Goats Vs Llamas - a Crazy Monumental 3D Board Game With 3D Printing

BOARD-GAMES FOR BUDDING DIY PROS

Goats vs Llamas is a 3D board game that you can re-fresh, re-mix, and re-built yourself, or better still, with your budding DIY enthusiasts in the family. You can re-configure it over 1024 ways! If this sounds like a great way to get your family engaged in a new way, read on...

LEVEL-UP YOUR BOARDGAMES!

Goats and Llamas is a one-of-a-kind Board Game, where you get to build a giant pyramid-shaped game board, with 4 levels to climb up - to reach the prize - the Golden Underpants (Every Goats and Llama's dream reward)! The Board is made by recycling your cardboard delivery boxes, with the graphics printed on your home printer, (and the game pieces are 3D Printable). If you don't have a 3D printer, no worries - we've also got you some paper/card game pieces you can easily make also!

BUILDING ON A CLASSIC

The game is easy to get started - you can simply think of it like a 3D upgrade to the classic 'Snakes and Ladders' - but with silly animals which get into battles, and you have to do silly things to gain favour with the capricious gods of this ancient civilisation. However, for more experienced gamers - there is dizzying complexity which can be added to your taste - each level can be randomised, and the routes up can be reconfigured to be highly tactical. By our count there are over 1024 different ways to arrange the board, and at least 360 different routes to ascend the 4 levels with user-placed Jumpy Stones.

3D FOR THE INTREPID ADVENTURER!

In case you were wondering if this could all be done on a flat board, aside from this being less epic, it would also deny one of the most thrilling and skilful aspects of the gameplay - Judgement Stones - these ominous runes are placed high at the temple, but could come crashing down on an unsuspecting Goat or Llama.

As you ascend the slopes you will also find Loot Crates to dig up, which may contain golden treasure to adorn your fabulous self, but these crates may also contain cursed artefacts and even explosive - beware, the road to enlightenment may be safer without such material trappings, but that necklace may save your fur in a battle with another animal, so it is a risk you must weight carefully on the path to glory.

FAMILY FUN - MAKING & PLAYING GAMES TOGETHER

So we hope you not only enjoy playing this game, (and with some luck you'll get your friends to wear some pants on their head), but to also enjoy the experience of making a game as a family. The project is open source, which means we encourage you (and others) to remix and reimagine the game, and create new characters, artefacts and rules! Mark and Jude have also tasked their young sons to develop their own cards and rules, which has truly been the 'best bit' for them as dads...we hope what you download is just the start, and you truly 'make it your own' family game!

BUILD, PLAY, RE-MIX & RE-PLAY...

Jude and Mark have both worked in the toy and game industry, for big names like LEGO, Hasbro and Spin Master - and originally designed this game for an industry pitch (MOJO Pitch), with Jude taking a lead on the 3D stuff, and Mark taking a lead on the graphics.

Although it was met with praise for its originality and flare - described by one notable game guru as "One of the Games / Best Sizzle Reels I've seen at this entire event!", but it was considered just a bit too expensive to produce (as it has a lot of intricate parts). Despite this door closing, Mark and Jude both observed their respective sons were still loving the game so much (even if technically unfinished), it dawned on them how much fun it had been making this with their family, and playing the early prototypes, and how this left a lot of questions about what it means to expand the experience of boardgames beyond playing, to making, playing, and remixing for a new game next time...so why not finish the job, and make it available to everyone to build, play and remix Goats vs Llamas for themselves!

So here we are...

The first part of this Instructables is the DIY Build Guide, but after that, we included some Backstory for how we developed it, in case you to want to design a game and pitch it to the professionals and who knows...

It's fair to say, this is a 'futuristic take' on Board Games, and muses over what it would mean if we didn't ship a game in a box all the way from China, etc. - but rather, you downloaded PDF for Board Graphics, and STLs to 3D Print Game Pieces. Not only does this potentially save on shipping, but this also offers a much broader range of gaming elements which are not constrained by cost and injection moulding. So we hope you enjoy that you are literally 'downloading a game', but you can make it yours in a new way, and share updates here for others to try also! Who would have imagined this would be possible a generation ago!? What will this look in a generation to some?

Anyway...gather you gear, and let's get started!

CORRUGATED CARDBOARD

The main game board is made from 'double' corrugated cardboard. You will find these at grocery stores, (Tomato or Fruit Boxes are good) and are generally 400x600mm or more in size. You will need 2x of these to make the game (try to find ones which are nice and flat, and not bowed at the bottom). If you don't have these, Amazon Boxes work fine also.

PRINTING PAPER DESIGNS

The graphics are all printed on a typical home printer. However, if you can afford it, it's worth using nice paper (90gsm), as the colours are more vibrant, and the surface more durable.

PRINTING CARD DESIGNS

This is optional, but for certain pieces, it is objectively nice to print on some Card. Most home printers can handle 200gsm Card and some even up to 400gsm Card, (check your model online for details) - and this makes some of the game pieces (Judgement Stones, Jumpy Stones, Dice and the Game Cards) more robust than just using paper. If you don't have this option, you can simply stick the printed paper designs onto Cereal Boxes (shown later), and this works fine also.

TOOLS

Generic Tools Include:

• Sticky Tape, Masking Tape, Craft Knife (though I recommend Scalpel*), Metal Ruler, Cutting Mat, Glue Gun*, Super Glue, Spray Adhesive*, 1mm Wire or a Metal Paper Clip, Cocktail Sticks, Lighter.

*Special Tools/Recommended Gear:

• Photo Mount (Spray Adhesive) - note, not Spray Mount (this is temporary, Photo Mount is permanent). Also Photo Mount will not adversely affect your printed colours, where as industrial glues might.
• Number 10A and Number 12 Scalpel Blades - not essential, but nice to have.
• Glue Pen (a more intricate, and mobile update to the traditional Glue Gun).
• A Mini Blow Torch is a great tool to have for finishing 3D Prints if you have one.

3D PRINTING

I used a Creality Ender 3 3D Printer. [No sponsorship]. I've had it for over 2 years, and used it regularly, and at the time of writing, and it has simply amazed me with the quality and efficiency for the price of now usually less than £200 or $200. The online community / support on debugging and tips is also exceptional. (On that note, TeachingTech on YouTube is one of the best I've found - 5* videos every time).

