DIY Board Games

Board games bring people together and create happy memories. But suppose you don‘t have a board game. Fear not! Just use a pen, paper, and imagination. Here are some simple games you can play at any given moment.

Battleship

How to Play:

Battleship is a game where two players try to sink other‘s ships by guessing their location.

What You Need:
Two pieces of paper (one for each player)
A pen or pencil
Setup:
Each player receives a 10×10 grid, with rows numbered (1-10) and columns lettered (A-J).
Players secretly position their ships:
1 Aircraft Carrier (5 squares)
1 Battleship (4 squares)
1 Cruiser (3 squares)
1 Submarine (3 squares)
1 Destroyer (2 squares)
Gameplay:
Players alternate calling out coordinates (e.g., “B5”).
If it hits a ship, the opponent responds with “Hit!” and places an X.
If it misses, the opponent responds with “Miss!” and places an O.
The game continues until one of a player‘s fleets is completely destroyed.

Nam Desh Ful Fol

How to Play:

It is a word game where players think of words belonging to certain categories.

What You Need:
A piece of paper
A pen or pencil
Setup:
Draw a table of four columns:
Name (Nam)
Country (Desh)
Flower (Ful)
Fruit (Fol)
Choose a random letter for the round.
Gameplay:
Players write words for each category starting with the chosen letter.
Example for “B”:
Name: Ben
Country: Brazil
Flower: Bluebell
Fruit: Banana
Scoring:
Unique answers: 10 points
Same answers: 5 points
No answer: 0 points
The highest score wins!

Hangman

How to Play:

Hangman is a word game where players try to find a hidden word.

What You Need:
A piece of paper
A pen or pencil
Setup:
One player has a word in mind and creates blank spaces for each letter.
The other player guesses letters.
Gameplay:
If the letter is in the word, fill in the correct space.
If the letter is wrong, draw a portion of the hangman.
The game is over when the word is guessed or the drawing is complete.

Tic-Tac-Toe

How to Play:

A simple two-player game where Xs and Os are marked on a grid.

What You Need:
A piece of paper
A pen or pencil
Setup:
Draw a 3×3 grid.
Players alternate writing “X” or “O” in an empty square.
Winning:
Get three marks in a row, column, or diagonal to win!
If all of the spaces are occupied with no winner, it‘s a tie.

Dots and Boxes

How to Play:

Players alternate drawing lines between dots to form boxes.

What You Need:
A sheet of paper
A pen or pencil
Setup:
Draw a grid of dots (e.g., 5×5).
Players alternate drawing a line between two dots.
When a player completes a box, they write their initials in it and then take another turn.
Winning:
The player who has the most boxes at the end of play wins!

Pictionary (Paper Version)

How to Play:

A player draws while the rest of the players guess the word.

What You Need:
Paper
Pen or pencil
Setup:
Write words or phrases on paper.
Players take turns drawing a word as others guess.
Winning:
The first to guess correctly gets a point!

Word Association

How to Play:

Players say words that are related to the word just said.

What You Need:
A piece of paper (optional for scorekeeping)
A pen or pencil
Setup:
One player says a word (e.g., “ocean”).
The following player has to say a word that is related (e.g., “waves”).
If a player says a word that has already been said or takes too long, they are out.
Winning:
The last player standing wins!

You can turn any moment into a game with just a pen and paper. Have a go at these and enjoy some easy, creative fun!