Krystal Starke
2021 G. Rollie Adams Research Fellow
PhD Student at The State University of New York at Buffalo
I came to The Strong with an open-ended mission: to soak up everything I could surrounding my research interests in early childhood autism and play as part of my dissertation research. Fortunately, The Strong’s Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play is filled with rich secondary materials that provided a lens to understand the primary sources within the museum’s collections in a new way.
I […]
Search by Category
Demo Day Play?
Recent home repair and renovation has made me wonder: is demolition play? On the surface it may not be terribly playful but, if we use our metaphorical sledgehammers to break through the surface and dig a little deeper, we might think about the concept a bit differently.
Most folks associate the word demolition with destruction and damage. What they may not consider is the enthusiasm and excitement that spectators or participants often experience during the process. For instance, demolition […]
Where in the World Is… StarCraft?: The Final Two Members of the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2021
StarCraft (1998)
Released in March 1998, StarCraft was more than just “World of Warcraft in space.” The game added a new twist to a real-time strategy formula while leading a revolution in multiplayer gaming. Set in the 25th century, StarCraft’s campaign follows the Terrans, humans who have been exiled from Earth, as they colonize the far reaches of the Milky Way galaxy. StarCraft utilized Blizzard’s online service Battle.net, one of the first online services to connect players across different […]
2021 World Video Game Hall of Fame Spotlight: Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator
Welcome two new inductees into The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame: Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator. We recognize individual electronic games of all types—arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile—that enjoy popularity over a sustained period and exert influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society. These two games join Starcraft and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? to complete our 2021 class.
On the surface, Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator […]
Reflections on the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2021
Every year we induct new games into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and in 2021 those games are Animal Crossing (2001), Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982), Starcraft (1998), and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985). These are all worthy games, ones that stand out from their peers because they have shaped the way we play. They are important.
But is there a connection between them, a commonality among a flying program, a simulation of a community […]
Continue Reading about Reflections on the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2021
It’s Butterfly Day!
In my previous blog post, I outline how the museum acquires butterfly pupae for our Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden. But what happens when the weekly shipment of 200 or 300 new pupae arrives?
Once the shipment arrives, my team and I open it up and begin setting up the pupae to be placed in our emergence case for guests to view. Pupae are arranged by species and labeled so we can easily tell them apart. (Different species often look unique so […]
The Life-Changing Magic of Sewing and Barbie
“Barbie quite simply changed my life.”
Many of us can say that, in one way or another, our experiences playing with Barbie had lasting effects on our lives. For me Barbie provided a venue for my daydreaming and storytelling. For others Barbie might have been more of a double-edged sword: inspiration that came exclusively in hourglass measurements. Carol Spencer’s life, however, would not have been the same in any way without Barbie.
Spencer grew up making paper clothes for her paper dolls […]
Continue Reading about The Life-Changing Magic of Sewing and Barbie
Cease-and-Desist: Don’t Mess with Tolkien
During the first few years after the introduction of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in 1973, Gary Gygax, who had the strongest impact on the fantasy elements of the game, denied any direct influences from fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien. Many players recognized immediately that numerous D&D character and creature names came directly from the books. But it took until 1977 for intellectual property lawyers from a firm which had licensed the rights to Tolkien’s work to send a cease-and-desist […]
Continue Reading about Cease-and-Desist: Don’t Mess with Tolkien
The Play of Fortune
Is our destiny in our hands, in God’s hands, or are we merely tossed on the winds of chance?
Those deep questions of causality and chance have long preoccupied philosophers and thinkers, and I was reminded of them a while ago when reading a book about 17th-century Puritan belief. This followed a conversation I had with a researcher at The Strong who was interested in the links between popular understandings of quantum mechanics and thinking about play. “God doesn’t play dice,” […]