![[Craft] Handmade Ideas for The Game of Life [DIY]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/mJ83kCWx38k/maxresdefault.webp)
[Craft] Handmade Ideas for The Game of Life [DIY]
Becoming ridiculously wealthy, getting hit by unbelievable misfortune, and riding the emotional rollercoaster of each dice roll—that’s the Game of Life.
Some of you have probably played it with friends or with family over New Year’s.
What’s fun is being able to simulate a life you could never imagine for yourself right now.
In this article, I’ve put together some ideas for making your own Game of Life!
It’s not just about playing—it’s about enjoying the fun of creating, too.
Perfect for spending time at home!
[Craft] Handmade Ideas for The Game of Life [DIY]
The Happy Game of Life
When you think of The Game of Life, it’s not all good things—major troubles can happen and you can end up buried in debt, right? That’s exactly what adds suspense and makes the game exciting.
But this time, let’s deliberately leave out those unfortunate events and fill the spaces only with happy ones! It’ll be a new type of Game of Life where you never feel bad while playing.
It’s hard to rank happy events, but to determine the final winner, let’s set rewards according to the scale of each event.
Milk Carton Dice Life Game
Here’s an idea: not only make the spaces for the Game of Life board, but also create your own dice.
For the dice, open up a milk carton, cut out the net, and assemble it.
Once you’ve cut it according to the template, draw the pips, then use tape to put it together.
For the Game of Life board, draw a course from Start to Goal on a large sheet of paper like construction paper, and write an event in each space.
To keep everyone engaged, fill it with original, creative events.
Attack on Titan Life Game
https://x.com/larugo23/status/1629840285395202049Let’s try making a Game of Life themed around the hugely popular Attack on Titan.
Instead of the usual occupation cards, create Corps Cards listing the military units from the series, and fill each space’s events with elements related to the story.
You could also divide and decorate the course from start to finish with areas inspired by the Walls and districts to make it even more polished.
It would be fun just to chat with fellow fans about which parts of the original work to incorporate into the game!
Giant Real-Life Game of Life
Instead of playing on a board, as its name suggests, the Real Life Game of Life is played in the real world.
In a large room, you create the game’s spaces using items like interlocking mats, then spin a roulette or roll dice, and the players actually walk along the spaces to progress through the game.
You can, of course, decide the content of each space yourselves; if you freely create job cards and design original money to use in the game, it’ll be fun right from the making stage! Preparing costumes to match the professions will make it even more exciting.
Tokyo Revengers Life Game
https://x.com/seiryu_617/status/1663130603171250177How about creating an original Game of Life inspired by your favorite anime or manga? This one is based on Tokyo Revengers, with spaces labeled with events tied to the story, such as “Time Leap,” “Revenge,” and “Gang Conflict.” It could be even more exciting if you set detailed rules, like having the course of the game change depending on which character a player chooses at the start.
Definitely try getting together with fellow Tokyo Revengers fans to make one!
Otaku Life Game
The “Otaku Life Game,” reportedly devised by a former idol, is a Life board game themed around fans who devote themselves (and their money) to their favorite idols or voice actors.
In a normal Life game, the winner is the person who reaches the goal with the most money or assets.
But in this Otaku Life Game, the winner is the person who has poured the most into their oshi—that is, the one with the smallest amount of money left or even the biggest debt.
Let’s come up with and create event spaces that fellow otaku can truly relate to!
Life Experience Story Game
This is a sugoroku-style game that progresses based on experiences from your life—called the Life Experience Game.
First, each player writes major events from their life or amusing, shareable anecdotes on sticky notes.
Next, the players arrange all the sticky notes in order; these become the spaces used on the game board.
To play, you spin a roulette, move your piece, and when you land on a space, the person who wrote that episode introduces it.
It’s a game that lets you learn about each other’s unknown stories—big incidents, turning points in life, and funny episodes from the past.
Boys Planet Life Game
https://x.com/mi_97_yu/status/1757053165328048172This is a Game of Life themed around the Korean audition program “BOYS PLANET,” which produced ZEROBASEONE.
Players join the game as aspiring idols participating in the audition, and aim for the ultimate goal of debuting by going through tests, battles, and missions.
In the end, what you compete for isn’t money, but the number of fans.
Beyond “BOYS PLANET,” it sounds fun to create Game of Life versions themed around other audition programs too!
Pachinko Writer Life Game
The Pachinko Writer Life Game created by Sayaka, a pachinko writer, was even featured in a magazine.
In the game, players become pachinko writers and aim to reach the goal from the start.
There are tons of realistically conceived event spaces from a pachinko writer’s perspective—like deciding which magazine you’ll belong to, buying the computer you need as a writer, winning at pachinko, and more.
Be sure to use the original Pachinko Writer Life Game as a reference and come up with your own variety of events!
YouTuber Life Game
Here’s an idea to create a Game of Life themed around being a YouTuber.
Use construction paper or a sketchbook to draw the spaces from start to goal, and fill each space with YouTuber-style events.
For example: “Hit 10,000 subscribers,” “Channel gets banned,” “Get canceled over a prank video,” and so on—it’s fun to brainstorm lots of possibilities! Also, in the regular Game of Life you choose a profession, but in the YouTuber Life Game, it would be great to decide what kind of YouTuber you are—like a product-review YouTuber, a gaming YouTuber, or a prank/controversial YouTuber—and proceed with the game based on that.
In conclusion
I think many of the ideas incorporated things you love—like anime and idols—as motifs. When making that kind of Game of Life, I recommend doing it with people who share your interests! While you’re creating it, the conversations will blossom, and that in itself becomes a fun time. I hope you create a Game of Life that becomes a lasting memory!