Tis’ the season to get out of the freezing air for a warm drink and a chill evening of gaming with friends. 

At 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Founders Memorial Library, gamers gathered at Cozy Gaming Night where they played a variety of their favorite games with some winter-themed refreshments.

Hosted by the Gaming for All club, visitors were encouraged to partake in a warm cup of hot cocoa and enjoy a chill evening of gaming on the library’s first floor to shake off the stress from the upcoming finals week. 

Kimberly Shotick, the Student Success librarian, explained that the Cozy Gaming Night event was inspired by the recent 1.6 update to the game “Stardew Valley” on the Nintendo Switch. They wanted to provide a way for students to relieve stress from finals. 

“I floated the idea of a cozy gaming night because I know that Gaming For All embraces all types of games, not just E-sports,” Shotick said. “So, I thought with the release of that and just, you know, the cold weather, that that might be a fun thing to do around finals time too.” 

Various regular members of the club and some new faces brought in a variety of their favorite games to pass the time. Some brought video games on the Nintendo Switch while others preferred to play classic board games such as “Codenames” and “Teleconnections” with their friends. 

While some were there to flex their gaming prowess and enjoy the night, others arrived for the toasty atmosphere and to seek refuge from Jack Frost’s icy embrace.  

All visitors were offered cups of soul-warming hot cocoa with their choice of regular whipped cream and/or marshmallows to add some more sweetness to their drink. 

Spare blankets were draped over the seats surrounding the science sphere while the flickering flames of a virtual fire swaying in a chimney were projected onto the sphere’s screen, further enhancing the feeling of coziness. 

Emily Burris, president of Gaming For All and a sophomore chemistry and meteorology major, enjoyed having the hot chocolate bar and invited others to join Gaming For All to enjoy their favorite games in a low-stress environment. 

“We have a lot of fun,” Burris said. “We do more than just video games and we also do tabletop gaming. It’s a fun way to play games in a low-stress environment with people that you don’t know or you do know.”