26 Parametric Generators for Board Game Designers
Board games are built from components. Cards, tiles, boards, tokens, mats, tracks, and dozens of other physical pieces combine to create the system players interact with at the table. As a designer, your job is to shape those components into something functional, clear, and visually compelling.
The problem is that many game components involve repetitive geometry. A hex grid is 30 hexagons aligned with sub-pixel precision. A score track is 50 numbered cells in a snake pattern. A tournament bracket is a tree of matchup lines that doubles in complexity with each round. Building these by hand in Photoshop or Illustrator is slow, error-prone, and painful to iterate on. Change the grid from 5×5 to 6×6 and you are rebuilding from scratch.
Parametric generators solve this. Instead of drawing the component, you describe it: "hex grid, pointy-top, 5 columns, 4 rows, 2px gap, dark borders." The generator renders the finished component from those parameters instantly. Change a number and the entire component updates. Swap the layout type and it redraws. No manual alignment, no pixel hunting, no wasted afternoons.
Chitmunk includes 26 parametric generators spanning grids, tracks, widgets, card frames, layout tools, reference aids, maps, diagrams, and game mechanics. All are free to try during your 5-day trial. Here is what each one does and why you might need it.
Try All 26 Generators Free
All 26 generators are available to try during your free trial, no limits. They represent the full generator workflow: configuration modal, live preview, canvas placement, quick-edit properties, so you can experience how generators work before deciding whether to subscribe.
Score Track
Numbered score tracks in four layout types: linear, snake, spiral, and perimeter. Configure the value range, step size, cell shape, milestone spacing, numbering frequency, and colors. A snake track from 0 to 100 with gold milestones every 10 cells takes about 15 seconds to generate. Doing it by hand in Illustrator would take an hour.
Dice Face
Standard dice faces from D4 through D20. Three display modes: pips (the classic dots), numbers, and icons. Set the face value, pip color, background color, and border. Use it to print reference cards showing die outcomes, or to create custom dice graphics for your rulebook.
Progress Bar
Horizontal or vertical progress indicators with segmented or continuous fill. Set the total segments, filled count, colors, and an optional label. Use them for health bars on character cards, cooldown tracks on ability cards, or progress meters on campaign maps.
Grids
Hex Grid: pointy-top or flat-top hexagonal grids with configurable columns, rows, gap, colors, border, and optional coordinate labels. The foundation for strategy games, wargames, and overland RPG maps.
Square Grid: rectangular grids with alternating cell colors, adjustable gaps, and optional coordinates. Useful for chess-like games, dungeon crawls, and any design that needs a regular spatial grid.
Tracks
Score Track: (described above.)
Race Track: curved race paths built with an interactive Catmull-Rom spline editor. Click to add control points, drag to shape the path, and choose from six preset track shapes as starting points. Supports multiple lanes and configurable space counts. If your game has a path players move along: race games, adventure paths, dungeon corridors; this is the generator for it.
Widgets
Spinner Wheel: segmented prize wheels with custom labels, radial text, a pointer arrow, and optional donut mode. Add as many segments as you need, each with its own color and label. Great for party games, random-event mechanics, and classroom activities.
Dice Face: (described above.)
Card Parts
Resource Cost Pips: multi-resource pip displays with a generic cost option. Show the cost of a card as colored circles, diamonds, or stars arranged horizontally or vertically. Common in TCGs and engine-building games where cards have multi-resource costs.
Stat Display: character or card stats rendered as badges, bars, or radar charts. Feed in stat names, values, and colors, and the generator produces a formatted stat block. Radar charts are especially effective for RPG character sheets and card game stat comparisons.
Layout
Card Layout Frame: TCG-style card frames with configurable title, art, text, and stat zones. Set zone heights, frame colors, and corner radius to produce card borders that match your game's visual identity. A structured starting point for Magic-style or Pokemon-style card layouts.
Player Mat: configurable zone layouts for player boards. Define named zones with drag-to-position placement, set zone colors, labels, and sizing. Use it for resource areas, card slots, or action spaces on player mats.
Progress Bar: (described above.)
Tournament Bracket: elimination brackets supporting 1 to 6 rounds with seed numbers and auto-scaling. The bracket automatically calculates the number of matchup slots and renders connection lines. Use it for tournament reference cards, competition tracking sheets, or any game with an elimination structure.
Reference
Ruler: measurement rulers with configurable units, major and minor tick marks, number labels, and accent colors. Place rulers along board edges or use them as scale references on maps.
Probability Table: formatted tables showing die outcomes with alternating row colors. Input the column headers and row data, and the generator renders a clean, readable reference table. Include one on a player aid card so players do not need to memorize probability distributions.
Pie Chart: data visualization with donut mode, legend, and percentage labels. Show resource distributions, faction balances, or any proportional data in a clear visual format.
Maps and Diagrams
Map Compass: compass rose with an integrated scale bar. Configure the number of compass points, rose size, scale length, units, and colors. Drop it in the corner of any map component for orientation and distance reference.
