Lian Yeager, contributor

Have you been cooped up in your dorm room too much? Have you wanted to get out and participate on campus? One of the best ways to do that is to participate in club events like the First Game Night hosted by the Augsburg Gaming Club. The event took place on Sept. 21 and had a major turnout with many people flowing in and out. It got super packed during the dinner rush as a ton of people came to watch and cheer on their friends! 

The event also had a bracket-style tournament for both Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Anyone was able to come and participate if you signed up before the first round ended. I sadly came too late to participate in either of the events but was able to sneak in a couple of games of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with some friends in between matches. At almost all times there were at least two separate games of Mario Kart 8 and three games of Super Smash Bros. Ultimat” being played so nobody was left out of the fun! There was always a great energy surrounding the gaming tables. It was amazing to see people who enjoyed the games they played excel at this tournament. For the most part, everything was quite laid back and everyone seemed to be cracking jokes and having fun.

In the end, there was an unexpected tie for first in Mario Kart 8. Two of the participants both finished their last track with 12 points each. In the other bracket, the winner of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament barely won out against his competitors, but came out victorious in the end. The close neck-in-neck tie left many in the room cheering at the results and the excitement was great to see. With the prizes for winning being gift cards, the organizers came to a bit of an issue where they only had one gift card and two first-place Mario Kart 8 winners. This was resolved by offering to treat both winners to food at Einstein’s instead.

Speaking of food, one of the best parts of this event was the snacks because the Gaming Club knows how to make a spread! The snacks offered at the event included chocolate chip cookies, mini cinnamon rolls and energy drinks such as Red Bull and Celsius. The weirdest drink they had was an orange vanilla sparkling water which tasted like an orange cream soda while removing all hint of it ever being soda.

I highly recommend coming to events like this one. These types of events are a great way to meet new people and interact with others on campus! It was so fun and I hope to see a large turnout at the Gaming Club’s next event: an Overwatch Tournament on Oct. 19 at 5:15 p.m. Make sure you stop by and game on!