Video game exhibition 'explores storytelling'

The exhibition opened earlier this year

Reimagining stories for the digital age is the subject of a museum's new permanent exhibition.

The Story Arcade exhibition opened at Oxford's Story Museum earlier this year, and has been supported by National Lottery funding.

It explores the impact of video games on storytelling with arcade machines, dressing up, board games and pixel-themed crafts and activities.

From early classics to the vast, open-world adventures of today's gaming, the neon-lit, 1980s-inspired exhibition aims to chart landmark moments in gaming history.

Caroline Jones, from the Story Museum, said the exhibit "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," she explained.

"We'll take them on a journey from the 70s arcade classic 'Space Invaders' to more recent games such as 'Never Alone' - game on."

The exhibit, at Oxford's Story Museum, was funded by the National Lottery

Rhianna Pratchett, whose game The Lost Words features in the exhibition, said the display "highlights the unique ability of videogames to place players at the heart of emotionally powerful and meaningful stories".

"Games can inspire creativity, empathy, and leave a lasting positive impact, especially for young people," she added.

Alongside timeless classics, the Story Arcade also features games created by designers from the museum's Digital Dreamers programme.

The young designers worked with industry professionals to select stories from the Story Museum's collection and reimagine them as video games.