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How to Craft an Old-Fashioned Board Game

You can easily make your own old-fashioned board game. Many popular board games are based on very old traditional games, and so the rules, board design and everything you need to play are are in the public domain, which means that you are free to copy them. Certain games, such as Scrabble, are copyrighted. You may not copy a Scrabble game. Scrabble, however, is based on an old game called ̶0;Anagrams,̶1; which you are free to copy. Games such as chess and checkers are easy to make, and with some creativity you can personalize and expand on them.

Things You'll Need

Book of games
Heavy cardboard
Paper
Ruler
Pencil
Tokens
Business card stock
Dice
Glue
Spray adhesive

Instructions

- 1
  Decide on the game you would like to make. Research online, or borrow a book of games from the library, such as ̶0;Family Fun and Games̶1; by Diagram Group.
- 2
  Gather your materials. You will need a large piece of cardboard cut to the size of your game board; paper to draw or print your game on; a ruler and a pencil, if you choose to draw your game; tokens, which can be as simple as found objects or as creative as homemade personalized tokens for each player; business card stock, if you need game cards; and dice.
- 3
  Draw or design and print your game board. Many game boards, such as chess, checkers and Scrabble-like games, are a simple grid of squares. These can be drawn on large heavy paper with a pencil and ruler or designed on a computer and then printed. Templates for more intricate game boards exist as well and can be personalized and then printed out. One old-fashioned game, Snakes and Ladders, used to be based on Victorian morality. You would move up based on virtues such as "Thrift" or move down based on vices such as "Immorality." The modern game has taken this "old-fashioned" aspect out, but you could reintroduce it into your game.
- 4
  Glue your game design onto cardboard. You can use a glue stick, but this may buckle the paper slightly. A better option is a special spray adhesive used to mount photographs, such as 3M Photo Mount.
- 5
  Draw or print out game cards, if necessary. If your game uses game cards, you can create your own using a computer template and then print them onto Avery business cards. Avery.com provides free templates for all its products, which makes it easy to create game cards on your computer and then print them out. If you prefer to hand draw your game cards, you can purchase business card stock at a stationery store and then create your cards to suit your style.
- 6
  Assemble or create game tokens. Game tokens can be handcrafted from clay or wood, or they can be found objects such as thimbles, coins or even a stray piece of Lego. The tokens need to be small and heavy. Get as creative as you like, or just grab a few stray objects from the junk drawer.
- 7
  Review the rules, and start to play. Since you created the game yourself, you can modify it as much as you like. Change rules. Draw new items on your board. It̵7;s your game, so personalize it and have fun.

Board Games