Monopoly is fun and enjoyable when played in groups. You can even create a very similar game on your own. It is much fun to do this activity.
In this post, I will discuss how to make a Monopoly-like game on your own in very simple steps and equipment. This guide is absolutely beginner friendly.
Let’s get started!
Materials you need
Things that you need to make a Monopoly board of your own are the following:
- Cardboard paper (Two)
- Pain sheet of paper
- Pen, markers, and crayons or coloring pen
- Coloring papers
- Sellotape and glues
- A pair of scissors
These materials are easily available in our homes, and if you don’t have any of them, please feel free to be creative and make the best board you can.
Things you need to Figure out
Monopoly Board Size, Material & Thickness
Monopoly Game needs precision in creating the board design.
Monopoly Board Size:
An average Monopoly Board is 20” x 20” in size.
Monopoly Board Material:
It can be made of Cardboard to give it good durability.
Monopoly Board Thickness:
It can be made thick by choosing the proper cardboard thickness of 3mm to 5mm. The design is standard as per the standard Monopoly Board.
Choosing a Theme for Your DIY Version of Your Own Monopoly Game
Before engaging yourself in board-making activities, it is a good idea to think about the game’s theme.
You can think of many themes like animals and pets, members of your family, your favorite brand, places you visited, and so on.
Right after these selections, you need to choose names for a list of streets.
For example, in the game, you will need to find names for 4 railroads, 3 greens, 2 dark blues, 3 yellows, 3 reds, 3 light blues, 3 oranges, 3 pinks, and 2 browns.
Also, you can choose names as per the US or the UK version of the game.
Choosing the Right Materials
Although the original Monopoly board is made of wood, you can use materials like cardboard and foam board to make your own Monopoly board game at home.
For the other components of the game, you can use paper for money, box boards for cards, smaller household items for tokens, and coins for houses and hotels.
Choosing whether US or UK version to make
The only difference between the US and the UK versions is the cities each game is based on. While the former is based in the Atlantic City, the latter is based in London.
Accordingly, the names of the streets each color represents are different.
Step #1: Designing the Monopoly Board
In making the board, you will need cardboard paper and plain paper. The size of the board will depend on your choice.
The larger the board, the larger will be the size of the cardboard and plain paper. The standard size of the Monopoly board is 20” x 20”.
You first need two cardboards of size 10”x20” each. Then rap it with the pain paper and paste it with glue. Do this for both the cardboards. Now stitch these two wrapped cardboards with Sellotape from behind so that you get a bigger board that can be folded.
The second step is to draw different properties on the board.
First, make 3-inch makes from the edge of the board towards the center. Now using a ruler, join the dots to make a straight line.
Repeat the process on all of the remaining three sides. Now you have a big square at the center and four small squares in each corner.
Next, draw lines 1.5 inches apart, making eight lines on each side of the board.
Alternatively, you can create the board design on your computer and take a printout to glue it on the board.
Now you have two square boxes and nine rectangular boxes on each side of the board.
After completing the design, carefully color each property using sticky note papers or colored pencils but leave the train station, chest, chance, electric, and water company without colors.
Do remember that each property should have a different color.
Next, draw space for chest and chance cards and write what they represent.
Step #2: Creating the Monopoly Money
Making money can take a lot of hard work. You can choose any currency at your convenience. The list below gives the number of pieces you will need for each denomination of money.
| Denominations | Pieces |
| 500 | 20 |
| 100 | 20 |
| 50 | 30 |
| 20 | 50 |
| 10 | 40 |
| 5 | 40 |
| 1 | 40 |
You must mark each denomination with different colors to be immediately recognizable. So go ahead, get the colored papers, and cut them.
Don’t forget to ensure that the dimensions of each of these papers are similar so that you can stack them, and you are good to go.
In addition, draw a circle at the center and write the currency and the value of the money.
By Handmade Design on Paper or Printing Using Money Template of Monopoly
You can undertake the entire activity by hand, which is more time-consuming and tedious. An alternative way is to search for Monopoly money printable templates. Then, you can print these templates and cut them into pieces. This way, you can make the process faster and less laborious.
Step #3: Creating the Community Chest and Chance cards
For community chest and chance cards, you can use paper and make them as you make money.
But if you want to differentiate money from the chest cards, use a different material, for example, the materials used in toothpaste boxes or tea boxes.
Cut them into the desired size and paste a thin piece of paper on them. Write down what each community and chest card says.
Step #4: Creating the Property Cards
For the property cards, you also need a plain piece of paper. Cut them in equal sizes or dimensions.
Remember to color each of these property cards with the color of the property it represents on the Monopoly board.
On the property cards, write down the values of buying, renting, selling, building houses, building hotels, and mortgage value.
Also make cards for the electric company, water work station, and train station. For each of these properties, you will need 26 cards, two for utilities and four for train stations.
Step #5: Creating the Tokens
A token is anything that helps you move from one point to another point on the board. You can use any small household piece as a token, for example, a small battery, an eraser cut into a cube shape, and the like.
Step #6: Creating House or Hotel
You need to use two separate items to indicate a house and a hotel. Here also, you can find some small household items to differentiate the two.
For example, you can use two coins of diverse dimensions to indicate when a player buys a house and when a player buys a hotel—a smaller coin for a house and a bigger coin for a hotel. You will need four smaller coins for the house.
Step #7: Making the Monopoly Dice
You can use the dice that come with any board game that involves rolling a die. Otherwise, you can make dice easily at home.
The step-by-step method of making a die is as follows:
- Take a plain sheet of paper
- Measure 4 cm on each side to make a square
- Make six such squares
- Measure 2 cm on each cut-out paper and fold the ends.
- Do this for all six pieces.
- Connect the six folder papers
- Number the die
Conclusion
Let’s conclude the post on making a Monopoly Like the game on your own!
This game now will be very much similar to the Monopoly Game. It is much fun to design and create it step by step.
I hope you followed the steps properly and built the game.
