Here I want share board games that I made and I like to play. This games are not published or difficult to find. They are public domain or print and play games of different designers. Some of them are historical games and a few of them are my designs.

Matrix

This is another free print and play game. I made a wooden version for myself. This game may be a very nice travel game. This game isn’t too much deep but very easy to make. I used some beads and wooden pins. I drill the beads for enlarging their holes. Game pieces also are made from ready round stock. I mounted push pins on their tops for obtaining two color (red and blue) game pieces and also looks nice. I found also a few variant for this game. If you want make your own game you can find rules and more information from here.

Gosix

This is a very nice two player abstract strategy game. This game is a free print and play game but It’s better than a lot of commercially produced games. I made a wooden copy for myself. I used a round cutting board. This boards are cheap and easy t find. I used two color 16 mm standard marbles and two color beads. Instead of beads you can use pegs. Marble holes on board are 13 mm. Pins are 3 mm wooden pins. I made hexagonal tiles with wood burning and painted inside of them with colored varnish. If you want make your own game you can find board pattern and rules from here. My favorite is old rules but you can try both rules and find your favorite.

Silk road

This is a tile placement game from 1 to n player. Multi player version include a little luck factor. For one player, you can try to make a closed loop on a 5×5 grid. It’s possible also to make 4×4, 3×3 etc closed loops. With different rules you can play this game as a two player strategy game. A lot of gamer friends from BGG liked this game. If you want make your own game you can find all print and play files, different rules and other craft examples from here.

Mine trap

Mine trap is my simple game design. But this is not an original idea. There are a lot of similar games. This is a simple two player abstract strategy game. Two player place mines alternately on board for blocking other player. I used 18 mm pine for board and 20×20 mm beech. Rules and all dimensions for making your own game is included in this free PDF file. (0.4 MB on secure server box.com). You can develop also your own rules.

Tablut and Hnefatafl

Tablut and Hnefatafl are historical Viking games. You can read more from the wiki page of this game about it’s history. This games is interesting for me, because you play the game with unequal armies.

Rules for Tablut and a lot of information is here.
Rules for Hnefatafl and a lot of information is here.

This games have a lot of variation and different rules. There are also variations for 7×7 or 11×11 board. I preferred making a 9×9 board. Now I like explain how I made my board and pieces.

I made inside of the board from a ready pine wooden panel. It was an IKEA shelf. I cut this shelf to 200×200 mm squares and I made a lot of different games. Board inside thickness is 18 mm.

For making the board frame I used 20 x 20 mm ready wooden stocks. 45° corner joints was difficult to make with my workshop possibilities. For this reason ı made four decorative corner part 20x20x25 mm. I drilled their center and made a cross saw trace for decorative purposes. Making a game board this way is very easy.

For making the lines I used a wood burning machine. You can use a wire type wood burning machine with a steel ruler for thin and straight lines.

I made with a different wood burning machine two different pattern on some squares on the board. This patterns show the beginning position for game pieces. There are two different type of game pieces for this game.

Hnefatafl pieces

For the dark pieces I used a small wooden chess set. They are very cheap and easier than making. I made rectangular light pieces from 15×15 mm ready wooden block. Pieces dimensions is 15x15x20 mm. I cut them inclined with my hand miter saw and made two saw trace an marked with a wood burning tool. All for decorative purposes. You can make your own pieces as you wish.

According the rules that I play, corner square and center square can be used only by the king. For this reason I made a pin to this squares and a hole to the bottom of the king. You can decide for this after a few play according different rules.