The use of bondage between couples behind closed doors tends to be different from that associated with bondage in a BDSM dungeon. While "bedroom" bondage games often constitute foreplay, in the BDSM community, bondage may be an end in itself with no sexual contact at all and is often combined with infliction of pain.

"Bedroom" bondage usually follows the pattern of so-called 'light' bondage, where one partner is voluntarily tied-up or put into restraints (i.e. bound, cuffed, spread-eagled,possibly blindfolded etc) by the other, who then sexually pleasures the tied partner using manual masturbation, oral sex, vibrating sex toys or intercourse.

The erotic appeal is often in the form of feedback from the writhing, struggles, vocalizations etc of the tied partner. The tied partner may derive pleasure from being in a largely "helpless" predicament in the hands of a trusted partner, and the other may enjoy the mild domination involved in having their partner in that predicament. Either way, many established couples find playing bondage games relationship-affirming, as they both require and imply a level of trust between the partners that is not normally found within more casual relationships, as well as being a shared "private" facet of their sex life that many couples prefer to keep just between the two of them.

This form of bondage has its own niche on some internet websites, where images and movies usually depict voluntarily-tied models undergoing inescapable intense sexual pleasuring, rather than any menace, force or pain.