Board games are classic. Board game themed parties… slightly less common. When I chose the theme of “board games” for our adult Halloween party a few ideas instantly came to mind. Decorating with board game pieces and cards, dressing up as board game characters or symbols, and having classic childhood favorite games sitting around to play. All those ideas are great and I did them. But that was only the beginning!
I created a Pirate-Themed Board Game including trivia spaces and activity spaces for six mini games.
Want to jump straight to the mini games? Here you go!
- Stacking with Hooks (coin stacking challenge)
- Bail Me Out (clear your boat of balls)
- Feeding Frenzy (catch goldfish in your mouth)
- En Garde (pool noodle sword fight)
- Pick Yer Poison (blind taste test)
- Thar She Blows (racing boats with your own breath)
Curious how I made my own board game? Keep reading!
In my head I envisioned a person-sized, whole-house-filling, board game where each person was their own pawn, moving from room to room. This sounds really cool, right?
But what happens when you need to refill your drink or get snacks?
What happens when the person who is taking their turn is two rooms away and you can’t hear anything?
Will someone be left standing in the bathroom not sure if we are even still playing?
Yeah, awkward!
Sadly, I abandoned the idea for an enormous board game and focused on something more manageable. Something that could fit on a table!
Board Game – Game Style
If you are thinking of creating your own board game, there is a lot to consider:
- What is the main objective of the game? Get to the end first, have the most coins, collect a bunch of objects, etc.
- How much of the game is based on luck vs strategy? Is it a roll of the dice or playing specific cards?
- How long will it take to play?
- Will people compete individually or in teams?
- How much time between turns? Do people need to pay attention when it isn’t their turn?
- Are there any trivia questions (like Trivial Pursuit) or something to act out/make (like Cranium)?
I’m sure there are other factors too. For me, the answers were: get to the end first, mostly luck, 60-90 minutes, playing in teams of two, entertaining to watch when it isn’t your turn (it’s a main tip I plan by!), yes to trivia and yes to activities! Why were these my answers? Because I know my audience!
Board Game – Theme
Early on I picked the theme of Pirates! I wanted the theme to have a lot of options for imagery, trivia, movie references, and have readily available decorations and props. I brainstormed a lot of options for board layouts that worked with different objectives, but a simple path was my final choice.
Board Game – Board and Pawns
In order to figure out how long the path needed to be (i.e., how many spaces), I found a really elegant formula to calculate how many turns it will take, on average, to finish a board game based on dice rolls/wheel spins.
I planned to use a spinner with the numbers 1-6. If I had 24 spaces, and 6 was the most spaces to move in a single turn, on average, a player would get 6-7 turns. This calculation is an interpretation of a mathematical random walk where it’s assumed you can only move forward #funfact!
(2 x number of spaces) / (highest roll + 1) = average turns to the end
The “pawns” for the game were small wood treasure chests. During the game, players earned coins and gems to keep in the treasure chest. This allowed us to keep playing for “total treasure” even when one team reached the end.
These chests and coins also came in handy for my son’s Pirate-themed Birthday party.
My husband made a large spinner to use instead of dice. The spinner had six sections that matched in color to the six team colors. In addition to the number indicating how many spaces to move, the colors identify what team would challenge the players in an activity. We have reused this spinner many, many times – including during our Cinco de Mayo Activities!
How to Play the Board Game
Trivia Spaces
During the game, a team spun the wheel and moved the indicated number of spaces. If they landed on a trivia space they answered a pirate-themed question. The questions were about famous pirates, pirate movies, sharks, islands, parrots, sword fighting, etc. All questions were multiple choice.
Print the trivia questions double sided so the answers will be on the back of the card in small font.
Activity Spaces
When a team landed on an activity space, a mini game was randomly picked. Then, they spun the spinner to identify which team would compete against them. This gave the opportunity for the opposing team to steal the treasure if they won. Teams earned 10 coins (or 2 gems) for each win.
Board Game Mini Games
Stacking with Hooks
With pirate hooks on both hands, how many pirate coins can you stack in one minute? The pirate coins were 3D printed and are very thick to make it slightly easier to pick up with the hooks.
Bail Me Out
The goal of this game is to have the fewest ping pong balls in your boat (aka cardboard box) at the end of one minute. As you bail the balls out of the boat, they go to the top of the large plinko board. After falling to the bottom, the balls fall back into the boats.
My husband made the plinko board from a six foot peg board. He added a ramp to the bottom to send the balls to either side of the bottom.
Feeding Frenzy
I found these shark head cardboard cutouts intended to be photo props. I saw these and said “oh I can make a game out of that!” Team partners stand on either side of a table. One player puts their head in the shark mouth and the other player has a bowl of goldfish to throw at their partner. Then the “shark” player attempts to catch as many goldfish as they can in their mouth.
This game seems simple, but it gets difficult to catch goldfish while laughing!
En Garde
One person from each team gets a pirate coin to balance on one hand. In the other hand is a pool noodle. Players use the pool noodles to “sword” fight and try to knock the coin off their opponent’s hand. When the coin is knocked off, that player loses.
These pirate coins are 3D printed.
Pick Yer Poison
Definitely not poison, this blind taste test used Halloween candy and cereal. Each player receives a sample of the different foods and then attempts to identify what food it is. The team with the most correct guesses wins. It was particularly entertaining to watch blindfolded couples argue about whether a Baby Ruth has nuts in it or not!
The rounds were divided into chocolate candy, non-chocolate candy, and cereal.
Thar She Blows
This is a boat race between two players. Using a straw, blow your boat to the end of the line. Working with what I had available, I made the boats from Lego Duplos – a train piece and sail.
How Did It Go?
I had a lot of fun designing this board game and figuring out all the logistics. The mini games were really successful and there was a lot of variety in them. Overall there were a lot of laughs, embarrassing videos, and good times!
In the years after this party, I have reused a lot of components! The ping pong balls, treasure chests, coins and gems, pirate hooks, and other decorations have been used for a variety of parties or home projects. That is why avoiding characters and working with what you have are two of my main planning tips!
