Games Archive

Game designer Arnold Hendrick designed the solitaire fantasy board game Barbarian Prince in 1981. It was called quirky and poorly balanced, and the website BoardGameGeek famously named it the most difficult solo game ever. But many players admit to loving the game, and it won the Charles S. Roberts award for Best Fantasy Boardgame that year. Without reading the rules, a player can win Barbarian Prince on their first turn, but they can also play it through 50 times and […]

Continue Reading about The Solo Games Barbarian Prince, Barbarian Vince, and Barbarian Mints Published on:
April 8, 2024

While SEGA fans are likely familiar with the company’s arcade hit Galaxy Force, developer Tengen once had a game in development with a very similar name: Galactic Force. Despite being nearly complete, it would ultimately be cancelled. This episode of Game Saves looks at the game’s development timeline, from a very early test build to a version that is nearly finished, complete with a new name.

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March 27, 2024

A proverb in the Bible states, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” 
There’s sound wisdom in this, as anyone knows who has felt better after laughing uproariously at a silly pet video. Play is not necessarily a panacea, but it is good medicine, a way of introducing fun into life and making it a little more bearable along the way. Because of these beneficial qualities of play, it is not surprising that over […]

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February 23, 2024

When I say “tarot cards” you probably conjure up an image of fortune tellers in your mind. Or you might picture the hundreds of decks of the famed 78 cards available in stores. The images on tarot cards always vary, but the structure remains the same: the Major Arcana [also known as the trump cards], and the Minor Arcana, made up of four suits. But did you know, these cards were not used for divination until the 18th century? And […]

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February 16, 2024

Nature always strives for balance. While at times it may be fragile, there are ecosystems all around us that are evidence of this fact. Even in our own lives, we naturally strive for a state of equilibrium. We’re tired, so we sleep. We’re hungry, so we eat. We’re stressed . . . so we play.
The past few years have certainly had their share of stresses, from civil unrest to economic woes and, oh yeah, a global pandemic. It’s more important […]

Continue Reading about The More Things Change. . . Published on:
February 8, 2024

If you have come to the museum recently, you may have noticed a new friend—or foe—outside. She is breathing fire and mist, with five different colored heads roaring as you press the 20-sided dice (d20) before her, and her name is Tiamat! An infamous monster from the tabletop role-play game Dungeons & Dragons, the Dragon Queen is now at The Strong National Museum of Play in the Hasbro Game Park. I thought it would be nice to formally introduce her […]

Continue Reading about Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon, Has Landed in Hasbro Game Park Published on:
December 1, 2023

If you want to be guaranteed a lively conversation, bring up the Ouija board. This polarizing talking board has been around since the late 19th century and still manages to divide people on a number of fronts. Do they truly work? Are they dangerous? Are they a scam? However, the question provoked by its context at The Strong is: Is it a toy?

The earliest Ouija boards were produced from a wooden board marked with the letters of the alphabet, numbers, […]

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October 20, 2023

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee….
There was something particularly playful about Muhammad Ali, the boxer who rivaled Pele as the most famous worldwide sports celebrity of the 20th century. But whereas Pele was known for his quiet dignity and his sheer enthusiasm for the beautiful game of soccer, Ali was not only the greatest boxer of his era, he was also a genius of repartee, someone who played with the media like he played with his (usually) helpless […]

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October 6, 2023

As a man, President Theodore Roosevelt preached and lived a muscular gospel of action. T.R. commanded the bully pulpit, busted corporate trusts, hunted big game, and willingly took on—both metaphorically and literally—anyone in a match of fisticuffs, even as President. But as a boy, Teedy (as he was known to his family) was weak and sickly, prone to bouts of serious, even life-threatening illness. How he remade himself is a story that has been often told but is worth looking […]

Continue Reading about Theodore Roosevelt and the Redemptive Powers of Play Published on:
September 8, 2023