I use ERYONE filament - and you could do everything in white PLA, and print with standard Acrylic Paints. However, if you want to use coloured plastic, you can buy 'sample packs' which luckily will do you a Goat / Llama very easily.

OPTIONAL BLING

PLA can be painted with generic Acrylic paint very easily, which is just a wonderful fun project with you and your kids anyway. However, if you wanted to use Gold Spray Paint, this worked for me nicely (good bond, no adverse reaction to plastic). But I still recommend hand painting the 'Loot Crate rocks' yourself.

READ FIRST

Not to patronise, but I suggest having a skim-read of the guide first. The reason for this is I've organised the guide in terms of 'workflow' - what I mean by this is, I've suggested doing say the 3D printing first, and then whilst you are waiting for that to be done, you can do some card building, etc. So you use the 'downtime'. Naturally, you may want to do all the paper printing first, or all the 3D printing first - the choice is yours, but this way you can collate all the files you need in one go, so a skim-read will avoid you missing stuff. Hope this helps. We would have done a massive Zip File for you, but Instructables does not allow (for good reason to do with virus protection). Good luck!

DISCLAIMER / SAFETY FIRST

This guide is designed to involve as much of the family as possible. I built this with my 6 year old son milling around, and playing alongside. However, this guide requires use of glues, spray paints and sharps - so please use your judgement on whether you kids should be present when doing the build. Likewise, when playing, this game contains 'small parts not suitable for young children', and because 3D prints are not 'industry spec', parents should appreciate that they can snap and yield sharp edges and small pieces, which could potentially cause harm. Every effort has been made to make this a safe and responsible game, but the authors of this guide cannot accept any responsibility for any harm caused. You make, re-make and play this at your own risk. Thanks for understanding. Have fun!

BTW - This Instructable is in 2 parts :

Steps 1 to 39 are the DIY Guide; Steps 40 to 66 are the Backstory/Process.

If you can get double corrugated cardboard from supermarkets, this is ideal, but it will also work fine with delivery boxes (Amazon and the like), which is usually single corrugated (indeed, the first prototype of Goats vs Llamas (last image here) was made with single corrugated card).

I found this card on recycling day, which was from a neighbour's 50 inch TV... So, keep your eyes open and you'll likely see a lot of card up for grabs to reuse and recycle. (Check out some of my other projects for inspiration).

Print out all the PDFs you need (below).

If you are new to working with cardboard, or you only have Amazon-style (single corrugated) cardboard - rest assured, this build works fine with it. Indeed, the first prototypes of this game was made with it, and it was sturdy enough to last many a play test with my young son!

However, if you can make it in double corrugated card (Apple Box style), this is of course stronger, even if it has a small downside - that it's a bit more effort to cut, but the plus is that it will be more durable! It's your call.

The good news is that whatever cardboard you use - be it single or double - it does not matter, as the way I have designed this guide, you do not need any dimensions specific to the thickness of the cardboard - as the measurements are all 'relative'. This will make sense as you get into it, but it's a technique that is worth learning, (I learned it from my time at Dyson) - and it will make your prototyping much much faster. (This isn't just a Game - it's a Prototyping 101!)

Finally, as you will see from the last picture, if you don't have very large boxes, this is also not a problem - you can see I have simply 'braced' the card together (the white card) to make it a larger size.

Using a fresh scalpel blade, cut out the Board 'quarters', observing the 'tick' marks (small lines to show where to cut), and lay down in sequence. I suggest making a small pencil mark of the sequence - so you don't make any mistakes...

Next, use masking tape to join the sections together as shown. I suggest doing two halves and joining together, taking care to allow the edges to 'butt-up' against each other with no gap or overlap.

Masking tape is better than sticky tape here, as if you make an error, you can carefully pull it apart and re-join. Once you are all happy, give everything a firm rub-down to set in place.

Using the Photo Mount (see note above on not using Spray Mount), to permanently fix the Paper to the Cardboard. I suggest spraying both pieces for the best adhesion. Also (the picture here is more for demonstration), I would suggest you spray outside, (not on your cutting mat), on some scrap material to avoid mess and fumes. Do not spray indoors!*

*This was a near disciplinary offence when done in workshops I've worked in. Seriously, don't do it. You will regret it.

Brace yourself for one of the simplest tips you'll ever learn, that makes your work really great, and yet so few people remember to do it...

...Do not cut everything in one movement.

• Firstly, when you want to cut a clean line, plunge the scalpel into the corner, with the 'cutting edge' facing inwards, towards the direction you want to cut along. This will mean you cut exactly where you need, but also you will cut through all the card.
• Secondly, cut along - almost to the full length of the line you want to cut along - then STOP!
• Lastly, remove the blade, and re-insert this, after rotating the blade so the cutting edge faces the line you just cut. Now cut towards the cut you just made to 'connect' it.

This means you get a 'perfect' cut, and if you do this all the way around 4 times, you'll find that when you flip the piece over, it is cut all the way through (if you missed a bit, cut it slightly on the reverse side to free it).

Taking a little time to get this just right will save you a lot of time in later steps. So take your time, and use multiple cuts/strokes to cut through the cardboard also, not just one hefty cut!

If you want to learn more stuff about how to prototype with Cardboard, I've a load of videos here at Design Modelling website. http://www.judepullen.com/designmodelling/card-techniques/ (e.g. like how to safely change a scalpel blade).

Print the Walls, and as you will see, these are based on the '4 Seasons', and of course get colder as you go higher up to the summit of the temple! The smallest three are all in one piece, but the lowest / largest lever needs to be stuck together with tape from behind, as shown.

Forgive me if this is a bit of a fiddle, but the fact is, cardboard varies in thickness around the world. So rather than design for 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7mm card, it was simpler to just show how to 'offset' for *your* card thickness - and then everything just 'works' as it should. This was what I was meaning earlier when I was talking about 'relative' measurements. Bear with me, and it will make sense...

Take your 30mm thick strip of Wall Graphics. Place this flush with a clean-cut edge of card (I suggest doing this with the 'fluting' (holes) running perpendicular (ie along the short side), as this will work better and give a stronger build.

