif, 44, met wife Marie, 42, when he was 16 through friends and knew she was the one because his “heart started to flutter” and he “couldn’t wait to see her again”.

They were good friends for five years before their relationship “blossomed into love” and now they have been married for 17 years.

He said: “The game gives you an environment to say how you feel.

“I think in some relationships people have things in their hearts or deep down that they want to say but don’t so things get a bit dry but once your finger is on the pulse and you know how each other is feeling it improves the relationship.

“It is about having that verbal communication, even if it is just asking ‘how are you going’ because sometimes other things that trouble us get in the way.

“It is almost like a breath of fresh air when you bring better communication into the relationship.”

They shared their prototype with twenty five couples for testing and used their feedback to fine-tune the final product.

Marie said: “Some of the couples who tested the game found it a complete laugh and had fun, while others found it serious and intense – it’s all dependent on where you are in your relationship at the time.

“As the game moves with wherever you are as a couple, it’s a great tool to facilitate the communication needed to open up dialogue.”

The cards were officially launched this week and are available at mytruthcardgame.com and cost £19.99