Relationship Map: node-and-edge diagrams with labels and connection styles. Define nodes with positions and colors, then draw edges between them with optional labels and solid or dashed lines. Use it for faction relationship charts, character webs, or any network diagram.
Point-to-Point Map: interactive city placement with Ticket-to-Ride-style route segments. Click the canvas to place cities, then connect them with colored route segments of configurable length. The interactive editor lets you build complex network maps visually, with cities you can drag, rename, and delete. This is one of the three generators with a built-in canvas editor.
Tech Tree: interactive node editor with prerequisite arrows and tier levels. Place technology nodes on a canvas, draw dependency arrows between them, and organize them into tiers. The generator renders clean, connected tree diagrams suitable for reference cards, player aids, or in-game tech boards. Another canvas-editor generator.
Thermometer: vertical or horizontal thermometers with bulb and tube rendering. Set the range, current value, filled color, and display options. Use them for temperature gauges, tension meters, or any visual that needs a "filling up" metaphor.
Box Insert: compartment layouts with inset shadows for box-insert diagrams. Define compartments with positions, sizes, labels, and colors. Useful for documenting box organization in rulebooks, or for designing compartment layouts before ordering custom inserts.
Game Mechanics
Action Rondel: circular action wheels with a directional arrow indicator. Define the action sections with labels and colors, and set the inner radius for donut-style rondels. The arrow shows the current direction of play. Use it for games where players rotate through a fixed set of actions, like Navegador or Imperial.
Phase Reference: turn structure displays with numbered phases and connector arrows. Define phase names, descriptions, and colors, then choose horizontal or vertical layout. Every game with a structured turn sequence benefits from a phase reference card; this generator makes them in seconds.
Timeline: event marker sequences with alternating labels. Place events along a horizontal or vertical line with configurable positions, colors, and marker sizes. Use timelines for campaign games, historical scenarios, or any game that tracks progression through a sequence of events.
Token Sheet: punchout sheet layouts with cut and bleed guides. Set the token shape, grid dimensions, gap, and border style. The generator renders a sheet of identical tokens ready for print-and-cut production. If you are making punchout tokens for a prototype or a print-on-demand game, this saves significant layout time.
Interactive Editors
Three generators include full canvas-based interactive editors inside the configuration modal, giving you spatial control that goes beyond numeric inputs:
Race Track. Click the canvas to add control points along the track path. Drag points to reshape the curve. Right-click to delete points. Six preset buttons give you starting layouts: oval, figure-eight, L-shape, and more; that you can customize by dragging points. The track renders in real time as you edit.
Point-to-Point Map. Click to place cities. Drag to reposition them. Double-click to rename. Right-click to remove. Select pairs of cities to add route segments with configurable colors and lengths. The result is a complete network map like the ones in Ticket to Ride, built visually in minutes.
Tech Tree. Click to add technology nodes. Drag to position them. Double-click to rename. Connect nodes with prerequisite arrows by clicking source and target. Preset buttons provide starting tier layouts that you can customize. The final tree renders with clean arrows and aligned tiers.
These interactive editors are what set Chitmunk's generators apart from simple shape tools. You are not describing a component with form fields alone: you are building it spatially, the way you would on a whiteboard, with the precision of a parametric renderer.
How It Works
Using a generator in Chitmunk follows three steps:
1. Open the Palette
Click Generators in the toolbar, or click Shape and switch to the Generators tab. The palette shows rendered previews of all 26 generator types in a visual grid. Browse, compare, and pick the one you need.
2. Configure in the Modal
Clicking a generator opens its configuration modal. Every generator has a live preview at the top that updates as you change settings. Adjust dimensions, colors, layout type, and type-specific parameters. For the three interactive-editor generators, build your layout visually on the canvas inside the modal.
3. Place It on the Canvas
Click Apply and the generator appears on your card or board design as a single resizable element. Move it, scale it, rotate it, layer it with text, images, and shapes. Double-click to reopen the configuration modal and make changes at any time. Use quick-edit controls in the properties panel for fast color and size tweaks without opening the full modal.
Generators behave like every other element in Chitmunk. They support opacity, blend modes, drop shadows, and all the standard element properties. They export at full resolution in PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF, and Tabletop Simulator spritesheet formats.
Convert to Shapes
If you need to edit individual parts of a generator: move one hex cell, recolor one score track space, resize one bracket line, right-click the generator and select Convert to Shapes. This flattens the generator into a group of individual shapes and text elements that you can edit independently. It is a one-way operation, so duplicate the generator first if you might want to reconfigure it later.
Free vs. Pro
All 26 generators are available during your free trial. Sign in, explore the full workflow: palette browsing, configuration modal, live preview, canvas placement, quick-edit properties, and export, and decide whether the parametric approach fits your design process.
After your trial, a Rare subscription ($7.99/mo or $59.99/yr) keeps print-resolution export unlocked. Rare includes PDF export with crop marks, Tabletop Simulator spritesheets, TheGameCrafter direct upload, and batch ZIP export.
Start Generating
Open the editor, click Generators, and drop your first component onto the canvas. All 26 generators are free to try, and you can export your work during the trial. If 26 parametric game components sound like they would save you time, they will.