Why Game Nights Are the Ultimate Friendship Hack in Your 30s

Once you're an adult, it can be easy to get caught up in what I call the time-capsule trap: you meet up with your freinds every few weeks over drinks, catch up on the latest happenings, then part ways. Sure, it's a nice time, but it's not really anything you'll ever think about again. When you enter the time-capsule trap, your friendships can become stagnant. Rather than creating new memories together, you merely live in parallel, watching formerly strong bonds become a thing of the past. Adult friendships — especially ones that have withstood the test of time — deserve to live, breathe, and grow. They should be relationships that evolve with you and continue to bring new joy into your life. My high school friends and I live in different cities now, but we like to take annual trips together to places (most) of us haven't been before. With the friends I've made as an adult in my new city, I love going to concerts or doing weekend getaways. But, we're also in our 30s with full, demanding lives (read: we are tired and have limited funds). This is where game night comes in. Having a great game night in your 30s isn't exactly a tough sell. Everybody gets a comfy seat, it's basically free (aside from any food costs or new games you've bought), and if you start early enough, nothing will stop you from your 15-step skin-care routine and 10 p.m. bedtime. So when I had the chance to throw a grown-up game night in celebration of Uno's recent partnership with VRBO, my friends and I were all in. "There were alliances, rivalries, underdogs, comebacks, and beatdowns." We arrived at the house and played a couple games of ping pong and pool while we waited for dinner to arrive. But it wasn't until after dinner that the memories really got made. It had been a while since any of us had played Uno. Luckily, we had an assigned Uno dealer to lead us through the game, playing a couple classic rounds before upping the ante and trying some other variations, like Uno Party and Uno Attack. We're a fairly competitive group of people (most of us met at the gym), so we were locked in. There were alliances, rivalries, underdogs, comebacks, and beatdowns — we really went through a lot together, and I already know we'll be reminiscing on our game night for years to come. To get a taste of the game night magic, you can book your own Uno Wild Card stay this summer, with six limited-time UNO x Vrbo homes (including this Hollywood Hills location). On paper, it's something so simple: a group of people and a deck of cards. But sometimes that's all it takes to create a little magic among adult friends. You don't need expensive concerts or extravagant trips to make new and lasting memories with the people you love; you just need a solid game night that can bring everyone together. 49477187 Jordan Shalhoub (she/they) is the supervising producer for Vox Media's lifetyle group and has been creating content and digital media since 2012. They started their career as a documentary editor and continued to report and create around real stories that impact real people — at the heart of their experience is a love of storytelling. She also brings to her work a personal passion for wellness through a fitness trainer certification, mental health advocacy, and championing LGBTQ+ rights (and joy!). Currently, they oversee the short-form video program, from strategy through execution, across editorial and sponsored content.