In these times of smartphones, AI, gaming, and social media, students lack constructive in-person social interaction. Today’s incoming college students missed critical social development milestones during COVID. This isolation during adolescence, in conjunction with a surge in smartphone popularity, yields a noticeably timid and secluded freshman class. This manifests in silent classrooms where the students’ heads are bowed over their smartphones instead of talking with each other. Professors often comment on students' seeming dislike of interaction. They need to collaborate, to play together, to have fun, to use their minds in new and diverse ways that are not screen-related.

The Grand Valley State University Puzzle Club, established in 2024, seems to provide an antidote for some of these issues. The new club has attracted large crowds in its first year, notably the first meeting of the 2025 school year had 84 attendees, a testament to the appeal of old-fashioned puzzling even amid younger generations. Held in a classroom of one of the dormitories, it is a convenient study break with a diverse group of peers.

The bi-weekly meetings provide a unique and spirited atmosphere. It is a mini vacation in the middle of a busy week. Members get together and assemble jigsaw puzzles. While putting together puzzles, members share conversation, laughter, inside jokes, and time with strangers. The moment a critical piece is found, everyone is excited to see the puzzle completed. The puzzles may be temporary, but many groups stay in touch outside of club long after the puzzle is complete.

The lead authors quickly noticed the club becoming a social hot spot where people would create new relationships and gather to maintain existing ones. This wealth of new connections was an unexpected result of the club and prompted this paper and the corresponding study on how this environment has organically developed. A survey administered at the end of the first puzzle club meeting of the 2025 school year gathered data on the topic. Members report that they feel exceptionally comfortable socializing during the club meetings. 50.8% of members feel strongly that working on the puzzles made conversation easier, 88.9% collaborated with at least 1 new person, and that 58.7% did not use their phones at all throughout the meeting. The findings suggest that puzzle club being a social hotspot did not happen by chance, but that certain factors combined to create a prospering club. The puzzles act as a social lubricant by “um-plugging” students from technology and prompting team problem solving on a shared task.

The success of the Puzzle Club is understood by analyzing the survey results and concluding how other clubs could recreate similar conditions and experience similar results. The paper is focused on the development of the club and the benefits to its members. In-person community interaction is lacking for many people - particularly college students making it more important than ever to understand how to create effective social clubs.

Keywords: Social Interaction, Puzzles, Play, Smartphone, Screen Time