Make a board game

Board games can be great fun, but they can also be expensive. Instead of buying new games every time you want a different one to play, try creating your own. It’s fun and easy to do and makes a good family craft project on a rainy day. Coming up with an original game idea can be just as fun as playing the game itself.

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Ideas for Board Games

It helps to have a few ideas down before creating your actual board game. Ask yourself these questions to guide the process:

  • What is your game about?
  • How do you win?
  • Will the game be pure fun, educational or a little of both?
  • Is your game a straight dice roller where players move on a linear track or will players need to role play, play mini games, or follow another format?
  • Do you need dice or can a spinner be used?
  • Will you use card boxes in board spaces?

To make the board game, you might want to start with either downloading a template, or just drawing out a rough copy sketch on a large piece of paper .

boardgame download a board game template

snakesandladders sketch out the rough draft on a piece of paper.

Next, we want to work on the rules of the game.

again, there are some things you want to think about:

Fluff Text or Back Story
This is the part that explains the theme of the game – just a paragraph or two with lots of adjectives.
Game Object
Three lines about how the game “works”, including the ultimate object.
Game Contents
List all components and indicate if it’s a deck of cards or a sheet of cards to be punched out; a free standing
game board or a game board to be punched out, a bag of tokens or a sheet of tokens to be punched out, etc.
Game Assembly
How do you assemble the game the first time? Is consumer assembly required? If so, what? Are drawings
required? If so, what parts? Are there consumer-applied stickers or labels? If yes, how many?
Game Setup
How do you setup the game for each playing? Does the game setup differently for different numbers of
players?
Game Play
Who starts? Does youngest player go first? If not, how is this determined? Who plays next? Does play pass
to the left? If not, what is the turn order? Define terms (if necessary).
Turn Sequence
– On a player’s turn, what is the sequence of actions? What happens at the end of a
round? Is there scoring? Does the order of play change?
Special Conditions
For instance, what happens when you land on another player?
Board Spaces
– What happens on special spaces?
Special Cards
– What do they do?
Winning/Scoring
How is the winner determined? Do you have to win by exact count? What if there is a tie?
Game Play Variations (if any)
List any advanced and optional rules for a harder (or easier) game.
Troubleshooting and/or strategy tips (if any)
Restorage Consideration (if any)
Credits (if any)

Once you are done with your rules, it’s time to make the board game itself.

If you need any game pieces, you can borrow some from your owned board games (eg. money, figurines, die, etc.), or you can make your own. Download card templates or make them.

It’s time to make the playing board.

use a large sheet of bristle-board to make sure your board game isn’t all floppy and pieces can fall off. Copying your rough draft or template, (I’ll start with those who decided to draw their board)  neatly draw your game board. Boldly draw the start and finish so you can see it clearly, and write out the text in the boxes in between. If you have cards or money, mark special boxes for those. Also clearly put the title of your game at either the top, bottom, or center of your board. you also might want to color the board

For those who downloaded a template, type the text in between the boxes. Also clearly put the title of your game at either the top, bottom, or center of your board. The template should already have card and money boxes in it. once you are done, print it out.

CONGRATULATIONS! you are now done your board game, now grab you family and friends and get ready to play.

CREDITS:

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