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The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/050,683 filed on May 6, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a game having at least two boards, a cooperative board in which players cooperate in playing the game and a competitive board in which players compete in playing the game.
Many board games presently exist which comprise a board, player tokens, and a random movement device. In such games, players take turns operating the random movement device, such as a die or dice, and then advance their tokens to various positions on the boards based on a value of the random movement device.
The board of such games is a competitive board insofar as the players compete with one another to win the game represented by the board. The board of such games is generally not a cooperative board requiring the players to cooperate in order to win the game represented by the board. Moreover, no game exists in which at least two boards are used, where one board is a competitive board requiring the players to compete with one another as they play the game, and where the another board is a cooperative board requiring the players to cooperate with one another as they play the game.
The present game is game in which at least two boards are used to play the game. One board, for example, may be a competitive board requiring the players to compete with one another as they play the game, and another board, for example, may be a cooperative board requiring the players to cooperate with one another as they play the game.
FIG. 1 is a top view of a first board of a game;
FIG. 2 is a top view of a second board of the game;
FIG. 3 illustrates a sub-grid of the second board of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 illustrates credits that are awarded to players during play of the game;
FIG. 5 illustrate game pieces that are placed on or inserted into the second board of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 illustrates disks that are used during the play of the game;
FIG. 7 illustrates decks of cards that are used during the play of the game;
FIG. 8 illustrates dice that are used during the play of the game;
FIG. 9 illustrates a receiver portion of the second board shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 10 is a side view of the receiver portion of FIG. 9 and a decoder portion of the second board of FIG. 2;
FIGS. 11, 12, and 13 are views of the second board of FIG. 2 having pieces placed thereon or inserted therein;
FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate another embodiment of the second board of FIG. 2;
FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate the receiver portion of the second board of FIG. 2;
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a piece applied to the second board;
FIG. 19 is a top view of the piece of FIG. 18;
FIG. 20 is a front view of the piece of FIG. 18;
FIG. 21 is a side view of the piece of FIG. 18;
FIG. 22 is a bottom view of the piece of FIG. 18;
FIG. 23 shows a detail of the piece of FIG. 18;
FIG. 24 illustrates one example of symbol key codes that can be used in connection with the second board of FIG. 2;
FIG. 25 illustrates a blank that can be used with the second board of FIG. 2;
FIGS. 26 and 27 show a mask having numbered holes corresponding to the starting positions for pieces applied to the second board at the beginning of the game;
FIGS. 28 and 29 show an alternative decoder key and keyed hole; and,
FIG. 30 shows a game piece holder.
In one embodiment, the game described herein can be used to operate as a teaching tool for its players, and focuses on teaching principles for a “green” or environmentally sound community. However, other embodiments of the game are possible.
The game includes at least two separate game boards, a first board 10 shown in FIG. 1 and a second board 30 shown in FIG. 2. The first board 10, for example, may be a competitive board which is used competitively by the players during the play of the game. The second board 30, for example, may be a cooperative board such as a puzzle board or even a Sudoku style puzzle board which is used cooperatively by the players during the play of the game.
The first board 10 represents, for example, a globe 11, and the idea of the game in one embodiment is for the players to travel around the globe 11 while minimizing the players' carbon “footprint”, enabling the players to learn about technology and/or conservation and/or recycling so as to improve the quality of life of all of the players who earn “green” credits in the process. The first board 10, for example, is a competitive board facilitating competition among the players as they play the game.
The second board 30 as shown in FIG. 2 is in the form of a grid that is divided into a number of sub-grids 32. For example, the second board 30 may be divided into nine sub-grids 32 one of which is shown in FIG. 3. Each of the sub-grids 32 comprises nine impact spaces 34, such that the grid of the second board 30 contains a total of eighty-one spaces. However, other numbers of spaces can be used for the grid and sub-grids of the second board 30, and other numbers of sub-grids can likewise be used for the second board 30.
The second board 30, for example, is a cooperative board facilitating cooperation between the players as they play the game. As shown in the drawings, the second board 30 offers a game of Sudoku to the players. However, the second board 30 may instead be arranged to present other puzzles or other games in general to the players.