Next, with a scrap of card, place this flush with the edge of the graphics - so the card is overlapping with the graphics, as shown. This will give you your 'Wall Height'.

In this case my card is 7mm thick, so this means my Wall Height is 30mm-7mm = 23mm. (Ig you're using single corrugated card, and it's 4mm, then your walls will be 26mm high).

As you will see, if you place your Wall against the 'underside' of the Board (flat levels), you will see it now totals 30mm - which means it is the height of your graphics exactly!

You can now cut a bunch of Walls (in my case all 23mm high), ready for the next step.

For quickness, you may even find that you can simply use one wall to 'set' the distance for the next cut as shown.

Take you time when cutting (multiple strokes work best), and try to keep the knife as 'vertical' (ie perpendicular to the card when cutting) as possible, so you'll get a nice square join later...

Just like we did for cutting walls to the bespoke hight, we now will do the same for the width...

If you place a strip along the side of one of the 'Levels' you can then take a scrap and 'subtract' this. It might seem trivial, but this is a very elegant way to construct square boxes, as it does not require making 2 sets of different widths. One simply places these 4 pieces in a 'spiral', as you can see.

Cut the 4 pieces to the same length (ie total length e.g. Top Side is 150mm, minus Card Thickness, 7mm = 143mm).

I suggest that you first apply Glue Gun along the 'top' of the Cardboard Layer, and then stick the single edge of the Graphics paper on to it.

Go all the way around doing this with the other 3 Graphics.

Then go around again, gluing the rest of each side, one at a time.

(This is easier than trying to glue it all in one step).

For the perfectionists out there, you may have noticed that your board / top level has 4 pieces of paper converging - and even if you've stuck them down just so, they still visually are kinda annoying. So we've included a clean sheet if you want to just go ahead and print this, it works better. You'll drop in the Gold Loot Crate later...

This is where the 'corrugations' of the cardboard really become useful!

As you can see, the great thing is that this board game 'nests' or 'fits inside itself', when packed away! But when erected as a 4 layer 3D game, it needs not to do so...

...So adding cocktail sticks in the corners and middle as shown works perfectly!

Simply cut some cocktail sticks in half, and insert into the 'flutes' of the card. If you need to add a touch of Glue Gun, go ahead to secure it.

Optional: If you want to add some in the middle (though I doubt this is really essential, tbh), you can also simply make a hole in the card sections which don't have flutes exposed, and poke a stick in perpendicular to it. As you can see from the first image, it works fine without those in the middle as well. Your call.

And you're done!

You can now admire Mark's amazing 4-level, 4-season graphic as a whole...behold it's majesty!

Don't worry if you don't have a 3D Printer. Both Mark and Jude know how that can feel sometimes not to have all the gear... But this is not the philosophy of Goats vs Llamas - they would spit in our eye, and kick us in the butt if we didn't have an alternative!

So fear not, you can download these awesome paper-based cards (PDF below), and assemble them at home! Woo!! Either by printing double sides with your printer, or if you want to print single sides - you can stick them to some corrugated card - to make them 'chonkey'.

You can also use companies like ShapeWays.com to send off for 3D printing too, if you prefer?

Goats and Llamas NEVER leave a gamer behind. We can all join the fun. So dry those tears - and get making!

If you are new to 3D Printing, I suggest reading all of this before you print - it may save you time grouping like prints together.

Print 2x (or more) sets of Goat and Llama.

Suggest: 0.2mm Nozzle, with Super/Ultra resolution in CURA.

Note - the Reduced file has a smaller 'base', should you want the Goat / Llama to 'fall into the hole' as my son does. The Original has the larger base, and the Goat / Llama will straddle the hole. (this will make sense when you play the game).

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Download the STL Files from this step, below. Import them into your slicer, and I would suggest you print as high quality as possible, with support. I used CURA, with the Ender 3 Printer - with a 0.2mm Nozzle. This was set to 'Super Quality'. I can't lie that this is of course slow, and takes about 3 hours on mine, but it's worth the extra time.

I also printed these in ABS, on an UP! Plus 3D Printer, and the support material was really easy to remove, so it does seem things vary with different slicers and printers - if you have any recommendations, please share in comments!

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Afterthought: If you were inclined, you could 'cut' the print in half and print either in two halves, or in half at the back/neck (and glue together), this may well work well and reduce support materials.

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Here are the STLs imported into TinkerCAD. Just to be clear, (for any Judges reading), we didn't create them in TinkerCAD, but it was actually super handy for making the base smaller, and if people want to experiment with printing orientations, etc. this is a nice way to use a simple CAD programme! Enjoy!

When you remove the support material, (I suggest using pliers, and side snips, rather than scalpels), you will no doubt curse the process - as it is very fiddly!! And even someone as 'experienced' as myself, and familiar with the files, it's easy to snap off a leg, or a bit of goat beard. It may help for you to work with the image showing you where the limbs of the goat/llama are, as you remove support material.

If you do snap a piece, worry not - simply super glue back on again, and it will not show (especially if you paint it anyway). You can leave these 'natural' plastic colour, (as mentioned sample filament is cheaply purchased), or you can of course spray paint them. If you do paint them, I suggest sticking them to a cocktail stick to help maneuverability when spraying, and leave to dry in a well ventilated place.

In case you wondered what the prints look like at a coarser resolution, like 0.6mm nozzle, this can be seen in the picture of the two goats, with this on the left, and 0.2mm nozzle on the right.

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I also printed these in ABS, on an UP! Plus 3D Printer, and the support material was really easy to remove, so it does seem things vary with different slicers and printers - if you have any recommendations, please share in comments!

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Afterthought: If you were inclined, you could 'cut' the print in half and print either in two halves, or in half at the back/neck (and glue together), this may well work well and reduce support materials.

I'm unashamedly proud of my son's efforts in painting these animals. Having your kids involved really is what makes it memorable, and although there are some parts arguably young kids cannot do, watching the whole process evolve over days and weeks is really powerful, and adds a whole dimension of ownership and love to a possession that a fully made, shop bought game can't compete with. I also have mega 'hubby-points' in the bank...top tip ;o)

Anyway, without prompting, my son seemed to decide that the 'funky' Goat needed to contrast with the more mottled and subdued Llama...which is odd, as this was how Mark and I imagined their personalities. Coincidence or confirmation bias, I dunno - but either way, 3D Printed PLA seems to work really nicely with both Acrylic Paint, or even Poster Paint (with a coat of varnish if you want the shine).

