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Enjoy a custom version of Monopoly at your next board game night
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Are you a major Monopoly fan looking to own it all? Or maybe you have someone in your life who’s always begging to play Monopoly at your weekly game night? Either way, this is your chance to create the custom board game that you've always dreamed of. You already know the rules, so all you have to do is pick a theme and create your Monopoly board and playing pieces—and with this comprehensive guide, you can make your own by following the simple set of steps below!
Custom Monopoly: Quick Steps
- Choose a unique theme for your game and design board spaces to match.
- Draw or print your spaces onto an 18 in × 18 in (460 mm × 460 mm) piece of paper.
- Paste the paper onto cardboard or an old Monopoly board.
- Make the Realty, Chance, and Community Chest cards.
- Make custom Monopoly currency or reuse the original dollars.
- Build your game tokens out of air-dry clay or reuse items from around the house.
Steps
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Think of a unique theme for your game. Monopoly is easily customized, and all you need is an idea to get started. You can think globally, like making an ocean-themed Monopoly, or personally, like one based on a friend or the town you live in. Whatever theme you choose, name the game using the Monopoly formula, like “Dog-opoly” or “Elvis-opoly.” [1] X Research source
- Be careful not to be too specific. If your theme isn't broad enough, you might not have enough options to fill out all of the railroad spaces or Community Chest cards without compromising the overall theme.
- If you’re making the game as a gift, choose a theme that relates to an interest of the recipient or just make a game that totally revolves around them! For example, you could make a game for your friend Michael called “Michael-opoly” and design the whole board to feature important things from his life.
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Plan out your personalized playing spaces and board decorations. You’ll have to personalize the four large squares in the corners (including Go to Jail , Free Parking , Jail , and Go ), the 22 property spaces, and the secondary playing spaces (4 Railroads , 3 Chance spaces, 3 Community Chest spaces, and 3 Utility spaces). [2] X Research source Brainstorm ideas for each one and how to customize it for your theme. Remember to pick eight different colors for each of the property groupings.
- For example, Medieval-opoly might feature a dragon instead of prison bars for the “Jail” space, as well as property spaces related to medieval kingdoms or provinces.
- Instead of a “Go to Jail” and “Jail” space, a jungle-themed game might feature a broken jungle vine and a quicksand pit.
- Use the large space in the middle of the board to decorate and elaborate on your theme. Write the name of your game instead of “Monopoly” and add visual elements if desired.
- If this DIY monopoly is a gift for someone's anniversary, for instance, Photoshop or paste actual photos of the couple around your customized Monopoly name.
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Decide if you want to change any rules. Since you've already changed the board, you have the option to personalize the game play as well. For example, you can rearrange the property spaces to make it more difficult or alter how long someone remains in jail. But if you don't want to lose too much of the original game, you can print out a copy of the Monopoly rules online or use an old version's copy to keep in the board box.
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Use a Monopoly template or board to sketch an outline onto paper. If you have an old Monopoly board sitting around, place a 18 by 18 inches (460 mm × 460 mm) piece of paper on top of the board so that you can see the lines of the board through the paper. Lightly trace the dimensions of each playing space and other details on the board.
- Alternatively, print out a blank Monopoly template online rather than tracing your own.
- If you’re making your Monopoly board digitally with a design program like Photoshop, upload a digital Monopoly template onto the platform to create an outline of your board or draw the whole thing from scratch using a real board as a reference.
- There are free online programs such as Google Draw that you can use instead of buying a program. Using a computer may also allow you to mimic the traditional Monopoly fonts.
- However, keep in mind that the Monopoly board size is bigger than a normal printer's capacity, so you may need to split the image in your editing program to print out over several sheets of paper when it comes time for assembly.
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Add spaces and details to the outline of your board. Since you already planned out your custom spaces in the previous section , now you get to sketch out all of your designs! Use art supplies or a digital computer program to fill in the playing areas of the board. Fill in your corner spaces, color-coded property spaces, secondary spaces, as well as any other fun and thematic decorations you want to add. [3] X Research source
- If you haven’t already, use a ruler or straightedge to draw two small rectangles in the large central section of your board. Label them as “Community Chest” and “Chance,” or whatever name you’re using for these cards in your personalized game.
- If you’re making your Monopoly board by hand, use permanent markers and other art supplies to decorate the board. Add small images to match each space, using a real Monopoly board as a visual reference.
- If you’re making your Monopoly board digitally, add text boxes and images downloaded from the internet to fill in and decorate your board. If you aren’t very familiar with digital programming, it may be best to stick with the handmade board.
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Create a 18 by 18 inches (460 mm × 460 mm) base for your board out of a sturdy material. Pick a sturdy material like card stock, cardboard, or weighted paper. Cut your material to 18 by 18 inches (460 mm × 460 mm), which is about the size of a standard Monopoly board. [4] X Research source
- If you want your board to be foldable, carefully use an X-Acto Knife or razor blade to cut a straight line from the center point of the board to the midpoint of one side. Make sure that this material is foldable before applying your design on top.
- If you have an old Monopoly board lying around, it may be easier to use that as your base.
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Paste your paper board design onto the base. If you made your Monopoly board by hand on a piece of paper, simply glue or use double-sided tape to affix the paper board to the sturdier base. Make sure to smooth out any bubbles as soon as possible. Carefully use a razor blade or similar tool to cut a slit through the covering so that the board can fold into itself for storage. [5] X Research source
- If you made your Monopoly board digitally, create a PDF file of your board and print it out as a sticker at a copier store. Then, you can lay the sticker over your base.
