Polytech Grenoble has many « cells », student associations, which allow to galvanize the school life. Let’s focus on one of them: the BDJ – “Bazar des Jeux“.
The BDJ is quite a new cell as it was created in 2015. At the beginning, students used to play board games and some role-plays only. Nowadays, they have different sections so that every player finds a game that suits him. In fact, the cell is divided into 3 sections: board game, role-play and a video game
section, each one with a referent student. There is a large variety of activities in the BDJ: gaming afternoons in Polytech; gaming nights hosted outside; Theme parties and exceptional events such as laser game contest, treasure hunt, escape game. A few students get even more invested sometimes to prepare initiations to games they master. Few weeks ago, we had the chance to discover how to play “Magic!”, a popular card game. Last year, we got initiated to the famous “Go” game, the oldest board game still played. The board game section was the first one in the BDJ with some role-plays. Today, there are plenty of board games which are used every week by students in the school. This collection of board games is meant for students to enjoy a quality time together between classes or at the end of the day. As an example: Pandemic, The Werewolves of Millers Hollow, Gobb’it !, Dixit and Codenames Pictures are some of the games that will surely be there at every BDJ event!
Concerning the role-play part, players gather approximately once every 2 weeks to play one-shot stories. It means that players can come to play just once to discover a role playing game (RPG) through one “short” story invented by the game master. I asked the referent of the role-play section his vision of the role playing game: “RPG is an activity that leaves a lot of place to improvisation and imagination, which allows players to live the adventures they conceive. As there are RPG on every type of universes and eras, anyone can find a playing style that suits him (or her): futurist, medieval, enigmatic … In a nutshell, RPG are a type of game that always provides thrilling moments between friends and epic adventures.”
Last but not least, the video game section is meant to flourish. It has been well started this year as a few events were organized. Let’s focus on one of them: “Smash Ultimate at Polytech!” It took place in Polytech, on Thursday 17th October. On a rainy afternoon after classes, about thirty students stayed in the school to contest on Smash Ultimate on a big screen or just to play board games at the back of an amphitheatre, as usual during a BDJ gathering. “The event was very cool and friendly. It was a mix of video games and board games. I think the tournament aimed at fun, not competition. “
Moreover, this year, the BDJ has 2 teams of 7 “League of Legends” gamers participating at the national tournament “La Grosse Ligue”. This winter, students faced other schools every Wednesday evening. Many gamers from Polytech plan to attempt to the tournament next year. “It was very fun to gather and to establish strategies as a team before the games. We got to know each other better as we already had common interests. I will be part of the GL next year!”
2020 will be an intense year for the BDJ as many events are already planned by the staff members!
Stay tuned, and have a happy new year!