While processing the Don Daglow papers for The Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, I had the privilege of sitting down with Daglow himself when he was in Rochester for an event here at The Strong. Though our time together was short, the stories he told me made a big impression. I think it’s important to document these details that provide so much context for the materials we have in our archive and I’m happy to share these fun […]

Continue Reading about Stories from the Stacks: What You Don’t Know about Stormfront Studios Published on:
September 17, 2020

Eight months, 169 boxes, 1,270 folders, 1,314 objects, and a partridge in a pear tree. Minus the bird, these statistics hint at just how large the archives of video game pioneer Don Daglow are and how long it took to prepare them for research use at The Strong’s Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play. This collection of video game concepts, development papers, original artwork, never-released game demos, and Stormfront Studios company records provides a behind-the-scenes look at […]

Continue Reading about Unboxing the Past: The Don Daglow Papers Published on:
June 11, 2020

January brought the start of a new year and also the start of a new project. I began to inventory and process the Mayfair Games archival materials that were donated to The Strong museum in 2017. In an effort to learn more about the company, I started reading about the board games, card games, and role-playing games it produced. I quickly learned that Settlers of Catan, one of Mayfair Games’ most recognizable titles, not only ranks as an awesome game, […]

Continue Reading about Building a Settlement: German-style Games in North America Published on:
April 2, 2020