Each player controls at least one (and up to four—depending upon the number of players in the game) of the sub-grid(s) 32 on the second board 30. On a player's turn, the player has the right to place an impact piece 36 (FIG. 5; the impact piece 36, for example, may be a keyed peg as explained below) within one of the impact spaces 34 on the grid of the second board 30. The impact pieces 36 are non-player representing pieces in that they do not represent the players of the game.
If desired, the rules of the game may require that, for a first predetermined number of turns, such as two turns, the players may only place the impact pieces 36 within their own sub-grids 32. Thereafter, the players may place impact pieces within any of the sub-grids 32 in a cooperative manner to solve the puzzle of the second board 30.
The game ends when the grid of the second board 30 has been successfully and cooperatively completed by the players correctly filling in all of the impact spaces 34 with the impact pieces 36. At this point, each player in the game gets one more throw of the random movement device, exemplified herein as a Trade Winds Dice 80 (FIG. 8). This one more throw can only happen with the cooperation of all players in successfully completing the second board such that none of the impact pieces having the same denomination, symbol, or combination of denomination and symbol is in the same sub-grid 32, is in the same horizontal path, and is in the same vertical path of the second board 30 (see sample of correctly completed grid in FIG. 11).
As shown in FIG. 8, the Trade Winds Dice 80 comprises two nested dice including an outer die 80A containing an inner die 80B. The inner die 80B is arranged to roll within the outer die 80A so that the outer die 80A and the inner die 80B roll independently of one another. Each of the outer die 80A and the inner die 80B has values, such as numbers, around an outer perimeter thereof. In one embodiment, the outer die 80A comprises a continuous transparent or translucent material permitting the values of the inner die 80B to be viewed through the outer die 80A. In another embodiment, the outer die 80A comprises a cage of transparent, translucent, or opaque material having interstices permitting the values of the inner die 80B to be viewed through the outer die 80A.
In one embodiment, the cooperative play of the second board 30 is similar to the well-known Sudoku puzzle and utilizes a similar grid layout and completion principle. In Sudoku, typically a 9×9 grid of eighty-one spaces is subdivided into nine 3×3 sub-grids of nine spaces each. One of the impact pieces 36 having a particular number, image, or other denomination is placed in each of the impact spaces 34 such that no denomination, number, or image is repeated in any sub-grid, such that no denomination is repeated in a nine space row, and such that no denomination is repeated in a nine space column.
The second board 30 may have the same 9×9 grid and sub-grid layout. Alternatively, each of the sub-grids 32 may be larger or smaller than 9×9. Also, the impact spaces 34 can have any shape such as space, round, oval, rectangular, triangular, or otherwise. The impact pieces 36 can be numbered as in Sudoku. However, the impact pieces 36 may instead use images, a combination of images and numbers, or any other denomination or combination of denominations.
The second board 30 is selectable between a number, such as four, of levels of difficulty, such as beginning, intermediate, advanced, and critical. These levels, for example, can correspond to varying levels of difficulty that are provided by different Sudoku puzzles.
Alternatively, the second board 30 may be configured to play puzzles other than Sudoku or games other than puzzles.
The player, who has the most green credits 40 (FIG. 4) when the second board 30 has successfully been completed after each player gets one last throw of the Trade Winds Dice 80, comes in first. The player with the next most green credits 40 comes in second, and so forth. If a session such (or tournament) involves more than one game, the totals for all games in the session can be made cumulative.
Because the impact pieces 36 are keyed as explained below, the game will not permit a player to insert an impact piece 36 in the wrong one of the impact spaces 34 of the sub grid 32. However, as discussed below, in one variation of the game, a blank card 138 (FIG. 25) may be applied to the second board 30 such that none of the impact pieces 36 is permitted to set all the way into the second board 30 until the blank card 138 is removed, at which time all of the impact pieces 36 have been placed in the second board 30. In this variation, therefore, the players are permitted to insert the impact pieces 36 in wrong spaces of the sub-grids 32. When the blank card 138 is removed such as at the end of a game, any misplaced ones of the impact pieces 36 will not fully seat into the second board 30 and will indicate an incorrect completion of the game.
If multiple games are played in a session such that the scores of each game are cumulative, then the extinct player may reenter the next game.
