How to Make a Plinko Board Game

If you’re a fan of the TV game show The Price is Right, then you already know how much fun it is to play Plinko. What you might not know is that you can actually create your very own DIY Plinko board.

If you’re not a do-it-yourself kind of person, don’t worry. You can always get your Plinko-playing fix online with Arkadium’s Price is Right Plinko Game. But if you’re dying to try building your own, this article will be your guide to making a Plinko board that you, your friends, and your family can enjoy for years to come.

The Plinko boards you see today are leaps and bounds better than the original version introduced on The Price is Right in 1983. The show’s most famous host — Bob Barker — introduced the game, explaining that the name “Plinko” came from the plink sound the chips made as they traveled down the board hitting various metal spikes.

The show’s producers put up with these intermittent game interruptions until 1991, when one of the producers came up with the idea of placing a Plexiglass cover over the board to prevent any wayward chips from bouncing off the board. While it solved that issue, the renovated Plinko board created a new problem for the game. From time to time, chips would get stuck between the plexiglass and the board and have to be retrieved. This was no easy feat, as it was hard to get into the tight space where a wayward chip would become lodged to retrieve it.

To fix this new problem, in 1994 a Plinko board aficionado came up with the idea of cutting triangle-shaped holes into the game’s Plexiglass cover so any chips that get stuck can be easily and quickly dislodged, allowing the game to proceed.

Since the perfection of the Price is Right official Plinko board almost 30 years ago, people have been inventing new ways to build their own Plinko games. The following offers a10-step DIY Plinko design plan to make your own Plinko game.

This take on the DIY Plinko board is perfect for a backyard family gathering or neighborhood get-together. While these DIY Plinko instructions include the use of regular plywood, you can adapt as needed if you are using other materials. For instance, you can skip the hole-drilling if you are interested in how to make a Plinko board with pegboard and follow the other instructions as applicable.

Just follow these easy steps to creating a homemade plinko game.

• Cut a piece of plywood to 30” x 8”.
• Draw parallel lines down the board spaced 2 ½” apart.. Then, start with the first line and draw marks through the line across using this same spacing.
• On the second line, mark the spacing at 1 ¼”. Then go across the second line and make the marks every 2 ½”.
• Take a long straight edge and use it to copy the marks from the first line on every other line. Then copy the marks from the second line on every other line.
• Use a small drill bit — note that since you’ll be placing nails in the board you’ll want to make sure the drill bit is smaller than the nails — drill holes through the board at each of the cross marks.
• Scrape the splintered wood off the back of the board and then lightly sand the board on both sides.
• Using a sawhorse or on a hard surface like concrete, drive a nail into each of the holes, taking care that the nails do not go all the way into the board. They need to stick out a little farther than the diameter of the ping pong ball or practice golf ball that will serve as your Plinko chip.
• Attach 2” x 4” pieces of wood to the bottom of the board for legs and and 1” x 2” pieces to each side to keep the balls on the board.
• Drop a ping pong ball from the top of the board to see where it might get stuck. You’ll want to add extra nails at these places to divert the balls away from these areas. Play around a bit, adding nails here and there to see how the balls progress down the board and to divert them as desired.
• To create the slots on the bottom for the balls to land, cut chutes out of scrap pieces of plywood at 45 degree angles to direct the balls away from the higher value slots. Attach these chutes to the bottom board, using wider spaces for lower values and narrower spaces for higher values, ensuring that the balls will actually fit into the narrower spaces.

Feel free to spray paint your DIY Plinko pegboard in bright fun colors. One the paint has dried, you’re ready to play Pinko!

Plinko is one of those time-tested family-friendly games that people of all ages can play in real time with a group at a party or backyard cookout, at a church or school carnival fundraiser, or even as a contestant on a TV game show.

But you don’t need a crowd to enjoy Plinko. You can also play Pinko online by yourself online. If you want a visually appealing and exciting The Price is Right Plinko experience — complete with the show’s theme music and Plinko board sound effects can be played anytime for free on Arkadium.