I've been learning to use KiCAD. It is a truly appalling program. However, I've discovered that KiCAD is better for designing front panels and board games than its intended purpose of circuit design.
While experimenting with KiCAD's electronic component foot-print editor, I found that it is easy to create one board game square as a "component" and then insert multiple copies into a "circuit board" layout. I was quite surprised about insertion functionality, although it is very welcome. KiCAD has a certain formality and nannying approach and many people are under the false impression that it not possible to skip schematic design within KiCAD. Thankfully, the foot-print editor allows any component to be inserted into a board layout whether or not it appears in a circuit schematic.
It is rather fiddly to design "components" in KiCAD and my example should probably be discarded. Regardless, once the tedious part of game square design has been completed, it is quite easy to stamp the squares wherever they are required. Doodling in software, I began designing a Ludo board. A similar work-flow could be used to design Monopoly variants, although significant forward planning is required.
Circuit design software contains features which are particularly suited to the design of a Monopoly board. For example, circuit design software typically handles text in four orientations with greater ease than many graphic design programs. In some regards, it is easier to design a board game in KiCAD rather than GIMP or Adobe Illustrator. Unfortunately, KiCAD has a maddening lack of rulers or guides. Also, output formats are unconventional.
Palette may be limited and great care is required to obtain the correct definition of copper, tinning, solder mask and silk screen. Ignoring this, it is relatively easy to design vector artwork for a board game which can then be manufactured in suitably durable materials. It also opens the possibility of affordable hobbyist board games which incorporate a large number of electronic components. This is particularly true if components, such as surface mount diodes, are part of an out-sourced manufacturing process.
Historically, a disproportionate number of chess computers have been based on 6502. For a 6502-opoly game, it would be possible to include a real 6502, either as part of a kit or pre-assembled. The squares around the edge of the Monopoly board may be wired with shift registers or wired like a keyboard matrix. In the middle, a 6502, keypad and LCD display may provide game functions such as financial balances or the selection of "Community Chest" cards. The latter is not restricted by the historical cost of card deck manufacture and may be significantly more varied.
For the advanced game, the 6502 may provide a Turing complete virtual machine. I strongly recommend against a full 6502 implementation due to the relative regularity of opcodes. A skewed subset or fictitious processor architecture may provide superior play.
It is relatively easy to write 6502 opcodes using other opcodes. An example is the ROR bug workaround. This leads to the problem that any race to obtain a working set of opcodes may fail to teach assembly programming. Or it may fail to teach good practice. It may be preferable to consider a deliberately rickety Mouse Trap arrangement where players have to escape a trap. This also leads to the very binary outcome of winners and losers.
An alternative suggestion for out-sourced board game manufacture is a chess computer. This would work particularly well nowadays, given that it is possible to obtain very affordable circuit boards with black solder mask and white silk screen. To economize, it is possible to design a 4*4 section of chess board at 100mm*100mm and then get four or five copies manufactured. Indeed, a fifth board may be used to affix the other four into an 8*8, 200mm*200mm board. I believe this costs five dollars excluding shipping, diodes or glue. For game pieces, I recommend 3D printing, imitation Lego, or a mix of both. Specifically, each piece may have a Lego base and a 3D printed crown or similar. To make an electrical contact, it is possible to glue a coin onto the bottom of each piece.
If you're in Europe or some other nannying jurisdiction, remember to order lead free game boards. You may also want to glue all parts of the game pieces together.
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