A fond childhood memory was sitting at the kitchen table, usually in the wintertime, and playing game after game of Score Four. I think we only ever played by the basic rules, and as soon as someone won by getting four of their color beads in any straight row, the game was over and we’d start a new game. It was fun to strategize by having several potential rows under way, while remaining vigilant for the opponent’s plays. My favorite move was when I could maneuver the beads so that playing the next one yielded two intersecting lines of potentially four, so that the other player was forced to block one of the lines … and my next move completed the other line of four.

I’d thought about building a few sets of Score Four for quite a while, and the holdup was always finding the right beads that would closely replicate the original ones. I finally found 15 mm natural wood beads at a reasonable price and ordered enough for four sets, figuring on 40 dark and 40 light beads per set. I also ordered 1/8″ machinable brass rod to fabricate the pins from, and it was time to create a 3D model of everything else I would need to make in SketchUp.

Here’s a short clip of the engraving on my CNC router, followed by a gallery of photos documenting the whole project.