International Student Welcome and Gaming Event

Words by Cindy Yong

With Zoom meetings being the norm these days, gaming events and meet-ups have gradually shifted online. This was no different for SIM-UB’s International Student Welcome and Integration Gaming Event organized by students of Dr. Blake Hendrickson’s COM474 ‘Intercultural Communication & Cross-cultural Adaptation’ module. While this was certainly not the first of such events, it was notable that despite it being an online experience this time around, there was a huge turnout, and everyone had their game face on (no, literally).

The event kicked off with the host, student Ken Lu, giving a warm welcome to participants, both local, international, and students from various clubs and societies, namely the SIM Board Games Society. To break the ice and get the ball rollin’, a group of student representatives from COM474 class initiated a ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’ game - for each round, one game leader would start with a, “Blow, wind, blow,” and everyone else would respond, “Blow what?”.

An example during this icebreaker game was, “Blow those with colored hair!” and those with their hair dyed would have to leave their cameras on, unmute the microphone and introduce themselves. As a participant, I found this game to be rather interesting, as I never knew it was possible to play the game of ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’ without being physically present in the same space; it is usually played with those fitting the description having to get up quickly and move to a vacated seat by another player.

As the evening progressed, all participants were split into various breakout rooms. We continued to engage in online activities, such as Skrribl.io, a multiplayer drawing and guessing game platform where each player takes turns to draw a selected term (from three available words presented), and guess other players’ given words. To win the game, you have to collect the highest points over three to five rounds. Bashful of me to say this, but I won - twice!

Another game that we tried was Code Names, and it was challenging and interactive. Originally a card game for four to eight players, Code Names requires two teams to compete by each having a “spymaster” who gives one-word clues that might point to multiple words on the screen. Players have to attempt to guess their own team’s words while avoiding selecting the words of the opposing team. Surprisingly, this activity was less rowdy than the previous one. It definitely required more thinking caps and creativity.

Thanks to Dr. Blake, I was able to virtually hop to other breakout rooms and interact with more players, both local and international students alike. Needless to say, the gaming event was an overall success - many students felt open and comfortable in communicating, though we began as strangers, there was a sense of familiarity and homeliness. It was a good opportunity to reach out to people across cultures and nationalities, and for once, I did not feel a tinge of Zoom fatigue.