Finnish Museum of Games

The Finnish Museum of Games (Suomen pelimuseo) is a museum dedicated to the history of Finnish games located in Vapriikki Museum Centre in Tampere, Finland.

The museum opened in January 2017. By the end of June 2017, over 100,000 people had visited the museum.

Exposition
The museum exhibition consists of 100 Finnish games, six thematic period rooms, a video game arcade and a changing exhibition space. Overall, the museum has around 85 playable digital games. Museum also interviewed over 40 game developers, recording each as a half-hour long video, and published on YouTube short versions of these interviews.

The museum was created with the help of a crowdfunding campaign arranged in 2015. The crowdfunding campaign raised €85,860 from 1,120 backers. Major backers included game companies Supercell, Housemarque and Colossal Order.

In addition to digital games, the Finnish Museum of Games also collects and exhibits board games, card games, miniature games, roleplaying games and larps.

Changing exhibitions have dealt with personal play histories, the role-playing convention Ropecon, the development of the virtual reality game P.O.L.L.E.N. and pixel art.

Among interactive stands there is a stand of the 3D cooperative sports video game Suunnistussimulaattori (lit. 'Orienteering Simulator'), where museum visitors could make a virtual trip to observe landscapes of Finland running with virtual orienteering map and compass. This game has been used by Finnish and other orienteering athletes for virtual training (as an alternative to Catching Features), but development of this game stopped in 2016. Also on the Suunnistussimulaattori stand behind the glass there are real orienteering sport equipment and game souvenirs, presented to museum by Antero Pulli, developer of the original game and Finnish orienteering athlete.

Awards

 * In April 2017, the museum was awarded the Sensation of the Year award at the Finnish Game Awards.
 * In 2018, the Society for the History of Technology awarded the Finnish Museum of Games with the Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits.