Art is quite pervasive at GenCon, from the richly illustrated manuals of role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons to the decorated cards of collectable card games such as Magic: The Gathering. Even the war games that sprawl over multiple tables feature sculpted miniatures, some of which are painted in painstaking detail by the players. And of course, we can’t leave out the creative fashions put together by live action role players (also known as LARPers) and cosplayers. For those interested, the costume contest is on Saturday, though you will undoubtedly see people in costume downtown throughout the event.

There is even an art gallery at GenCon that features paintings and sketches mainly in the genre of fantasy, many of quite high quality (at least compared to my skill) and most available for purchase. And speaking of purchasing, one of the best reasons to visit GenCon is to check out the dealer hall, where hundreds of shops sell dice, games, t-shirts, videos, comics, costume garb… pretty much anything a game enthusiast might desire. Video game companies even have a presence that has been expanding annually.

All of this is fascinating of course, but board games are the reason that I go to GenCon. Board games have been a part of human culture for thousands of years. Those available today comprise a spectrum from games based on simple rules that bear out complex competitive strategy like the games of Go or Chess to games like Arkham Horror, where the complex rules define interesting game mechanics that pit players in a collaborative challenge against the game itself.

As with other types of games, there are a number of aspects of a board game where design is important. The physical materials that make up a game can be elegantly simple, like stones on a wooden board, or made up of intricately carved wooden pieces placed on a board printed with gorgeous artwork. The concept of a game can be based on history, on novels or movies, or be completely original or abstract. Then there is the most important aspect of a game… the mechanics.

A game’s mechanics can be defined by simple or complex rules, and their design can simulate real-world experiences such as trading, resource management, and evolving systems, or fictional elements such as magic and time travel. The best games, in my opinion, have balanced mechanics that allow for a variety of strategies.  And lately I’ve become more interested in well-designed cooperative games.

Hopefully I can find a great new game to add to my collection this year.

“This is really cool,” he said timidly, referring to the space. Daniel showed him the new animated trailer for ArtBabble, to which he replied, “That was not cool…I mean that was not long enough.” 

Another visitor asked if he could take a nap in the corner because he found the furniture and atmosphere so relaxing. It was a pleasure to watch kids, teens, parents and docents use the computers and ArtBabble video Web site as tools for learning and for fun.

This leads me to a larger question I’ve been asking myself (and some of you): What are the pros and cons of interactive games in art museums, and how far should we go with the concept? The Davis LAB doesn’t include games per se, but getting on a computer and exploring ArtBabble is, like a game, a lot of fun. For the purpose of this post, I’ll classify interactivity as anything from paper scavenger hunts to computer kiosks in the galleries. All these activities turn upside down the traditional museum experience of walking through galleries and looking at the art on the walls with an element of relational interactivity between the visitor and the art.

NPR recently explored the topic in a piece called “Interactive Games Make Museums a Play to Play”, by Elizabeth Blair, which highlighted the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Luce Foundation Center for an alternative reality game they created. A teacher I know testified that interactive games in museums prompted her students to look more closely at the artwork. NPR noted happiness, clear instructions, feedback, shared experience and being part of something bigger as benefits to interactivity.

I wonder if some museum visitors find interactive games disruptive or cause them to focus less on the physical art as they attempt to check off a work they just found through the interactive game and rush off to the next masterpiece. Should museums use interactive technology like video or audio tours as a revenue generator at the risk of taking attention away from the physical piece of art? Or is it our duty as museum professionals to ensure that the technology only enhances the connection? Are games a marketing tool to woo new audiences to art, or are they the future of art? I have heard the argument that “high brow” art clashes with “low brow” games. Do we need to be entertained at an art museum by something else, or do we go to let the art entertain us?