Are game nights the cure for the loneliness epidemic?

“You learn more about someone playing a game for an hour than on four or five dates.” That’s what Ray Adler, vice president and global head of games at Mattel, told me before the launch of UNO’s Social Clubs. His theory, that structured play brings out a more unfiltered connection, was something I was willing to test out at the first opening in Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 12. UNO’s Social Clubs will be rolling out across the US, in LA, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Austin in August. So, with 40 per cent of young Americans (age 16 to 24) reporting loneliness, could more game nights and social clubs combat the youth loneliness epidemic?

The UNO Social Club in Vegas could only be described as the Love Island villa meets game night at your favourite local bar. Upon entry, the suite was decked out (no pun intended) with UNO’s primary colours. There was a bowling alley, a pool table, multiple UNO double bunk beds, UNO pillows, neon signs reading “bring on the night”, blackjack-style tables stocked with UNO games and even UNO-themed towels in the bathroom. I was told that, across UNO’s Social Clubs, there will be UNO-themed drink menus, tournament-style play and plenty of photo moments.

To start, I played UNO Show ’em No Mercy, a more brutal version of the classic card game, with a few strangers. Getting down to just one card, I yelled “UNO” and was sure I would win, until a new rule meant my deck could be swapped with another player. Suddenly, I remembered what it was like to be a competitive ten-year-old throwing my cards at my sister if I lost a game. Now much older and wiser, I laughed my lose off with the new friends at my table, but it was nice to feel the rush of purely recreational competition anyway.

I had grown up playing UNO – usually after school with friends or on vacations with my family – but hadn’t touched any card game in at least a couple of years (or more). Somewhere between graduating, getting a job and making new friends in a different city, I’d forgotten how much I love to play games in person. But the offline joy of board games, card games or even old-fashioned games like chess or mahjong is something that, recently, many young people have been reviving (or even discovering for the first time). It makes sense: games get off your phone and serve as a built-in icebreaker.

Even aside from the game nights and chess clubs popping up across the country, young people have proven themselves to be hungry for a wide range of social clubs. Interest in wellness clubs is spiking, along with run clubs, book clubs, film clubs, Sonny Angel collectors clubs and more (you get the idea). Adler says that many people started picking up UNO during the pandemic, but UNO is now selling even better than it did during that time. “In a culture where it’s digital first, it’s important to connect, and Gen Z in particular are looking for experiences,” he says. “I think culture in general is saying, ‘Hey, games are fun and we forgot that’.” Game nights are often an affordable alternative to “going out”, and card games like UNO come with the added benefit of being extremely easy to pick up and play.

The current rise of social clubs follows a similar pattern to the periods after other pandemics throughout history. For example, after World War I and the influenza pandemic in the 1910s, people turned to public cultural spaces, underground nightlife, dance halls and even exclusive social clubs. But there was also an economic boom in the roaring 20s, where global economic growth is projected to slow down this year. As such, Gen Z are drinking less than previous generations and has been nicknamed the “homebody generation”. But it’s not that young people don’t want to socialise altogether, it’s that the rise of wellness culture and the expense of clubbing have led people to think about socialising differently.

After a few hours at UNO’s first Social Club in Vegas, I had a few new UNO games under my belt. I had lost more than one round of No Mercy (I can’t say I am a fan of the swapping deck rule), but had multiple conversations with people along the way. There, hovering over the black tables in the Social Club, I remembered what it was like to play games and laugh all night long – until I’d do laps around my family victoriously or swear I shouldn’t have lost (some things never change). It’s a feeling I know can’t cure the loneliness epidemic altogether, but it also certainly can’t make it worse. I packed a classic UNO deck in my carry-on home, swearing it’s something I’ll start bringing out with friends in New York.