Prop ideas

See Prop suppliers for detailed advice on specific suppliers.

This is a page to list common props and their uses (like ribbons), and items which are less well known but could prove useful in putting together a game (such as toys and technical gimmicks like UV pens).

Ancient scrolls

To make a passable 'ancient' or 'antique' document, just burn/fold/tear the edges a bit, then wipe a used teabag over it and pop it into the oven at 50-100°C until dry. Do any tearing first to avoid tell-tale white edges.

Cards

If your game requires cards, the easy way to make them is to print stickers and then stick them onto a normal deck of playing cards. Avery Template L7160 address labels (64mmx38mm) are a good size - you can buy 525 stickers for about £7 ($10USD).

Hats

If you're trying to establish the moderator as some sort of authority figure, you can't really go wrong with a good hat.

Beret = artist/secret agent, bowler = businessman, top hat = toff...

Magic pens

UV pens have ink which is only visible under UV light. They are probably available free from your local law enforcers (for marking your property to aid recovery if it is stolen). You can get UV or 'blacklight' lightbulbs, torches (used for examining stamps or currency), and LED keyring dealies - these are available at electronics/hobby stores.

Secret agent pens are toy sets of two pens, one which writes invisibly, and one which makes the writing from the first pen visible when you scribble over the invisible message. Usefully, the ink in the invisible pen may also be revealed under UV light.

Also see lemon juice secret writing.

Mobile phones

Very basic pre-pay mobile phones are surprisingly cheap nowadays - you can pick them up for £20, or even less with a mandatory credit top-up. Smaller, dodgier stores will sell you unlocked handsets so you can replace the SIM.

Trying to save money by buying a second-hand mobile can be more trouble than it's worth.

Monopoly money

Monopoly money makes an inexpensive substitute for real money, and can be downloaded in printable form from Hasbro. Printing on coloured paper looks surprisingly less rubbish than white paper, if you've got some.

Ribbons

Looped ribbons are a cheap and easy way to denote teams, or to help players recognise one another. They're visible at a distance, relatively inconspicuous to non-players, and if they're tied to an arm or around the head, other players can spot them from any direction. Satin acetate ribbon - the slightly nasty fabric ribbons used by florists - seems to be cheapest, in terms of the amount of decently thick ribbon you get per dollar.

If you're running multiple iterations of a game, it can be a good idea to use different coloured ribbons for each round, as some of the earlier players might lounge around wearing their ribbons beyond the end of their game.

Stickers

Printable stickers are great if you need to give your players wearable identities, or to help them recognise each another (although ribbons are usually preferable, for simple which-team information). They can also be good as a simple way to "ticket" your game if you have no other props - if your game only works with 20 players, bringing along 20 stickers so that everyone knows that when they've run out, the game is full.

Avery Template L7160 address labels (64mmx38mm) are good if you want to print something legible at a distance. Smaller L7651 (38mmx21mm) are fine for smaller "ticket" stickers. A pack of either is about £7 ($10USD) - that gets you 525 of the larger ones, or 1625 of the smaller.

Voice changers

There are voice changer toys shaped like loudhailers which both amplify and change your voice to give a Dalek/alien type effect (some of them offer a variety of effects). They're mostly not very good if you want a large number of people to be able to understand what you're saying, though.

You can also get smaller voice changers designed to be held over a telephone mouthpiece.