Opening in July, the 1980s-inspired gallery at The Story Museum explores the impact of video games on telling stories and includes custom-built arcade machines.
The Story Arcade charts key moments in gaming history from early plot-based classic games to open world adventures and features arcade machines, dressing up, a ’Side-Quest’ trail, board games, and pixel-themed crafts and activities.
Young people visiting the gallery can explore landmark moments in gaming history and how evolving storytelling techniques let players experience new emotional, social, cultural, and historical perspectives. The Story Arcade also features games created by young designers from The Story Museum’s Digital Dreamers programme.
The Story Arcade, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, invites people to play, learn, and imagine together. It focuses on how gaming continues to reshape how we share and experience stories in the digital age.
Author, artistic director and games writer, Sharna Jackson has been consulted on the new gallery. She said: ”This new gallery at The Story Museum explores the incredible artistry and scope of storytelling through video games, which will enthral both seasoned games enthusiasts, and those who are curious and want to find out more.
”From the very earliest concepts – fighting aliens in ‘70s Space Invaders, to the story-driven adventures in the game I wrote on ‘Saltea Chronicles’, at The Story Arcade, it’s possible to step into the shoes of a diverse range of characters, exploring fantastical worlds, making decisions that inform the narrative of the game, the player experiencing a range of emotions: empathy, curiosity, resilience and hope.”
The Story Museum’s CEO Caroline Jones added: “The Story Arcade is a brand-new gallery that explores another exciting realm of storytelling. Having travelled through 2,000 years of stories - from oral traditions in our Whispering Wood, through printed literature in our Enchanted Library - visitors will now step into an arcade like no other.
“We’ll take them on a journey from the seventies arcade classic ‘Space Invaders’ to more recent games such as ‘Never Alone’, plus a whole heap of other activities and objects to explore in true Story Museum hands-on style. Thank you to all The National Lottery players for making this project possible. Game on!”
The Story Museum is situated in the heart of Oxford on Pembroke Street and explores the power of stories through immersive exhibitions, gallery spaces and an array of events. School groups from years 1 to 13 can visit The Story Museum to explore the galleries and take part in themed literacy sessions.
For more information about The Story Museum, visit www.storymuseum.org.uk.
