Systems and methods for creating a playable video game from user-generated artwork. The systems and methods include a smart game board system having a plurality of recesses arranged in a grid and configured to accept an RFID tag embedded in a block. As the user places blocks in the recesses, an antenna system detects which recesses contain blocks, and the color or another identifier of the block. This information is transmitted to a computer system for translation into playable video game data, such as level data or a skin or image.