On Friday, March 4, Luther’s Student Activities Council (SAC) collaborated with the Luther Association of Gamers (LAG) to invite students to play their favorite video games with friends and new faces in the Williams lounge of the Dahl Centennial Union. In the spirit of the weekend, a number of students came from 5-8 p.m. to play their favorite games, try new ones, and enjoy snacks in community.

Proposed by SAC two weeks ago, the new President of LAG, David Herrick (‘22), saw this event as an opportunity to keep his association active, as well as promote the club to new potential members.

“I appreciated this opportunity as I wanted to keep [the group] going, and it would die without someone running it,” Herrick said. “It is just for the general public to come, have fun, and meet new people.”

With some of the top picks for the night being Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Wii Sports, LAG members brought various gaming systems to the union and began playing. Each student played one game at a time, and the ‘loser’ of the round would stand up to let the next person who was waiting to play have a turn. 

According to a number of attendees, the turnout was a bit lower compared to previous game nights. As a student who has attended many of these events, Matias Parada (‘22) urged those who didn’t show up to do so next time as playing with people is better than playing alone.

“We generally have bigger turnouts than this,” Parada said. “ I was anticipating a bigger turnout, as the posters looked so nice. I love playing games with real people, and would urge other gamers to do the same as it is more social.”

Herrick also agreed with Parada that more people showing up would have made this event more enjoyable. 

“Playing with a community is always better than playing alone in your room,” Herrick said. “It provides a community sense, and you get a chance to learn from others and improve your gaming skills.” 

One of the attendees, Landon Hoppe (‘22), added to this sentiment, appreciating the social and community aspect that these group games provided. 

“I am enjoying the event,” Hoppe said. “There are a lot of people from different backgrounds that come and play—and [it] just gives a chance to learn and meet new people whom you don’t usually meet during classes or other activities.”

When asked if there was any difference between this event and the previous ones, Herrick said he felt this event more accurately reflected the group’s values of community and teamwork when compared with previous iterations of the evening. Herrick emphasized that he did not want to promote competitiveness for his events as LAG President, as it could discourage less experienced players from attending.

 “As compared to previous events, when it was in a different leadership, the only game they had was Smash Bros,” Herrick said. “They also had a tournament every month or so, sometimes with prizes and sometimes without. I have done a few of those, but I didn’t like the glory aspect of the tournament or the prize winning aspect of it, I like it more for fun and participation.”

The club intends to hold more events in the future, hoping to continue bringing Luther gamers together.