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How to Design a Game Board Using Hexagons

One very important element in designing a board game than the game board itself. There are countless variations possible when designing a game board, which can be dependent upon or independent of the game idea or theme itself. One of these countless variations might involve using hexagons as basic a basic building block for your game board. Hexagons can comprise the spaces upon which the game's pieces are supposed to travel, can comprise groups of spaces which the board game's paths lead into, or can even constitute the overall shape of the game itself (the entire board).

Things You'll Need

Very thin cardboard
Heavy duty scissors
Markers
Pencil
Crayons or colored pencils

Instructions

- 1
  
  Figure out the overall theme.
  
  Come up with an overall theme for your game board before you begin designing it (other than the use of hexagon shapes).
- 2
  
  Cut out the hexagon-shaped board.
  
  Cut out a hexagon shape from thin cardboard to make your game board. It should be no more than 2-1/2' across to comfortably fit on a table to be played upon. Draw two unique hexagon-shaped spaces on your board that will be your start and your finish and label them as such. These can be placed at any point on the board (typically closer to the edges of the board), and can be very close to one another or on complete opposite sides.
- 3
  
  Create a path using shapes.
  
  Create a long and twisted path or set of paths to be chosen from by the player between these two points you have created. Make the spaces in these paths either variations of hexagons (such as distorted, stretched, and skewed ones if you choose, or maybe just varying sizes) or combinations of hexagons and other shapes. Add arrows or other directions if necessary at various points in the board for guiding those playing the game. Create blockages to show where a player cannot move through and has to follow the path around (perhaps by drawing walls or creating a darker-colored line of hexagon spaces). Blockages can add more twists and turns to your game board or help in directing the players down the game's correct path.
- 4
  Label various spaces on the game board with directions that pertain to your overall board game theme or directions such as to move a certain number of spaces backward or forward, or to pick up a card from a set of cards you created for your game.
- 5
  
  Add details to make your game board look more interesting.
  
  Decorate your board by drawing embellishments, details, and pictures that pertain to the overall theme of your board game.
- 6
  
  Color the baord in to make it look vibrant.
  
  Color in you game board and all the pictures and details contained in it using vibrant colors that relate to your overall theme. Create a crease in the middle of the board and fold the game board in half (and perhaps in half again) so that it may be stored without taking up much space.

Board Games