🎉 New location — 525 2nd Avenue, Prince George
Ask anyone who grew up in rural BC, and there's a good chance they learned to count to 121 before they learned their multiplication tables. Cribbage has been a fixture of Canadian life — especially in northern BC — for generations. It's the game that lived on the kitchen table at the cabin, in the break room at the mill, and in the back of the truck at hockey tournaments. You didn't need much: a deck of cards, a peg board, and someone willing to deal.
At Northern Hart Designs, we've been making crib boards for years, and we know what makes them more than just a game — a great crib board is something people actually keep.
Cribbage arrived in Canada with British settlers and found a permanent home in logging camps, fishing lodges, and kitchen tables across the country. In northern BC especially, it became the game you played in places where there wasn't much else — long winters, small towns, remote worksites. It spread because it's genuinely good: fast, strategic, and social without needing much equipment.
Today the game is still going strong. It's one of the most-played card games in Canada, and in communities like Prince George, it's not unusual to find it being played at every age — kids learning from grandparents, adults running in local tournaments, retired couples keeping a running score that spans decades.
That's what makes a crib board a meaningful gift. It's not a novelty. It's a piece of a game culture that runs deep here.
A standard crib board does the job. An engraved one with someone's name, their favourite lake, or their team on it gets used and displayed. It gets pointed out to guests. It gets brought out at family gatherings. It becomes the board.
We engrave and UV-print our crib boards here in Prince George, using local hardwoods — walnut, maple, cherry — finished by hand. Every board we make is functional: regulation track, quality brass pegs, a storage peg compartment built in. And every board can carry something personal: a name, a date, a dedication, a place that matters.
That combination — built to actually play on, designed to be kept forever — is what separates a customized board from a big-box gift.
We make a range of crib boards, depending on what you're after:
Standard Engraved Crib Boards — walnut and maple, available in dark or light wood. These are the workhorses: clean design, great engraving surface, easy to personalize with a name, message, or graphic. Starting at $55.
Lake Map Crib Boards — your favourite fishing lake, UV-printed directly onto the board. We can do any lake in BC or across Canada. It's the kind of gift a fisherman doesn't expect and doesn't forget. Crib Board with Any Lake starting at $95.
Team Crib Boards — NHL teams (all 32), CFL, NFL, and the Prince George Cougars. If there's a hockey fan in your life, this is the gift. Starting at $60.
Travel Crib Boards — a smaller format (pocket-sized) for camping, road trips, or anyone who plays on the go. Travel boards start at $20, and we make them in the lake map format too.
Custom Crib Boards — you bring us an idea. A family crest, a company logo, a photo, a quote, a BC landscape — we'll work with you on a design and build it from scratch. Starting at $65.
All boards include quality pegs and cards. Made to order, ready in 2–5 business days.
We make crib boards year-round, but they sell especially well around a few occasions:
Father's Day — it's consistently one of our top-selling categories in June. A lake map board with his favourite fishing hole, or a Cougars board for the hockey dad — these are the gifts that land.
Retirement gifts — a personalized board with years of service, a company logo, or a message from the team makes a retirement gift that actually gets used. We've done corporate retirement boards for local businesses, forestry companies, and mining operations in the region.
Birthdays and anniversaries — couples who've played crib for decades sometimes commission boards with their names, wedding date, or a milestone year on them. We've made 40th anniversary boards that people treat like heirlooms.
Christmas — our busiest season. Order early — crib boards are made to order and take 2–5 business days to produce.
Browse our crib board collection at northernhartdesigns.ca/collections/gaming and add the lake, names, or customisation details in the order notes at checkout. If you've got something specific in mind that you don't see listed, send us a message — we do custom work regularly and are happy to talk through what's possible.
In-store orders can be ready in 2–5 business days — find us at Pine Centre Mall until May 25, then at our new location at 525 2nd Avenue. We also ship across Canada — standard shipping takes 1–3 business days once the board is ready.
For time-sensitive orders (Father's Day, a birthday this week), reach out directly and we'll let you know what's realistic.
Northern Hart Designs is a custom engraving, woodworking, and fabrication shop in Prince George, BC. We make things people keep.
