Where we play often determines how we play. This fact is often forgotten when we look at the history of play, whether that’s in a monograph or a museum collection. Place shapes play.
Let’s consider this historically. For most of human history, living quarters were nasty, brutish, and cramped. There was little room for interior play in a dark, dirty hovel, unless that play was fairly confined. In a northern climate like Iceland in the Middle Ages, that might mean playing […]
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Monopoly: From Board Game to Prime Time TV
By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
As you’re strolling through The Strong’s new Hasbro Game Park, you’ll see a 14-foot-long replica of the Scottie dog token from the classic Monopoly board game. A short walk away, there’s a 9 ½-foot long replica of the race car token. There’s also a 7-foot-tall hotel and a 6 ½-foot house. There’s even a Get Out of Jail Free area, bars included.
If you’ve ever played Monopoly, it’s only natural […]
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Let’s Play!—From Rook to D&D
I was born into a game-playing family. While we spent plenty of evenings watching television, to truly socialize with family members, we turned to tabletop games. Whether our choice was a card game, a board game, or something in the broader games category—Boggle, Stadium Checkers, or Cootie, as examples—games made a favorite way to be entertained and engage with one another.
Whether it was genetic or environmental, playing games went beyond my parents to their parents as well. (I never thought […]
Create Your Own Story: Tabletop Roleplay Games without the Game Master
Every player of tabletop roleplay games (TTRPGs) can agree on two things. First, scheduling games can be your worst nightmare since no one ever seems to be available at the same time. And second, finding someone willing take on the role of Dungeon Master (DM) or Game Master (GM) seems just as difficult. Playing this coordinating role can require extra work, planning, and effort, which sometimes none of the group are willing to tackle. Thankfully, on those days when you’re […]
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Teaching Medieval History with Dungeons & Dragons
In the Autumn, 1975 issue of Strategic Review, the precursor to Dragon Magazine, Gary Gygax wrote:
John Bobek and Bill Hoyt have used D&D as a teaching aid in grade school classes. Bill has a great little book of accounts of adventures and illustrations of monsters prepared by his 6th graders. Wish I’d have had such luck as a child . . .
Role-play gaming as a formal and specific game type began with the invention and introduction of the original Dungeons […]
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Atomic Play
After the dropping of two bombs in 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, humanity’s ability to harvest the potential of nuclear energy became a recurring theme in play. In the beginning, nuclear power seemed like an awesome force that offered great promise, even as it was recognized as perilous and destructive. As time went on, however, its catastrophic capacity began to outweigh its potential for good in the public mind, as fears of global destruction invaded the imaginations of toy and […]
Playing to Conquer Fears and Tame Anxiety
Your hands are shaking as you fumble with the small, plastic pieces, eyes scanning the red board for the hole that matches the shape clutched in your fingers…
The tick-tick-tick of the timer is drowned out by the pounding of your heart in your ears…
You know it’s coming but cannot stop yourself from jumping when the timer stops ticking and BOOM! The game board pops up, launching all the pieces into the air and onto the floor around you.
You breathe a […]
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Remembering Mary Valentine: A Leader and Friend of The Strong
At the entrance to The Strong’s Field of Play exhibit, a giant Snoopy statue with sunglasses playfully greets guests and beckons them inside. Mary Valentine—a museum trustee, long-time philanthropic supporter, and great friend to many at The Strong—donated the beloved canine five years ago to bring joy to guests. Sadly, Mary passed away recently at the age of 74.
Snoopy wears a shirt emblazoned with powerful words, and one stands out that defined Mary’s character—COMPASSION. While many museum guests never had […]
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Replaying Pandemic in a Pandemic
Back in earliest months of the U.S. COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, you may have missed the flurry of board game articles all recommending the same game: Pandemic, the 2008 cooperative game where players race around a world map to cure four simultaneous infectious epidemics before the world is lost. Great minds think alike; The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, NPR, and more outlets raced to publish articles on the resonance of playing Pandemic in an actual pandemic. Most of […]