The Dormitories’ Amusement Park

In the ninth month of the historical pandemic caused by the novel virus COVID-19, 61 people from all parts of Berlin gathered together on the evening of the 28th of November for an event. Despite the concern that this statement evokes for many of us today, the gathering was completely safe, and it was a pioneering experiment for new methods of socialising, competing, and communicating in the 21st century.

Eleven tutors from student dormitories all across Berlin came together to organise what would become “The Dormitories’ Amusement Park”: an evening of seven different online games played simultaneously, with various teams competing for prizes. 50 students came together onto a Discord server at 18:00, where they had the chance to get to know each other, build and name their teams, and learn about the offered prizes. The event was held in two languages, German and English, thanks to Manuel, the tutor from the Gelfertstraße dormitory and Joaquin, the tutor from the Eichkamp dormitory. There were four rounds, and the offered games included Scribble, Werewolf, Among Us, Tabu, Who Am I, Cashflow, and Cards Against Humanity. Individuals collected points for their respective teams, and they were able to freely move between games for each round.

Manuel, who was the brains behind the event’s conception, expressed the importance of good online events in this pandemic: “When the lockdown started in the spring, everyone was completely unprepared for it. We were taken by surprise, and no one in January thought that three months later, we would still be staying at home. At that time, I had the luck of experiencing a few good online events, and was thus in the mood for more. Now that the summer came to an end, it’s becoming clearer that life will still be forced to shift to the online realm - hence the initiative of quickly offering a good online event, so that people can have fun online.”

Although there were clear winning teams, the organisers found it important to offer every participant a chance to pick a prize at the end of the evening. The offered prizes included a disco ball, a bluetooth speaker, and grilling equipment; coupons to TKMaxx, Dussmann, and a movie theatre; and smaller items, such as candy and chocolate, loaded Mensa Cards, and Cocktail syrup sets. Board games such as Werewolf, CodeNames, Kubb, and a Poker Set were also offered, as well as sport equipment - including volleyballs, a badminton set, and a table tennis set.

There were a few technical hiccups at the beginning of the event, which was to be expected, as it was the first time an event in this format was organised by the current dormitory tutors, and not everyone participating was familiar with Discord. The issues, however, were quickly and competently resolved by Boyana from the Victor Jara dormitory, who was the technical manager for the evening.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. “I really enjoyed the event and was impressed by the organisation, especially how the tutors were flawlessly managing a group of over 40 people.” shared Jonas from the Sewanstraße dormitory. "I registered for the event because I really liked the idea of a game evening over Discord, as well as the selection of games. Of course, the prizes were also a motivation.”

Most importantly, The Dormitories’ Amusement Park offered many isolated people a chance to ameliorate their mental health while simultaneously protecting everyone’s physical health. The tutors had the opportunity to work together more vigorously, which allowed for the large event’s simplified organisation and helped connect residents of multiple dormitories. “It definitely brightened my week and helped with feeling less lonely in these days.” shared Jonas. “I hope we can have the same or a similar event soon!” The event was organised by tutors from the following dormitories; Allee der Kosmonauten, Coppistraße, Eichkamp, Victor Jara, Sewanstraße, Mollwitzstraße, Gelfertstraße, and Halbauer Weg.

By Julia Dębowska, tutor in Sewanstraße's dormitory