The game equipment comprises the first board 10 and the second board 30. In addition, there is the Trade Winds Dice 80 (although, other movement devices could be utilized), tokens (not shown) of various designs for playing pieces (these could correspond to any form of game token, similar to the movement pieces found in, e.g., a Monopoly® set) that are moved around the first board 10, the impact pieces 36 that can be placed in the impact spaces 34 of the second board 30, four sets of moon disks 60 (FIG. 6) and one lunar calendar (not shown, but obtainable from any almanac or web site), four decks 70 of impact cards (FIG. 7; exemplary contents of the impact cards in the decks 70 are shown in the Appendix), one deck 72 of moon cards (FIG. 7; exemplary contents of the moon cards are shown in the Appendix), one code booklet for the second board 30 (the code booklet is not shown but could correspond to a Sudoku puzzle book), one code decoder booklet for the second board 30 (the code decoder booklet is not shown but could correspond to a Sudoku puzzle solution book), and twelve green ecology grid bonus pieces (not shown).
These twelve bonus pieces may be in the form of jewels/precious stones, they may have the same or different denominations, and they may be kept in a bag or their values placed face down so that the players cannot view them. When a bonus piece is awarded, the player who is to receive the bonus piece reaches into the bag and withdraws a bonus piece. A bonus piece is awarded, for example, to a player who correctly inserts a piece 36 into an opponents sub-grid of the second board 30.
The values of the bonus pieces may be predefined, or they may be awarded at the end of the game. In this latter case, the bonus pieces may have different colors, shapes, or other distinction so that they can be assigned different values.
If values are assigned at the end of the game, a player such as the winning player or the Secretary General, throws the dice 80, and the resulting value of the dice 80 is used to establish the value of the bonus pieces. If the bonus pieces are to have different values, then the dice 80 is separately thrown for each distinct bonus piece.
At the end of the game, the bonus pieces are exchanged by the Secretary General for green credits according to their values which are determined as discussed above. For example, these values can range from 50 green credits up to 3000 green credits.
The first player to throw a Zero on either of the dice 80A or 80B is assigned as the Secretary General and, in that role, distributes the initial allotment of the green credits 40 and is responsible for giving and taking the green credits 40 as the game progresses, serving somewhat the role of “banker.”
In order to prepare for play, the players place the first board 10 on a flat playing surface, and they place the environmental impact decks 70 face down on allotted spaces 12 of the first board 10. Each player selects one token to represent him or herself on the first board 10 and is assigned one (or more, depending on the number of players) of the sub-grids 32 on the second board 30 (such as determined by throwing the Trade Winds Dice 80 and taking control of the sub-grid 32 indicated by the outer die 80A; if the sub-grid 32 has already been assigned, the player throws the dice 80 again until an available sub-grid comes up).
If the number of participating players means that the sub-grids 32 cannot be assigned evenly among the players, the extra sub-grids 32 become “Public Domain” sub-grids and may be played by all players upon their respective turns during the game.
The player selected as the Secretary General is responsible for setting up the game such as a puzzle of the second board 30, with each player having his or her work sheet corresponding to a sub-grid 32 that can be used to solve the puzzle of the second board 30. The bonus pieces are all placed in a bag or are all placed with their values down, mixed up, and then placed three in a row between the N, E, S, and W compass points on the first board 10, next to the edge of the globe 11.
Each player is given a value of 1500 of the green credits 40 divided as follows: one 500 credits, five 100 credits, and ten 50 credits. All remaining credits go to the International Credit Union (ICU) which is administered by the Player selected by lot or otherwise as the Secretary General.
To start the game, the moon discs 60 are placed next to the impact space 14 corresponding to the lunar calendar for the month in which the game is being played, using the lunar timetable, although alternative methods of placement can be used. The lunar month is 29½ days in duration, hence the 29½ Arabic numerical space on the first board 10. However, since there are calendar months with as many as 31 days, and to accommodate the different phases of the moon when they would fall on the 30th or 31st day of any given month, Roman numerals also have been assigned to each of the spaces 14, including the three neutral spaces (E, S, and W) separating the series of seven spaces, which corresponds to the days of the week. Next, the second board 30 is set up according to the level of difficulty that is agreed upon by the players (beginning, intermediate, advanced, critical), according to the initial positions given in the second board 30 code booklet.
