Playing games in Balboa Park

Museum of Man hosts ‘Counter Cultures: The Secret Lives of Games’

The Museum of Man is getting serious about playing games.

Beginning June 11, the museum in Balboa Park will feature “Counter Cultures: The Secret Lives of Games,” an exhibition funded in part by the Dr. Seuss Foundation.

The exhibition features board, tile and card games from around the world. It uncovers the secret beauty of games and why we play them.

Visitors of all ages will reminisce over old classics, marvel at historic games from the American colonial period and even design their own game.

Some games have surprising origins. Chutes and Ladders, for example, was originally Moksha Patamu from India, and reaching the end was symbolic of attaining moksha, or salvation.

Visitors can take part in the interactive experience of becoming a game piece and traveling through the exhibit’s life-sized game board. A gaming lounge allows visitors to create their own games or play classics with their friends and family. The new exhibit also helps in the understanding of how games reflect cultural values as well as how the choice of games and playing style reveal individual personalities.

The museum’s world-class collection of artifacts will supply some of the games, including Native American games, Mexican games and a rare handmade chess set. Most of the games will come from private collections, including that of the curator, Dr. Wayne Saunders.

The public is invited to participate in a game design contest. Full contest rules are available online at museumofman.org. Winners will have their game displayed in the exhibition. The contest deadline is July 1.

Special events may include game demonstrations by local groups, mini-tournaments and a lecture series. There is also a summer camp for third through sixth grade students Aug. 23-27 devoted to learning how to invent games. Registration can be made online.

“Counter Cultures: The Secret Lives of Games,” is the newest in a series of special exhibitions featured in the Museum of Man.

The Museum’s rotating exhibitions include: The Genographic Project: A Landmark Study of the Human Journey and presented by the National Geographic Society; Gods and Gold: Ancient Treasures from Mexico to Peru.  Permanent exhibitions highlight major moments in human biological and cultural history: Footsteps Through Time: Four Million Years of Human Evolution; Ancient Egypt; Maya: Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth; and Kumeyaay: Native Californians.