The history of Finnish games is diverse. It consists not only of commercially successful digital games or board game classics that have knit together generations. Finnish game history is multifaceted both in terms of technologies and execution, as well as content and impact. The reception of games varies: some are highly praised, others become dearly loved, some are deplored and many will simply become forgotten. A game is a versatile format for a variety of works, by different creators and for different types of players. Games are valuable fixtures of cultural histories around the globe. Finnish games are in a precious role in the cultural heritage in Finland.
This book offers only a small sample of games. The idea for the book was conceived during an exhibition organised in a local museum during the Nordic DiGRA 2012 conference, Tampere Finland. Four researchers and roughly 20 students joined efforts to build an exhibition to introduce foreign visitors to local games. Game developers, journalists, historians and collectors lent a helping hand in putting everything together. The multiform exhibition reflected the different backgrounds of the members of the team - we ended up opening a diverse view towards Finnish games. Although the exhibition was open only for a short time, the success surpassed all expectations. The work conducted for the exhibition has been updated for this book, and it has served as a basis for the Finnish Museum of Games opened in 2016.
Game history is common knowledge, but not always easy to access. It is time to put more effort in recording the history for the future generations as well as to trace the paths already forgotten. Games cannot, however, be understood simply by reading - they must be experienced. Hopefully this book will show a guiding light towards understanding games in a wider spectrum and bring everyone closer to the actual experiences.
