By William Thomas
Video games remain a popular hobby for many college students — but what kinds of games are they playing, and which upcoming titles are they most excited about?
Nathan Hetrick in the cafeteria. (William Thomas)
Nathan Hetrick:
Q: What got you into games?
A: Honestly, I can’t remember what first got me into them, but I remember I was at daycare with my buddy playing with a yellow Pikachu Game Boy. He had Pokémon Yellow, and I was like, ‘GAW… I NEED POKEMON.’ My first one was Pokémon Diamond on the DS. I probably had eight different copies because my dog kept eating them. I’d cry every time I lost my progress.
Q: What kind of games do you play and why?
A: I’ll play pretty much anything as long as it’s good. I’m not a fan of side-scrollers. Pokémon games are always my favorite. I’ll joke with my friends that no matter what slope Game Freak comes out with, I’m going to eat it up — even the worst Pokémon game, I’ll still play. I play Stardew Valley, love farm sims like Minecraft, and I play a lot of Phasmophobia and horror games.
Q: What games are you looking forward to?
A: There are two — and maybe a half — I’m excited about. Number one is the new Battlefield game. It was fun, though I’m not huge on FPS games unless I’m playing with friends. No. 2 is Pokémon Legends ZA. I’m buying the Switch 2 just to play it. I might pre-order it—but you only get a digital copy, which is stupid. And No. 3 is the survival Jurassic Park game. I’m a huge fan of dinosaurs.
Forrest Walker in the cafeteria. (William Thomas)
Forrest Walker:
Q: What got you into games?
A: I was about 10, freshly adopted. I got an iPad from my adoptive grandmother. Before that, I didn’t even have TV. I discovered Minecraft Pocket Edition, which was like discovering the Holy Grail for me.
Q: What kind of games do you play and why?
A: I like story games. I love Cyberpunk 2077 and everything from that studio—they did The Witcher games too, which are so good. I like to dive into franchises and play all the games in them: Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Pokémon, GTA—I’ve played almost all of them.”
Q: What games are you looking forward to?
A: Witcher 4 is going to be awesome—I have high hopes because I loved Witcher 3. Elder Scrolls 6 is another one. And then there’s the big one: GTA 6. It’s going to be a bunch of fun when the online drops.
Daisy Sharpe in front of her house. (William Thomas)
Daisy Sharpe:
Q: What got you into games?
A: When I was a kid, we had a Super Nintendo. I loved playing the original Mario games, like Secret of Mana. Then we had a Wii, and I played Mario Kart, Dr. Mario, and other Mario titles. But for four years, I wasn’t really into games. When I was 16, I had a gamer boyfriend who ignored me to play games, so I got an Xbox to get his attention—and realized I really liked shooters.
Q: What kind of games do you play and why?
A: I play a lot of shooters — it’s fun to aim at a target and shoot. I also love sandbox or world-building games like The Sims, Animal Crossing, and Minecraft. I enjoy creating things.
Q: What games are you looking forward to?
A: Whenever they decide to release another Animal Crossing game—I’m looking forward to that. I haven’t been following the Nintendo Directs too closely, but they’re always announcing something fun. Maybe a new Zelda game?