If your kids are not that familiar with painting, I suggest they apply it with a little water to dilute the paint, as this makes it 'cover' better. Have fun, and see what they come up with to make it theirs! (I also like the little Mosses and Flowers on the Loot Crates, which were a nice touch).

For me, this is really the best part of making games - having a shared/sharable experience of a game, but within this - also creating something which is truly unique to you and your family to cherish....even the early prototypes are not wasted, and have been 'turned into' a Goat & Llama Fort! (See last pic).

Suggest printing 1x of each, and decide which you like best.

Some require superglue to assemble.

Suggest: 0.2mm Nozzle, with Super/Ultra resolution in CURA.

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We welcome any contributions here also =)

Similar to the Goats and Llama - I suggest printing at a high quality with a fine nozzle again to get nice results... It took me about 5 hours to print all the little bits shown, and was worth the extra time!

You can check the fit of Loot on the Animals before spray painting - but do also check out the optional extra below too...

Don't forget you can also paint these yourself, or with your kids!

If you look really closely at the Blue Goat, you will see the Gold Moustache is held on with a tiny blob of blutack. Given that when we designed this game, as a pitch to manufacturing companies, we were aware the Goats and Llamas would need to be simplified, but that like LEGO Friends, we could use the 'stud-pin' method of adding 'accessories' to the Figurines. Indeed, one of the things I learned at LEGO was that often the 'accessories' (like Combs, Flowers, Whisks, Cups, etc.) were often highly prized by kids, as it added a 'personalised' touch to the play they were imagining. It seems the opportunity to put gold stuff on these animals is just as popular with our kids too!

Anyway, as this project has 'pivoted' away from being a commercial concern, and instead to towards being made open source and DIY, this of course needs to be adjusted slightly... Although most of the Loot Objects can be added to the animals just fine (like the necklace, scarf, etc.) simply by hanging/sitting in place, you can use a bit of BluTack to give stability - or you can also to make the 'stud pins' as shown here.

For this you will need some thing wire, like a paperclip, and a drill bit of similar size. Drill a hole in both the Animal and the Loot, in the corresponding positions. Glue the wire in place, and cut to length as shown.

You will have noted that there are more Loot Prizes, compared to the number of Loot Crates. This is so you can fill them with the right number of things, but which you are confident you can make (e.g. you can simply just have medals if you like).

You may be aware of a Taurine containing energy drink that claims to 'Give You Wings...' although not suitable for kids, it did give us the idea for a 'power up', which perhaps could mean you 'fly over' another animal if you pass them - avoiding a battle - if you wish it.

Likewise, Chocolate might seem like a WINNING PRIZE for most kids, and some people might already know that Chocolate came from Central America (on which this game theme is loosely based), and they'd likely think this was a great thing for their animal to find in a Loot Crate....(?).... However, it might interest you to know both the Chocolate and the Coffee are 'moot' points, as to both Llamas and Goats these are TOXIC!

So the choice is yours - you can keep it 'simple', or you can make it a fun fact for kids to learn, and wonder what else in our world is not what it might seem...

Remember to change the nozzle between the groups of material.

You can print all of Goats and Llamas on the standard 0.4mm Nozzle that most 3D Printers come with, but I would suggest changing for speed (loot crates and medal) at 0.6mm, and detail (animals and loot prizes) at 0.2mm.

I use Creality Nozzles, but any will do.

To reassure you, all pieces can be printed in the default 0.4mm nozzle most printers come with, I'm just suggesting optimal settings for best results of speed vs quality. Your call.

I suggest reading the rest of this guide before printing, but here's the files and overview...

Print 7x of Pocket, Inner and Lid.

Print 6x of Rock,

Print 2x of Pants.

Suggest: 0.6mm Nozzle, with Fine or Standard resolution in CURA.

Note - I suggest printing the Medal also (see below) with these - as the resolution and nozzle are the same.

Take the Lids and 'Rocks', and glue together, as shown. Set Aside.

For the 'Pocket' for the Loot Crate (ie the 'cavity' that goes into the Board), turn a Pocket upside-down on a Loot Crate Square, and draw around (this should give a 22x22mm square). Or if you're confident - scribe with the scalpel blade.

If you look underneath - you'll hopefully see a clean cut, but this needs 'extending' down a little with careful cutting as shown. Remove this piece of card by carefully prying it away as shown.

(In case you're wondering why this 'hack' - this is just for double corrugated card. If you have single corrugated card, this is not needed, as the Pocket will 'fit' snugly anyway, with no modification. This is a slight faff to do, but is worth it as your Board is twice as strong).

Now you can insert the Pocket into the Card.

DO NOT GLUE IN PLACE YET!

Notes: If you are using double corrugated card, and printed the single corrugated set, you can simply cut off the 'lugs' with a scalpel. If you realise you have a Cocktail Stick where you also need a pocket - I suggest putting it out, and cutting to size, and re-gluing once the 3D printed part is in place.

I'm no expert on mini-figurine painting, and I'm sure there are better guides out there, but either way, sequentially - I would suggest you spray/paint the gold first, masking the areas shown (ie outer sides of Inner Loot Crate, and Lid of Loot Crate).

Then paint the finishing areas as shown, with acrylic, for a 'organic' look to match the grey stone. My son again had great fun embellishing the flora and fauna of this project...Once dry, you can check the fit and glue the Pocket in place with a dot of Glue Gun / Hot Melt.

Heads-up: Please pre-read the next couple steps, as you may want to organised your gold painting of Pants as well.

As with previous steps: Print PDF Graphics, and stick down to the Cardboard. Cut out.

Build sides in the same way as the Levels, and apply graphics last. Stick 'block' to the 'platten' as shown.

Although you can build the wall of the Temple as with the Wall of the Levels, I would suggest attempting a 'Mitre' joint (45 degrees), by cutting down the side as shown. (Note the direction of the fluting).

Use the 'trim' around the door as shown, and if you are keen, you can add the 'glowing interior' wall graphics as shown also.

