Checkers is a simple game that can exercise your brain and provide hours of entertainment! Combining skill, strategy, and decision-making, this game is a fun challenge! Playing checkers may not be so fun, however, if you don't have a board! Luckily, this Instructable is here to make a very useful checkerboard out of K'nex!

Step 1: Parts

You will need:
-32 white connectors
-32 blue connectors
-64 grey connectors
-4 red connectors
-4 orange connectors
-12 orange diagonal "Y" connectors
-12 blue caps
-14 purple bendy rods
-14 blue rods
-81 white rods
-179 green rods

Step 2: Checkerboard: Piece One

Take four white connectors and four blue connectors and arrange them in an alternating pattern as shown. Connect the pieces with green rods. Repeat for four pieces.

Step 3: Checkerboard: Piece Two

Take four more white connectors and four more blue connectors and arrange them as shown. Then, connect them with green rods. Repeat four times to get four pieces.

Step 4: Checkerboard: Pieces; Arrange

Take the pieces you just made and arrange them as shown. Next, connect them with green rods. Finally, fill in all spaces with white rods.

Step 5: Base: Pieces

Take two grey connectors and slide them together as shown. Repeat to make 32 pieces.

Step 6: Base: Pieces; Arrange

Arrange the pieces into four groups of eight pieces, and connect them using green rods.

Step 7: Base: Attach

Attach the base pieces to the checkerboard using green rods.

Step 8: Base: Corners

Take four red connectors, and attach them to the base using green rods. Next, fill in all spaces using white rods.

Step 9: Checkers: Blue "Checkers"

Take a blue rod and a diagonal orange connector and connect them together. Repeat to get 12 "checkers."

Step 10: Checkers: Purple "Checkers"

Take a purple bendy rod and a blue cap and connect them together. Repeat to get twelve "checkers."

Step 11: Making a King

To make a king, simply take an orange connector and attach it to a "checker" on one end, and add another rod of the same color to the other end.

Step 12: Using Your "Checkers"

To add a "checker" to the checkerboard, simply insert the checker rod into the hole in the center of a white connector on the checkerboard.

Step 13: Playing the Game

The game of Checkers starts out with each kind of checker lined up at opposite sides of the checkerboard. There should be two empty rows of white connectors between the two sides. Each player then moves a single checker forward one space per turn. Players can use their checkers to "jump" the other player's checkers, and thus remove them from the game.

Step 14: "King Me!"

If one of your checkers reaches the other player's side of the board, you can shout "King me!" and that checker can be made into a "king" (step 11). Kings can move in any direction on the checkerboard.

Step 15: Features of Your Checkerboard

Your checkerboard has special features about it that can make your game even more enjoyable!

-King Storage Feature: The holes in the four corners of your checkerboard can be used to store the extra rods and connectors for making kings.

-Game Saving Lift Feature: When you pick up your checkerboard, the checkers will automatically fall down into the board, and your game will be saved! Then, when you put the board back down, the checkers will automatically pop back up!

Step 16: Done!!!

You now have and know how to use your K'nex-style game of checkers!!! Have fun! Thanks for viewing! Enjoy!!!

P.S. If you want even more game-playing fun, check out these two different versions of a K'nex checkerboard, by knexsuperbuilderfreak and I_am_Canadian! I didn't know about these at the time of making this, but some credit goes to them for coming up with their own versions as well.

Introduction: Checkers: K'nex Style!