All players start at the 29½ space. Play starts with the Secretary General, and, going clockwise, each player throws the Trade Winds Dice 80 and moves the player's token by the number of impact spaces 14 indicated by the Trade Winds Dice 80. In doing so, the player subtracts the value of the inner die 80B from the value of the outer die 80A and proceeds to move his or her token a number of impact spaces 14 indicated by the result.
Players can travel in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction around the first board 10. For example, if the value of the inner die 80B is higher than the value of the outer die 80A, the player moves his or her token counter-clockwise by a number of spaces 14 equal to the difference between these values. On the other hand, if the value of the inner die 80B is not higher than the value of the outer die 80A, the player moves his or her token clockwise by a number of spaces 14 equal to the difference between these values.
However, instead of moving a token by a number of spaces 14 equal to the difference between the values of the inner and outer dice 80A and 80B, players can instead move their tokens by a number of spaces 14 equal to the sum of the values of the inner and outer dice 80A and 80B.
Alternatively, if the sum of the two die is even, the player moves his or her token counter-clockwise by a number of spaces 14 equal to the sum of the values of the inner and outer dice 80A and 80B. On the other hand, if the sum of the two die is odd, the player moves his or her token clockwise by a number of spaces 14 equal to the values of the inner and outer dice 80A and 80B.
Other movement variations are possible.
A player who has drawn a card from one of the decks 70 reads the question to another player such as the next player to play. When a player draws a card from the one of the decks 70, that player draws from the deck that is closest to the drawing player. Other variations are possible. If the answering player answers the questions correctly, that player receives the reward or penalty that is on the card. Otherwise, the answering player does not receive the reward or penalty that is on the card.
Should a player land on an environmental impact space 14 that also has associated therewith a moon disk corresponding to one of the four phases of the moon (Full, ¾, ½, and ¼) associated with it, then that player earns the following green credits from the International Credit Union: for a full moon, 150 green credits; for a ¾ moon, 100 green credits; for a ½ moon, 50 green credits; and, for a ¼ moon, an extra turn that must be taken immediately. All players who land on a space 14 with a moon phase must also draw a moon card from the moon deck 72 and follow the directions on the card.
If a player throws a Zero “0” on either the outer die 80A or the inner die 80B, that player makes the move corresponding to the throw and also picks up an environmental impact card from one of the decks 70 on the allotted space 12 closest to that player's token on the first board 10.
Any double throw other than 0-0 or 7-7 results in the player's token being transferred to the 29½ space 14, and the draw of an environmental impact card 70 from any of the environmental impact decks 70.
Any player landing on the neutral ones of the spaces 14 (those marked by “E”, “W” or “S”) must draw an environmental impact card from one of the decks 70 on one to the two closest allotted spaces 12 and must follow the directions on the drawn card.
If a player throws a double seven “7-7,” that player can demand a full public disclosure of the number of green credits 40 in the possession on any other player.
If a player throws a double “0-0”, that player moves his or her token to the center of the first board 10 on the globe 11 and loses a turn. On that player's next turn, he or she reenters the global orbit at the 29½ space 14 and resumes play.
The game concludes when the second board 30 is successfully completed by a player. That player earns an additional 500 green credits. Then, the players get one more throw of the Trade Winds Dice 80, and they total their credits to see who takes first place. The player with second highest number of green credits 40 is awarded second place, and so on for the rest of the players. Scoring is cumulative from one game to the next, unless otherwise agreed to in advance.
As indicated above, the second board 30 in one embodiment is a matrix of sub-grids 32, each having the same number of impact spaces 34. In the case of a 9×9 puzzle, the object of the second board 30 is to make sure that each sub-grid 32 has all nine different impact pieces 36 situated in it so that none of their impact pieces 36 conflicts with impact pieces of the same denomination in the same sub-grid, in the same horizontal line, and in the same vertical line. As noted above, this play is similar to Sudoku rules, but with limited access for any individual player to the entire grid.
Because of the differences in the difficulty of the levels that can be selected, the number of impact pieces 36 pre-placed on the second board 30 to start the game need not be the same from game to game. Moreover, not all of the sub-grids 32 will have the same number of impact pieces 36 at the start of the game, some will have more, some may have fewer, and some might have none. It is in the best interest of all players to cooperate with one another in the placement of the impact pieces 36 on the second board, because failure to successfully complete the second board 30 dooms all players to extinction within that particular game and no one wins any points.
