Members of the Spartan Board Gamers stared each other down as they deliberated surrendering or taking the shot in a particularly heated game of Cash ‘n Guns.
For the Spartan Board Gamers, Thursday nights are anything but ordinary.
Club members gather to play an array of board games including Cash ‘n Guns, Coup, Dominion, Dungeons and Dragons, Bananagrams and much more.
Members showed up in groups and circled around the two suitcases brimming with board games.
The question of the evening: which one?
A weekly meeting for this group contains riotous laughter and heated disputes over rules in tandem.
“You can lose friendships over games,” said Haley Miller, a biochemistry and criminal justice junior and acting president of the club. “But usually we’re good about not holding grudges.”
Miller said games can get pretty intense and there tends to be shouting between squabbling gamers.
One time, during a bluffing and backstabbing game called Coup, there was plenty of shouting.
“Oh, you’re going to assassinate me?” MSU alumnus Derek Dicesare said. “That’s how it’s gonna be?”
Despite minor competitive friction, Miller said the club has made her more social since she joined in her freshman year.
Although most college students would not devote four to five hours a week to playing board games, Miller said it’s not a waste of time.
“It keeps you mentally active,” Miller said.
On game night, members divide into groups depending on who wants to play each board game.
Some members will finish their game and gather around another group to watch the revelry.
Psychology junior Gabriel Lemon said no matter how bad his week is, he can always look forward to the meeting.
“Everyone is ridiculously friendly,” Lemon said. “Friendly to the max.”
