Three years ago, NIU student David Healy hatched an idea to bring together people interested in gaming.

He approached his friend, Matt Duncan, a technical support coordinator at NIU, to start an NIU gamers club.

“Before I even moved to DeKalb, I knew David online from role-playing games,” Duncan said. “When he heard I was going to be working here, he asked me to be the group’s faculty adviser.”

As the adviser, Duncan is in charge of reserving space and tables for the group to play on.

“I have not done much playing because of work, but eventually I would like to get back into that,” Duncan said. “They’re doing a really good job with it.”

Healy, president of the NIU Gamers Association and a senior history major at NIU, said he is happy with how the club has progressed.

“The incarnation of the Gamers Association has been around for three years,” Healy said. “The current roster is about 35 members.”

The group meets to play role-playing games such as “Dungeons and Dragons,” “Magic: The Gathering,” “Mind’s Eye Theater” and a few dozen others, Healy said.

“Anybody can join. We’re as accessible as a club can be,” he said. “We’re free to join and play, and we have both a Web board and live journal community for members.”

The NIU Gamers Association occasionally holds tournaments, although none currently are scheduled.

Anyone interested in joining the club can e-mail Healy at [email protected].