As indicated above, each of the impact pieces 36 is individually and uniquely keyed so that it can be properly received by only the correct one of the impact spaces 34 of a sub-grid 32. In this case, the second board 30 comprises, for example, a receiver portion 100 and a decoder portion 102 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The receiver portion 100 has eighty-one holes 104 passing therethrough.
Because the pieces 36 are keyed as explained above and below, the game can be arranged to deny insertion by a player of a piece 36 in the wrong position in a sub-grid 32. However, as discussed above and below, in one variation of the game, the blank card 138 (FIG. 25) may be provided that does not permit the piece 36 to set all the way into the decoder portion 102 (FIGS. 16 and 17) until the blank card 138 is removed, at which time all of the pieces 36 have been placed in the second board 30. In this variation, therefore, the player(s) is permitted to insert the pieces 36 in the wrong positions in the sub-grids 32. When the blank card 138 is removed such as at the end of a game, any misplaced ones of the pieces 36 will not fully seat into the decoder portion 102.
As indicated herein, each of the pieces 36 may be individually keyed so that it can be properly received by only one of the spaces 34 of a sub-grid 32. Further, several others of the pieces 36 may be keyed in the same way so that each of the other sub-grids 32 can accept one but only one of the pieces 36 having the same key. Thus, if there are nine sub-grids 32, then nine of the pieces 36 have the same key, nine others of the pieces 36 have a different key, nine of the pieces 36 have a still different key, and so on. In this manner and assuming a 9×9 grid for the spaces 34 of the second board 30, there are nine different keys. Thus, the pieces 36 having a particular key can be placed in each of the spaces 34 such that no key is repeated within any one of the sub-grids 32, such that no key is repeated in a nine space row, and such that no key is repeated in a nine space column.
The receiver portion (or other mechanism such as a card) 100 and the decoder portion (or other mechanism such as a card) 102 are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. In the case of a 9×9 game, the receiver portion 100 has eighty-one receiver holes 104 passing therethrough, although the receiver portion 100 can have any number of holes passing therethrough.
As shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13, the receiver portion 100 has the pieces 36 inserted therein. As shown in FIGS. 18-23, each of the pieces 36 comprises a singularly polarized shaft 106, an indicator top 108, and a key bottom 110. In one embodiment, each of the key bottoms 110, which is received by a sub-grid of the second board 30, corresponds to a unique one of nine keys, assuming that the second board 30 is a 9×9 board having 81 holes. Each of these nine keys may have a unique shape, and examples of these shapes are shown by column 112 of FIG. 24.
Alternatively, as shown in column 112′ of FIG. 24, eight of these nine keys may have the same shape. For example, the shape may be rectangular with each key having a unique angle with respect to the others of the eight keys. The ninth of these nine keys has a neutral shape such as a round shape. The decoder portion 102 of FIGS. 16 and 17 complement these keys.
The indicator top 108 of the pieces 36 may carry a number for each of the pieces 36. These numbers are shown in column 114 of FIG. 24. The correspondence between the keys and the numbers is shown in FIG. 24. Thus, each of these numbers corresponds uniquely to a key as shown in column 114 of FIG. 24. A corresponding number appears on the indicator top 108 of each of the pieces 36. However, indicators other that numbers could be used.
By comparing FIGS. 11 and 17 using the key of FIG. 24, it can be seen that the game of FIG. 11 matches the decoder portion 102 of FIG. 17.
As discussed above, each of the key bottoms 110, which is received by a sub-grid 32 of the second board 30, carries a correspondingly unique one of nine keys, assuming that the second board 30 is a 9×9 game board having 81 holes. Thus, a sub-grid 32 receives a set of nine of the pieces 36 with each of the nine pieces 36 in the set having a different one of the key shapes such as those shown by way of example in column 112 of FIG. 24. For a 9×9 second board 30, this set of nine pieces 36 is repeated for each of the other eight sub-grids. Accordingly, there are nine pieces 36 having the triangle key, there are nine pieces 36 having the heart key, there are nine pieces 36 having the diamond key, etc. However, if the second board 30 is other than a 9×9 game board having 81 holes, then the number of pieces 36 having the triangle key will be different, the number of pieces 36 having the heart key will be different, the number of pieces 36 having the diamond key will be different, etc.
