Little Mill Game - 3D Printed - Magnetic

This little game is a variation on the traditional mill or Nine Men's Morris game. The idea of playing with only 3 pieces per player is not new, but surely this type of design.

An important element is that both the game positions and the game pieces are fitted with small magnets. This ensures accurate positioning with every move and no extra container is needed for storage.

A game usually doesn't last very long, so it requires a lot of attention.

Dimensions: 210 x 210 x 10 mm

For this little project you need

1. 3D printer
2. various filament colors (PLA)
3. 15 small magnets (Ø 3 x 2 mm) https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CBP8LGZC?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1
4. super glue
5. screwdriver (or another tool that can be used to push the magnets into the holes)

As you can see in the photo, I printed the game board in two colors. Which color should be printed in which print height must be set in the slicer. The two colors make it possible to display the sliding directions.

Print settings:

1. printer brands: Bambu Lab
2. printer: Bambu Lab-X1 Carbon
3. supports: no
4. resolution: 0,2
5. infill: 15%
6. filament brand: bambu
7. filament color: Bambu PLA Basic Black, White, Green and Red
8. filament material: PLA

Color change setting in the slicer:

1. Color at the start: black
2. Color change: white at height 3.20
3. Color change: black at height 4.20

Remark: As all parts are designed to fit very precisely, it may happen that you have to rework one or the other part a bit with sandpaper and/or cutter due to different dimensional accuracy of the printers and the different behavior of the filaments.

For this step you'll need

1. 15 small magnets (Ø 3 x 2 mm)
2. super glue
3. screwdriver (or another tool that can be used to push the magnets into the holes)

The magnets are neodymium MIni magnets, Ø 3 × 2mm. To prevent the magnets of the playing field and the game pieces from touching directly and thus sticking to each other, the magnets need to be positioned in such a way that this is prevented. This is why the magnets are embedded deeper.

To ensure that the magnets have a tight fit, the holes are intentionally narrow with a diameter of 3.1 mm. However, this means that inserting the magnets requires skill and a little force.

When inserting the magnets, make sure that the poles are aligned in the same direction!

I proceeded as follows: I took a token and pressed a magnet into it. A little superglue ensures that the magnet cannot be pulled out.

Now I took another magnet and let it be attracted by the magnet I had just inserted. Again a little bit of superglue ... and now i placed the game piece with the magnet attached over a hole in the game board and pressed the magnet into it. I used a screwdriver to push the magnet in deeper. I did the same with the other holes.

This work is a bit fiddly! If you want to be sure that the magnets “slide” into the holes, you should break the edges of the holes a little.

The game does not start - as in the traditional mill game - by alternately placing the tiles, but by placing the tiles as shown in the cover picture.

A stone can be played in all directions, including on the circular path. The winner is the first player to make a “mill”. A mill only ever goes over the center point!

Have fun playing!