Learn to play Clash Royale. I’m not even kidding. Learn what “Evo,” “Hero,” and “splash damage” mean. Learn why every dude ever hates Mega Knight. 

It started as a way for me to get my fill of quality time. On nights when he was too tired to talk, we’d get in bed and roll away from one another on our phones, and after a few months of this, I started to feel like we were losing time together. But I knew he was too tired to talk, and so I began putting my head on his shoulder and just… watching. 

I learned what a Hog Rider was pretty quickly, as well as Skeletons (of which there are many kinds), Goblin Barrel, and Poison. I began to understand the strategy—why it’s important to have certain kinds of cards in your deck, and where to place a card so your opponent’s troop gets shot by both of your towers. I’d whisper cheer when he won (meaning he took more of his opponent’s towers than his opponent took of his). 

I finally downloaded the game in May. I played the classic Mini Pekka (a card that screams “Pancakes!” as it jogs toward your opponent’s tower and does a TON of damage) and Giant deck until I had the cards to copy Caleb’s deck. Then, Evo Bats, Dark Prince, and Poison in hand, I started to climb the ladder to 10,000 trophies. 

And while I love the strategy, the funny sound effects, and the competition, there are two things I consider the absolute best about this game. 

First, it’s a game that is built entirely differently than most other apps, attention-wise. If you start a game of Clash, that game is going to take your undivided attention for 3-5 minutes (if you have any desire to win). But when the game is done, you’re sent back to the home screen. This means that every 3-5 minutes, you are given the option to log off. In a world of doom-scrolling algorithms and CEOs who say their biggest competition is “sleep,” having an app on my phone that doesn’t trick me into spending time on it feels really… nice. 

Second, and far more important is this: I really do love a boy. And my playing Clash Royale has opened a new doorway of fun for us—we send each other games to watch, celebrate one another’s wins, and tonight he talked me through beating a Mega Knight/Evo Witch deck so that I can finally get past the Pancakes arena. We have a new way to connect, and all it took was my choice to bless an interest of his when I could’ve laughed it off as a “silly video game.” 

So if you love a boy, download Clash Royale. Or Pokemon Go. Or Fantasy Football. And if you love a girl, try the Bachelor, or a wine and paint night. Because the things we’re taught to think of as “silly” are sometimes the best ways to bless our significant other’s life—and gain a new interest.

Whoever you are, whoever you love, I hope you bless their goofy interests. No matter how it goes, (chess, for example, did not go well for me) I promise that it will be a blessing—for both of you. 

Kate Wilmot

Kate Wilmot (’24) is a Grand Rapids resident who has found herself in the in-betweens of undergrad and post-grad life. She is an avid children’s fiction reader and a globally-minded cook who will feed anyone that walks in her door. You can find her losing to her husband in pickleball, weight lifting, or getting coffee with her mom.