Build Game Box is a game-design-in-a-box with everything you need to guide your homeschool student from tabletop to digital game design. Each kit includes curated game tokens, featured game mechanics, a blank board and box for design, customizable game pieces, print instructions, and a QR code to digital tools and templates. Start with a single box or continue their learning journey with our bi-monthly subscription.
Create original game ideas together using tabletop items and digital tools. Playtest games with family using our step-by-step game testing guide and help them level up their game collection. Learn and combine new game design mechanics each month to create endless games and build a home-grown game library!
Build Game Box is here to propel your homeschooler into game design
Starting with tabletop game design is accessible, fast, and fun and enables students of all abilities to jump right in and explore at their own pace within your homeschool setting. Leveled boxes move from tabletop to digital game design, showcasing a broad range of the game design process. Boxes include print instructions with pro tips and access to demos and digital game platforms for publishing games. Custom selected game parts are made from high-quality materials to introduce featured game mechanics and design processes through hands-on materials.
Benefits for Homeschoolers
Hands-On Learning: We believe in learning by doing. Build Game Boxes start with tabletop game design and tangible objects, providing a concrete foundation for understanding abstract technical concepts. This hands-on approach transforms these concepts into real experiences, fostering a deeper comprehension of various subjects, including math, science, and design principles.
Personalized Learning: Homeschooling allows for a tailored approach, and Build Game Box enhances this by enabling your child to create games that align with their individual interests, pace, and learning styles. It seamlessly integrates into your homeschool curriculum, offering a personalized learning journey.
Social Learning: Our Party Boxes are specifically designed to encourage collaboration among friends and family. Each box includes ample pieces and a group guide, making it perfect for collaborative game creation. This fosters fun, teamwork, and the development of communication and collaboration skills, essential for all designers and life in general.
Extends into Digital: Recognizing the importance of digital literacy, Build Game Box encourages the creative exploration of digital game tools. This extension into the digital realm enhances learning in areas such as game coding, playtesting, and publishing. Our digital partner, GDevelop, a browser-based and free platform, serves as our featured digital game-making tool, further enhancing the accessibility of digital game design.
Build games at your homeschooler’s own level
Explore game design with our Starter Game Box to create your own tabletop game as soon as you open the box! Get inspired by classic board game formats and start by customizing game meeples, a board, and a box. Playtest games with family using our step-by-step game testing guide. Starter Boxes are offered at levels to introduce game design fundamentals and gradually introduce digital game design programs and processes.
Level up through single game boxes or bi-monthly Game Box Subscription that is delivered to your door every 2 months. Get all the parts to level up from tabletop to digital game designs. After you design, playtest games with family using our step-by-step game testing guide and start leveling up!
Leveled boxes for Homeschoolers of all experience levels
Boxes level up through tabletop and digital game design to introduce game design gradually box by box.
Jump into game design with LEVEL 1 Build Game Box to get inspired by classic board games and start by customizing your game meeples, board and box. Ease into game design with tabletop design with:
- One featured mechanic
- Step-by-step guide to create a tabletop game
- Brainstorm and playtesting guides
Go further with LEVEL 2 Build Game Box to prototype your own tabletop game and digital companion tool today! Create board game prototypes and explore multiple game mechanics along with digital demos and tools to explore
- Multiple featured tabletop mechanics to design
- Explore digital design via featured game tool
- Digital demos and sample code
Advance into digital with LEVEL 3 Build Game Box to create both tabletop and digital versions of games today! Concepts bridge board game mechanics and digital game features and enables bridging into digital concepts and tools. Help homeschoolers realize their game visions in a tabletop prototype and then recreate their level in digital format.
- More complex game mechanic combos with digital companions
- Step-by-step guide to recreating designs in GDevelop
- Featured digital demos
Publishing your first game has never been easier with the guided steps of Build Game Box.
Learners of all ages love game making, and we are packaging up the fun into curated creative boxes so they can build their collection of games for family game night. Boxes feature brainstorm activities and real game design processes used by our game industry veteran founders. Each box is paired with print and digital step-by-step instruction guides refined in the classroom over the last two decades.
Students in your homeschool now have an opportunity to roll their sleeves up and explore, prototype, and publish desktop and digital games.
The heart of Build Game Box is the opportunity for you and your homeschooler to create original game ideas together, using both tangible tabletop items and engaging digital tools. This collaborative process not only strengthens your bond but also immerses your student in a comprehensive learning experience.
Each box includes a step-by-step game testing guide, encouraging playtesting within the family, which is crucial for refining game mechanics and overall enjoyment. As you progress through the boxes, your homeschooler will learn and combine new game design mechanics, leading to the creation of countless unique games and the development of a home-grown game library that you can all cherish.
Find digital demos, videos, tools and pro tips for a range of game making needs. Sample code and access to featured games models approach and code architecture for novice engineers, while open ended project directions enable creative exploration for all ability levels.
Our Values
Playful learning: lead with creative and ease into programming, use tabletop game concepts to ease into digital game design
Promote growth mindset: engage kids through challenges, obstacles, effort, and opportunities for success
Low floors/wide walls: provide low barrier to entry and multiple pathways into game design
Scaffolding not recipes: enable exploration of game mechanics without rigid success criteria
Creative: encourage breadth of ideas and inspiration
Hands-on: take action, jump right into creating, build game concept prototypes now and iterate
Play nice: assume best intent of design partners and game players to create a playful environment for others