Making Cubiko - Step 2. I get my Sapele from a merchant in Park Royal, London. It's on the way to my sons school so when I need a piece I'll pop in during the school run. The merchants deliver for free but, as I only buy 1 length at a time, I have to get the piece out from the pile myself. Getting to the right piece of 3 metre from a huge pile isn't rocket science, just hard work. A day or 2 later the wood arrives and I must immediately cut it down to 246mm 'Cubiko size' pieces 246mm , 3m is far too long to have hanging around!

Making Cubiko -Step 3

It is essential to store your 'Cubiko sized' pieces of wood correctly. Sapele will ready warp so store them flat, under weight, in a place that has constant temperature and humidity. I use the cupboard under the stairs which is ideal. Step 3 is to get the pieces to be 246mm square and 18mm thick. So I send the pieces through my thicknesser taking off about a millimetre on each pass (Photo of thicknesser here). I also cut the pieces again but across their width this time to make them 246mm square. I keep the off-cuts and use them for the sides of the component box. (Which tomorrows step 5 entry)

The guide to making Cubiko - Step 1

My next series of entries will be a step by step guide on how to make a cubiko game. I recently bought a nifty camera so I'm thinking each entry will come with at least 1 photo. That way I'll learn how the camera works, it's got so many buttons and stuff. Anyway onto step 1 - Get wood. Yes you'll need plenty of wood as all Cubiko games are made from this stuff. I use Sapele but I suppose any wood will do, just get your neighbours permission before you hack down their prized conifers. Er, no photo of the wood yet 1) I've not worked out how to use this camera and 2) I'm out of stock of the raw ingredient.

QE to Subsistence to ?

I've been spending most of my creative thought on the game idea that I used to call 'QE'. I say 'used to' because the idea has morphed into something completely unrecognisable from the original idea. The initial concept was to create a game where you are your own central bank, however, after a few playtests it developed into a game of farming so 'QE' gave way to 'Subsistence'. Fast forward to today and the game is currently about growing apples in an orchard!! So now I'm thinking to call it something else.

If it's not one cold it's another.

I'm currently nursing a cold, 1st one I've had in years, sniff sniff. Needless to say, production has ground to a halt. However, this means I've been developing my 'anti-monopoly game'...QE (Previously Buy to Let) Up until now I've been finding this game very hard to imagine, I couldn't square the money mechanic that I was trying to employ(the fact that nobody really understands QE in real life could have something to do with it). So 2 days ago, armed with a sheet of A4, I drew a quick layout and found a couple of victims, I mean playtesters. Anyway, the playtest did exactly what I hoped for.... later that evening I lay my head on my pillow, concentrated and prepared myself for 'constructive dreaming'. I ran through the game in my mind, "sleepy, your feeling sleepy" my eyes closed and I let the ideas flow. (I have no concept of time when I do this all I know is that at some point between awake and asleep my brain goes into 'game design' mode). In the morning the way forward with QE emerged and I could visulise the money mechanic. Yesterday I designed the new board and pieces and its now ready for its next playtest later today. If all goes well I'll unleash it upon some game designers on Sunday.