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, 1975
Strategy game



Alexander

John Cartan, Paul Nicholson, 1987
Strategy game



Montana

John Cartan, 1995
Terrain visualization



Starmaze

John Cartan, 1979 (ongoing)
Mathematical puzzle



My Springfield

John Cartan, 2013
City simulation