Making Perios Style Gameboards

When
creating game-boards for period style games the first thing you need to do is
select the game you want to create. We have several write up on period games
available here.


These
write ups include a brief history of the game, an image of the game-board, the
rules for the game, the recommended dimensions for the game-board, a
description and count of the pieces needed, and the rules for each game.

Picaria	Fox and Geese	Tafl	Nine Man Morris	Chess
Pachisi	Pente~	Backgammon	Fighting Serpents	Checkers

Now that you have selected a game you need to determine
what materials you are going to build it from. We have some supplies here for
use. The reason we choose to use Cloth
and paint is three-fold; it is less expensive than any other medium, it is the
most portable medium and it requires the least amount of specialized skill or
energy.





Now
that you know what materials you will be using you will need to decide what
tools and supplies you will need to complete your project. When using the
following materials you will need the listed supplies:











After
having gathered all the necessary item you should then draw off your game in
pencil on your game-board surface. (If you were working in clay you would start
with rolling out your board, and then marking it with light indentation from a
toothpick) Before you mark the board be certain you know the dimensions you
need to mark at. Many people have found
that a ruler or other straight edge is very helpful at this stage.




Next
you make your lines for the game. With
cloth or paper that means painting in the lines, for wood it would mean using
the drimmel or wood burner to place them.
With clay you would either carve them out or skip this step entirely if
you are using colored clay to create the colored spaces.




Now
that your lines are placed, you can start coloring the spaces as needed. When using paint or stains I have found that
it can be helpful to surround the space with masking tape to prevent getting
and paint or stain where you don’t want it to go. This may take several applications to achieve the desired shade
of color and to allow for drying time before moving on to another color. If
using colored clay, shape your spaces and place them on the board fitting them
together carefully.




While
the board is drying in between applications, you can color or sculpt to game
pieces.




If
the parts are not all dry you might use this time to make a pouch to keep
either the pieces or in the case of cloth or paper games the entire game
in. It is reasonable to make a pouch
for the whole game and a smaller one for the pieces if you are using wood or
clay to create your game-board.




When
all the parts have been colored and are completely dry, trim or sand off any rough edges from your
game-board.


Place
all the parts of your game in the specially created pouch and seek out someone
to play it with…