As a child, I grew up surrounded by wooden toys. From the traditional blocks to build houses and castles, to wooden cars and educational games, wood was a fundamental part of my development and education. However, it’s presence has always been as a medium, a material, and not as part of the dynamics of play.

 

When I started to get interested in woodworking this challenge was always present in my head: How to develop a game where the knowledge of wood characteristics can be used as part of its rules? The answer was this “Ludic Wood Collection” (“Xiloteca Lúdica” is the name I gave it in Portuguese), a name too pompous to describe a simple twist to the set of dominoes.

 

As it should be, there are the 28 tiles in this set, but instead of matching numbers from 0 to 6, the players match one of the seven species of Brazilian woods I used (Brazilian Walnut, Purple Heart, Red Cabreúva, Peroba, Cumarú, Red Angelim and Tauari). Analyzing color, grain, texture and porosity on the end grain, the players not only have fun, but also learns a little about the characteristics of the species used, making domino not only a fun game, but also a learning tool.

The pieces follow the official dimensions (2″ x 1″ x 3/8″) and are stored in a 8 3/8″ x 3″ x 3″ mittered box made of Sucupira, a wood different from those used in the dominoes.

In addition to having really liked the result, one of the main advantages I see in this project is the possibility of using scrap material from large commercial lumberyards, who usually sell these scraps at nothing, or simply give them to you to get rid of it. And since most of these scraps are from boards that are often already squared, much of the work has already been done.

Living in Brazil, the choice of embracing native woods was part of the project. It’s a feature you can use to start conversations about the forest, the use of natural resources and the native flora of my country. But I see no impediment in choosing exotic woods like American Walnut, Maple, Ash, or any other wood that is available to you.

Working at a small area of ​​my apartment (just 10 square feet), the use of any power tool is simply impossible, so this was a perfect project for me. The main disadvantage is the lack control over the grain, the wood, and the quality of the available material, since I used only scraps. You just have to be lucky.

And deal with Matt Kenney on the back of your head always complaining about how ugly Purple Heart is…

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And it really is.