Anyone who’s built up a board game collection knows there are always a few titles you don’t play anymore. Maybe you’ve outgrown them, maybe they’re missing pieces or maybe you just found something better to play. So now they’re just taking up space. You could try to give them away, or sell them, but what happens when you can’t find a willing recipient? Or perhaps you don’t want to give them away, but letting them sit on the shelf is such a waste.

This is a game jam intended to breathe new life into those unloved titles, in the vein of New Rules for Classic Games and The Board Game Remix Kit. Write new rules for old game boards. Reuse existing pieces for brand-new games.

Rules:

The game jam will run throughout spring cleaning season: late February, March and April. Submissions will end after Earth Day, April 22, 2023.

Games need to have been created between January 1, 2023 and April 22, 2023. Games created before 2023 are not allowed.

They don’t have to be board games (and given the nature of itch.io, probably shouldn’t be). You can create RPGs, LARPs, hexcrawls, journaling games – as long as the rules can be typed up and put here on the site, the game is valid. Supplements for existing RPGs that borrow components from old board games are also good.

Required components should be clearly stated on the project page, before someone purchases/downloads your game.

No new components can be created; this mainly means cards but if you were thinking of whipping something up on a 3D printer, don’t. The idea is to reduce the amount of plastic in the world and making new stuff misses the point.

New uses for collectable/trading card games are eligible too.

While new uses for specialized components is ideal, it’s okay to create games that use more generic, standard components like:

• French-suited cards
• Tarot cards
• Lotería cards
• Chess pieces
• Checkers
• Dominoes
• Go stones
• Scrabble tiles
• Jacks
• Marbles
• Jenga blocks
• Icehouse pyramids
• Pogs

Some examples for inspiration:

Standard 52-card deck

• ghostbox, an epistolary game by Marx Shepherd
• Playing Card RPG by Jonas Halver
• Rawdeal - The Playing Card RPG by Derek Mayne
• Skittles: a two player card game by discountcompost
• Tyrants by Phillip Corrado

Tarot cards

• Dungeons of Divination by Reza James Ahmed
• Fortunes by Eternity Games
• Tarot Hell by GnomeKing

Chess

• The Chess Player, a story game by Nora Katz

Catan

• The City; Crescive by Tim Barribeau

Jenga

• Dread by Epidiah Ravachol
• A Game That Will Force You to Stop Procrastinating Your Gender Crisis by Jack Blair
• Go Alone by Chris Bissette
• Star Crossed by Bully Pulpit Games
• This Game Takes Place in Dracula's Castle by Jack Blair (also playing cards)
• This Game Takes Place in Your Home Town by Jack Blair (also playing cards)
• This Game Takes Place Within the Bounds of our Demonic Contract by Jack Blair (also tarot)

Monopoly

• 12-Handed Monopoly, a LARP by Eleonor Estragon
• Communist Monopoly by Max H
• d20 Monopoly by Navaar Jackson
• Grandpa Monopoly by falseflorimell
• Go Directly to Jail / Prison Break! by Typhos Games

Risk + Monopoly

• Riskopoly by kjsuarez and Amanda Rivera Stahlschmidt
• Capitalism by R25th

Scrabble

• DROWWORD by Ursidice
• Lyric Scrabble, an anthology by Hy Libre
• The What Did What? by FriendlyScotsman

Other games:

• Bodyworks, by Speak the Sky, a remix/mashup of Operation and playing cards
• ghostMix, my own epistolary game based on ghostbox that uses cards from DropMix
• HeroClix players have found that the Electronic Mall Madness board is perfect for battles
• TATTOO by SPC, a party-game/RPG remix of Taboo