Players choose a geographic location for the city, allocate money, and direct construction and zoning. Students also use the Mac Lab to link up with Internet chat lines, which allow computer users from different areas to interact. Acronyms, smilies and other Internet shorthand are used to shorten sentences and conversations. Right now, blocking software, which prevents students from connecting to explicit sites and chat lines, is being tested on some computers and may be installed permanently. Stephen Titchenal, media specialist, said that the purpose of the blocking software is to teach responsibility.
Card games are another popular leisuretime activity.
One card game students play is Spades, a team game in which players put down cards and the highest card wins. Spades is based on the game of Hearts, which was invented in the United Kingdom. Freshman Jonathan Howard says that it is an interesting and challenging game because it is always different and you can play against your friends.