In Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope, Chewbacca and R2-D2 spend a few minutes playing a game called Dejarik, also known as holochess. (C-3PO advises R2 to “let the Wookiee win,” since Wookiees are notoriously poor losers.)
Ian Martin, a 28-year-old web developer and Star Wars fan from Washington, was so taken with the game of Dejarik that he has spent the last few months building his own board. While the pieces don’t move independently or power slam each other, it still looks like it’s a ton of fun to play.
What’s really impressive, though, is the amount of work Martin put into making this fictional game a reality. The board required not only a ton of 3-D printing and dozens of mechanical keyboard switches, but also dozens of prototypes for everything from the keyboard to the circuit board. He also had his brother help him out by creating a font that matched the keys on the board in the movie, and an illustrated Dejarik rulebook, for those who don’t know how to play the game, which is almost everyone.
More photos of the board are available on Martin’s Dejarik Creations Facebook page. Hopefully the rulebook includes “don’t rip anyone’s arms off if you lose.”
[Via Laughing Squid]