Online Game Night organized by SG Dubrovnik

by Jon Kojaković, Marketing, SG Dubrovnik

Student Government members from the Dubrovnik campus have organized the online Game Night as the first online event for the students of the Dubrovnik campus. The event took place on Thursday, October 15 in the afternoon hours and the Game night consisted of various Jackbox party pack games.

Choosing the proper content for online Game Night

We had never organized an online event on our own before, so we needed to start trying sooner rather than later. We chose game night because we believed this type of event would have the most re-usability throughout the year and it would be wise to get good at making it as a result. Also it was a good opportunity to learn how to organize events on new platforms (discord and twitch as opposed to the usual zoom). We were told that Jackbox is a good game to start with since it is a game that doesn't favorites a certain group of people. Meaning it is very accessible to everyone and most importantly it does not require the users/students to download anything to play. The only problem was that one Jackbox game can fit a maximum of 8 players, so we needed to download the packs onto multiple of our computers so that we can have multiple games being hosted at the same time allowing everyone to play without having to wait at all.

Anticipating and overcoming challenges in organizing online Game Night

Well, first of all, any online event has a plethora of possible problems. Internet connections can be a real problem. If a storm had started it could have slowed down the internet connection for the host, leading to lag and robotic microphones. If someone is new to online events it is a lot harder to help them with whatever problem they have when all you can do is talk to them while not being able to see what they're doing. Also there was the problem of people possibly being less social online, because they might be uncomfortable in the new atmosphere. And finally, sometimes games and platforms can have unexpected problems that don't have quick solutions which could show up as well.

Positive sides of organizing online Game Night

While it could have made people less social, it simultaneously could have made others more social. People might feel more confident to talk knowing they have some minor level of anonymity. People might feel more comfortable talking if others are staring at them or if they are in the comfort of their own homes. Also meaning that if someone had enough, they could just leave the meeting and go do what else they wanted. No one could pressure you into staying nor did you have to plan around a bus schedule or similar. You could play some of these games in person so this opens up many new options for entertainment. These types of events generally don't require a budget either. Finally, since there wasn't much you could do to prevent most of the issues that could arise these games based online events didn't require much set up ahead of time.

Outcome of our first online Game Night

We thought these events would be a coin flip. They could be engaging or awkward, run smoothly or be filled with problems. There was no way we can tell how many people will show up nor how long they will stay. Luckily for us, the event was a general success. We got a decent turn-out of students and everybody stayed until the end. Everyone who participated said they enjoyed themselves and would come again if organized. Hopefully the next event will be even better now that we have some experience under our belt.