Personal Project
Custom Catan Board Game
I love Catan, so I made my own set. The tiles, pieces, and box were all designed in Illustrator and made on the laser cutter and 3D printer.
- Type
- Personal project
- Tools
- Laser cutter, 3D printer
- Software
- Adobe Illustrator
- Made
- Board, pieces, box
Why Catan
Catan is one of my favorite games and I've played it more times than I can count. I wanted a set that was actually mine, something I could pull out at game night and say I made.
Designing it
Most of the time went into Illustrator. I drew the hex tiles and other flat parts as vector files sized for the laser cutter, with separate layers for cutting and engraving. The game pieces I modeled for the 3D printer.
Making it
I did a lot of test cuts. The tiles have to sit flush against each other, and the laser's kerf and the material thickness both throw off the fit a little. Once the tiles were right I printed the pieces and built a box with an insert so everything has a spot.
Looking back
This was my first big project that mixed laser cutting and 3D printing, and I got a lot faster at setting up clean files. It's also still the set I reach for whenever friends want to play.