Ever wanted to play a game at school with friends? The new Gamer Club might be the chance to do that.

This year, 9th graders Tenzin Bawa, Joseph “Tuco” Dixon, Will Austin, and Dylan Tan Stephenson came up with the idea for Gamer Club: a club where students could play video games, board games, and card games with each other. It would be a club where people could relax a bit and have some fun, as opposed to more serious clubs like Math Team.

“The idea behind gamer club is that we wanted to create a moderated platform for students to play games in an organized manner,” Bawa said. The vision was there, but the founders had to take some steps to reach their goal. They needed school approval, a meeting space, and a teacher to supervise.

The club needed to be approved by the dean, so the group decided to make a presentation. “Tuco released a form, and we all got together. The four of us managed to create a slideshow to present to Dean Thornberry,” Bawa said. 

They were approved in early November.

The founders recruited US science teacher Mr. Hinh to supervise the meeting area, which is room 4130, between the design labs. Austin said, “The room might not be able to fit everyone, especially on big days. It’s great otherwise.” 

Bawa said the club will usually meet twice a week, once at clubs period during X and once after school.

The club’s first meeting on Nov. 11 drew 23 students, the largest turnout of any club this year. The leaders brought two games: Machi Koro and Love Letter. 

“We’re glad we’ve been getting such a positive reaction from the community and we want to improve the experience of Gamer Club so gamers can have a better time,” Bawa said. 

Currently, every member of the Gamer Club is a 9th grader. 

Dixon said, “This is probably just ‘cause we’re freshmen and that’s weird.” 

However, most people at the club gave positive feedback: “You can just hang out and watch people play games, or even play them yourself. It’s cool,” ninth-grader Asa Zirps said. 

The founders hope to entice other grade levels into joining.

In the future, Bawa plans to let others bring games in: “This club is for everyone, not just us, and we want to let everyone play things they like.” 

There is also talk of a speedrun tournament for the game series Fireboy and Watergirl later this year.