Lastly, using a 4mm dowel, or a BBQ Skewer, (or if not - try a straw, or the inside of a Biro Pen, etc.) poke a hole in top of the Temple, ready for the Medal to be mounted.

NOTE: You can print these parts with the Loot Crates, but I've put this step here, as the sequence is more relatable as far as completion of the project goes...

The original idea was to have gold pants (see last image), and although these do work well, they are hard to make out of card! So we figured if you're 3D printing anyway, one more won't hurt - and we also have a nice feature...

...The Medal works as a 'totem-like' centrepiece for the top of the temple - an epic golden signal for the Goats and Llamas, but it also 're-scales' as a human-sized Medal - for the winner! As the Medal is hollow - this is a nifty 'store' for the lanyard as well.

To make this, 3D print is at shown, spray paint the two halves, inside and out, and thread some cord, or stiff thread through - before - sticking together with Hot Melt glue.

Warning: This medal is so awesome, I didn't see this for 3 days, as my son had wanted to keep it in his room, and I didn't have the heart to get it back. (It's amazing this guide even got finished with all the excitement of this game sitting on our table for weeks!)

Suggest: 0.6mm Nozzle, with Fine or Standard resolution in CURA. (Suggest printing with Loot Crates).

NB - If you don't have a printer - the step above has a paper version also.

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Safety Warning: Fundamentally this is a thin stick poking upwards. If you have very young kids, you may worry about this being a risk for poking eyes, or falling on top of. So, you may want to either leave this out that is fine, or even stick one Medal permanently to the stick so as to avoid pointy bits, and print as second as a 'prize' to wear for the winner. The choice is yours. Be safe, and have fun =)

You should have printed these Pants with the Loot Pieces, and also have 1 Loot Crate (Lid, Inner & Pocket) left from earlier...

The Pants can be simply stuck to the 'Lid' in the same way the stones are added. However, if you fancy making them 'levitate' you can add a small bit of wire between the two pieces. This is done with a small piece of paperclip wire, and is glued in place. (To 'insert' you can either drill holes, or heat up the metal wire over a flame, and press into the plastic, taking care of course).

Although the 'Pocket' as shown in the previous step is grey, I thought it'd be fun to make it all Gold here!

These work best if printed on some thicker card, rather than paper. But if you only have paper - simply stick this to a cereal box (inside), as shown in the last images, and this will work fine also.

Cut out the 'nets' of the Dice, and use a ballpoint pen to crease the back from the behind as shown. Fold up and glue each tab carefully, taking care not to burn your fingers with glue (or used contact adhesive if you prefer).

These are very similar to the Dice in construction, only I suggest adding some extra weight to them by inserting some cardboard as shown, this makes them tumble (rather than bounce once!).

We love these because they really bring the 3D-ness of the game into effect!

Tip: If you are unsure where to crease/score - stab some small holes through from the other side, to help guide you.

I grew up watching Loony Toons, with the likes of Daffy Duck having his beak blown off, and spun around to the back of his head, by the shotgun of Elmer Fudd, as well as Wile E. Coyote attempting to blow up Roadrunner... The Simpsons both make comment on the conflict of Tom & Jerry, and then of course up the ante with a gore-fest in Itchy & Scratchy!

We don't wish to presume what level of comic violence is ok in your home, be it implied or direct, but fundamentally, we wanted to add a game mechanic of a 'bad' Loot Crate, whereby you get something that is not a Gold Prize, but a setback. Ironically the *truth* about Caffeine and Chocolate is a subtle one; most kids would appreciate a Bomb (like in Mario Brothers), or TNT dynamite (in many late cartoons) would spell the end of their animal (or at least miss a turn!), but these consumables are just as deadly to Goats or Llamas - so as with so much in life, it's about context...

We really didn't want to get preachy one way or another, but rather, make this an interesting debatable point of the game: you are the guardian(s) - and if you want want explosive in the game, because you feel your kids are mature enough to be comfortable with a little comic violence, that's fine by us - download and play as you wish.

However, if you have young kids or simply prefer a non-lethal 'bad Loot Crate' alternative, we are also proud to supply you with files to print a Snake, and also for the nerds out there, a Blister Beetle - which is a small, yet deadly insect which if accidentally eaten (presumably on leaves) by either animal is toxic.

Having worked at LEGO, who have historically deliberated and agonised over Star Wars' lightsabers, Medieval swords, and more besides - at great length... I can only say that at the end of the day it is a personal choice, but perhaps like fast food; if one can opt for something more wholesome the majority of the time, perhaps we're better for it?

The choice is yours. Have fun together as a family whatever you choose =)

Having worked at Dyson, I discovered a good number of unusual / interesting parts in the spares dept. One was a very nice and quite large plastic ball bearing assembly, from a DC25 machine.

Realising this would be a good feature for the game - to add a Lazy Susan - I set about making one. There is not much to it - it really is just cutting a 'hole' to fit the bearing, gluing it in, and allowing it to spin the cardboard sheet as shown. Note: the card is double-corrugated.

You can find these quite cheaply on eBay it seems (~£2.99 incl. P&P), so it honestly seems more efficient that 3D printing something.

With that said, you could simply glue a slightly pointed or rounded object like a button (which is usually slightly curved on one side) to the card, and this will likely work as well. Adding some felt or fabric will slow the rotation down and keep it level/steady also.

At some point you'll have to put away this amazing game of yours, so what better to stow it in a Goats & Llama's Box!

This is similar to the build of the Board, only you need larger chunks of card, and to tesselate the printouts as instructed in the PDF.

Print PDF of one side. Carefully flip over, and reinsert back into the printer, and print the other side, as shown.

I strongly recommend printing on ~120gsm Card, but again, you can print and stick to card - albeit double-sided.

Following on from 'paint your own', we also wanted to give you the chance to create your own Action Cards! Having done a couple of these already with our sons - these are real 'keepers', and one can only imagine getting this out when they're 18 years old!!

Likewise, please upload any that you think are awesome and want to share with everyone =D

(Note - please print the PDFs (below), not these images here).

One false move, and before you know it, you got your underpants on your head!!

As much as we've had a blast making up some silly actions, the likelihood is, you'll probably come up with better ones that work best for you family...so why not get your kids involved and make your own, using the template!?

