My BoomBang Experience: Matt
I found Boombang in 2006. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was at a friend’s house and he was showing me this cool chat site he just found. We were only 11 in 6th grade so probably too young at that time to be in a chat room but f*** it right? Anyways, I remember how much I loved the design.
As someone who appreciates art in many different forums I tend to lean towards the complex side of things when it comes to games, but in this instance as it’s related to Boombang I enjoyed the minimalistic vibe and color ways that they would use. The characters each had unique characteristics and for whatever reason it just spoke to me so I made an account under the name of Mbaird0494. Fast-forward to two months later and my Dad found out someone asked me where I live on the game so he said, “nope, you’re not going back on.” After this, I took a break for a while, but returned in 2007 when I hit the 8th grade. I was really angry at the time because my parents had just gotten separated and while I had friends in person I felt completely lost and not knowing where I wanted to be or where I fit in. Boombang helped tremendously with that. I met this sweet girl who had the account name sango0504 and we hit it off and she instantly became one of my best friends. This led to a love interest with a girl named angie48 who I still remember vividly. I miss her. I finally felt like I fit in. I met the girl of my dreams (at the time) whose name shall not be stated and I flew to Romania several times to hang out with her and she came out here a few times.
The fact that a game could create these types of friendships and relationships was a beautiful thing. It gave me the freedom to express myself in a way I couldn’t do in person as someone who’s bi-polar and on the autism spectrum. I remember being so sad when Boombang shut down in 2014. It was like the biggest part of my life over the last 8 years had just been deleted. A few years ago I found Boombang.nl. Then, when COVID-19 popped off I decided to start playing again and I reconnected with a few of my friends who I thought wouldn’t want to speak to me again cause I was mean and a loose cannon in the early days. We hit it off and now here we are in 2021.
I found this amazing discord server with a bunch of people I thought I’d never speak to again and I teared up with happiness at the thought of I had lost these people.. now they’re back in my life. Without Boombang I feel like my life would be completely different and for that I truly appreciate this Discord server as well as everyone in it immensely.
Despite all of the jokes I make I just want it to be known how much I love and care for everyone in the Discord I’ve reconnected with or met for the first time. I also would like to thank the Boombang English team for the 8-9 years of great memories as well as the creators of the nl version. You guys have helped us older players look back on our times as teens or kids and given us something to smile about in a time where the world seems like a really fucked up place. I love you guys and I love everyone in the reunion server.
Matt