According to one embodiment, the decoder portion 102 has key holes 116 as shown in FIG. 10 that receive the key bottoms 110 of the pieces 36. As shown in FIG. 10, the key holes 116 may simply be recesses or depressions in the decoder portion 102.
When one of the pieces 36 is applied to the second board 30, the shaft 106 of the piece 36 is accommodated by one of the holes 104 in the receiver portion 100 and the key bottom 110 of that piece 36 is accommodated by one of the key holes 116 in the decoder portion 102.
In the above case, the bottom of each of the key hole 116 is provided with a shape corresponding to the key shape of one of the keys on the key bottoms 110. In this manner, the decoder portion 102 ensures that each sub-grid 32 receives the nine different unique pieces 36 so that no shape, number, or other value on the indicator top 108 is repeated in any sub-grid 32 just as in the game of Sudoku. Each sub-grid 32, therefore, receives a different combination of the same nine pieces 36. However, each sub-grid 32 can accommodate only one of the pieces 36 having a first of the nine key shapes, each sub-grid 32 can accommodate only one of the pieces 36 having a second of the nine key shapes, and so on for the remaining key shapes.
Shapes other than those shown in FIG. 24 can be used for the key bottoms 110 and for the key holes 116. Moreover, keys that rely on an attribute other than shape distinctions may be used to key the pieces 36 to the decoder portion 102. In the case where the key bottoms 110 have the shape of rectangles as shown in FIGS. 20, 21, 22, and 24, the shafts 106 may be polarized such as by having a flattened polarizing side 122 so that the shaft 106 appears to be in the shape of a rounded D when viewed along its longitudinal axis as in FIG. 22, and the receiver holes 104 in the receiver portion 100 may have correspondingly flattened polarizing sides 122 as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. In this case, when a piece 36 is inserted into the receiver hole 104, the D shape of the shaft 106 must match the D shape of the receiver hole 104. This polarization of the pieces 36 ensures that the pieces 36 have a single orientation when the pieces 36 are inserted into the receiver holes 104.
In this polarized configuration, the flattened polarizing side 122 of a piece 36 forms an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rectangular key bottom 110, as best shown in FIG. 22. This angle between the flattened sides 122 and the key bottoms 110 is different for each of the nine pieces 36 that can be inserted into a sub-grid 32, assuming a 3×3 sub-grid. Accordingly, instead of shaping the bottom of the key holes 116 to match the key bottoms 110 shown in FIG. 24, the key holes 116 of the decoder portion 102 have different orientations such as those shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. The correspondence between the orientation of the key holes 116 in FIGS. 16 and 17 and the angles between the flattened sides 122 and the key bottoms 110 of the pieces 36 may be arranged so that no piece 36 having the same number or other indicator value is repeated in a sub-grid 32, or in a row of squares of the second board 30, or in a column of squares of the second board 30, assuming a 9×9 second board 30.
Shapes other than D shapes could be used for polarizing the shaft 106. Also, shapes other than rectangles can be used for coding the key bottoms 110. For example, the key bottoms 110 may have D shapes that are oriented differently than the D shapes of the shaft 106 to ensure that no piece 36 having the same number or other indicator is repeated in a sub-grid 32, or in a row of the second board 30, or in a column of the second board 30. Further, the key holes 116 need not be depressions in the decoder portion 102 and, especially in the case of the rectangular key bottom 110 shown in FIGS. 20-22, may instead go entirely through the decoder portion 102. Thus, the end of the shaft 106 is received in the key hole 116 or simply passes through the decoder portion 102.
Moreover, as shown herein, the key bottoms 110 are in the form of male plugs and the key holes 116 are in the form of female receptacles that receive the male plugs. Instead, the key bottoms 110 may be formed as female receptacles and the key holes 116 may be formed as male plugs that are received in the female receptacles of the piece 36. The pieces 36, the receiver portion 100, and/or the decoder portion 102 can be made of metal, plastic, wood, cardboard or other materials. If metal is used for the receiver portion 100, the receiver portion 100 can be magnetized so as to lock in the pieces 36.
