I didn't realize that I had a lifelong fascination with maps until I gathered the relics from three decades of inventions, half-solved puzzles, and private obsessions. I soon discovered that each ponarv in this collection centered around a map of some kind. My favorite games involve maps, and whenever I set out to create or understand something new, I begin by drawing a map. These maps and diagrams and sketches have acumulated over the years, and together they chart many strange lands, none of which exist outside my head.
Do we create museums to hold on to things, or to let them go?
The projects described in this museum occupied much of my play time,
and most were never completed. Decades later they still pull at me
during the wee hours of the night. My hope is that by sharing
them here, I can finally experience the blessed sleep of closure.
Feudal 3D
John Cartan, Bill Lortz, 1975Strategy game
Alexander
John Cartan, Paul Nicholson, 1987Strategy game
Montana
John Cartan, 1995Terrain visualization
Starmaze
John Cartan, 1979 (ongoing)Mathematical puzzle
My Springfield
John Cartan, 2013City simulation