Year 7 : Design and make your own board game, use the theme and color
scheme that you have already chosen in class to help you.
1. 1
Determine the age range of your players. Knowing the age range of your tentative players would
allow you to design the game as simple or as detailed as you wish it to be and would allow you to
create age-appropriate rules. For instance, if you are designing the game for young children, you
would want to create something that is simple, easy-to-understand, fun, and would promote
camaraderie and learning among the children at the same time. For adults, you could create
something that is more competitive and exciting.
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2.
2
Think of a theme for your game. Are you interested to create a game that is based on some skill,
such as Pictionary, Scrabble or Clue? Or are you more interested to create a path game that is purely
based on luck and chance, such as Chutes and Ladders? If so, will it be one where you are a pirate
and must travel the seas to find lost treasure, or will you be trapped in haunted mansion and have to
avoid the monsters and ghosts? Use ideas from existing games to help you get started. You can even
make the theme about a book!
3. 3
Map out the rules and directions for the game. As much as possible, try to keep the rules simple so
that new players will catch on quickly and will have a fun playing experience in general. Here are
some things to keep in mind when creating the rules:
o
Is the game meant purely for enjoyment purposes, educational purposes, or a
mixture of both?
o
What is the minimum and maximum number of players that can play?
o
How many spaces on the board / variations on the story will you need to keep the
game interesting for multiple plays?
o
What are the pieces needed for the game? (Players' markers, dice, cards, etc.)
o
What is the end goal of the game? Do players race to reach a final destination (like in
Candy Land) or compete to accumulate goodies (like in Monopoly)?
4. 4
Sketch a rough draft of your board design. This will allow you to determine whether you need to
include more or less details in your final design. You can choose to create your own designs for the
images and pictures that will go on your game, but if you would rather use ready-made images,
there are many resources on the Internet that you can do a search on and download. Necessary
components of a traditional game board include:
o
A path. Make sure to add start and finishing places and to set out a clear direction
for the character(s) to travel along. Decide whether or not to split or loop the path
to add variation or extend the game time.
o
Positions on which to land. These can be designated by shapes (squares, circles,
triangles) or drawn objects/locations (stepping stones, islands, clouds). Make sure
that some positions redirect players, instruct them to pick up cards, or cause them
to gain/lose items. When designing positions that redirect players to other locations,
be careful not to create any domino effects (ex. a Go Back Two Spaces position that
sends takes a player to a Move Ahead Five Spaces position). For a cleaner look,
color-code the positions to represent different commands (as opposed to writing
them out).
o
Playing cards. A randomly shuffled assortment of cards adds variation to an
unchanging game pathway by affecting the players in unexpected ways. A card often
tells a quick story about an event that befalls a player and then changes his or her
score / position / accumulated goods accordingly. Having different types of cards
(ex. cards that change a player’s location, cards that change a player’s stats, cards
that players can collect throughout the game to represent achievements, and/or
cards that command players to do things in real life like dance, sing, do a cartwheel,
draw the person to their left, etc.) will greatly increase the number of ways in which
a game can unfold.
5. 5
Apply the design to a base board. You can use a long sheet of paper, but it would be better to
choose a sturdier material such as cardboard, card stock, or poster board so that your game pieces
won't get knocked-over if there is a breeze. (If you do decide to use paper for your base it can be
laminated so it's waterproof and won't get easily ripped apart.) If you don’t want to buy new
material, use old pizza boxes, the cardboard in old binders, or even the board from an old game that
you do not use anymore; just paint over the material or cover with clean paper to make space for a
new design. When you’re ready, decorate the board with the design that you sketched.
o
There is no limit to the things that you can use to decorate your board -- use readymade printouts, patterned paper, paint, markers -- anything that will allow you to
jazz up your board and make your design pop-up!
o
Make your board design as vibrant as possible, so as to capture and maintain the
interest of your players.
6. 6
Create the game pieces. You can draw the images on paper, then tape or glue them to your
preferred material, such as light cardboard (the type used on cereal boxes); if making a game for
family or friends, you might even use players’ photos. To make the pieces stand, cut out a strip of
cardboard that you can fold into a 3D triangle (similar to picture frame stands), then stick to the back
of the piece for support. Another way to make game pieces that stand is to glue craft foam to the
bottom of the folded piece of paper. You could also use pieces from other game sets. You can make
the character pieces in line with the placemarkers such as cards or tokens, draw these out as well.
Good materials to use for the game cards are index cards or cardstock.
o
If your game involves the use of a dice or spinner, you can just use the ones from
your existing games, or create your own from cardboard and markers. To do this,
you need a pin, a circle peice of cardboard, and a cardboard arrow, and a marker.
Stick the pin through the arrow and piece of cardboard. Then decorate.
o
Print out the directions for your game as well so that players can just refer to that in
case you are not around to explain the rules.
7. 7
Test and retest. Test your prototype design with patient friends and family in order to iron out any
unforeseen bugs or pitfalls. Ensure that the game rules are fair and that the game concept is fun and
educational to the target audience.
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Edit Tips

Don't make a game that has an unclear theme, as it might confuse your players as well.

Play around with the rules.
For instance, rather than always moving a set number of spaces in a path game,
provide the player with incentives or special tokens to move in different directions
for a set time period.
Add game spaces that take you to other spaces or would triple your next roll.
Have a different end goal instead of merely landing on the "finish" space -- land on
the water fountain 10 times, collect all the gold pieces, etc.
Use a die or make cards that show which color to move to (like in Candy Land).

If your board game design involves straight boxes, use a ruler when laying it out on the
board in order to make it look nice and neat.

Get the opinions and ideas of others before you finalize your game. Ask your friends, family,
and think to yourself, "Is this what I want?" Remember, your friends and family will be
playing with the game as well, so you want it to be appealing to them as much as possible.

You can consider designing basic and advanced rules to appeal to those who prefer a simpler
or more comprehensive game play. If implemented correctly, the basic rules can help
introduce a player to the game making it simpler to adapt more advanced rules later on.
Adding optional rules may appeal to a player's creativity. A game with official rules while
encouraging custom rules will appeal to players’ freedom.

Keep the board game neat and professional looking. Don't be satisfied until you get the job
well done.

Don't forget to have fun!!!!
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Edit Warnings

Don't make the rules too complicated. Keep them short and simple. Anything too
complicated will make the players lose interest quickly and can also make it hard for you to
make.

Make sure that your game rules are fair. The point of the game is to create an enjoyable, fun
and positive experience – and not spark any misunderstanding among the players.If you do
spark any misunderstandings it will probably lead to a very big argument.

If you are planning to publish and sell your game design, ensure you aren't infringing on any
obvious copyrights. You may want to consider modifying anything that may become a target
for litigation.

Make sure that you have an obvious winner. If players can both collect items to score points
and race one another across the finish line, it can quickly become unclear who’s ahead of
whom. Make sure to clearly establish which of these things is worth more and why.
Edit Things You'll Need

A base for your board game -- Cardboard, cardstock, poster board, old pizza boxes, or old
boards from other games you do not use anymore.

Game pieces -- Use existing pieces from your other games, or design your own.

Dice, spinners, or cards-- You can either use one from another game or be creative and make
your own. Spinners can easily be made with a piece of cardboard or foam, crayons and
markers to decorate it with your own custom pictures, an arrow (can be made from
construction paper or poster), and a screw.

Drawing and coloring materials -- Markers, paints, pens, pencils, etc.

Design pieces – Computer print-outs, magazine cut-outs, family photos, etc.

Scissors

Glue or tape

A ruler

Paint (Optional)