So, I’ve been tinkering with a little project lately, a horse board game. Yeah, sounds a bit old-fashioned, right? But sometimes you just get an itch to make something with your own hands, away from all the screens.
Getting Started
It all began when I was clearing out the attic, found a dusty old board game, and it just sparked something. I thought, “Hey, I could make one of these, but simpler, you know?” I wasn’t aiming for anything fancy, just a bit of fun. My first step, as always, was to just grab what I had lying around. An old cardboard box became my canvas. I wasn’t about to go out and buy special supplies, not for this little experiment.
I sketched out a track. Just a basic oval, really. Then I thought, “Horses, I need horses.” I remembered having a bunch of old buttons in a tin. Perfect! Different colors, different sizes – each one could be a unique steed. For movement, a simple die from another game would do the trick.
Figuring Out the Rules (The Tricky Part)
Now, the rules. I wanted it to be straightforward. Roll the die, move your horse. But that felt a bit too plain. So, I started thinking about adding some spice. Maybe a few “penalty” squares, like “Horse stumbles, miss a turn.” And some “bonus” squares, “Sudden burst of speed, move forward 3 extra spaces.”
I jotted these down on a piece of scrap paper. It looked something like this initially:
- Roll a six-sided die to move.
- Land on Red: Go back 2 spaces.
- Land on Green: Move forward 2 spaces.
- First to the finish line wins.
Pretty basic, I know. But you gotta start somewhere, right?
The First (Awkward) Playthrough
So, I set up my little cardboard track, lined up my button horses, and gave it a whirl. Just me, playing all four horses. And let me tell you, it was… okay. A bit clunky. One horse just shot ahead because of lucky rolls and green squares, while another poor button just kept hitting red. Not much of a race, more like a slow, predictable crawl for some. It wasn’t quite the exciting derby I’d pictured in my head.
I realized the track was too short, or maybe the bonuses and penalties were too impactful. It needed tweaking. Lots of tweaking.
Back to the Drawing Board (Literally)
This is the part of any project I actually enjoy, the problem-solving. I grabbed my marker again. I made the track longer, adding more twists and turns. I changed some of the special squares. Instead of just “go back 2,” I made one “Take a shortcut!” and another “Muddy track, roll again but only move half.” I even added a rule where if you roll a double, you get another turn. Small changes, but I hoped they’d make a difference.
I must have played through it myself another half-dozen times, adjusting things each time. Sometimes I’d forget a rule I’d just made up, so I made sure to write them down more clearly. It’s funny how your brain works, or doesn’t, when you’re trying to keep track of your own creations.
The “Good Enough” Version
After a few evenings of fiddling, I got it to a point where it felt pretty good. The races were more unpredictable, there were some actual moments of “Oh no!” and “Yes!” It’s still nothing revolutionary, mind you. It’s a simple cardboard track with button horses. But there’s a certain satisfaction in making something, no matter how small, and seeing it work. It’s a nice little game to pull out for a quick distraction.
I even got my neighbor’s kid to try it, and he actually seemed to enjoy it, which was a good sign. He even suggested a “Mystery square” which I thought was a brilliant idea. So, yeah, it’s still evolving, I guess. That’s the fun of these little home-brew projects. They don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be yours.
