Edinburgh University's Gaming Society have been selected as the Pot Noodle Society of the Month for January for their incredibly active month, with fun events like monthly LANs and cozy hot chocolate nights!
We spoke to their president, Martyna, to find out more...
Congratulations on being selected as our first Pot Noodle Society of the Month of 2026! Could you tell us a little bit about what your society has been up to over January?
We kicked off January with the launch of a brand new EU4 campaign, where 9 players battle it out each monday to see who can build the most cartoonishly wealthy empire in early modern europe. In addition, we hosted a plethora of regular events beginning with our weekly hot chocolate, where we huddle like penguins with hot chocolates to keep the cold at bay - especially since new years was a freezing start! After sunset, we host weekly pub nights. Whether they just involve chill conversations or even video game sessions like on Smash over a few drinks - they remain a steadfast favourite for our members with nocturnal sleeping schedules who enjoy a good night out. Even when our members were unable to commit to plans in-person, we all put aside time for an online game night on Sundays, helping to relieve some stress from uni work. Finally, we met to uphold our proud 20-year-old monthly tradition of an in-person gaming night, complete with snacks and pizza. It’s a lot easier for us to carry our laptops than the bulky PCs our old members had to haul in days past, but we still butt heads all the same in everything from chaotic Super Smash Bros matches to Jackbox and Trivial Pursuit, where fierce competition and comedy gold is guaranteed.
Sounds like a blast! What would you say your favourite event to run is?
Oh, do I have to choose? It's a hard call! I'd probably end up agreeing with you - grabbing a hot chocolate with fellow members and friends is always a fun one, no matter the weather. We gather and talk about anything under the sun - be it Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, Uma Musume or any number of our other niche hobbies and interests -- it may be the simplest thing, but sometimes it's all you need. As they say, don't fix what's not broken!
Speaking of don't fix what's not broken - a 20 year old tradition is pretty remarkable! I'd love to hear a little more about the IRL gaming nights. Perhaps you could share some advice for other societies as well, and how it benefits members?
Our IRL gaming nights are hosted once a month with exceptions of Winter exam season, Summer exam season and holidays. They are hosted within the central campus area where most people can easily come together. It’s always on a Sunday and we try to maintain the first Sunday for the first semester, or last Sunday for the second. We’ve come to know the history of this tradition from former students who were there for the society’s founding days. 20 years ago, it would have involved hauling heavy PCs to various locations to attend LAN parties across the country - today they involve similar but much less burdensome meet-ups using lightweight laptops and shorter distances. Even our old website full of retro noughties-era web design quirks has been preserved in HTML form! By the mid-2010s, these events had assumed their modern form of on-campus meetings featuring signature popular titles. As for advice for other societies - one thing we can advise is to maintain the same dates for your regular events! These traditions have become ingrained in our weekly routines, allowing us to work around our busy coursework and keeping attendances high. Finally, in terms of benefits to members, the most important thing is that we provide a regular space to foster new friendships and unite folks with common interests. When we provide a place to play games on the big screen, we aim to invoke the same nostalgic feelings of going over to a friend’s house for a gaming play-date when you were growing up.
Love that! I agree, it's so important to have something consistent across the academic year to keep the society engaged. Final question now! I'm pretty obsessed with your hot choccy nights. Say instead, it was a Pot Noodle night: what three toppings would you pick?
A whole meal deal, Chicken Salad Sandwich , kombucha and salt n vingear crisps - elevate the whole meal by making it into a feast.
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