Ask Ollie
Design Your Own Board Game
Here's one to try together!
Invent a game, play it, fix what's unfair, then play it again!
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- small parts such as bottle caps could be a choking risk for young children playing along
- cutting a cereal box may involve scissors
What you need
- Cardboard box, 1 cereal box opened flat, or 1 big sheet of paper
- Crayons or markers, several markers
- Paper, 1 card for the rules
- Ruler, 1
- Die, 1
- Bottle caps, 1 per player, or folded paper
- Kid scissors, 1 pair, for a grown-up (optional)
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Open a cereal box flat or set out a big sheet of paper. Bottle caps are small parts, so keep them away from little ones playing along, or use folded paper pieces instead.
- Choose your goal: race to the end, collect the most, or escape a monster.
- Draw a path of thirty or more squares across your board.
- Mark special squares like go back three, swap places, and roll again.
- Make a game piece for each player from a bottle cap or folded paper.
- Write your rules on the card in five sentences or fewer.
- Play your game once with your family. Ask: Who do you think will win, and why?
- Think about what felt boring or unfair, and jot it down.
- Change one rule, then play your game again. Ask: Did that change make the game fairer or more fun?
- Give your game a name and make a box for it. Ask for help if you need it
- Now invite friends to play your game! What new rule would you add next? Ask: If you made a sequel, what would be different?
Play it again
- Team mode: play in teams and decide together how to use special squares.
- Swap games: trade with another family, learn their rules and give kind feedback.
- Theme remix: keep the board but change the story, like escaping a dragon instead of a monster.
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