DIY Board Game Mania

Why not create your own board game? DIY board games are becoming a fad. Anyone can purchase the games, but when you and your friends and family have a party to make a board game yourselves, it's a game within a game. The fun of creating your own board game often becomes as much fun as the actual game. After all, isn't the whole point of a board game is to do something together to have fun? And the possibilities are endless depending on how daring you want to be. The first part of the party can be devoted to creating the game and the rest of the party can be devoted to playing it. So, why not create your own board game? Join the DIY movement and find out how much enjoyment and fun you can create.

When you create your own board game, DIY adherents know the game can be elaborate or very simple and anything in between. It can be a game you play once, or become a favorite that is stored away until another party. Wikipedia reports that Buddha said he would not play games from the Buddhist game list. So obviously, board games are here to stay since they have been around for centuries. And DIY was how board games were played centuries ago. The current fad of playing board games at a party may have reached its peak, so why not create your own board game? Now is the time.

You can use a cardboard box, open it up so it's spread out, and use that for the board. An old appliance box is especially nice to use but poster board, an old quilt, or even outside in the dirt can be used as a board for the game. For pieces, your friends can be told to bring something small and personal, or anything from painted golf tees to colored buttons can be used as the pieces. I have a collection of antique buttons that I plan to use for a game with a theme of old sayings......which is another collection of mine. For example, old timers used to say, "That's handier than a pocket on a shirt." or "Quit staring at me like a tree full of owls." When you create your own board game, the theme can be one the whole group picks. Or an individual hosting the party might decide a theme with the whole group deciding the logistics of the game.

Everyone enjoys setting up the spaces on the board which includes an area for penalties, forced interaction between players and free give aways. Most games should involve strategy and luck but any game is fun when it is a board game you have created. If the crowd is rowdy, a penalty can be to chug a tall glass of icy cold water without stopping. Other suggestions include doing 10 push-ups, walk around the block wearing a dress if a guy, wearing a baseball cap backwards if it's a gal, quote the Pledge of Allegiance, sing a song, show your belly button, miss a turn, tell something secret about yourself or any other idea. When you create a board game, it's all about your personalities, the ages of everyone in the group and what is fun to you.

Another idea is to have the group read a book and base the game on questions about the book. If there is a subject of interest to everyone such as astronomy, jazz, art, poker, anthropology, civil war or movie stars, then the game can revolve around that interest. The game can be physical, a tool for learning or also one of just getting to know each other better. Combining fun and learning usually makes a board game you create more interesting.

A family might base a board game on a vacation trip they took. Co-workers might choose a company related topic, students might pick their major, a hobby club could pick their hobby and neighbors might pick the history of the area. The possibilities are endless and the game can last longer than one evening together. I played a game with friends that went on for a couple of years.

You can eliminate players but the game may come to a quick end so that might not be the best idea. It is also fun to keep the game open to changes. One space that is dedicated to a win might be that the player gets to change the rules of the game. This choice usually helps the game because if it turns out to need a little something extra, this can go a long way in keeping the game interesting.

So, get together with friends, family or neighbors and enjoy creating your own board game. Who knows, it might turn out to be so fun that you submit it to one of the board game companies. Wouldn't it be amazing if it turned out to be a game others wanted to play too? So jump in and begin to create your own board game. You never know what might come of it and it might turn out that you enjoy it more fun than a bunch of hogs soaking in mud.