A few friends from Thuringia have been meeting for 25 years now to maintain a beloved tradition that recalls the good old days.
The opening image is a symbolic image and does not show the LAN party that is the subject of the article.
Some of my best gaming memories revolve around the basement of my good buddy Jens, where small LAN parties took place regularly 20 years ago. The younger generation probably doesn’t know this anymore.
We dragged our PCs and heavy CRT monitors to Jens, set up a working network, and then played games like Warcraft 3, Diablo 2, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Command & Conquer: Generals, and more for days on end.
In between, we scanned each other’s hard drives for … exotic finds, had Jens whip up one of his fantastic sauces to go with a mega portion of noodles, and simply celebrated our shared hobby. Those were always great weekends that went by way too fast.
However, with the spread of fast internet connections and personal changes (like moves to distant cities, jobs, and family), this tradition has unfortunately faded away.
Will Battlefield 6 be played at the next LAN party?
“Like before but 2025”
Why am I telling you this? Well, because I stumbled upon a nice report by the colleagues at GameStar that not only awakened nostalgic memories for me but also shows that cozy LAN parties can still be a really nice thing in 2025.
Colleague Nele Wobker visited the 4 friends Serge, Muuh, Horgust, and Hoh, who have been hosting a LAN party in Thuringia for 25 years, lasting 5 days each year. And even though the friends are now approaching their 40s, there is obviously no better place for it than their parents’ garden.
They travel from Franconia, Berlin, Vienna, and Jena for this. Partly by car, but also by train and bicycle. Along with: the personal PC and whatever else is needed to game. The computers are set up under a small terrace canopy. A plastic sheet protects against possible rain.
A few days later, it becomes clear how important this measure is. A summer thunderstorm with heavy rain floods the area. The LAN party continues nonetheless. However, the open-air feeling does sometimes come with losses, as the 4 friends explain to Nele. Once, a power supply unit burned out, and a keyboard also had to give in. Nothing works with this setup without a good RCD.
Make sure to check out GameStar.de, because in the colleague’s report, you will find not only more exciting anecdotes and details, but also many pictures from the LAN party and the PC setups of the 4 players.
How about you: Did you regularly attend LAN parties in the past? Do you miss that time or do you even still host old-school LAN sessions today? A nice, relevant story can be found here: A gamer has put together a gaming setup of 9 PCs because his son absolutely wanted a LAN party for his birthday
