If you’re old enough to remember a time when video games were still principally purchased at retail outlets rather than downloaded from behind the cold remove of a keyboard, you may remember video game instruction manuals, the little paper inserts that so helpfully put all that running from left to right into context. Sometimes, the instruction manuals would include a map of the fictional world featured in the game. Paper, however, is so fragile—an errant wind or stray match can spell the end of it, so many of those charming designs were lost to time.
Neutral Ground has a more permanent alternative. The website has teamed up with illustrator Alex Griendling to produce a series of wooden plaques etched with the world maps from noted video games. First up is a version of the map from The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time, a game from a series that’s seen its share of map makeovers in the past couple of weeks. The maps are etched on hand-selected pieces of maple ply, measure 18-1/2 inches wide by 14 inches tall, and can be hung of a wall, where they’ll never have a chance to get lost again.