The Kansas State Games Club celebrated International Games Week with a board game extravaganza in Hale Library on Saturday afternoon.
The free event was open to students and the public, and featured a variety of board games to play such as Ascension, Ticket to Ride and Clue.
Stefan Yates, academic adviser in mechanical engineering, said the event was designed to encourage students to work with one another and to provide an outlet for students to relax.
“What we want to do is basically foster an environment for student engagement, a place where people can come and just be in a non-curricular activity and have a sense of community,” Yates said.Related:
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Logan Babcock, sophomore in biology, said he enjoyed the event and the challenges that accompanied the board games.
“It’s a great social experience,” Babcock said. “You get to hang out with friends, play very complicated games, work together on projects and stuff. It’s a good team building exercise.”
The Games Club hosted the event at the Great Room in Hale Library as a “come-as-you-please” event.
Dan Ireton, associate professor at Hale Library, said having the event in the Great Room helped boost the event’s attendance.
“We’ve had 50 or so people that were just folks wandering in and they looked,” Ireton said. “They didn’t necessarily stay and play anything, but they got a feel for what we were doing.”
The Games Club hosts a public board game day each semester, and has regular meetings on Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m.
During the fall semester, the Games Club coordinates the board game event around the American Library Association’s International Games Week, which was from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4 this year.
Ben Ward, instructional technologist for the College of Business and Administration, said the event has always been a success.
“It’s an opportunity to meet and make new friends regardless of what your major is or where you’ve come from,” Ward said. “And actually, over the years it’s worked really well. It’s pulled in a pretty diverse group of students.”
Adam Herting, junior in computer science and Games Club member, said he not only enjoys the events like the one held at Hale Library, but the weekly meetings for the Games Club as well.
“It’s like a stress reliever, and something I always look forward to,” Herting said.
