Introduction: Harry Potter Monopoly
Admittedly, I don't have the time to write extremely detailed instructions for this guide. However, as a means to share my files and ideas, this is the best I can do. If you have questions, you can post here and I will try to answer, but the files included in the zip folder and uploaded here should be just about everything you need to recreate the game I made.
I highly recommend to buy a game of Monopoly that is in reasonable condition second hand. I got mine from Value Village for less than $10. This will save you from having to buy chipboard yourself which can be very difficult to work with. If you do buy a game, the most important thing is to MEASURE AND SCALE THE IMAGES. Not all games are equal in size and it is easy to have things not line up.
Attachments
Step 1: Downloading Programs (optional)
To freely manipulate and print all the materials yourself, you will need:
Before downloading anything, you first need to decide if you are happy with the cards I made or if you want to create your own. If you want to make changes you will need additional software to manipulate the files.
A pdf viewer: https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/
The GIMP image editor https://www.gimp.org/downloads/ (for editing xcf files or for exporting the xcf file into photoshop)
Google Sketchup (or other 3D modelling software) https://www.sketchup.com/download (for castle)
Step 2: Downloading Files
Attached are all the files you will need to create the game. Download them all here and the next steps will go into how to use them.
Step 3: Printing Files
The attached PDFs have card fronts and card backs. Pay attention to which pages you are printing.
As stated in the intro, measure the files according to the game box and board you will be using. The files are approximate and likely not scaled properly. Be warned.
When I did this, I had Staples print the cards for me double sided on glossy paper. Even though the files are perfectly balanced, the printing will be slightly off. I recommend printing all the potions, spells, and title deeds on card stock paper NOT double sided and then bind them together (details in step 4)
To print the main board, having a company like Staples print the page for you will give the best results.
For the money, the easiest way is to get coloured paper (not construction paper) and print the png files directly onto the paper. The money images are only one slip of money, so you will need to use something like Microsoft Word and copy and paste the file to have it print multiple slips per page.
Step 4: Putting the Files Together
Once everything is printed, use a ruler and xacto knife to cut out the cards around the borders.
If you opted not to print double sided, I recommend either using mod podge to glue them together or alternately, you can "laminate" the cards together with packing tape on either side after glue sticking the backs together.
Either option works well and it just depends on the final look you want to have.
For the main board, cut out the printed image you got from Staples and glue it to your monopoly board starting with the MIDDLE and then pressing outwards toward the edge.
Step 5: Game Pieces
For the game pieces, I went to a local craft store and bought some Sculpey clay which I molded into my own game pieces, baked, and then painted with acrylic paint. This was actually the most fun I had with the project and highly recommend you use this step to make the game your own. I couldn't get the flying car, Hedwig, or whomping willow to turn out, but there are tons of other ideas. Sculpey only hardens when baked in an oven, and so you can freely experiment as much as you want.
Of course, you can also just opt to print out pictures, and glue them to cut-in-half popsicle sticks that you hot glue onto cardboard circles.
Step 6: Houses and Castles
I spray painted the game houses I bought with my monopoly game gold, and had a friend with a 3D printer print the castles from the stl file. If you do not have cheap access to a 3d printer, consider sculpting them out of clay or else just using the hotels included with the game.
Step 7: Game Box
By far the hardest part of this project was customizing the game box. I actually made a mistake in my measuring and had to cut apart the image into pieces which I then glued to the box in pieces. I also attempted to make my own game box, but this was a mistake. You would be far better off scaling the image to fit overtop of the Monopoly game box you bought yourself.
What does work is taking beige coloured wrapping paper and covering the outside edges of the box. Board Game geek has excellent tutorials for this.