When I attended the Gaming Night in the beginning of the semester, fellow attendees tended to cluster into two groups: the larger one, in the Dining Hall with the Nintendo Switch, and the smaller one, seated around the couches in the television room. That was where I spent most of my time, because it’s where the retro games were.

Seeing old Mario Kart was, quite frankly, a trip. The backgrounds were two-dimensional; when the characters onscreen tilted, the sprite just changed shifted to a slightly angled one. It was still surprisingly easily to navigate, which makes sense — clearly, this game has continued to be popular through the years.

Even with the expanse of Retro games available, most of us stuck to older versions of what we already knew. In particular, the older edition of Street Fighter was very popular! It was awesome seeing people utilize these quick combos, and old control methods, that are clearly successful enough that users still enjoy them. Super Mario Bros, too, was a hit — the environments, though pixelated, were so fun to look at that the controller changed hands multiple times in the same game world. I’m talking specifically about the donut world, which I haven’t seen in any modern reincarnation of the game! It’s a whole new Super Mario world that didn’t exist on the version when I played it all those years ago on the Wii classic.

Time like this really make look back on everything I loved about Rose Scholars. The opportunity to do “new” things with very much new people. While I do not remember everyone there I remember having fun and really getting to relax. I hope everyone is safe and doing well. To more game nights with everyone. MORE LIFE.

Normally I always thought gaming is something everyone does alone which is why parents tell their kids to go out and meet people rather than just sit in front of a monitor and play video games the whole day. However, this event changed the way I see video games now. I got to meet so many people and also learn their different backgrounds whilst playing video games with them which added to the social bonding!

This week, I attended game night with some of my rose house friends and some friends from outside of rose. There were games such as Cards Against Humanity, Super smash bros, and other board games. One of my friends taught me how to play a card game called Presidents. The goal of the game is to be the first person to place all your cards down. This is done by placing your cards, one card at a time, in order of increasing number and strength. The first person to have an empty hand is considered the president. The second victor is considered the vice president. The last person left in the game is considered the vice president’s scum. I had the amazing opportunity of being the vice president’s scum most of the rounds that I played.  However, eventually, after some trial and error, I finally earned the title of being a President.

Overall, the game night was a great way for me to escape my academic responsibilities while being able to bond with my friends and become my own president.

Gaming Night was not initially what I thought it was. I had no idea what to expect other than just wandering from table to table playing games. At first I played some Mario Kart on SNES for a little while. I was able to then find a group and played cards against humanity for the rest of the night. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find any group to hang out with, but I was fortunate enough to find some other scholars and make some new friends.

Attending the game night was a nostalgic experience for me. I enjoyed playing the trivia game with my friends because the game was asking me questions about movies/tv- shows that I used to watch when I was younger. Friday night was also a learning experience for me because I was able to learn how to play new card games like, President and Crazy 8. In the beginning the card games were confusing, but once we all started playing the rules of the game were easy to pick up. I liked the game President more than Crazy 8 since it wasn’t as complicated. I also enjoyed meeting new people and bonding with them over Cards Against Humanity. I usually don’t like playing the game because the people I play with always make corny jokes that I don’t find funny. But the new people I met and played with came up with pretty funny answers that were unique and original. The game night was a great way to end a quite hectic week. 

During Game Night, with friends and strangers alike, most of the night consisted of playing card games like War, Crazy 8, Spit, and Presidents. This experience was a teaching moment for those who I played with and I. Since the last times I played some of the card games varied, I taught some how to play Presidents, and they taught me how to play Crazy 8 and War. Eventually, those who were beginners became winners towards the end. In this, my mind was refreshed of childhood memories I had from when I used to play these games. Not only nostalgia was at play here, there was also playful tension I felt in playing these games. The outcomes of each round for every game varied, so it was not always so definitive of who would win.

The game night was very interesting.I learned how to play chess and board game. It is also exciting to see other rose scholars to play video games. Overall, this game night is a time that everyone is relax and calm. I really like it!

Last Friday, I participated in the game night event. With my friends, I played Cards Against Humanity. I was hoping to play other card games like Chinese Poker before attending this event but this new game was also fun to play. I didn’t understand how to play Cards Against Humanity in the beginning, but I just enjoyed my time with my friends. This event was different from normal Friday Movie Night events and I wish we have more game night events throughout the semester. It was a great way for me to relax, have a conversation with my friends, and explore during Friday evening.

