It’s 2 a.m. on a Friday night in Ricker Dining. As FroSoCo students pass by the entrance, they take a peak inside to see where the music they hear is coming from. What do they find? Clusters of Stanford students sprawled across tables with their computers, snacks and Ethernet cords, gaming to their hearts’ content.

These FroSoCo students stumbled across the most recent of the Stanford Local Area Network (LAN) parties, which offer a way for students to enjoy gaming in what might otherwise be a solo activity.

A coordinator of the party, Michael Christensen-Calvin ‘12 described LAN parties as, “when a bunch of people bring their computers and games and play.”

The gaming usually takes place in dining halls, where students connect their computers and play online games in teams of two to five.

Christensen-Calvin and Michael Rosenbloom ’12 organize quarterly gaming parties on campus and are working to make LAN parties an official ASSU student group.

“We’re trying to become an ASSU-funded group, which would allow our ResComp LAN group to have more than one party per term,” Christensen-Calvin said. “As of right now, we only get $100 every quarter. With more money, we could not only have more parties, but also more food and even Red Bull.”

Rosenbloom described some of the other ideas that he and Christensen-Calvin have considered implementing with more ASSU funding.

“With the money, we might plan tournaments,” he said. “This would give the parties a more competitive aspect with prizes. Also, we could raise money for Child’s Play, a charity that provides games for hospitals.”

Christensen-Calvin said he spreads word about the LAN parties by using list serves, and news of the parties spreads virally.

“LAN parties are the best opportunities to bring many people together to play,” said Melissa Sussmann-Martinez ‘13. “If you’re on the same team, it’s easier to talk to each other in person and strategize.”

Albert Lai ’12 also felt that the gaming experience is enhanced by a group environment.

“When you play team games at LAN parties, you can see the other person face to face rather than calling, which makes the game more fun,” Lai said.

A current gaming favorite on campus is League of Legends, Sussmann-Martinez said, describing the game as similar to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a version of Warcraft III. Other popular games include Halo, Super Smash Bros., Rock Band and StarCraft.

Paisley Zelaya ‘13 described her favorite game, StarCraft.

“It’s a real-time strategy game,” she said. “I started playing it in sixth grade. It’s so old, yet still cool. I’m not really into shooter games, and StarCraft is a game for everyone.”

But a night of gaming isn’t for the faint of heart, as staying up to play games often means not taking any breaks to sleep.

“This unofficial LAN part last year went from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.,” Christensen-Calvin. “It was a lot of fun.”

Shannon Wong ’10, considered the founder of LAN parties at Stanford, said she started organizing LAN parties two years ago in order to make them a more regular option on campus. She saw LAN parties as a way to bypass the need for students to have to find other gamers to play with on their own, which can sometimes be a challenge.

“I started these parties with the intention of dispelling the stigma of gaming,” she said. “When one thinks of gaming, one imagines a person sitting in his or her room in front of a computer screen, playing a game by him or herself. I want LAN parties to be a social event that removes pressure about going to a frat party.”

Rosenbloom said LAN parties help break down the perception of gaming as antisocial and create an opportunity for people with a common interest in gaming to meet each other.

“LAN parties bring together people that usually don’t get together,” he said. “The purpose of LAN parties is to get all of the people, social and shy, to play the games.”

Although LAN parties can have technical winners, Christensen-Calvin said his main goal is to simply let students have fun.

Stephanie Young ’14 said she appreciated the relaxed environment at the parties. “Students at Stanford are very good at video games, but they’re not too intense,” she said.

Lai described why he appreciates the social environment of the parties.

“It’s nice not to spend the entire time in your dorm gaming by yourself,” he said. “Sometimes it’s nice to geek out.”