December 5, 2024

Game On! A New Odegaard Tradition is Here to Stay

On September 30, nearly 800 people gathered at Odegaard Library’s Tabletop Game Night! As part of Dawg Daze Welcome Week, it was a great opportunity for incoming students to meet new people and start the year off with a night of fun by playing board games together. Dozens of games were available to play from Odegaard’s Game Collection and staff facilitators recommended games and helped match solo players with groups. Attendees also had the chance to meet students from some of UW’s tabletop gaming RSOs who attended and helped run games including: Pen & Paper Gaming Association, Board Games @ UW, Yugioh Club, Pokemon Trainer Club, Chess Club, and Husky Gaming Nation.  

Based on survey responses, many attendees said the best part of the event was meeting new people and meeting students across different programs. “Staff friendliness” and “help finding games” were also mentioned. 

“I liked that staff members helped people find games and groups to join.” 

 – Game Night Participant

Libraries staff helping to make Game Night a great success! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! The Dawg Daze Tabletop Game Night in September was made possible by the generous support of the UW Parents Collections and Programs Endowed Fund. Starting in fiscal year 2024-25, game collection purchases are being funded from the Herschel V. III and Janet Schraegle Jones Endowed Library Fund and game events are being funded through the Parents Fund.

Because Game Night was such a hit, Odegaard’s game team decided to plan and host quarterly game events for students throughout the year!  

Why Board Games? Why Libraries?

One of the Libraries’ key strategic directions is to enhance the student experience. We strive to   do this through activities and programs that encourage student success, belonging, inclusion, and the holistic well-being of diverse student populations. A desire to update and refresh programming for new student events led to the initial idea. A lot of Odegaard staff play board games and tabletop roleplaying games themselves, so we were excited to find a way to share those interests with students! We held the first Game Night in 2023 which led to the development of a new board game collection at Odegaard.  Through this experience, we learned that UW students are eager to make personal connections, and that games and other social activities are an important way of facilitating those connections for new students.

Through Game Nights, we hope to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for students to connect during their transition to university life; showcase the Libraries as a vital community hub; and raise awareness about our collections and services, including the Odegaard Game Collection! 

FUN FACT: As of December 4, 2024, the game collection as a whole has a 528% turnover rate— that means that each game in the collection has been checked out an average of 5 times each. At any given time, one-third to one-half of the games in the collection are checked out—so students are definitely responding to the new collection! We hope that the games are helping them foster fun social time with friends, family, and new acquaintances.

Gaming is Good for You!

Taking breaks from work and studying is important for your mental and physical health. Not scheduling time for breaks can lead to stress and burnout. We want to encourage UW students to take some time out of their busy schedules to play board games with their friends. We hope that the game collection can help students find a work-life balance that includes extracurricular fun. But games aren’t just for fun and social connection — although that’s the most important part! Games can also foster critical thinking, strategic thinking and learning, and there are a handful of classes at UW that study games more closely. Odegaard Library’s Curriculum Support team even uses card games in our information literacy workshops!

So, When Can I Play?

Odegaard will host themed game events each quarter. The first game event after Dawg Daze, “Card Games & Cup Noodles”, was held on October 30th. The next game event will be “Games For Two” on February 13th, but you can check out games from the collection at any time! And of course, we look forward to continuing this new tradition for incoming students with an even “bigger and better” 2025 Dawg Daze Game Night!

If you have questions about Odegaard’s Game Collection or upcoming game events at the library, please visit the Odegaard Game Collection Library Guide.

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