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Nicole Simeone
Star Wars Checkers
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Games. We don't need no stinking games. Wait. Yes we do!
Themed parties are always going to be in vogue. And I’m not talking kids parties. Adults want to have fun too. With its resurgence in movie theaters, Star Wars is going to be a popular choice for parties whether it’s for a ten-year-old or a forty-year-old. Food and beverages are the first things on everyone’s mind, but what about entertainment?
Yes, there are several games you can purchase or that you may already own. Those games might not strike everyone’s fancy. Or time constraints. Playing pin the arm on C3P0 probably won’t keep everyone’s attention either and will only be amusing for so long.
Instead, let’s rebrand a game that is easy enough for your youngest guest and enjoyable for your oldest. Here, we are going to give Chinese Checkers a makeover.
For those of you who are not crafting inclined, the majority of the game building is very accessible. I did use tools like Clip Studio Paint and a Cricut. These probably aren’t lying around your house. But they don’t have to be. Stick with me on this. Decals/stickers can be purchased, friends can be enlisted and let’s not forget about the reliable pencil and ruler.
Pieces
The marbles used as pieces in the traditional game were the first thing to be changed. If it’s going to be a Star Wars game, it needs to scream Star Wars. Marbles don’t do that. The pieces in this edited version are re-purposed figurines put out by Disney in movie-themed sets.
I did not go with the traditional number of pieces to clip the playing time down a bit. There are four characters per team in my version of the game.
As a note, these do run around $20-25 per set, so if you are looking to do this on the cheaper side of things, other items can be used as pieces. If you are an owner of the X-Wing game, you could re-appropriate those game pieces. Or you could get out the drawing supplies and draw out Rebel and Empire symbols and color them in different colors.
Board
The base for the game board is foam board covered on one side by a spacescape poster board. I used spray adhesive on the foam board and then lay the poster board on top. Poster and foam boards are not sold in the same dimensions.
Gluing the two together first made it easier to trim the excess.
I created six different planets with the help of Clip Studio Paint, formerly Manga Studio. These will replace the color-coded starting bases from the original game and help sell the Star Wars look and feel. Once I was done with the look of the planets, I saved the individual files as png type files. This allowed me to upload the images into the Cricut Design software and have my Cricut Air do the precision cutting.
If you are looking to adjust this project to a lower craft setting, decals and stickers could easily stand in place of what I did. Anyone with a Cricut at their disposal can boost the look of the board by purchasing the Nostalgic Cards cartridge to add X-Wings, TIE Fighters and, of course, the Millennium Falcon.
For the playing grid, I fired up Clip Studio Paint again. The Grid and Snap to Grid functions facilitated the drawing of straight lines with the line feature. The circles at each intersection are not required, I just thought it would be a good thing to add. Just like the planets, I saved the file as a png and uploaded it into the Cricut Design Space for cutting. Unlike the planets, the size of the image necessitated the largest cutting mat (12″ x24″) and for the image to be sliced in half. Because I do not live near enough to a Super Joanns, I purchased two white pieces of poster board and cut them to fit the mat.
If you do not have access to a Cricut or like product, the same grid can be marked out and cut onto poster board the old fashioned way with a ruler and razor blade/X-acto knife. I’d recommend working out the grid with graph paper first, even using it as a template to tape down on to the final product as a guide.
Game Play
I didn’t stray from the standard rules. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
And there you have it. A game no one else will have at their Star Wars party. See you in a galaxy far, far away.