Game templates

Pottery game templates for game night, pieces included

BETA: these templates are still being tested

Every template keeps its BETA mark until someone builds it in clay and it checks out. Each one should be sound and work as drawn, so use them at your own discretion and be ready to adjust on the fly if a project needs it. Pivoting mid-build is part of the fun of pottery.

Members: be the first to show me one fully assembled and I’ll fire that piece free, with your name on its tile for good. See which templates are still up for grabs.

Made one? Text it to the studio or tag @theclayhole on Instagram.

Chess, checkers, backgammon, Chinese checkers, two mancala boards, tic tac toe and a castle that rolls your dice for you. Every board, every piece and every pebble is drawn at exact size, so the game is ready to play the day it comes out of the glaze kiln.

Get all eight for $114See each template
Eight stoneware games made from paper templates: chess, checkers, backgammon, Chinese checkers, two mancala boards and more
  • 8 templates
  • Expert to Insane
  • 100 pages
  • 46 template sheets
Every game template we add later, free

The bundle grows with the collection. Every new game template, and every update to one already in it, joins the downloads from your order at no charge.

$114$190All 8 game templates in one order: 8 PDFs, 100 pages, yours to print as often as you like.

Delivered as download links by email the moment the order goes through. Every game template we add later, and every update to one already in it, joins those downloads free. A member: log in instead and every template is free.

See each template on its own page
In this collection

Eight game templates, each on its own page

Every one has a free sample to flip through. Sizes are what comes out of the glaze kiln at 12 percent shrinkage. New game templates join this collection the day they go live.

A stoneware chess set with six-sided pieces on a cream and charcoal board, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 23, insane The Chess Set A 19 1/2 inch board and 32 six-sided pieces, every body folded from one flat net. a 19 1/2 in board with 2 1/4 in squares, and 32 pieces from 2 in to 4 1/8 in tall 5 sheets, 12 pages$30 on its own A stoneware castle dice tower with a tall keep, a felt dice courtyard and four blue-roofed towers, from a Clay Hole template Paper template 43, insane The Castle Dice Tower An 11 inch castle keep with three baffles inside that rolls your dice out its gate into a walled courtyard. 11 11/16 in tall, 8 7/8 in x 10 5/8 in overall, a 6 5/8 in x 3 15/16 in dice court 14 sheets, 21 pages$30 on its own A two-half stoneware backgammon board with cobalt and rust points on a walnut table, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 88, insane The Backgammon Set A backgammon board in two halves, with checker racks and a raised bar. a 21 1/8 in x 12 3/4 in board in two halves, about 1 in tall, with 32 checkers 1 1/8 in across 6 sheets, 13 pages$30 on its own A yellow stoneware mancala board shaped like a sunflower, a brown lid and clay seeds, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 90, expert The Sunflower Mancala Board A round mancala board shaped like a sunflower, with a lidded center bowl and forty-eight clay seeds to play with. 13 in across, 1 1/8 in tall 6 sheets, 13 pages$20 on its own A stoneware Chinese checkers board with a colored star, six marble trays and marbles, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 91, expert The Chinese Checkers Board A stoneware board with the full 121-hole star and six marble trays. a 15 3/8 in hexagon, 1 1/8 in thick, 121 holes 7/8 in apart and six 3/4 in deep trays 3 sheets, 10 pages$20 on its own A green stoneware mancala board with cream pits, colored pebbles and its lidded jar, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 92, expert The Classic Mancala Set A floating plank mancala board with twelve pits, two stores, 48 pebbles and a lidded jar to keep them in. a 17 1/4 in x 6 1/2 in board, 1 5/8 in tall, with 48 pebbles and a 2 5/8 in jar 4 sheets, 10 pages$20 on its own A charcoal stoneware tic tac toe box with a raised grid, white X and orange O pieces, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 93, expert The Tic Tac Toe Set A square lidded box whose lid is the game board, with a raised grid and five X and five O pieces. an 8 1/2 in square box, 2 7/16 in tall with its lid, and ten pieces 2 in across 4 sheets, 11 pages$20 on its own Stoneware checkers board with six-sided cream and red checkers set up on an oak table, made from The Clay Hole paper template Paper template 94, expert The Checkers Set The chess set's 19 1/2 inch board with 26 six-sided beveled checkers that stack into kings. a 19 1/2 in board with 2 1/4 in squares, and 26 six-sided checkers 1 9/16 in across 4 sheets, 10 pages$20 on its own
Built to be played

Every piece fits its square, every marble fits its hole

A game board is fussy in a way a vase never is. The pieces have to fit the squares, the marbles have to settle into their holes, and twelve pits have to hold their seeds without spilling into the next one. So every size on these patterns is worked out from the finished game backward through the shrinkage. Every chess piece gets at least 0.22 inches of room in its square, and a 5/8 inch glass marble sits down in the Chinese checkers board instead of rolling off it.

The pieces come with the game: thirty-two chess pieces, twenty-six checkers that stack into kings, thirty-two backgammon checkers, forty-eight clay seeds for the sunflower mancala, forty-eight pebbles and a lidded jar for the classic one, and five X and five O pieces for tic tac toe. The backgammon board is built in two halves that close on each other like a case, and the dice tower drops your roll through three baffles and out its gate into a felt-lined courtyard.

