Getting equipment for new sports

First, i know this place is mostly for video game design. But i don't see many other places for game design beyond video games, and i have no idea where else to go for guidance with designing a sport.

I had an idea today for a new variety of bowling that i think would be best played with duckpin balls and pins. Problem is, those are apparently really expensive. A quick look online has a single ball going for $60-$80 US, and candlepin balls aren't better.

Less recently i wrote rules for another sport that would require mostly original equipment, and i don't even know where to start with getting totally custom equipment made. I guess talk to a smith or welder?

If anyone here has experience with this sort of thing, how do you get equipment for experimental games/sports without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on it? Is this why apparently nobody makes new sports?

10 points · 3 comments · view on lemmy.world

3 Comments

RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Have you tried stacking up foam and carving it to make the shapes you want? Might be a cheaper alternative than paying for custom parts when you aren't absolutely sure of their design yet.

plzExplainNdetail@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 1y

Adding on to that thought- You can also try something similar with cardboard. Layer glue and cardboard to get to size and then carve it down as needed. It's pretty solid and can hold quite a bit of weight.

supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 1y

So I don't know shit about bowling, but I do know that it is the kind of sport you would come up with if you had a lathe for wood and you were bored.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathe