How to Make a Board Game Using Your Computer

Decide what type of board game you want to make. For a simple board game that only requires rows of squares, such as a Monopoly style board, you may be able to use a word processor or simple layout program. For more complex boards with curved paths, you may want to use a drawing program.

Figure out how large you want to make the board game and how many pieces of cardstock you’ll need to print it. A typical game board may require four pieces of cardstock, placed end to end and side to side. You may want to make a sketch of the board game on a piece of paper to make your decisions easier.

Create a new document in the program you’ve chosen. Set the orientation to portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) and set the page margins. You’ll probably want the margins to be as small as possible if you need to put multiple pieces together to make the board, but make sure the margins aren’t smaller than your printer can handle.

Draw colored squares or other spaces for this portion of the game board. You may want to use a fun font to label spaces as needed or decorate the board with clip art that matches the board game’s theme.

Save the file and create additional documents for other parts of the game board as needed.

Print all the pieces of the board game on plain paper to test them. Make sure the board game looks the way you want, then print the game on more durable cardstock.

Trim off the margins of each piece of cardstock, overlap the pieces where needed, and tape the pieces together, if you want the board game to stay together in one piece, or leave them separate for easier storage.