How to Design and Test Your Own Board Game
Designing a tabletop board game is an engaging way to combine storytelling, math, and logical thinking. With a few common classroom supplies, you can invent an original game from scratch, write balanced rules, and test your system to ensure it is fun and fair.
Materials Needed
- One large sheet of sturdy paper or poster board
- Colored markers or pencils
- One standard six-sided die
- Small playing tokens or counters (such as coins, buttons, or plastic clips)
- Lined paper and a pencil for recording rules and notes
Step 1: Establish the Theme and Objective
Every successful game begins with a clear objective, which tells players how to win. Decide whether your game is a race to a finish line, a quest to gather items, or a strategic journey across a map. A theme helps players visualize the action. For instance, your game might involve navigating an obstacle-filled hiking trail or exploring an uncharted island. Keep the core goal simple and direct: the first player to reach the final square, or the player with the most collected tokens at the end of ten rounds, wins.
- objective:
- The main goal or purpose that explains how a player wins the game.
- tiles:
- The individual boxes, circles, or spaces that make up the path on a game board.
- sequentially:
- Arranged in a logical order, such as consecutive numbers following one after another.
- balance:
- An equal and fair distribution of advantages and obstacles in a game.
- playtesting:
- Playing a game prototype to test its rules, flow, and identify problems.
- constructive feedback:
- Helpful advice and suggestions given to improve someone's work.
One passage, many ways to practice
Reading-skill questions, word work and writing prompts — all built from this text.
Main Idea
Identify the central idea and explain how important details develop it.
Context Clues
Use clues in the passage to work out what words mean. A separate printable Vocabulary worksheet is also available.
Summarize
Select, organize, and restate the most important information without adding opinion.
Purpose
Analyze what the author aims to do and how choices serve audience and purpose.
Structure
Analyze how sections and organizational choices build the text's ideas or effects.
Vocabulary
Practice words from the passage with a printable worksheet.
Writing Prompts
Use the passage as a springboard for short written responses, from personal reflection to evidence-based arguments.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1What is the main purpose of this passage?
- 2Why does the author recommend drawing between twenty-five and thirty-five tiles on the board?
About this how-to / procedural passage for 5th Grade
“How to Design and Test Your Own Board Game” is a how-to / procedural reading passage about board game design, written for 5th Grade. It takes about 5 minutes to read (729 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.