Part of the output of having such a good time working together, was that we generated more fun gameplay ideas that were realistic to incorporate into the game for allowing people to get started and get confident.

However, as with much of the ethos of the game - being able to be remixed and updated or changed, we also imagined that when you graduate from a beginner to a more accomplished player of Goats vs Llamas - what things would keep the gameplay challenging....?

To this end, we listed all the extra rules that you could elect to add to the game to make it more fun or nuanced. We hope you enjoy these, and do drop us any suggestions if you create some great rules yourself!

If you're interested in how we did this, and/or want to design and pitch a game of your own design, then read on!

We designed a game together, yet had never met in person. It was the first Lockdown in 2020, but it was more because Mark is in Boston and I'm in UK. It all started when I saw a post by Mark sharing his awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle playset he made from Cardboard, for his son. Given that I have similar inclinations towards making toys from scratch, I dropped mark a line. We got chatting and some months later Mark saw a posting for MOJO Pitch (a toy and game industry pitch event)....we figured why not create something together: Mark as good at Graphics and I was good at making stuff...

...these images are from our MOJO Pitch Deck, presenting Goats vs Llama. More on that later.

Considering we didn't know each other well, it was kinda cool that we just 'clicked' and seemed to jump right into shooting ideas around... over the course of a couple hours we had dozens of ideas and sketches, but liked the ideas around a 3D board game, as this was pretty rare, and had a nice connection with sustainability, as well as making things yourself as a family.

Folloing the brainstorm, we left to 'sleep on it', and see what started to build momentum and interest...As is often the way, once your brain starts to 'like an idea' - you start to 'see' things that might help it more and more... Whilst out with my Son one day, we not only were playing on the steps of the local playground (very similar to the final proportions of the steps in the game), but also we'd often walked past a bit of scrubland with 3 goats in it on walks to the forest. These 'scrapbook' images and ideas were in constant use between us when evolving the idea. Mark was even 'on holiday' and still clearly was thinking about it at the beach! (I too was drawing ideas in the park with chalk!).

Sometimes, when you're just looking around - the real world can be weirder than your imagination - I mean WHY is there a baby with this goat? Is this a 'kid with a kid' pun by the owner, or just something so disturbing you never really want to know?

These sorts of quirks became a shared series of jokes between Mark and I, and helped us understand each others view (somewhat askew) on life...

Mark’s background in toy design came in handy when designing the game pieces. The scale of the game pieces meant Mark had to create a strong silhouette so the character and personality would still read despite being tiny. The character design is definitely influenced by his time working with Bob Camp (Ren n Stimpy co-creator).

~

So we had our 'joke' - Goats vs Llamas, for some reason in an Aztec-style world, with some not-too-serious God workshop / punishment dynamic - oh - and UFOs too. But we needed to add more detail and backstory to the characters and the world they inhabit.

Mark took the basic funny notion to the next level and developed the characters and styling further. It was an exciting mix of drawing on Mark's background in Character Design, and although we knew these drawings and models would likely be simplified if developed further by a game manufacturer, we also thought we should start a little bit more detailed, and allow it to be simplified, but still retain its charm.

It's clearly a balance, and just as you think you have the rules set, some new game or toy comes out and rewrites them. So we're no authority on these things, but certainly the more you look at films which are great - and have great merchandise, like Despicable Me (Minions), the more you realise this was a strong synergy between something that was a fun character, but was simple to make merchandise from.

Of course where we ended up with this being an Open Source project, the outcome had indeed evolved again, and we've come back closer to the core or detailed characters, and less pressure to simplify for merchandise. Whether this is a wise decisions has yet to be seen, but we'd value your comments below!

Making a stack of boxes is not especially hard, but what was tricky was trying to figure out how these would 'nest' in storage...How should the pieces interlock, and how can they be all cut from one sheet of cardboard, taking into consideration the tolerances of die-cutting cardboard (±1mm). We agreed on a set of simple dimensions to allow the graphics to be easily repeated from one level to another.

This may seem trivial, but it is one of the nuances of the project which took a while to resolve. Although the final model here on Instructables has straight sides, the original had sloped sides - this meant that less card was needed, as each layer would 'flare out' being wider at the base than the top, and so can be stacked....whilst still fitting together and 'nesting' when packed away. As is often the case, you sometimes get a bit 'wedded' to a solution, and it was only when re revisited it again for a third build, we went with straight sides.

With the 'stacking' sorted, (or at least functioning), we next explored what 'special objects' might be fun to play with...

We liked the inspiration from Easter Island and Aztec temples of stone statues of gods, and how these are imposing, and both an 'obstacle' or a 'boost' depending on how the viewer perceives them - so we played around with ideas on how the animals might encounter them, and if they were Goat Gods, or Llama Gods, or Gods which were not affiliated with any one animal, and were perhaps a bit aloof.

Although we were not looking to go the full Monty Python, (we're not that clever or witty), but we did think there was some opportunity for a little bit of cheeky fun to be had around faith and cults - and we often ended up with a few tangential philosophical debates on the pros and cons of religion over the centuries, and how cultures have formed around such ideas.

Safe to say, much of this does not get exhibited in the game (thankfully!!), but we hoped that the humour was gentle enough that both religious and non-religious players could enjoy time together, but would feel perhaps they might reflect on the nature of faith and what rules govern humanity....or just enjoy fart jokes, and putting underpants on their head... who can tell?!

As with anything involving Kids - play tests are a must!

We also explored what 'pants' or 'underpants' (what British people call Briefs/Knickers), the animals might want to take as a prize! Although the classic joke in cartoons is of Goats eating ladies knickers, we felt there was something not quite right about it. Call us prudes, but we just felt classic Y-Fronts seemed the right tone / style.

Classy and Classic.

The 'Temple' of the undergarments was also prototyped, and worked nicely. After building it, it suddenly became clear we could put some of the 'God stones' on it, and they were perilous to knock off - and would skitter down the steps, and of course would knock over anything in its way...what transpired was a sense that we'd created a gameplay feature, and so the 'Judgement Stones' were born, and we worked on the gameplay as to what would initiate the stones to tumble down and hopefully knock off your opponents.

We both loved the game Mousetrap, and the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as kids, so these were fun nostalgic elements to give a fresh take to.

