Tag Archives: Board Game

Playable Go board built from LEGO

As a small child back in Japan, I used Go pieces to create serpentine roads across tatami floors for my little Tomica cars, but my family left Japan before I ever played a proper game. I still get nostalgic whenever I see Go games. Joe Miller built this fully functional 9×9 Go set completely from LEGO, using some rather complicated techniques to place the black lines on the board.

9x9 Go Board

The lines themselves are the tops of 1×2 half-panels wedged into full (3-brick high) panels, combined with some serious sideways and upside-down (SNOT) construction.

9x9 Go Board Construction

Colonel Mustard in the study with the candlestick

Ian Spacek seems to be on a roll in the ongoing 2014 MOCOlympics contest. In a round focused on board games, he chose to recreate Clue, a classic family game that has been around since the 40’s.

I love the way Ian has captured all the woody tones of the original board, as well as packing the build with many beautiful details such as the floor patterns, furniture and props. Check out MOCPages for loads of close-up photos and a chance to compare Ian’s interpretation with the original.

Lego Clue vignettes

Max Pointner recreated the classic scenarios from the board game Clue where players try to figure out the killer, the weapon, and the room of the murder scene. I like the black frames on each vignette that tie the series together. If you enjoyed these vignettes, check out more dramatized scenes of Clue by Alex Eylar.

Professor Plum, In the Conservatory, With the WrenchMrs. White, In the Kitchen, With the Lead PipeMrs. Peacock, In the Library, With the Rope

Miss Scarlett, In the Ballroom, With the CandlestickMr. Green, In the Study, With the RevolverColonel Mustard, In the Billiard Room, With the Knife

TRENCH: a board game

TRENCH is an abstract board game that features a mechanism of movement and capturing enemy pieces that reminds me of chess. LEGO Designer Marcos Bessa fell in love with the design and built it out of Lego. You can check out this video on YouTube to learn how the game works.

TRENCH®, a portuguese jewel translated into LEGO form

“You sank my battleship!”

Canada’s Adam Dodge (Dodge) brings the famous 1967 Milton Bradley board game Battleship to life with an emphasis on playability and portability. Although I was initially disappointed that the ships don’t look much like ships, I got over it, so perhaps the more critical among you will too. Adam should have considered subcontracting the ship design to Bruce Lowell. I vividly remember a game of Battleship gone wrong in the 5th grade that ended in fisticuffs and those little plastic pegs scattered everywhere. I’m pretty sure I moved my sub late in the game and got caught, although the specifics are hazy at best.

Battleship

It should also be noted that waaaaay back in June of 2012 Kristi “McWii” (customBRICKS) posted a nice compact version of the popular game.

Vintage Lego BATTLESHIP

You have been elected chairman of the board – pay each player $50

TFOL Joshua Christenson from Washington State finds inspiration from the classic board game Monopoly and its mascott Rich Uncle Pennybags. Based on a characature of financier and banker J. P. Morgan, Pennybags beckons you for another rousing game of bankrupting your opponents. Joshua has been on a roll with his scuptures lately and is clearly someone to keep an eye on in the coming years.

Pennybags

LEGO Catan?


Settlers of Catan
is, by all accounts, a rather fun German board game. LEGO is, by all accounts, a rather fun toy. So it makes sense to combine the two.

Lego Settlers of Catan Board WIP

Except Michael (suparMacho) hasn’t actually built this. He’s use SR3D builder (an LDraw editor) and POVray to render it. Aside from those people lucky enough to use LEGO’s in-house rendering tools this is the most photo-realistic LEGO render I’ve seen.

A game of chess

I can’t believe no one has thought of it earlier, because using a checkered flag for a chessboard is brilliant. Nice going Ivana Zetko!

LEGO Board Games now available in U.S. [News]

The very much anticipated LEGO Board Games are now available from the LEGO Shop online: NEW from LEGO® Shop LEGO Games. Play a new way.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, LEGO has informed us that release plans changed at the last minute and LEGO Board Games will not be released in Canada until later this year. Their release is U.S. only for the time being. Sorry, eh?

Lead Designer of LEGO Board Games Interviewed

Brett Gilbert has landed an interview with Cephas Howard, the lead designer for LEGO’s new line of board games.

“First you build your game,” says Cephas. “This creates a bond and a greater sense of ownership, immersion and understanding of the game for the kids. It also gives them the confidence to change it later on.”

“Next you play. The games all have good, solid game experiences that can be played over and over, and allow kids to have fun with their friends and family while doing so.” Cephas points out that truly social play is something that LEGO has not always offered, but that these games allow parents to be genuinely involved in LEGO play with their children.

“Then you change. Now if gets interesting!” Cephas explains that each game provides new ideas for gameplay, including not just advanced rules but also the challenge to children to get creative, albeit with the wise suggestion to try out one idea at a time so that they can see what works and hopefully learn why.

“The dice we designed sums all of this up in itself,” says Cephas. “You build it, play with it, and can change it. And it creates the element of chance in all our games which means that any player has a chance of winning a strategic game.”

Check out the full text of the interview here. Brett also has done a roundup of all the Lego Board Games. The games are currently available in the UK, but may be coming to North America in the near future.

Microfigures for the upcoming LEGO board games

LEGO has released an image of 18 microfigs for the upcoming board games to be first launched in Europe this August before hitting the rest of the world in 2010.
microfigs

Minifig? Microfig! More info about Reiner Knizia’s LEGO board game

LEGO have just passed on a series of images promoting the new series of award-winning board games, including Ramses’ Pyramid by Reiner Knizia. The microfigures are utterly adorable and the tile with stud in center should be a great piece for all builders.