BYU–Hawaii students gathered Friday Feb. 22 to play mini golf, an assortment of video and board games, eat pizza, and spend time with friends in the Cannon Activities Center. The Gamers Club president said there was something for everyone to do. The members of Gamers Club said they hope more students will join the club because of the event.
President of the Gamers Club Kristen Conrad, a senior majoring in English from Washington, said she was excited for the event. Last semester, the Seasider Activities committee hosted a game night and Conrad said the Gamers Club was asked to help plan this one. “On our end we [got together] all of our game systems to play [Super Smash Bros.], and all of our board games, and then on their end, they got all the mini-golf and stuff. So we just kind of met together and were like, ‘This is what we want to do, this is our plan, and this is what we need to get ready for the next semester.’ Then we just kind of followed through with that plan.”
Conrad said she’s really into board games. “I really like the game ‘Coup.’ Everyone is assigned two roles, but no one knows who has what role. So you have to go around and figure out who is who. You build up a pile of coins and pay [other players] to reveal their cards, or you have to assassinate them, but they can counter that if they have a certain card. You just try to last until the end and not let other people know what role you have.”
Several round tables filled with board games were set up in the middle of the CAC, including “Betrayal at House on The Hill” and “Apples to Apples.” Students also putted at the nine portable mini golf courses available. The giant projector screen was pulled down and broadcasted footage of people who were playing the virtual reality game “Beat Saber.”
Zach Maples, a junior majoring in computer science from Punalu’u and member of the Gamers Club, was in charge of helping people sign up to play “Beat Saber.” Of virtual reality, he said, “It’s just the coolest thing right now because it’s the next step in immersive game play.
“Right now, if you put on a VR headset your sense of sight is covered. You put on some headphones, your sense of sound. You’re for all intents and purposes in that world. So it really steps up what you can do in a game.” He said everyone should try it.
Maples said his favorite kind of gaming is probably computer gaming. “I have a PC that I can use for school, for work, and for gaming, so it’s all in one.” He said he’s also a really big fan of board games. “I’m an all-inclusive gamer. If you say card games, I’m in. Board games, I’m in. VR, I’m in!”
When asked why he likes gaming in general, Maples said, “I’m a pretty competitive person. In a lot of situations competitiveness can be easy to put other people down. But in gaming it’s a low stress way to get that competitive urge, that fix, in a safe environment. It’s a really good way to destress after a day.”
Riley Hand, a freshman majoring in computer science from Florida, is also a member of Gamers Club. “Why do I like gaming?” She said. “I really enjoy gaming because it allows me to do things that I couldn’t otherwise do myself, to experience worlds that we don’t necessarily have access to. It’s the virtue of escapism.”
Hand said his favorite kinds of board games are the social deduction games like “Ultimate Werewolf” and “The Resistance.” He said, “It’s nice to sit around with your friends and laugh and make jokes about who you are or who you aren’t, what you want to do or what your motives are.
“It’s something special to be able to play the game and not focus on a certain rule, like going around a board, or collecting a certain amount of money. You just sit there and talk and have fun.”
Michael Jarvis, a junior majoring in marine biology from Washington, was one of the students who participated in the Super Smash Bros. tournament. He said he liked how big the event was. “It got more people involved that might not have otherwise played. I was surprised to see first time players join in. I think it was pretty laid back, which was cool to see.”
Jarvis said he didn’t make it far in the tournament. “I probably shouldn’t have chosen random [characters]. I love Marth, but I like to play random to switch it up.”
Hand said he hoped the event would help more people want to join Gamers Club. “It’s good that people know we exist.”
Conrad said, “We have lots of fun activities. We meet every Friday night and we always have games to play, whether it’s Smash or board games. We also do other events, like our Mystery Dinner coming up next month. We always have a theme. Everyone meets together and they play in their character, and then someone gets murdered and they forget who the murderer is.
“Everyone should join. We have stuff for everyone. And if we don’t, you can always talk to us and we can see about trying to get it.”
Maples said, “Come to Gamers Club! Basically what we’re doing tonight–like VR, video games, Smash Brothers, board games, card games–we do at Gamers Club every single week. It’s less of a club per se, it’s more of a congregation. We come and we just chill out to destress and have a good time.”
Writer: Emi Wainwright