Following the Judgement Stones idea, we got deeper into the 'combative nature' of what a [funny] fight would look like between Goats and Llamas... what resulted is possibly one of my favourite word-play gags in the whole game, (and I'll now ruin it by explaining it):

The Head-Butt Matrix, as we dubbed it, is a play on the fact that when horned animals battle it out, they often 'head-butt' each other to decide who wins when they meet each other on the same square of the game. The winner takes any loot the other is wearing, and the loser goes down a level.

The idea that you would take turns to roll a Head or a Butt was pretty funny, but not as weird as the idea of a Butt-to-Butt fight - which of course, is a draw. (We did contemplate encouraging people to actually do this in real life, but the impending lawsuit or complaints from parents for the roughhousing seemed unwise given we were still at this time trying to pitch to legit toy companies!).

This is also a rare occasion where I think my hastily drawn expression of the Goat with a Butt advancing towards it, is a rare moment of me totally nailing it....perhaps some of Mark's skills were rubbing off? (HA - I wish!).

Here's a slight blooper in the graphics, where we realised the dimensions were out a bit, but it was a relatively quick fix - and then on with 'skinning' the cardboard with Mark's first draft of the graphics in full colour! Safe to say, nothing got past my Son who 'tested' the game a second time!

It's a small detail but it had a big impact - by aligning the squares vertically, it meant that when you go up a jumpy stone, you have an aligned path (ie not split between two squares making it vague as to where to go next).

Also you may notice we had actions on almost every square - and this was too much when we played it - we realised we need spaces to just 'be nothing', so that it's actually an exciting thing to land on 'something'. Seems obvious in hindsight, but as this was the first board game either of us had designed from scratch, you realise how many 'obvious' things are not obvious until you make those mistakes yourself! This is why I think game design is a great way for any young (or older!!) designer to test their 'user experience' skills, and not just 'design in their head' - you must playtest.

Although we simplified the stones to make them from 'nets' - we were also still exploring the weight, size, and physics of how it toppled off. It sounds very simple, but too big and it was chaotic, and often bounced over the 'target', (even if lined up on target). Too small, and it moved so erratically, it was impossible to 'aim' at your opponent below. So these are strangely a subtle, but key size to get just right. Who knew Judgement Stones fit for Gods needed to be perfect!!

We realised that with the 'Board' now looking great, we needed to 'dial-in' the movable pieces or 'counters' or Goats and Llamas. I had never sculpted anything like this, and so this was my first effort with Super Sculpey, which is a polymer clay which sets in the oven. I got sketches from Mark, and tried my best to translate this into 3D.

Safe to say I'll not be giving up my dayjob to become a figurine designer, but I can vouch that Sculpey is great to work with and as a prototype, this was really helpful. Although I knew this would be smaller in the final 3D Printed version, it was a good indication on what things worked and what didn't so easily.

Although I do have some transferable experience of Injection Moulding from my days at Dyson, it was also clear very early on that these animals would either need to be radically simplified if they were to be in plastic, or that they would need to be created at a premium, much the way WarHammer-style figures are if they were mass-produced. As it turned out, 3D printing is a good intermediate for a 1-off like this, and opens an interesting debate about what can be done if not having to assume Injection Moulding.

Of course as we are now making this all about home-printing, the irony is we never needed to do this, and it works as it. However, it is fair to say we'd probably like to

With kind help from one of Mark's contacts, (David Hammond), we updates the drawings a little, so as they could be 3D printed (e.g. Horns a bit thicker, etc.), and I printed them in a few colours - as well as spray painting some gold bling loot also for the Loot Crates...

In hindsight the delicate features of the models would be reworked somehow to be more 'chonkey', but we may revise a V2 in future, who knows ;o)

The initial sketch for the Loot Crates (prizes you literally 'dig up' from the ground), was done whilst I was in the park with my son, and I sent Mark a 'Eureka' picture on how it might work, mechanically speaking. Inspiration strikes at odd times, and it pays to have pen and paper, or chalk and a playground! I got home and mocked up some sizes of 'prizes' like the Fez/Top Hat here.

As you can see from the pictures, cardboard was a quick prototype, and then the 3D prints were done - and worked nicely, and was a very pleasing assembly of two materials!

We had not seen many things quite like this, and the combination of Card and 3D Printing - in a boardgame - was an exciting new experience to develop. In many ways, we both felt this was 'just the beginning' of new play combinations like this...

I think the Loot Crates would benefit from another revision, but it's a fine line in complexity vs simplicity - currently the lid friction fits, and this if you play it hundreds of times will wear out, but the alternative is to make a latch or hinge, and this is so complex to 3D print *well*, that it's not worth the bother (even if in Injection Moulding, this would be easy), the tolerances and material properties are different on many levels. So, for now, this seems the best 'all things considered' win.

After doing a main day-job, it's a funny thing that Mark and I found ourselves debating what flashy artefacts the animals should wear, before 3D printing and spray painting them in the middle of the night...good times.

Both of us have love for the 'Airfix' system of putting little parts on a single injection mould, and we even thought this would be a good way to paint everything, and then 'pop' it out. Anyway, no need for that with 3D printing, but we thought it was a nice idea to have a throwback!

We discussed the potential of having game pieces that were not only fun character designs but also modular and customisable. Sort of ‘collectible toy meets board game piece’. Everybody would be able to personalise their character - even paint their own 3D printed piece.

Much like Monopoly, G&L has cards which break up the gameplay. We created cards which are specific to each animal, but also a 'wildcard' that applies to any player, and add some chaos in to the mix - the UFO cards. After all, if you believe in Goat / Llama gods, why not UFOs also?

I included some images from WhatsApp of how Mark and I exchanged ideas and bridged the gap between physical prototypes and graphic overlays with surprising ease. Although this is hardly Rocket Science, I find it noteworthy to point out just how much we got done despite never being in the same room as each other...had it not been a Pandemic, I would never have attempted such a challenge, but now it has arguably spurred on a genuine resilience and resourcefulness in remote collaborative design - anything is possible with the right people it seems!

