DIY Games Night Ideas

Hosting a game night is a great way to spend time with friends, blow off some steam, and channel your competitive streak. There are a million different ways you can do this, including playing remotely online whilst you converse via voice chat, inviting your pals round for an evening of board games, or crowding around your TV whilst you take turns on your PlayStation.

If you’re buying new board games or procuring new PlayStation titles, a night of gaming could quickly add up. But it needn’t break the bank as there are plenty of cheap and free alternatives that will allow you to have just as much fun.

A simple deck of cards will set you back less than the cost of a coffee but could serve up hours of entertainment. Alternatively, you can dip into your back catalogue of board or video games and enjoy some retro entertainment.

Or, if you’re feeling creative and crafty, here are some ideas for making a DIY games night.

Make Your Own Roulette Wheel

Many people enjoy a night out at a casino. The mix of entertainment options, the chance to have a flutter, and the opportunity to spend quality time with friends are key draws that casinos have.

One of the most popular casino games is roulette. This centuries-old favourite is easy to pick up but offers a lifetime of entertainment for players who want to try different strategies. Those who like to play online also enjoy the different variants of roulette like standard, American, and high roller versions that, through their small rule variations, change up the dynamics of the game and present new challenges.

You can play any of these versions at home with a DIY roulette wheel. The easiest solution is to make a vertical wheel with an arrow out of cardboard, similar to what you might have seen on TV game shows like The Price is Right. Alternatively, if you’re feeling more handy, you can use a fidget spinner to create a more realistic-looking version.

DIY Board Games

Board games are one of the oldest forms of entertainment with examples being found in almost every recorded human civilisation.

There are three ways you can make your own board game at home, the first is to recreate an existing game using DIY methods. There are plenty of ideas for this, including using black and white Lego pieces to create a chess or draughts set or printing out photos of your friends to create a personalised Guess Who game.

There are also plenty of printable games you can find online. For example, Unfair, which is a theme park-building card game, can be downloaded and printed for free from the official website. They offer it as a try-before-you-buy promotion, but there is nothing physically or legally stopping you from using it as it is.

The third way you can make board games at home is to use your imagination. With some craft material, you can design and make your own board and pieces. If you’re going to do this, be sure to write some official rules to avoid any confusion or arguments during your game night.

It’s also a good idea to do a few run-throughs ahead of your game night to iron out any kinks and squash any bugs in the board and the rules.

3D Printed Dice

3D printing works in a similar way to crocheting, with a mechanical arm building up layer after layer. Just a few years ago, it was touted as the next big technology revolution with promises that we would all soon have our own 3D printer and would make most of our consumer goods at home.

This turned out to be far from the case, but there are plenty of fun ways anyone with the know-how can use a 3D printer for a fun DIY games night.

If you’re planning an evening of dice games like Dungeons and Dragons or you’ve built your own board game, why not take the DIY element to the next level and 3D print your own dice?

There are plenty of template files online that you can use to create each die and you can hand-paint the numbers or images, if you prefer.