Updating

It wasn’t long after completion that updating began

Published 30 May 2025

A little comparing . . .

I probably should have made a little more effort to make my white tiles a little more creamy, like the original Scrabble tiles are, as well as one of a board’s playing areas stone coloured (light and dark), rather than light green but, having said all that my attempt is my attempt and shows the potential of a modular approach that for an actual manufactured release not much needs to be tweaked to appease the necessary brand (and management) tick boxes!

Classic edition, contemporary edition, whatever-the-marketers-want-to-call-it edition . . . as long as those core visual and tactile improvements and modular means and methods are included (and poor typesetting, or layout, is not included) then customers are better placed to mix-and-match their needs in and around, essentially, one product that can adapt rather than having to be completely different . . . better ways of engagement and involvement allow for clarity, awareness and even responsibility to come forth rather than everything being presented . . . like the almost sheer idiocy of sat-nav use and lack of (decent spatial awareness and) map reading skills!

On the left-hand side of this image a photo shows the comparison of a few demonstration tiles against some old, classic Scrabble tiles getting across the difference and clearer presentation of slightly larger and heavier weighted letters against the traditional (and current, as of 2025) way of how they appear in ‘real’ Scrabble; the right-hand side photo shows an (old!) original Scrabble board sat on top of the demonstration model and which just about shows that the demonstration’s board is about the same size, but of the full, Scrabble foldable board, not is actually playing area. — Comparing demonstration board and tiles against an actual, but old, Scrabble board and its tiles.

This split image shows two photos of the same board – which both of its sides have a strong, yellow central cell with circular hole allowing the black axle of the turntable to show through for contrast – sat within the one tray. The left-hand side photo shows a fully painted board with a light green side, with its multiplier cells appropriately coloured and with relevant combinations and orientations of holes and its right-hand side photo showing a board painted the same way, expect it is in dark green showing how adaptable the game could be for those partially-sighted that would prefer darker colours to aid their focus. — The demonstration showing an element of its modularity – a board showing its light and dark sides – and that makes its point of being clear.

Different red

Despite avoidance of bothering to make any tweaks initially by having written possible changes down as a means of exorcising that need, I did end up taking on that task.

Board colours, particularly a brighter red for the triple word cells, was taken on and after initially thinking it wasn’t really necessary. The deciding factor in finally making that change was my ongoing, but slight, concern for the white side of one of the two boards being not-quite white after its first paint and varnish.

So after a week or two in and around the other updating tasks and of should I, shouldn’t I thinking about it, I just took that side, sanded it a bit then set about making the necessary changes to it and the other side and other board.

See those results below, but put it this way: I will not be taking on another update to demonstration parts and it is definitely job done with it . . . and it can all wear out through some use, quite frankly!

On the left-hand side of this image a photo shows a close-up of a sanded and roughed up side of a board that was white, but never quite white enough, and looking a little worn and yellowish given the photo was not taken in natural light; the right-hand side photo, taken in daylight, shows the same board side refreshed after a few hours’ work, over a day or so, looking a little whiter and benefitting from a lighter, more intense red for its triple word multiplier cells. — A before and after of a task that was initially avoided but ultimately helped reset some – not quite clear as they should be – colours and finishes.

The two sides of this image each show a close-up photo of the dark green side of one of the boards and how the triple word multiplier cells have changed from, in its left-hand side photo, a darker red – one that I didn’t think would be that dark when I painted it – to a lighter, more intense and contrasting red, in its right-hand side photo; the change helped dispel a concern I’d held that the partially-sighted (even sighted, possibly) would struggle to clearly make it out and so a more intense red helped raise its purpose. — First, triple word multiplier cells were enamel red and a bit dark, then they were a Red Arrow red gloss acrylic; it took about two months’ of thinking time, but a few hours of effort!

Tiles

With both sets of tiles having been used for a few games each I decided to take the opportunity, despite my initial reticence in not wanting to create more work for myself post-project completion, to sort their balsa edges out given that quite a few of them still didn’t fit that neatly against others.

It was a bit of a faff but once I had started placing them randomly and finding the many that clearly I hadn’t created properly, or had not even updated very well, I just delicately (well, tried to) sand them enough to make them fit a little more snugly. There are a few more gaps in places then there probably should be but the job sort of improved things in general and quietened my completist attitude, for a bit!

I won’t bore you with my version 1.5 of repainting all the tiles – 100 tiles; two sets; and two sided so essentially 400 of them! – because of those first few games where they got worn quite a bit in the varnished, but clearly not smooth enough, tile holders! Suffice to say it did get done, eventually, with the tile holders getting a more suitable improvement of sticky-back plastic on them . . . well, wide clear tape from a UK store soon to be defunct, as it is much thinner and easier to apply and if it peels off, it won’t damage the wood (too much!) and so another piece can be added quite simply.

Image shows a close-up photo of part of a white board with a grid above holding some tiles of various sides and in this shot, some yellow with black text, others black with yellow text, all to get across another of the ups and downs, ins and outs of trying to sort out the kinks and issues present in placing some of them when playing an actual game so that it’s all a bit smoother; it’s all partly a fine example of me not necessarily being as accurate in my making of a tile’s edge piece and then gluing both its sides together and just expecting, with material such as plywood and balsa that no variant could happen so what could go wrong! — Some of one set’s 100 tiles, arranged after some additional faff, sorry, sanding, to help their better fitting in to the grid, although one thinks they’re still not all friends!

A plan that shows two sides of one tile, partially in a grid for context and showing the yellow and black colour scheme; its raised border and braille (around and above the letter and number respectively) shown in green to assist the sighted in seeing how those integral parts help the unsighted - not that they would actually be green for real but actually the colour of their surface. — An example plan of what tiles in my demonstration should have actually been made like, including having a notch at the top of a tile’s lighter side and braille on both sides.

Possibility

One likes to think that there really isn't a lot between my attempts and original Scrabble elements (and all their colours) so, with a little more tweaking of sizes and colours of the various parts, along with suitable materials so as to appropriately manufacture a commercial product that suits a broader audience because of the modularity I am proposing, it could really be a more accessible product without demeaning the mainstream.