‘Level Up’ exhibit at the Chicago Writers Museum

While Toronto is my ‘home base’ these days, as my wife and I own a condo there (and her job is based there), I also currently live part of the time in Chicago due to work (until the end of 2025, barring some catastrophe). Last weekend my wife was visiting Chicago, and by chance we discovered that it was a “free Sunday” at the American Writers Museum (located at 180 North Michigan Avenue – about a fifteen minute walk north of my present “crash pad”).

The museum currently has a special exhibit called “Level Up.” Here’s the description:

“Our special exhibit, Level Up: Writers & Gamers, explores how Americans use role-playing and video games to define and respond to our culture. The exhibit guides visitors into the world of game writing, from the 1970s to the present. Some of the games featured include Dungeons & Dragons, Zork, Apocalypse World, Baldur’s Gate III, and game writers from the last 50 years such as Michael Pondsmith, Porpentine, and Tanya DePass.” 

 The exhibit was small but had some artifacts of note:

It looks like this set was once owned by Terry Kuntz (older brother of Rob Kuntz).

The good old Holmes Basic Set – the game that started it all for me!

Anyhow, the exhibit runs until 5 May 2025. More information can be found here. If you’re in Chicago and have some time to kill, I recommend checking it out.