How to Make Your Own Board Game

In a previous post, I shared that our family made a board game. Since we didn’t pack any board games in our suitcase, we decided to get creative and make our own. We are all spending more time at home and might be looking for a new creative outlet, so I thought I’d share how we made “Busy Beach”, the board game that we’ve greatly enjoyed the last several weeks. We hope you enjoy using this idea with your family!

Step 1: Choose a game board.
The board can be made from poster board, cardboard, an old box, construction paper, or any kind of flat surface you want to use. We used three colors of colored scrapbook paper and taped them together.

Step 2: Choose a theme.
We chose a beach theme. Some other ideas are ocean, forest, neighborhood, North Pole, house, or playground. The possibilities are endless!

Step 3: Make a path. We drew circles and rounded squares for our spaces, but you can use any shape you want. You also need to decide if you want each player to follow the same path, or if you want there to be various directions that players can move in. We decided to make multiple paths so players can choose which direction to go. Make sure you decide on a start and finish spot too! We decided players would start at home, then go to the island to get a treasure, then finish by returning home.

Step 4: Decorate the board. We used the green paper for a neighborhood, orange for the sand, and white for the water, then added some details with colored pencils and crayons. Think about the setting and theme of your game and have fun drawing, coloring, and adding details to make your game special.

Step 5: Make game pieces. We made surfboards of six different colors for ours. You can use coins or other trinkets from around the house, but it makes it more fun if the game pieces relate to the theme.

Step 6: Add a fun twist to your game. It’s always fun to add surprises. Think about having spaces with directions like “trade with another player” or “back to start”. In our game, each player draws a colored treasure map card that tells them their player color and which arrows to follow for shortcuts and detours to the destination. We also made treasure cards to pick up at the island to give players a head start on their way back home.

Step 7: Make the rules. Decide if you want it to be a competitive game when someone wins by finishing first, or a cooperative game when everyone is trying to get to the end within a certain time. You also need to decide how to know how many spaces you move. You could use dice, make a spinner, make cards, or draw numbers from a cup. Our game is competitive and we use dice to see how many spaces the player moves.

Step 8: Play the game to test how it works and make adjustments if you would like. You need to play it to see how it works in action. You may ask these questions. Was it too long? Was it too short? Were the rules clear? Did the path make sense? What can we change to make it more fun? After playing our game, we decided to draw more detour and shortcut arrows. We also shortened a path to make it more competitive.

Step 9: Keep playing the game. Once you get the rules and twists just right, you will have a lot of fun playing with your family and friends!

Step 10: Make more games. Once you’ve made a game, you may want to make more! Below are some other ideas that the girls have made.

Anna enjoys games like chess, so she made a new strategy game called Switcharooo.

Naomi made Rainforest Race because she really likes to learn about animals in the rainforest.

Abigail made a Paw Patrol game and used some action figures she had for the game pieces.

Now you can make your own new games! Have fun creating and playing with friends and family! I’d also love to hear about and see your new game ideas! Feel free to share about them in the comments!