The Strong National Museum of Play acquires Fantastic Arcade’s archive
The Strong National Museum of Play acquires Fantastic Arcade’s archive of indie games
Influential indie video game collection lives on in a new permanent home
AUSTIN, TEXAS and ROCHESTER, NEW YORK—
As part of its Indie Games Initiative—a commitment to preserving video games built by small, independent creative teams—the Rochester-based Strong National Museum of Play is acquiring the archives of Fantastic Arcade, a preeminent indie games festival held annually in Austin from 2010 through 2024. These archives include five custom-made arcade cabinets which The Strong will restore and exhibit: Alphabet, by Keita Takahashi and Adam Saltsman; Nium, by Moppin and Nemk; Wheels of Aurelia, by Santa Ragione; The Stakes Are Too High, by Fernando Ramallo; and Grass Stains, by Nina Freeman. The acquired archives also include photo and video documentation, festival ephemera, and other materials of historical interest.
“For more than a decade, Fantastic Arcade was a new games happening that straddled the spectrum between pop genre and the unclassifiable,” says Wiley Wiggins, Fantastic Arcade Creative Director. “This dependably included bizarro experiments and unforgettable talks that broke all known molds.”
“Fantastic Arcade is a landmark in independent game history and a celebration of the creativity of developers around the world,” says Andrew Borman, Director of Digital Preservation at The Strong National Museum of Play. “This collection of one-of-a-kind games—made to be played over just a few days—will now live on forever at The Strong. This collection will help us tell the broader story of indie gaming and be an invaluable resource to researchers, as well.”
Rachel Stuckey, Director of Digital Arts at The Museum of Human Achievement, says, “The games in this collection are custom pieces of art that wouldn’t exist without Fantastic Arcade and deserve to be out there getting played. We’re stoked that the Strong Museum is able to preserve them and share them with such a large audience. Fantastic Arcade’s influence on indie video game culture is important—it rules that its legacy of cultivating the weird and wonderful will be preserved in video game history.”
The Museum of Human Achievement, the Austin-based arts nonprofit which has stewarded Fantastic Arcade since 2019, now continues its support of indie games through Games Y’all, a monthly meetup for developers and players. On November 15, the spirit of Fantastic Arcade will live on through the Games Y’all Roundup, a celebration of indie games held at Austin’s Kick Butt Coffee.
About The Strong National Museum of Play
Founded in 1968 in Rochester, New York, by Margaret Woodbury Strong, The Strong National Museum of Play is a highly interactive, collections-based museum devoted to the history and exploration of play. The Strong is home to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, which collects, preserves, studies, and interprets video games and related materials. With more than 60,000 artifacts and hundreds of thousands of archival materials, ICHEG cares for the world’s most comprehensive collection dedicated to the history of video games. The collection includes games and the platforms on which they are played, packaging, advertising, game-related publications, and other items that illustrate the impact of electronic games on people’s lives. The Strong’s holdings include materials documenting the work of some of the foremost individuals and companies in the history of the video game industry. The collections are made available to researchers from around the world and are featured in exhibits visited by more than half a million guests annually.
About Fantastic Arcade
Launched in Austin in 2010, Fantastic Arcade was an annual celebration of experimental and cult video games, featuring original games, networking and collaboration opportunities for indie game developers, off-the-beaten-path developer talks, and tournaments. From 2019 onward, Fantastic Arcade was administered by The Museum of Human Achievement, an Austin-based arts nonprofit. The final Fantastic Arcade was held in 2024.
About The Museum of Human Achievement
The Museum of Human Achievement is an Austin-based 501(c)3 nonprofit providing funding, infrastructure, professional support, and affordable physical space to under-resourced artists across all disciplines. Steeped in principles of collaboration, experimentation, inclusivity, and accessibility, MoHA fosters an empowered, resilient creative community in Texas and beyond. Since its founding in 2012, MoHA has partnered with 1,300 organizations to create new works; presented 5,500+ artists; and welcomed 250k visitors to its East Austin campus. MoHA has assisted 140 first-time grant recipients and distributed $1.6M to artists (70% BIPOC, 61% LGBTQIA). At present, MoHA houses studio and office space for twenty community arts groups and mutual aid organizations, as well as for local and visiting artists. MoHA supports more than a thousand artists annually through its programs and events, and it produces more than a hundred free public programs annually which integrate community vision, arts, and social practice.