“I hope it keeps growing and it keeps getting more intense and awkward and fun as we go!” Tory Kimmer states.
Game Society Lock-In: Why Not?
Can an everyday person, with no knowledge of gaming, walk into Game Society and start playing? That question rang in my ears as I walked into the Lock-In on Friday, December 7. Game Society is an organization in which students play card games, board games, and even video games. These games are as simple as UNO or as complex as Magic the Gathering.
I walked into the west wing, which was filled with Dungeons and Dragons aficionados, my only experience coming from Monopoly. There, I found fifty people concentrating and dealing cards. Rooms spread out all over the west wing were filled with everything from people playing Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart on Smartboards to Dungeons and Dragons in the flex lab. I entered each room pretty timidly, but once I began asking people if they wanted to be featured, I watched as dozens of hands rose. Everyone I asked was so eager to talk about Game Society and try to spread the word.
Students are eager to spread the word about Game Society
Freshman Mateo Capistran found a new passion in Game Society. He explained, “It’s a new experience I’ve never seen and I really enjoy. [Winning] is not the point of playing, the point of playing, even though it sounds repetitive, is literally just have fun.” The lock-ins have been a part of Game Society culture since the club began 14 years ago. Tod Huckaby stated, “Way back when the schools first opened, it was when Halo was pretty popular, the video game, we would use one of the classrooms that had a big screen TV, we had 18 people play Halo at once.” When asked about what games students play, the club’s advisor stated, “It just flows like fashion, whatever games people play. As long as I’ve been here, there’s been people that wanna play games…That’s what we’re here for, a kid getting the chance to try a new game.”
Everyone that attended had a different interest and favorite part. Daniel Scott’s favorite part wasn’t even the games — he stated, “My favorite part is probably Mr. Huck, he’s just a really fun teacher to be around…I hope we just going like we have been, maybe just more technology.” Aaron Scott, an alumnus of Fossil Ridge High School, comes back every year for the lock-ins, explaining, “My favorite part is playing games, that’s why I come here, it’s the reason why anyone comes here. To play games, meet new people, and to create new memories.” Tristan Balzer, a senior and head of the club, has been involved in Game Society all through high school and loves the community he found. “Honestly, it would be so exciting if we could see more growing, more technology, more people coming in. If I had it my way, everyone would come to Game Society,” he expressed.
Club members play games such as Dungeons and Dragon, Magic the Gathering, and Super Smash Bros.
That’s when it hit me. Of course, an everyday person can walk into Game Society, because they are everyday people. Everyone in the club is another student at our school that is passionate about something, and they want to share it with others. One after the other, everyone I talked to said that the club was a community. Like every other extracurricular at Fossil, Game Society is a family, a passion for them. And at one point in their lives, they were not “gamers”. For some, joining the club showed them this, and for all, it will show friendships that will last.