We did originally make 'caskets' for the 'sacred actions cards'. You are of course welcome to make something like this, but we felt on balance it was tricky to remove cards when playing the game. One can respect that this is also 'profit-killing' if you put too much stuff like this into a commercial game...however, these sorts of points have really been resurfacing in our discussions of late, as of course this means board games often have a 'glass ceiling' of how 'nice' a game can look, and still be profitable at the $20 mark. This is perhaps some of the reason why break-out games like Beasts of Balance - RRP $80-100, really is a landmark victory in creating something which bucks the constrains of the industry 'rules', and was hugely successful. Granted, it is 'high risk' and no everyone can pull of such a move, but it's an exciting time to explore new ways of creating experiences for niche audiences who really love a certain thing!

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This is not to say we would not be flattered if there was huge support to make Goats vs Llamas a Kickstarter, but in truth it would need to be 're-designed' yet again, as currently we have doubled down on the affordances of it being DIY and printed at home, and being a 'project' you make as a family. If you consider this DIY approach is maximum personalisation, in contrast to say Hasbro making it, where it would need to cost-down and simplify - what then would the 'middle-ground' be for a Kickstarter campaign? We'd be interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

It turns out Scrabble has a fancy set with a Lazy Susan, so you can steal one from that set if you have it, or you can make your own!

Although not essential, I liked the idea of rotating this epic tower of fun round to whoever was playing. Truth be told, I think part of the fun is that you have to move about whist playing, but the Engineer in me wanted to not look as if I'd simply overlooked this design challenge - and as is often the case, such pursuits can lead to fun things, and this was one...

Having worked at Dyson, I knew the components pretty well, and they have plastic bearings in some of the older 'ball' vacuums - I realised as the weight of the game was low, it would be fine to load the bearing axially, and mount it into the card base as shown. It turns out you can buy DC24 Ball Bearings on eBay for a few pounds, but a bottlecap or LEGO spinner would also work almost as well.

There is something rather luxurious about a Lazy Susan Boardgame, don't you agree? The animals' Gods would indeed approve!

As this was part of a 'pitch' for MOJO toy and game expo, we thought we should make a cool box to make it look 'more real'...

Mark did an awesome design of this, and as per the original idea, everything flat-packed down into it nicely. Indeed, the overall dimension was pretty close to Beasts of Balance, so we felt we had a precedent in size.

You can make your own by simply printing the templates, and assembling as you would a 'Level' from the first steps. You of course need to make another box fit inside the other, and do check your internal dimensions so that the game itself fits. I suggest Double Corrugated cardboard if you can, but Single will do also.

We thought we'd include a few photos of the photography setup...

The point being that although it was not a 'professional' standard by any means, this was shot on an iPhoneSE, with 2 IKEA lamps lighting from either side, and a roll of white paper - and yet was hailed by at least 3 reviewers (from international leading companies) at MOJO pitch as being "the best Sizzle Real [they] have seen all event", and even "best Sizzle Reel in many years".

Of course Mark and I were very proud to hear this, but bragging aside, I just think this is a great bit of news for you or any young game designer to know - that you can truly get praise of that kind (and keep in touch with some of these industry pros - to follow-up), with filming on a smartphone, editing on basic software, and getting it done in a shed, with $16 of basic lighting setup.

For both of us this was real validation that the enthusiasm, originality and fun of something shines through even if it's not high production value. There is much that 'didn't work' for the commercial games industry, of course, but we clearly made an impression, and that (without naming names) has been great to connect with some folks in the toy and gaming industry, and it sets us up nicely for other work. Sometimes the 'win' is more holistic that you might expect ;o)

As well as mocking-up the gameplay summary for G&L, we also considered what it might to like to transfer the 3D experience to other themes - be it polar/ice, or to do a 're-skin' of a pre-existing title like Monopoly...?

We didn't get too into this, but the feedback was very positive from MOJO attendees, as clearly anyone who does license a game hopes to find ways to remix it and do a follow-up. This is no as cynical as it may sound, but many games trade off a 'fundamental mechanic' or 'widget', and more money is made by repeating this investment in other products. So this is a great tip we intuitively stumbled on, and we certainly challenge ourselves to 'go lateral' with concepts more as a result.

Likewise to the above pictures - I included some notes on how Mark and I discussed the edit of the video. This is certainly essentially when working remotely, but even at Sugru through to LEGO, I have used basic storyboarding techniques I picked up from my working on BBC Big Life Fix - even with sketches as shabby and rough as mine, Mark and I were able to agree on the flow, pacing, and style from simple sketches like these.

I shot some main images, some second angles (B Reel), some close ups on key play details, and had some sequences of it being unboxes, and handled. It took about a day to film (because we had aligned on what to film and what not to), and probably about 2-3 days to edit (alongside 'day job'). So again, this is testament to what can be achieved on a low budget and remote.

Mark and I will be wearing our Pants/Briefs on our Linked In profiles for a week if we win Instructables!

A little 'Gallery' on some of the stuff Mark and I ended debating with the help of quick pictures and mock-ups. What is rather nice about scrolling back through WhatsApp is that the App really allowed us to communicate quickly - either in text, or when that was confusing, images/sketches, or even a quick video. The ability also to 'point and shoot' with the camera live, and explain what is going right/wrong with an idea was key.

Secondly, working with a 5/6hr time difference, we were able to 'drop' ideas and requests in an easy to find place, and do them whilst the other was sleep or at work, etc. As much as this does not replace working together in the same space, it is also important to acknowledge how this worked pretty much as well - overall - as any in person workshop I've been to.

Safe to say, this does not work for all projects, but I think post-Lockdown, this poses some interesting questions about how we might collaborate creatively in future, even on physical products/projects...

We hope you found this game fun, and do please let us know if you make it. And do feel free to share it to someone who might like it also!

We thought that the journey of creating this game was as remarkable as the game itself - and so we hope you enjoyed reading about the process, and it might encourage you to consider making a game, for your family - or perhaps even to license it to a company?

To that end, we have included our pitch deck. It's nothing very fancy, and we wanted that to help encourage people to give it a go. There are of course things we'd do differently with the benefit of hindsight and experience - so who knows - perhaps we'll see you at a pitch in future?!

This was the original sizzle reel. Of course this DIY guide has been updated, so you can hopefully see some of the upgrades we've added, as well as some bloopers we've corrected. So here we go - make it yours today!

Please do share any ideas for G&L here, and good luck with any games you make as well! Keep in touch =)