Every student on the Los Medanos College campus has different needs, skills and interests and inevitably, people who share commonalities will find one another. This is particularly true for LMC’s gaming community.

“The gaming community as a whole is pretty close and connected. We’re united by our passion for gaming,” said LMC student Gio Rajo.

On any given day, a close-knit group of students can be found battling it out in the LMC cafeteria. No matter what game they play, students in the gaming community are always spirited and welcoming.

Students like Rajo and Megan Young are just a fraction of a larger community of gamers, but they are enthusiastic nonetheless.

“We meet there after our classes and it’s sort of whoever wants to play with us can join in. As long as we have enough seats, that is,” said Young about the ever-crowded table of gamers.

Playing fair and being honest is important when it comes to gaming.

“There isn’t one particular person who wins and no one cheats,” said Young about their daily gaming procedure. “We do get competitive and it can be really intense, especially if it’s Egyptian War.”

Egyptian War can be played using the standard deck of cards, making it easy for students in the gaming community to play at school. The object of Egyptian War is to possess all of the cards, thereby winning the game. Although this is a favorite game, other games often played include UNO and Cards Against Humanity.

“Lately it’s been just games we can play with playing cards but sometimes we play UNO or Cards Against Humanity when someone has a deck,” said Young.

Gaming culture goes beyond LMC and is something students can enjoy in and out of school. When students meet outside of school, this allows them to play video games on consoles that cannot be transported to LMC.

“A lot of us meet up outside of school and play a lot of games. I believe some of my friends even stream their gameplay, as well as myself,” said Rajo.

LMC used to have a Game Club, but there isn’t one this semester.

“Last semester we had a game club. The club didn’t reunite this year because we couldn’t find anyone that could be president,” said Rajo.

Even LMC staff has noticed the passion exuded by the gaming community.

“Sometimes they are really loud, I never see a lot of kids there. Maybe five or six play,” said LMC Cafeteria Manager Jackee Kim.

They’re always willing to accept new people into their cirle though. “Anyone that wants to play is welcome to join. We’ve actually made some pretty good friends that way,” said Rajo.