3d Snakes and Ladders

I am a high school student at Northern Secondary School and this is my board game project. Back in grade 6, I created a basic 3d Snakes and Ladders game out of cardboard, it was super basic and there were only colored squares to send you up and down. But despite all of its shortcomings, I loved it. So when I saw this competition I knew I had to remake it using all of the new skills I learned.

Rules:

• Each player starts at the first space 
• The youngest player goes first 
• On your turn roll a die move your token forward the number of spaces shown on the die
• If you land at the bottom of a ladder move your token up the ladder to the space at the top of the ladder
• If you land at the top of a slide move your token down the slide to the space at the bottom of the slide
• When you are done with your turn the player to your right goes next
• When someone reaches the final space they win

To create this model you need Fusion 360. 

First I created a 20mm by 20mm base plate and added in some squares for eventual supports. Then I used the fit point spline to create a winding path, this is where you can make your model completely unique.

Then use the 3d sketch feature to make the board gradually increase in height over time. Make sure not to make the slope too steep otherwise the pieces will fall off. 

Create a 22.5 mm diameter pipe using the pipe tool in fusion.

Then create a cylinder with a diameter of 22.5mm and a width of 1 mm. Use the pattern of path tool to make your cylinders have a 22.5mm spacing between them and extend throughout the whole track. Without the pipe, it should look like the image above.

Next, sketch a line to split one of the faces of the circle in half, the bottom half of the circle will be used as your game board. Select the top half of the cylinder and use the sweep tool to cut out the top half of the cylinder. Once done your track should look like the section above. 

Then extrude each of the tops of the half cylinders by 1.5 mm. This will create individual tiles for the pieces to sit on.

To create the ladders start by using the 3d sketch tool to create a line between the two points you want your ladder to be. Then use the plane along path to create a plane along the new line that you created and drag it to one side of the line. It should look like the image above. 

Next, create a sketch on the new plane and make a 2mm by 15mm rectangle centered on the line. After, create two 4mm diameter circles in the middle of the two shorter sides of the rectangle. Your sketch should look like the one above.

Then extrude the sketch to the end of the line and create a new sketch on the top face of the ladder. Use this sketch to create 5mm long rectangles all along the ladder then extrude every other rectangle to create a ladder. Repeat these steps for any other ladders you want to add.

In order to create the slides use the 3d sketch option and the curved point spline to create a curved line between two points on the track. Make sure you use the move tool to make the slide go down smoothly over time. 

Use the plane along path tool to create a plane on the curved line and move it to one end of the path. Create a sketch and create a 25mm and 20mm diameter centered on the line. Then cut it in half along the line where it meets the board. 

Then use the sweep tool to extrude the sketch and complete the slide. Repeat the steps to create any other slides that you want. 

To create the supports use the squares that you created at the start they should be 15mm by 15mm. Then extrude them up to match the height of the track that they are around. Then sketch triangles so that they are partly in the main tube and extrude them to match the width of the pillars. After, create a platform underneath the whole board and make sure all of the pillars are connected to it. 

If you want to create game pieces, start a new design and sketch out an 18mm diameter circle and a 7.5mm circle centered on the origin. Then extrude the inner circle 25mm up and the outer circle 5mm. It should look like the image above. 

Then use the loft tool and select the very bottom and the top to create a half cone. After that, create a sketch on the top of the piece and draw a center circle with a 12 mm diameter and a line splitting it in half. Use the revolve tool on half of the semi-circle and select the line as the axis of rotation. 

To finish it up, create a 1mm filet and move it over to the main board game. Copy and paste them 4 times and use the appearance tool to make them different colors. 

Next use the appearance tool to add colors to your design to make it pop. If you want you can put the STL file into a slicer and 3d print it just make sure you enable supports. If you want a wide variety of colors like the model has you may need to paint it.