Hands slamming down on a table with cards intact, the players at lunch known as the “Yu-Gi-Oh! Kids” call out another round of the famous kid-hearted card game.

The card game has been brought to life thanks to a dedicated group of students. Juniors Nabeel Naiyer and Richard Black, and other students gather in the library during lunch and have a battle or two.

“The game is really based upon rules and lasts about five to six minutes, sometimes we would get really into the heat of battle and the librarians would yell at us,” Naiyer said.

For a few years the game has been played throughout the lunches here at Akins, but recently the amount of kids playing has taken a drop.

“The game was played a lot for the past three years, but not as frequent anymore,” assistant librarian Michelle Dunlap said. “ It did not matter what day or lunch kids would always play in here.”

No matter the outcome of who plays at school or not, some feel that the Yu-Gi-Oh! duels will always remain on campus.

“I will play whenever anyone wants to play because the game is really fun and just an overall enjoyment,” Black said.

The game can involve as many players as possible and its main goal is to take down an opponents lives. Yu-Gi-Oh!, which is also a TV show has been around for many years and is still played with the same heart.

“I really enjoy the game a lot and it’s just overall a really fun thing to do with friends,” Black said.

Though the game and show have been around for quite some time, many agree that no matter at what age and what time it is always an enjoyment to play.

“I grew up watching the show and I do not think that just because you get older that means you have to stop playing,” Naiyer said. “The game can be played by anybody.”

The game, once played by numerous students in the previous years, still holds to its tradition today.  The students who partake in the card game do not play as much as the years before but will admit it is always fun to battle it out in the library.

“Lots of people left last year so it is not as intense as it was before but it is really fun to play here and there now,” Naiyer said.

The spirit is still kept alive from the few who still continue to play the game even with the popularity dying.

“I play it for fun, to keep the nostalgia out of life,” Naiyer said.  “It brings back good memories from my childhood and it is really an overall fun thing to do with friends or anyone.”