Youth used time off to create board game

Aledo youth Josh Fink spent part of his holiday break creating a new board game..

Like many youngsters, Josh Fink loves playing games. He also loves creating them.

During the holiday break, the 13-year-old went old school in his gaming. He spent part of his time inventing a board game titled "Dragon Dungeon."

"The idea for this game came from the help of my friend Henry Todd. We were at his house playing with ideas from YouTube and some books we’ve read," Josh said. "We made a slide show and then I decided to turn it into a game."

The game should not be confused with "Dungeons and Dragons," which actually has no winners and losers in its conventional form. "Dragon Dungeon" is won when, well, someone defeats the dragon.

It is also suitable for all ages, Josh said.

The game is an example of how Josh is always thinking, said his mother, Geri Fink.

"Josh is a super fun, creative kid. He prefers to be busy most of his waking hours," Geri said. "His mind is always going. We call him the 100% kid because no matter what he is doing, he gives everything he has, every single day of his life."

Indicative of this, Fink is also one of the area's best young runners/walkers. He won a national championship in race walking and qualified nationally in running for the Mach I Track Club out of Weatherford this past summer. His siblings, older brother Jack and younger sister Jenna were with him in Des Moines, Iowa for the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics.

Among the games rules:

The youngest player moves first.

Players can only move one space at a time.

Every other round the dragon moves.

If a monster beats a player, that player must return to the home space and start over.

To challenge the monster, a player moves their marker to the monster space.

The game is over when someone defeats the dragon.

While this is the first board game Josh has created, it's not the first game to spring forth from his ingenuity. He's created a few games for class assignments, including a chess-type game, a true/false game about Bill Gates and most recently a block coding game for computers about George Washington Carver. 

"His George Washington Carver game is simple, but well thought-out and fun. I was really impressed by his research and how he implemented the pieces into a game," Geri said.

Josh said he has considered marketing his new game, but it does use copyrighted graphics from the internet, so he'd have to come up with an alternative for that aspect of it. Also, don't be surprised if more games emerge from his mind, a mind that is constantly looking beyond the surface of whatever it is he is playing.

"I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in games and how they are made. I get excited over all types of games," he said.

"I am always proud of Josh and his creations," Geri said. "If you leave him alone for several hours he will always create something unique and fun."