15 Playful Ideas For Your Next Game Night

This techy card game prompts you and your friends to compete in smartphone-based tasks. With assignments ranging from “Find your best #selfie” to “Create an emoji masterpiece,” you’re guaranteed belly laughs and conversation starters galore. Just like with Cards Against Humanity, each round has a judge that picks the winner, so get your phone stacked with game changers now.

If you want to spark real conversations with your guests, this is the game for you. By the end of this game, you’ll be surrounded by plenty of new pals. Play by drawing a card and answering the prompt to get to know friends and strangers alike on a deeper level.

This is the perfect game for anyone who has spent way too much time on the internet. Match funny captions with well-known internet memes (a rotating judge picks the best one) to create an afternoon or evening of hilarity.

Gather your closest BFFs and spend the night with some good ol’ trash talking (therapeutically, of course). You’ll definitely find out who had the craziest ex. Gather friends that are down for the drama and start by pulling a card. Some of the topics you’ll fill-in-the-blank include: 1. The biggest red flag. 2. What is your ex up to now? 3. The worst rebound.

Grab your girlfriends and stir the pot with this hilarious card game. To play, whoever has the most Instagram followers goes first and rolls the die. “Whichever side of the die lands face-up, take the top card from the corresponding color deck. Read it aloud to the group & perform whatever action is on the card,” the instructions read. “Some cards involve just that player, some require the whole group. The player to their left then rolls the die & the game continues like this. Every winning card gets you a point. 1 Card = 1 Point. The player with the most cards at the end wins!”

If you’re looking to reeeally get to know your friends, this is the game for you and your group (um, and maybe an invite to the new person you’ve been dating is in order). By reading questions and providing answers, you’ll quickly and creatively get inside the mind of all your party guests fast.

You’ll really get to know the other party guests with this game. This might not be one to play with your new coworkers or mother-in-law!

To play, each player will draw six cards. “When it's your turn, choose one of your six question cards, then ask it to the player you think is most likely to answer YES. If they say YES, you get to discard your card. If they say NO you have to keep the card and try to use it again later,” the instructions read. With Skip Cards, Draw +1, Draw +2, and ALL PLAY cards, there's a surprising amount of strategy. The player who discards all of their cards first becomes the winner.

This provocative game will leave your jaw on the floor from the hilarious, creative and outrageous things your friends say. Simply by drawing topic cards like “Things a chimp thinks about when he sees you at the zoo,” responses are sure to be out of this world. After everyone writes down a response, and the best part starts — you all guess who said what. Let the finger pointing begin.

Who knows each other best? This card game will (literally) put everyone’s cards on the table.

Getting started and playing this card game is super simple. A rotating judge asks the group a question about themselves from each of the three levels (indicated on the chosen card). Then, everyone chooses their answer. If you guess the judge's answer correctly, you get a point. The player with the most points wins.

Are you basically Michael Scott from The Office? Any sucker for jokes and innuendos will love this saucy game.

This one is fun to do with the kids or you can spice it up with an adults-only game. Like speed scrabble, the game comes in a convenient banana-shaped pouch making it great to play on the go.

Get ready to laugh the night away with this far too funny game. Each group member will take turns reading the cards’ prompts. With each prompt, every player will answer “yes” or “no.”

It’s part Cards Against Humanity, part Pictionary. If you have friends who are particularly good artists (or even if they’re not), this game will bring you hours of fun.

Catan Strategy Board Game

Created by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, this game is based around familial interactions gone wrong with a Cards Against Humanity style of playing.

If you follow the popular Instagram account, then you can probably guess the basics of this board game. Go places, gain followers and get famous to win this pop culture game.

Stack the Bones ($25)

There's nothing quite as unnerving as a game of Jenga. Except when it's bone-shaped Jenga.