It was so nice to take a break from a long week of classes. It’s still early in the semester, but the work is beginning to pile up. I was able to have a fun time with my friends behind a competitive Scrabble game and chess match. My favorite part of Game Night was getting to play Mario Bros. It was a throwback to my childhood when I played Mario Bros all the time. The best part was that I was able to play competitvely with other Rose scholars who shared my love for Mario. Not only did I have a great night filled with games, but also a great experience meeting new people in my community who share my interests.

One of my friends had heard about Game Night and came over to see what it was like. He apparently noticed the piano and started to play. I walked into Rose and was welcomed to Game Night with such a familiar tune… the opening song for Super Smash Brothers Ultimate – Lifelight. It was an awesome way to kick off the night.

After everything was set up, my friend, two other girls, and I started to play one of the Rayman games on Playstation 3. I had no idea what was going on or what we were supposed to do, but it was fun messing around and exploring/interacting with the level. After a couple of minutes, I told my friend that we could probably play Smash here, since I had a Switch and dock in my room. I went to my room and got everything that we needed. Unfortunately, the HDMI port didn’t work for the projector, so we eventually had to use the streaming port that was offered, which meant a bit of latency (we tried to circumvent this with adapters, to no avail). Nothing seriously problematic though.

We got it working, and so my friend, another girl, and another guy that came over started to play with us. We only had two controllers so we had to alternate between players. My friend and I played a bit, and then the other guy played a bit as well.  The girl didn’t know how to play, so I explained the game to her bit by bit and the mechanics she needed, and then we played a bit so she could get a feel for how the game worked. I even got to play against the guy hosting the event, which was awesome! It was very fun to play with all of them and a joy to be able to teach people a new game.

Afterward, I went to another room, where I saw people playing Super Mario World on SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), which was awesome since I had only seen a SNES only a couple of other times in my life. I saw my friend and one of the girls from before alternating between controllers trying to beat the overworld level and advance to the next world. It was fun whenever we came across a new enemy or a new type of item, and the suspense that built up when someone played against a boss was thrilling.

I think that there should be more game nights in the Rose Scholars Program. It’s always fun to play together, whether it be card games, board games, or video games. For me, the experience was awesome.

Friday night I joined a few of my friends to play some board games, we ended up and played Cards Against Humanity, which I have never played before. It was a night filled with laughs as all of us came up with the funniest phrases and answers. As more people joined the game, it was a lot more fun. I enjoyed reading what my peers came up with, some were witty and creative. We added our own twist to the game, where we could exchange the card we selected if we didn’t like it, which made the game more interesting as we all started to come up with the hilarious phrases, and it became a bit competitive. Turning out to an event like this allowed me to enjoy an evening full of laughs with my friends.

Game night was fun and a welcome break from studying.   Socializing and playing games like trivia on a vintage PS3 was a good diversion.   It’s funny that coming up with answers to random questions about 80’s movies can really take your mind off reality for a little while.   Playing reminded me of playing Scatagories and Family Feud with my family when I was a kid.  I enjoyed meeting new people and socializing.  Socializing is not as easy while you are watching the usual Friday night movie.

During Game Night, I had the pleasure of playing Cards Against Humanity with several other people. What ensued was an hour and a half of laughs and all types of jokes: very dark ones, terrible and not very funny ones, and some Snapchat worthy ones. Normally, I only start showcasing my dark humor when the clock hits 1am, but despite being dead tired from a very long week, I found myself really enjoying it. The jokes made weren’t appropriate for normal conversations which fits Cards Against Humanity’s tagline as a game for horrible people.

Of all the card games I know, Cards Against Humanity is the one I’m least competitive in. I love card games like Spit, Chinese Poker, Spoons and Exploding Kittens, to name a few. Card games have a similar vibe with video games except that the former also requires you to be physically present. Growing up, I really loved playing board games like Scrabble. Somewhere along the way of growing up, I forgot how much I enjoyed them. I’ve recently learned Catan! Playing board and card games requires more brainpower than turning off your brain and staring at the screen/watching movies. I really enjoyed the night!

This week instead of playing a movie on Friday night, GRF Tom held a game night with a variety of board and video games. This was a nice change, as I have always loved to play board games, but since coming to college I have not had the time to play much. I was especially pleased to find a backgammon board there as I remember playing this game as a kid, but it has been a long time since I last played. It took a while to re-learn the rules a first, especially because the rule booklet was not very clear, but once my partner and I got the hang of it, it was a lot of fun to play (even though I lost). We also played a really good game of chess afterwards, and it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy the game without having to think of school or work. Overall, I thought that this was a really great idea, and a good way to relax for a few hours.