If you want my advice, glaze the pieces for contrast first and for looks second. You have to be able to tell your side from mine across the table. And a heavy stoneware board has one quiet advantage over cardboard: nobody flips it when they lose. They think about it.

What each one takes

  • The Chess SetInsane. About 30 hours, over many sittings. 3/8 in and 3/16 in slab.
  • The Castle Dice TowerInsane. About 10 hours over four sittings, plus drying. 1/4 in slab. Also needs self-adhesive craft felt, 9 x 12 in, two sheets.
  • The Backgammon SetInsane. About 14 hours over five sittings, plus a week of drying. 3/8 in and 1/4 in slab.
  • The Sunflower Mancala BoardExpert. About 7 hours over three sittings, plus a slow dry. 1/4 in slab.
  • The Chinese Checkers BoardExpert. About 8 hours over several sittings, plus 2 weeks of slow drying. 3/8 in slab. Also needs sixty 5/8 in (16 mm) glass marbles, ten each of six colors.
  • The Classic Mancala SetExpert. About 7 hours, plus two weeks of drying. 3/8 in and 1/4 in slab.
  • The Tic Tac Toe SetExpert. About 5 hours over three sittings, plus a week of slow drying. 3/8 in and 1/4 in slab.
  • The Checkers SetExpert. About 9 hours over three sittings, plus a week of drying. 3/8 in slab.
How a template works

Print, check, roll, cut, build

Print at 100 percent

Actual size, never Fit to page. Plain copy paper works. Card stock survives a wet slab and can be used again.

Measure the square

Every sheet carries a 1 inch square. A ruler on it settles whether the print is right before any clay is cut.

Roll the slab

Each pack names its slab thickness on the cover. Let the slab firm up to soft leather hard, so it holds an edge and still bends.

Cut the count, then build

Lay the paper on the slab, cut straight down just outside the edge, bevel where the hatching says, and follow the numbered steps. Score, slip, press, compress, every seam.

Every collection

More pottery template collections

Ten kitchen pieces made from pottery paper templates: a teapot, fin handle pitcher, spice drawer chest, honey pot and more Kitchen and Home 45 templates The faceted teal and cream dinnerware set made from paper templates: two plates, three bowls, a mug and a tumbler Dinnerware Set 8 templates Seven glowing pottery lamps and lanterns made from paper templates: a lighthouse, canal house, ginger jar lamp and more Lamps and Lanterns 7 templates Seven slab vases and planters made from paper templates: a twisted tower vase, fish planter, scroll bud vases and more Vases 7 templates Three ceramic birdhouses made from paper templates: a wren house, a spire tower and a hanging teardrop birdhouse Birdhouses 3 templates Three ceramic clocks made from paper templates: a tall clock tower, a wall clock with raised numbers and a mantel clock Clocks 3 templates Ten faceted origami pottery animals made from paper templates, from a dragon and a peacock to a sea turtle and a chameleon Origami 11 templates Pottery showpieces made from paper templates: a wall octopus, whale shark, marble run, fountain, wind chime and dice tower Showpieces 16 templates Kiln bead racks, a bead tree and a jewelry rack made from paper templates, loaded with glazed beads and pendants Bead Racks and Trees 4 templates

All of them side by side, with each bundle price, on the template collections page. Every template in one place, sorted by level, on the paper templates page.

Questions

The ones that come up

Which one should I start with

The tic tac toe set. It is Expert, about 5 hours over three sittings, and the quickest build here. The two mancala boards come next at about 7 hours each. The chess set, at about 30 hours, is the one to build last.

Can the chess set and the checkers set share a board

Yes. The checkers set is drawn on the same 19 1/2 inch board with the same 2 1/4 inch squares, so one board plays both games. Build the board once and make both sets of pieces.

Where do I get marbles for the Chinese checkers board

Any toy or craft store with standard 5/8 inch (16 mm) glass marbles. It takes sixty, ten each of six colors. Or make your own: the pack gives the exact size to roll each one so it fires down to fit the holes.

How big are they

Out of the glaze kiln at 12 percent shrinkage: the chess and checkers board is 19 1/2 inches square, the backgammon board opens to 21 1/8 by 12 3/4 inches, the classic mancala board is 17 1/4 inches long and the sunflower is 13 inches across. The Chinese checkers board is 15 3/8 inches across its corners, the tic tac toe box is 8 1/2 inches square, and the dice tower stands 11 11/16 inches to its turrets.

What is in the bundle

All eight game templates in this collection, $114 instead of $190. One PDF per template arrives by email the moment the order goes through, each one the whole pack: the template sheets, the steps, the notes and the size table.

What happens when a new game template comes out

It joins this collection and your downloads at no charge. The same goes for an update to any template already in it. You pay once, today's price, and the collection keeps growing for you.

Can I buy just one

Yes. Each template here has its own page at $20 to $30. The bundle is the eight together for 40 percent less.

Do I need a membership to buy these

No. The bundle is $114 for anyone. Every template is free for members logged in to a Clay Hole account, so a member has nothing to buy.

Can I sell what I make

Yes. The pots are yours. The template files are for your own use and are not to be shared, which is the whole of the terms.

Members

Every template, free, every time

96 templates now and more as they are drawn, all free for current members of The Clay Hole. Print one tonight and bring it to your next session.

Log in to download them freeSee all 96 on one page