The Ultimate Gift
This past November, the BF and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. I often struggle with what to get my man because anything he wants he can buy himself. So instead of thinking about what to buy him, I try to think about what to make him. And thanks to a coworkers of mine, I had the perfect gift idea in mind.
A few months earlier, my coworker had shown me a game she made using photographs her friend had taken. She had the board and pieces and box customized and created using the website TheGameCrafter.com. When she showed me, I knew I had to try to make something with the help of this website. I should note that my coworker is a graphic designer so her creative skills are next level compared to mine. Still, I figured it’s the thought that counts, right?
Instead of making up a new game from scratch, I thought I’d make a duplicate of the BF’s favorite board game. Problem is, his favorite game is Battlestar Galactica, which comes with a bajillion pieces. I just didn’t have the patience or time to make everything so I instead decided to make a ‘personalized expansion pack’ of sorts. I ended up designing the game board, the aircraft pieces, and the character cards. The website says you aren’t supposed to use celebrities or copyright characters so I made characters in the like of famous folks. I chose actors, athletes, and characters that the BF likes (and that would be pretty fun to draw).
To create the game pieces, you get templates from the Game Crafter website. Then, you use a program like Photoshop to create the final product. My coworker helped me buy online photos to use for the game board and pieces. She also let me borrow her Wacom drawing tablet to draw the cartoon characters (this was my favorite part of the game creation by the way). After your images are created, you upload them to the Game Crafter site and they print, laser-cut, and send you the pieces. The waiting period from ordering to receiving the pieces was about 3 weeks and because I was under a time crunch, I ended up splurging on shipping fees. I think I paid about $40 to make the game (another another $50+ on shipping).
Here’s what the final product turned out to look like:
I’m super happy with the results! The BF loved it. If you ever want to create something truly customized for your mate or kid or friend, consider this as an option! You can create anything—your own Codenames pictures pack or a co-op, super complex role-based board game from scratch. I can’t recommend it enough!
My coworker was super helpful in the process and the support of my friends and family gave me confidence to finish it even though there were times I doubted that I could get it done. Thanks, everyone!