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Make your Chance and Community Chest cards. You need 16 cards for Chance and 16 for Community Chest. Cut out 3.25 by 2.25 inches (83 mm × 57 mm) pieces of cardstock to create your cards, or make them digitally and print them out with an online program like Google Draw or Canva. Keep the actions on each card the same as the original Monopoly game but customize the text to fit your theme.
- For example, instead of the card that says "Advance to Pall Mall," you could write "Advance to Disney World" if your game is based on Florida.
- For Community Chest cards, you could change "Pay School Fees" to "Pay for Beach Parking."
- Laminate your cards, if possible, so that they last longer and will be better protected.
- Here’s a list of all of the original Chance and Community chest cards if you don’t have any on hand.
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Make Realty cards for each of your properties. For simplicity, use the same rent and mortgage amounts as the corresponding original cards. Make sure each property on your board has a matching card with the correct property name and color.
- Make your cards out of cardstock, or draw directly on top of old Monopoly cards from the original game.
- You can also print directly onto card stock if you're using a template in Photoshop or Microsoft Word.
- For all of your cards, laminate them for longevity and better protection against infamous Monopoly feuds.
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Create a unique currency for your Monopoly game. You can either buy generic or replacement Monopoly money at a game store or online or create your own. If you don't buy replacement money, you can draw or print it as well.
- Be creative with the denomination designs. For example, if you're doing a game based on Quentin Tarantino movies, you could photoshop his character's faces onto the money and add fake blood splatter for a fun effect.
- You can also name your bills and include that moniker on the dollars themselves. "Credits" works for video game-based Monopolies and "Bison Bucks" for a Wild West-themed game.
- Similar to your game cards, you can either make your Monopoly dollars by hand, using a digital tool, or by using a printable template.
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Make your player pieces. Plan to have about eight tokens for players to use that match your theme. Use pre-existing items around your house, or buy miniatures from a local toy store or online manufacturer. Alternatively, sculpt your miniature tokens out of clay or papier maché . Keep your items small, as the spaces are not very large.
- Fimo or Sculpey are two reliable and easy-to-find materials for making your own tokens.
- If you’re making a movie-themed game, for example, you could make a tiny popcorn token, movie reel, Hollywood star, and award statue. If you're making a superhero-themed game, you can use action figures as tokens.
- Don't forget that you need dice as well. If you aren't going to buy or use your own, you can make a die while sculpting your other tokens.
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Build your houses and hotels. Pick something creative but easy to recreate several times since you're going to need 32 houses and 16 hotels total to accommodate for gameplay. [6] X Research source For example, if you're making a Texas-themed game, you can make the pieces look like the Alamo and an oil rig.
- You could always repaint old Monopoly houses and hotels in different colors to match the rest of your game's color scheme.
- You can make the game more complicated by making houses and hotels of different values. For example, you could construct a regular-looking home, a skyscraper, and a castle in the same game and make each of their rent payments incrementally more expensive.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionWhat are the cards made of?Community AnswerThick paper or thin cardboard works best.
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QuestionWhat sort of board do you use?Community AnswerYou could use any of the following to make a game board from: Strong cardboard, an unwanted desktop cardboard mat, a panel off a grocery box, a piece of plywood covered in paper, etc.
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QuestionCan we do it all by hand?Community AnswerYes you can.
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Tips
- If you plan to keep your Monopoly board in a box, find an old Monopoly board box and decorate it with photos, doodles, or whatever other visuals you want to match your theme!Thanks
- If you want a customized Monopoly board but don’t want to make it from scratch, try designing and ordering a board through a company like You’re On Deck .Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- 18 by 18 inches (460 mm × 460 mm) piece of paper
- Printed Monopoly board template or old Monopoly board
- Ruler or straightedge
- Permanent markers and other art supplies
- 18 by 18 inches (460 mm × 460 mm) base made out of cardboard or an old Monopoly board
- X-Acto knife or razor blade
- Cardstock (for making cards and/or currency)
- Clay or papier mâché to make tokens (optional)
References
- ↑ https://www.monopolyland.com/how-to-make-your-own-monopoly-game/
- ↑ https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/00009.pdf
- ↑ https://www.monopolyland.com/how-to-make-your-own-monopoly-game/
- ↑ https://www.monopolyland.com/how-to-make-your-own-monopoly-game/
- ↑ https://boardsandbarley.com/2016/08/12/how-to-make-a-quad-fold-board/
- ↑ https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Monopoly_Vintage.pdf
About This Article
Article Summary
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Create your own version of Monopoly for a fun gift idea or family game nights. Start by thinking of a unique concept for your game, like basing it on the town you live in or giving it an ocean theme. Once you know what you want to base your game on, you’ll need to build the board. You can use a template, like an old Monopoly board, or you can find images of the classic design online. In addition to the board, make Chance and Community Chest cards as well as Realty cards for each of the properties. Build or repaint Monopoly houses and hotels to go on the property sites too. For money, either buy generic or replacement Monopoly money at a game store, or make your own and match it to your theme. Every player will also need a token, so sculpt or collect 8 pieces that will work for your board. To learn how to match the playing spaces on your board to your theme, keep reading!
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