This past Friday, October 28th saw the second Game Night with the folks of Wounded Warrior Project and the Pittsburgh Stack. We once again gathered in the Pittsburgh offices of WWP at One Oxford Center for an evening of comradery, good food, and of course games!
We arrived a bit early of the 5 pm start time to get everything set up. We hooked up 12 GAEMS cases with Xbox Ones’ and of course, loaded with some good gaming fun. We also had the main “couch” hooked up and streaming some Gears of War 4 while Stack-Up founder Stephen Machuga chatted with various Wounded Warrior Project Alumni throughout the night. Being as we were streaming, you can still watch the whole thing on Twitch right now.
Not only did we have some Gears going on the main screen, but the action got loud in the back as WWP and the Pittsburgh Stack got into some serious Rocket League competition. There was also plenty of Pizza and Wings to go around to keep the energy up. Since you can’t see everything on Twitch, we also took some fantastic pictures of the evening.
What truly makes these outings a success is the ability gaming has to reach out to people who otherwise might not engage. One of the WWP Alumni, Matt, pictured below in the Mario Shirt, hadn’t left the house by himself in years but chose to come solo for this joint gaming event in Pittsburgh.
Gaming has such a great capacity to bring those who enjoy the hobby together. There is as much time spent chatting about games and that world as there is time spent playing games during these events.
Gamers love to share and open up about their favorite gaming experiences. It is a great release that often leads to other conversations and opens up new avenues of dialogue. It allows you to have a common ground to build a relationship on.
A great quote from the evening, “I used to hang out in bars and drink too much. I still drink, but now I game more.” by Josh “Furdiddy”. Replacing a negative with something as positive as gaming and meeting new people is simply amazing.
We at the Pittsburgh Stack are becoming fast friends with the Staff and Alumni of WWP Pittsburgh. We look forward to more game nights in the future and meeting even more amazing warriors!
If you would like to be a part of this in the future and are in the Steel City area, make sure to check out the Pittsburgh Stack. Not in Pittsburgh? Not to worry, we have local stacks all over the country just look at this LINK HERE for more information.