I got bored tonight and decided to gather up some scrap materials I have on hand and I began the process of making a handmade copy of Ponte del Diavolo. I’ve only ever manufactured a copy of a game once before when I made a copy of Hive . With Hive, after many, many hours, I had a copy of the game that originally cost me less than $25 for the real deal in the first place. So, no, this isn’t about possessing the game. If it was centered on owning a copy, I’d just buy one, a much simpler and much more cost effective approach. Instead, it’s about the process. The tactile aspects of handling the wood, shaping the textures, smoothing the cherry and white oak tiles, and drawing my gaming hobby towards a common goal with my other favorite hobby, woodworking.
On the left are some of the cherry 1″x1″ cherry tiles I cut out that have had an initial amount of sanding. Behind those, are some cherry tiles that have yet to be sanded. On the right are the white oak tiles for the second player. They’ve not received anything beyond cutting.
My plan is to stain the white oak tiles very dark, to leave the cherry tiles natural, and to seal all of them with a satin poly top coat. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to do for the bridges yet. For the board, I plan to use a 10×10 tile sheet of 1″x1″ white unglazed mosaic ceramic tile left over from when I installed the flooring in our bathrooms. I’ll mount and grout that into a frame for the board.
That’s the plan anyway. It may take me many months to finish it but I’m not in a hurry. Wish me luck.