Table Gaming Club’s Gamefest
Photo from Folu Eludire on Unsplash.
November 15, 2023
Tyler Wright, Contributing Writer
On November 17 the Table Gaming Club is hosting its once-a-semester event Gamefest. Gamefest is a large campus-wide event where the TGC brings tabletop games of various types from its inventory and allows the campus community to use them. These can range from video games like Mario Kart to board games such as Risk. Sometimes TGC executive board members will run single sessions of roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Gamefest will run from 8 PM to 8 AM in the South Dining Hall. The Commuter Lounge will hold food and other refreshments for those going to Gamefest to enjoy.
The president of the TGC, Anthony Booth, said, “It’s tough to find a place because certain parties are tough to work with, and it’s also just a really big event so there’s a lot of planning involved, particularly buying food and working within the budget. There’s also the set-up and take-down which we rely on the community to help us get set up faster… When I first came here, there wasn’t a Gamefest because that was the height of COVID… I went to my first Gamefest in my sophomore year and it was a lot of fun. I joined the executive board in my junior year and so that makes four Gamefests I’ve been to and it’s always been a great experience.”
Trey Gunzinger, a freshman, gives an idea of what freshmen have heard about the upcoming event and their expectations.
“I haven’t heard much about Gamefest outside of TGC members, and everything I’ve heard from them is good but they might be a little biased. I don’t really have any expectations for it, but I’m hoping it will be as fun as they’ve said.”
Tom Brann, a frequent Gamefest goer, said, “I’ve been to every Gamefest in all the time I’ve been here, it’s been pretty positive. People have a lot of fun and there are a lot of people there you don’t normally see because they are either not a part of the gaming community or they spend a lot of time in their rooms. You get to try games you’ve never played before and interact with people you don’t know. There’s also a raffle where you get to win prizes. I’ve played a couple of games there I’ve enjoyed and I will buy them eventually, plus it’s also really great to stay up late with your friends. I think it is always a little hard to get it set up but there haven’t been any problematic people or anything like that. There’s always plenty of food to go around. The only real problem I feel Gamefest might have is that it isn’t advertised early enough to the community. Like, two or two and a half weeks out would be great.”
When asked if he thought it would be a good experience for freshmen, Brann had this to say.
“I think it’s gonna be good for incoming freshmen…It’s a new, interesting experience, and you don’t know what it’s going to be like, so you’ll want to go.”
