The University Center’s brand new game room hosted its grand opening on Oct. 21. Now fully operational, this project is the result of a longstanding effort by select UC Santa Barbara students to introduce a space in the Hub where students can play games and socialize — all free of charge.

The game room features games such as pool, air hockey, pinball, shuffleboard, bumper pool and arcade-style video games. Iris Guo / Daily Nexus

Game Room attendant and fourth-year communication major Amina Ahmed dubbed the ceremony “a success” with a turnout of over 100 students, a feat she attributed to efforts by University Center (UCen) staff in the weeks prior to the event. Ahmed noted that, since the room’s opening, a steady community of returning visitors has emerged, and the sign-in sheets have been filled daily.

“I’m a part of the social media team here, and we were telling people upstairs and tabling for a couple [of] weeks before,” Ahmed said. “We had posted a few TikToks about it and made a couple of flyers, so we had been advertising for a while before it opened.”

Located adjacent to Panda Express in the Hub, the room features games such as pool, air hockey, pinball, shuffleboard, bumper pool and arcade-style video games. The room is free for all students with access cards and is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

The new addition to the UCen is the result of a sustained student initiative dating back three years. In early 2022, a group of students came into UCen Director Louis Reynaud’s office, noting that there were no activities in the UCen that could be accessed for free. Reynaud recalled that these students had specific criteria for the new space.

“They suggested a ‘game room/arcade’ where students could socialize, play games and blow off some steam and help them deal with the pressures of the everyday student. I told them I would find the space, but they would have to survey students to see if there was a ‘real’ interest,” Reynaud said.

The resulting survey was a QR code questionnaire, which revealed that 92.8% of students surveyed were highly interested in the project. Participants could also request specific games. All were implemented, excluding foosball, which has been supplemented with a bumper pool table. 

Prior to its renovation, the selected room in the Hub served only as a storage space for tables, chairs and electrical equipment. The group of students measured the space and used the survey data to design it accordingly, producing the current layout.

The proposal was presented to the UCen Governance Board (GB) in October 2022 with renderings of the room design and an initial requested budget of $50,000. The GB unanimously voted to approve the game room and proceed with the project. According to Reynaud, the project was delayed for some time. The final quote for the game room was received in March 2024, and renovations — including new flooring, paint and lighting — were completed by May 2025. The game units were installed in the following months.

As a UCen staff member, Ahmed emphasized the role of student initiative and communication in executing these projects.

“We’re here to listen to concerns. It might not happen immediately, but if you have something you want to happen [in the UCen], I would suggest advocating and letting the administration know because a lot of the time they’re not really sure what students want,” Ahmed said. “The game room came back because of student suggestions. [Admin] knew there was a demand for it.”

A version of this article appeared on p.4 of the Oct. 30 print edition of the Daily Nexus.