So for New Year’s Eve this year, we decided to throw a party. This was odd enough in and of itself, since I’ve never really lived in an apartment that was big enough to “entertain” in, but my girlfriend was amenable to the idea so I figured we’d try it. Of course, when I say “party,” I don’t mean the “everyone get drunk and rock out to loud music” type. Or even the “sip wine while appreciating art and the finer things in life.” No, I mean more of a “LAN party with a bunch of nerds.”

That is to say, we had over 25 people over to our 1,200-square-foot apartment for a rousing game of Artemis. And it was awesome.

I honestly wasn’t sure if we could comfortably fit that many people in our place. But we did, and managed to set up three complete bridge crews. One of my friends even brought their 50” TV to use! We ended up having a team in the downstairs rec room, a team in the living room, and a team in my office (which was about half the size of the other rooms). My other worry was having enough computers to go around, but once again my friends came through: not only was there enough tech to go around, we had enough extra that we could continue to run multiple ships even after people began to head home for the night.

Of course, wrangling that many computers and new players was a mite stressful. I spent most of the first hour and a half running around like a madman, making sure people had space and the requisite connections. But eventually things reached enough critical mass that they started to basically run themselves. I even had a chance to sit down a play a few sessions myself!

The night wasn’t without its hiccups. We ended up having a choke point in the kitchen, where people somehow chose one of the smallest rooms in the place to hang out in (of course, the food being there may have had something to do with it). If I had to do it again (and I’d like to), I’d probably put a crew in the master bedroom rather than the living room, and keep the latter free for congregating, consuming, and chatting.

But overall, flying around virtual space, defeating enemies, and “accidentally” nuking allies was a great way to ring in the new year. Everyone seemed to have a good time (even the few non-gamers who showed up), and we successfully managed to not trip any electrical breakers (despite trying our best with multiple computers, crock pots, and nearly all the lights in the apartment). That all being said, it left me fairly drained; it took us the better part of a week to get ready, and it was pretty much go-go-go from 7pm until we kicked everyone out around 2am. And while I’d like to do it again, maybe not right away. But it was a great time, and I can only hope that everyone who participated had a good time as well.

Happy New Year!