The second board 30 may be lighted or reproduce audio. For example, a sub-grid 32 which has been successfully filled in with pieces 36 may be lit up. Alternatively, all sub-grids 32 of the second board 30 may be initially lighted so that, as each of the sub-grid 32 is successfully filled in with the pieces 36, its light is extinguished. Audio may be provided, for example, to indicate successful or unsuccessful placement of a piece 36 in a sub-grid 32.
Also, as seen in FIGS. 11-13 and 18-22, the indicator tops 108 are multifaceted or otherwise three dimensionally formed so that their indicator values can be viewed by players from any angle around the second board 30. Accordingly, the player's experience of the game is enhanced in that the second board 30 does not need to be rotated to face a player when it is that player's turn to play the second board 30.
Moreover, as seen in FIGS. 18-23, the indicator tops 108 of the pieces 36 may be provided with a gripping element 124 to make it easier for a player to insert and/or withdraw the pieces 36 into and/or from the receiver portion 100 and the decoder portion 102.
Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, legs 126, 128, and 130 are provided at the sides and rear of the receiver portion 100. The side legs 126 and 128 are provided with slots 132 and 134, respectively. The slots 132 and 134 receive the decoder portion 102 so that the decoder portion 102 is positioned below of the receiver portion 100. The leg 130 acts as a stop to terminate insertion of the decoder portion 102 at the correct position with respect to the receiver portion 100 so that the keyed holes 116 in the decoder portion 102 align correctly with the receiver holes 104 in the receiver portion 100. The decoder portion 102 optionally may be provided with a tab 136 to facilitate a user in sliding the decoder board into and out of the slots 132 and 134.
Additionally, the receiver portion 100 and the decoder portion 102 can be rotated 90° with respect to one another to present the players with a new game having a different combination of pieces 36 to properly complete a sub-grid 32.
If the receiver portion 100 and the decoder portion 102 are turned 90° with respect to one another, all of the indicators (e.g., numbers) in all sub-grids change except for one. In this manner, there can be at least two different games per one of the decoder portions 102. Alternatively, different setup codes can be provided that would virtually make the game corresponding to the second board 30 an entirely different puzzle to play for each code.
The decoder portion 102 may be in the form of a card. Each such card accommodates one or more different arrangements of the pieces 36 so that each card presents one or more different puzzles to the players. As shown in FIG. 25, one of the decoder portions 102 can be configured as the blank card 138 so that it does not decode and so that a player can place a piece 36 at any position within the sub-grid 32. If the blank card 138 is used, then there is no feedback to the players when they place the pieces 36 in incorrect positions within a sub-grid 32.
The blank card 138 can be used alone or in combination with the decoder portion 102. For example, the blank card 138 can be inserted in the slots 132 and 134 just above the decoder portion 102. The game is then played with the blank card 138 shielding the decoder portion 102 from the pieces 36. In this condition, the pieces 36 applied to the second board 30 merely sit on the blank card 138 and no feedback is provided to the players as to whether the pieces 36 have been applied correctly to the second board 30. At the end of the game, the players can determine whether they have successfully played the game by withdrawing the blank card 138 from the slots 132 and 134. If all of the pieces 36 drop fully seated into the decoder portion 102, then the players have successfully played the game. If some of the pieces 36 do not drop fully seated into the decoder portion 102, then the players have not successfully played the game.
As another alternative, inserts can be provided and can be inserted into the key holes 116 of FIG. 10. In this case, it is the inserts and not the depressions that are keyed to the pieces 36. In this manner, a new game can be presented to the players simply by rearranging the inserts within the key holes 116 rather than changing out the whole decoder portion 102.
A mask 140 shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 can be provided for each of the decoder portions 102. The mask 140 is placed on top of the receiver portion 100 and contains the positions of those ones of the pieces 36 that are used to start the game. The number and placement of these starting positions determine the difficulty level of the particular game being played. The numbered holes in FIGS. 26 and 27 show one example for the holes that can be used to start a game. The pieces 36 corresponding to these numbered holes are inserted into the numbered holes to start the game. Indicators other than numbers can be used to designate the starting holes. The mask 140 and the decoder portion 102 must correspond to one another. Instead of one mask per decoder portion 102 per difficultly level, a single mask per decoder portion 102 can be provided so as to cover all difficulty levels for that particular decoder portion 102.
