Amid colorful costumes and medieval weapons, the low hum of video game soundtracks blended with the clatter of dice rolling across a table.
It was a recent afternoon in the exhibition “Charting Imaginary Worlds: Why Fantasy and Games Are Inseparable," where screens at Regenstein Library’s Special Collections gallery flickered with mystical landscapes and board games hinted at epic quests. Though the exhibition closed Dec. 12, it lives on with an associated web version.
“Understanding how games and fantasy have mutually influenced each other since the mid-20th century reveals a legacy that has become this enormous, trans-media phenomenon,” said Asst. Prof. Katherine Buse of the Department of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago.
Buse curated the exhibition along with Asst. Instructional Prof. Chris Carloy and Sierra Wilson, a book production specialist at UChicago Press. The trio had worked closely with University Library Dean Torsten Reimer to put together a collection that captured the spirit of the ongoing Year of Games, a campus-wide celebration of gaming and play in scholarship.
Reimer had envisioned a Library exhibition that captured the longstanding relationship between games and iconic fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and H. P. Lovecraft. The three curators searched for items that could draw those connections within humanities scholarship while appealing to both casual and dedicated fans.
“Games and fantasy share a way of engaging with texts and thinking about big worlds,” said Carloy. “It’s a chance to explore the lore of those worlds, to imagine or take on a character, or to use and even create your own maps of a world.”
They drew inspiration from franchises like the role-playing tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons and hit videogame The Witcher, while highlighting the deeper historical and cultural forces that shaped modern fantasy. With a wide range of objects, physical game pieces, costumes and an arcade, the exhibition prompted visitors to think critically about the worlds they build and the stories they consume.
The curators also worked to understand how students find enjoyment in games, showcasing the art and character creations of university students in the exhibit.
“My favorite thing we’ve discovered as we have engaged with this topic is the way that fantasy worlds have become more and more playful, more and more experimental, through the influence of games,” said Buse.
For the curators, creating this exhibit was a way to display a cross-disciplinary research perspective for those who aren’t really familiar with what games have to offer.
“I hope that the exhibit shows the possibilities of game studies as a field, revealing something that exists but can be grown within the community,” said Carloy.
Gaming through winter—and beyond
As part of the ongoing Year of Games, the Library is showcasing its ever-growing gaming collection, which includes more than 600 video game titles across 60 consoles. Most are playable at the Weston Game Lab, located on the first floor of the Crerar Library.
Earlier this year, the UChicago Library additionally launched the Games Cultural Objects Collection—a first-of-its-kind of artifacts dedicated to gaming culture. Housed in the Crerar Library, the collection includes figurines, collectables and fan-created items, all with the goal of preserving the culture and diverse stories of game fans.
Want something to play over winter break? Check out a list of video, board and card game recommendations from UChicago community members.
The Year of Games is funded by the Division of Arts & Humanities and the UChicago Library with support from others including the UChicago Women’s Board, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, UChicago Arts and individual benefactors.
