Prior to Covid-19, the idea of a global pandemic was just a concept relegated to video games and fictional stories. Now, the gaming club is one of those hit hardest by the pandemic as fiction becomes reality.
Attendance has dropped from 15 to 10 participants weekly, less than half the average amount of participants. In addition, games such as board games and card games have seen a significant decline or no play at all.
With the school repopulating and seeing an increase in student participation, the gaming club hopes to bring back board games, card games and many in person video game events both on the a big screen and hand held.
The gaming club is open to all levels of experience and interests for all categories of games. This can range from casual players to more hardcore games.
President of the gaming club Hayden Farris says, “I want the gaming club to be an open place to for everyone to come and chill and talk about gaming. It doesn’t have to be for just hardcore gamers”. 
Some of the more popular games played include Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, Animal Crossing and even some card games such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Magic the gathering. Any students interested in these games are welcome to join the gaming club at one of their meetings.
This club meets periodically on Fridays either on campus or, more consistently due to the pandemic, on the club’s discord. The discord server is open and most active on Fridays where the president and his council will be active to spend some time with group members.
The president of the gaming club Hayden Farris encourages all types of players to join and participate as the Stan State campus repopulates and can be reached out to more accessibly on their gaming club discord.
The club hopes as participation increases to become a nice on campus oasis to escape from the mundane workload of the classroom and provide a safe space to play games and relax.
Despite all the hurtles and obstacles the gaming club has had to overcome there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Farris has confirmed that the gaming club has made some impressive progress and has been dominating events with Valorant and Rocket League currently standing 3-0 in the major US tournaments.These games can be highly competitive and can be very difficult to win.
While many may still be looking to return to a sense of normalcy as the pandemic progresses, the gaming club looks to continue to uitilize gaming to stay connected during these ever changing times.