The second board 30 as described above is related to the game of Sudoku. However, the present invention as defined in the claims below can be applied to puzzles other than Sudoku and to games other than puzzles. Also, the game may be supplied with a plurality of the decoder portions 102. These decoder portions may relate to different puzzles of like kind, different puzzles of different kind, different levels of difficulty of a game or games, and/or different games entirely. For example, the present invention in one aspect provides instant feedback to a player if the player applies a game piece to an incorrect hole. This aspect of the invention can be applied to any game in which a player(s) makes a choice as to a move or a solution. The advantages of this aspect include not disclosing the solution in the event of an incorrect choice or move and allowing the player making the incorrect move or choice to continue playing the game.
Moreover, as described above, the feedback in playing the second board 30 is provided when a player cannot fully insert a piece into a hole, This feedback is mechanical feedback and relies on mechanical keys. The feedback instead could be electrical relying on electrical keys.
For example, FIG. 28 shows the bottom of a decoder hole 200 that carries one or more conductors 202 oriented in a particular fashion. FIG. 29 shows the bottom of a game piece 204 that is insertable into the decoder hole 200 and that has a key 206 formed by one or more conductors 208. If the game piece 204 is inserted into the decoder 200 such that the pattern of the key 206 matches the pattern of the one or more conductors 202, an electric signal is generated. However, if the game piece 204 is inserted into the decoder 200 such that the pattern of the key 206 does not match the pattern of the one or more conductors 202, no electric signal is generated which provides feedback that the game piece 204 is incorrectly placed.
Alternatively, the conducts(s) 202 and the key 206 may be arranged such that, if the game piece 204 is inserted into the decoder 200 such that the key 206 matches the conductor(s) 202, no electric signal is generated. However, if the game piece 204 is inserted into the decoder 200 such that the key 206 does not match the conductor(s) 202, an electric signal is generated which provides feedback that the game piece 204 is incorrectly placed.
FIG. 30 shows a game piece holder 300 that holds the game pieces 36 for a player. For example, as shown in FIG. 25, the game piece holder 300 has nine holes 302 that receive and store the game pieces 36 for a player. During the player's turn, the player removes one or more of the game pieces 36 temporarily stored by the game piece holder 300 and applies the game piece(s) 36 to the second board 30. The holes 302 may or may not be keyed to the game pieces 36 as desired.
The game described herein can be provided as a travel game. In this travel game or otherwise, the impact pieces 36 may be magnetic and either or both of the receiver portion 100 and the decoder portion 102 can be metal to prevent the impact pieces 36 from inadvertently dislodging from the second board 30. Alternatively, either or both of the receiver portion 100 and the decoder portion 102 may be magnetic and the impact pieces 36 can be metal again to prevent the impact pieces 36 from inadvertently dislodging from the second board 30.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference has been made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language has been used to describe these embodiments. However, no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended by this specific language, and the invention should be construed to encompass all embodiments that would normally occur to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In one embodiment, the game equipment comprises by way of example the following:
(1) game board 10 (FIG. 1)
(1) game board 30 (FIG. 2)
(1) Trade Winds Dice 80 (FIG. 8)
(1) deck 72 of Moon cards (Appendix, FIG. 7)
(4) decks 70 of cards (Reason, Knowledge, Service and Courage) (Appendix, FIG. 7)
(9) player pieces (or tokens) (not shown)
(81) pieces such as keyed pegs for the second board 30 (FIG. 5)
(1) Lunar calendar set up sheet (not shown)
(3) stacks of credits 40 (in different denominations such as 500, 100 and 50; FIG. 4)
(12) green ecology grid correct answer bonus pieces
(1) ecology grid answer card (not shown)
(1) ecology grid puzzle book (not shown)
(1) ecology grid puzzle answer book (not shown)
(1) pad of ecology grid worksheets 30 (FIG. 3)
(1) game box to hold all the above (not shown)
Although this game is illustrated as comprising physical tangible pieces and boards, nothing prevents this game from being operated on a general purpose computer, e.g., an IBM-compatible PC, Macintosh, or other computer.