Mad Lab Specimen Guessing Game

Label your containers — or don't. Either way, your guests will be freaked out trying to guess what they're touching. (via Eighteen 25)

Game of Clue

Leave clues around the house for your guests to find. Whoever solves the mystery can even win a sweet surprise! (via Camille Styles)

Costume Contest

Here's a fun way to encourage all your friends to dress up. The crazier, the better! (via Brit + Co)

Donuts on a String

Your guests may have a hard time keeping their hands and mouths off this tasty snack. (via Style Me Pretty)

Halloween Bingo

If you'd prefer something a little less demanding, why not try out a sit-down game of Halloween bingo? (via Studio DIY)

Halloween Charades

It's almost impossible to not laugh when playing a game of charades. Choose topics from Halloween candies to scary movie monsters, and you'll have your guests dying from laughter. (via Make Life Lovely)

Adult Halloween Drinking

Find horror movie trivia questions or write out your own to quiz your friends. For every wrong answer, guests will have to take a drink. Cheers! (via eHow)

Name That Bone

Test out your guests' anatomical knowledge with this spine-chilling quiz. (via eHow)

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Let your guests show off their carving skills with this fun craft. It can get a little messy, so we recommend working outdoors or laying down some newspaper. The best part? You can bake the pumpkin leftovers into some yummy pumpkin pie. (via Brit + Co)

Pumpkin Ring Toss

Recycle the rings from your mason jar lids with an old-fashioned game of ring toss. (via Curly Crafty Mom)

Scary Movie Drinking Game

Put on your favorite horror film and lay down the rules: Every time a character gets killed off, drinks all around! (via eHow)

Snake Eyes

Your guests will have to put their memory to the test with this matching game. Fill up empty water bottles with surprise items and see whether your guests can remember where its matching pair is. Don't forget to save up your used water bottles for this one. (via HGTV)

Washi Web Dance Floor

Designate the space where your guests can get down using some good ol' washi tape. (via Brit + Co)

Here's How Often You Should Cut Your Hair, According To Professionals

I’ll admit it — it had been eight months since my last haircut. My hair had lost its shape, my layers were nowhere to be found, and my ends were begging for mercy. Life got busy over the last few months and I was neglecting my haircare like never before.

My hairdresser could immediately see that I was beyond due for a cut and said I needed to get more taken off than I was hoping. I was definitely disappointed — I'd been working on growing out my hair for a while now, and it just felt like my hard work had completely gone to waste. He explained that getting consistent haircuts is the key to growing out healthy and strong hair, rather than letting it grow and grow until it eventually breaks. So let's dig into the top three things you can do to avoid this scenario!

1. Just Get The Dang Haircut

Also avoiding a haircut like I was? You might want to schedule one at your nearest salon. Like my stylist said, when you wait too long between trims like I did, you risk your hair becoming heavy, dull, and lifeless. When the hair is dry or even dead, it’s nearly impossible for it to hold a curl or style, essentially collapsing on you and taking on more and more heat damage all the while. I know the pain of spending time on a blowout only for it to fall minutes later — it’s the worst.

According to Jack, getting a haircut every 10-12 weeks is the best time frame or your ends will pay the price. Between blow-drying, curling, straightening, sun, and weather, our ends get dry and start to break without the proper care. Getting consistent haircuts allows hair to bounce back, shine, and perform the way we want in a healthy way.

2. Leave-In Conditioners Are Your Friend

His top piece of advice to keep your hair looking and feeling hydrated between trims? Invest in conditioning treatments. Jack swears by the Olaplex conditioning system, specifically the No 3 Hair Perfector. Made with patented OLAPLEX Bond Building Technology™, this conditioning treatment repairs and prevents damage in as little as three minutes. No 3 promises to reduce breakage and visibly strengthen hair, so it’s the perfect assistance to keep ends fresh between cuts. Another conditioning treatments I’ve used and loved for years is the Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask, which is designed to restore moisture, elasticity, and shine to dry hair.

3. Switch Up Your Shampoos

Switching shampoos frequently is a pretty hot tip that I honestly hadn't thought of. Our hair gets used to the same products and grows tired of them, resulting in lackluster locks. Jack’s advice is to switch brands after finishing every bottle of shampoo to bring life back to your hair. Have two brands that you’re loyal to? Even switching back and forth between them after every bottle should make a big difference in your hair. I’m a huge fan of the R+Co Dallas Biotin Thickening Shampoo, which makes my hair look thick and full, as well as the Moroccanoil Hydrating Shampoo, which is so hydrating and gives so much shine.

In the end, navigating your back-and-forth relationship with haircuts often feels like a rollercoaster ride between wanting that fresh look and cringing at the receipt. Luckily, by using conditioning treatments and switching up your products,, you can keep your locks healthy, shiny, and full of life between trims. But take a newly learned lesson out of my book: don't let your ends pay the price for procrastination and just book the haircut.