Over the years, countless apps have swept through halls of West as they fluctuate dramatically in popularity. Games like Candy Crush and Flappy Bird are on their way out to make way for 2048 and others. One game that is currently steeply rising in popularity is Clash of Clans. This growing obsession bares a vague similarity to the Farmville era seen long ago at Westridge. The idea behind Clash of Clans is simple. You create a village, constantly add to it, and periodically attack other villages and get attacked. What makes it so addicting is that indescribable and unattainable goal that lives in your mind and keeps telling you, “once you get that next thing, you’ll be satisfied.” It’s a never ending and viscous cycle.

Something that sets Clash of Clans apart from its app competitors is its encouragement of teamwork. After building up your village for a while, you have the opportunity to join a clan. You can send and receive troops and compare villages with your friends. There are currently several rival clans at West, each of them varying in power. These are beginning to create factions among classmates as the rivalries grow. The importance of where your Clan allegiances lie is steadily increasing.

As a Clash of Clans player myself, I am open to these changes and hope they continue in this direction. Unfortunately, many who are not involved in the game tend to judge me or my fellow players. They make absurd claims that we are addicted. To these unenlightened people I simply quote the great lyricist Wiz Khalifa, who once said, “I ain’t addicted, I’m committed.”