GB2217997A - Apparatus for playing a game - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for playing a game comprises a board 10, (110,210) having a surface provided with a pattern of markings. the markings including a plurality of tracks, 12, 14, 16, 18;(112, 114, 116; 118; 212, 214, 216, 218) disposed around a common central region 20, (120), each track defining a respective plurality of positions which may be occupied by a playing piece and a set of playing pieces (21; 22) which, in the course of playing the game are moved between said positions. The board may be two dimensional, with the tracks provided concentrically on the surface of the board, or the board may be three-dimensional, for example in the form of a "Ziggurat". A computer version is also envisaged. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: 11Apparatus for playing a game" Description of Invention This invention relates to apparatus for playing a game.

It is an object of the invention to provide new and improved such apparatus.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for playing a game, the apparatus comprising a board having a surface provided with a pattern of markings, said markings including a plurality of tracks disposed around a common central region, each track defining a respective plurality of positions which may be occupied by a playing piece, and a set of playing pieces which, in the course of playing the game, are moved between said positions.

Preferably there are at least two sets of opposing playing pieces, to enable the game to be played by at least two players.

The board may provide respective "starting" positions for the pieces of each set, and said tracks may extend from the starting positions of one set to the starting positions of the other set, and/or vice versa, and it may be an object of the game for each player to move his playing pieces so as to occupy some or all of the starting positions of his opponent's playing pieces.

Preferably the tracks are of closed-loop-type.

Said central region may comprise a central area or "space11 of the board.

The tracks may be disposed in succession, which includes vertical succession and/or radial succession, around said central region.

The tracks may be concentric or generally concentric, and may be side by side.

Preferably each track defines the same number of positions, and the corresponding positions on different tracks are preferably radially aligned.

Each track may be of generally rectangular, preferably square, form.

Thus, in the case of a two-dimensional board, the tracks may for example be provided concentrically on the surface of the board around a central area of the board.

The "board" may alternatively be three-dimensional, with each track for example at a respective different height. Thus, for example, the board may be in the form of a "Ziggurct" with concentric tracks, at respective different heights, the outermost track being the lowest, and successive tracks in the radially inward direction being at successively greater heights. The central region may include a central area affording a summit of the Ziggurat.

Alternatively the board may be an "inside out" Ziggurat, similar to that described in the last preceding paragraph but with its outermost track at the greatest height, and central area at the lowest height.

Preferably the board is capable of being hung on a wall when not in use for playing the game. Preferably the board is provided with a drawer for storing the playing pieces when not in use.

The playing pieces may for example be in the form of short cylinders, or may for example have more elaborate shapes such as those of soldiers or the like. The pieces may be made from wood, metal (e.g. cast metal), plastics, glass or stone, for example.

Where there are at least two sets of playing pieces, the sets of playing pieces may be distinguished from each other by being of different colours, pattern, ornament, materials, sizes, shapes or structures.

Preferably half of each set may be transformed in some manner so as to change its appearance, to enable four players to play for example.

The board may be made from card, wood, metal, plastics, glass -or (T.M.) perspex or any other suitable material.

Rules of the game may determine the precise manner in which pieces are allowed to be moved, together with other points concerning the playing of the game on the apparatus.

For example, such Rules may provide that the playing pieces may be moved along tracks and/or from track to track.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is also provided apparatus for playing a game, the apparatus comprising means for producing on a screen an image nominally that of a board having a surface provided with a pattern of markings, said markings including a plurality of tracks disposed around a common central region, each track defining a respective plurality of positions which may be occupied by a playing piece, means for additionally producing on said screen a set of images nominally of playing pieces, means for receiving input commands from a player, and computing means for storing current positions and identities of the images of the playing pieces and being operative to effect changes of position of the images of appropriate playing pieces in accordance with said commands, between said positions.

Preferably the computing means operates in accordance with rules of the game.

Any of the subsidiary features described in relation to the first aspect of the invention may be utilised correspondingly in apparatus in accordance with the second aspect of the invention, by means of any suitable computer methods and/or apparatus.

Several preferred examples of apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE I is a plan view of a board of first apparatus in accordance with the invention, for use in playing a game; FIGURES 2 to 5 show the board of Figure 1, to a smaller scale, together with selected playing pieces, and illustrate positions and movements of the playing pieces on the board, the markings on the board, and the playing pieces, being represented in a manner in which they might be illustrated on a screen in a computer-generated version of the game; FIGURE 6 is a side view of the board of Figure 1, when mounted in a decorative frame; FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of an alternative board, of alternative apparatus in accordance with the invention; and FIGURES 8a and 8b are a complete perspective view and partial perspective view, respectively, of further alternative boards, each being of a respective further alternative apparatus in accordance with the invention.

Apparatus in accordance with the invention, of which examples will now be described, is of the kind comprising a board having a surface provided with an appropriate pattern of markings, and a set of playing pieces which, in the course of playing a game, are moved between positions on the board defined by the markings.

Referring first to Figure 1 of the drawings, such a board 10 of first apparatus in accordance with the invention is marked with a plurality of closed-loop type tracks 12, 14, 16, 18 respectively, each track defining a respective succession of sixteen quadrilateral areas, herein referred to as "spaces", the spaces being alternately light-coloured and dark-coloured and each space defining a respective position which may be occupied by a playing piece in the course of playing a game. Each of the tracks is of generally square form (or, more generally, could for example be of some other rectangular form) and the tracks 12, 14, 16, 18 are disposed in succession, in this example in radial succession, around a common central region in the form of a decorated cental area or space 20.In this example, the tracks do not overlie each other to any extent, and lie concentrically, side-by-side, at their respective radial distances from said central space.

Each track comprises the same number (in this example, sixteen) of spaces, and hence defines a corresponding equal number of positions, the spaces of the tracks being aligned with each other in a radial direction, whilst being alternately of light-colour and dark colour. As will be appreciated from Figure 1, each of said spaces is bounded by two non-parallel radial sides and two generally parallel transverse sides, the shape of each space thus being a respective trapezium (in the British sense of that word.) In this first example, the board is essentially two-dimensional, being formed from sheet material of an appropriate type and having the geometrical pattern described above printed or formed on its upper surface in an appropriate manner.

The apparatus, in this example, further comprises two basic sets of playing pieces, namely a first set of twelve playing pieces for a first player and a second set of twelve playing pieces for a second, opposing player, the two sets being distinguished from each other in a convenient manner, by the different appearances (e.g. shape and/or colour/decoration) of the playing pieces of the respective sets.

Several examples and variations of the manner in which a game may be played using the above-described apparatus comprising the board and playing pieces will now be described, but it will be appreciated that many further variations may be adopted, whilst remaining within the scope of the invention. In this example, the game concerned is played in accordance with Rules, which are now set out below, referring to the drawings as appropriate: RULES Objects of the game: the first player who succeeds in moving his playing pieces so as to occupy the starting positions of his opponents playing pieces, wins the game.

Referring to Figure 2, the starting positions of the playing pieces 21 of the first set, and of the playing pieces 22 of the second set, lie on diagonally opposite sides of the central area 20 of the board 10, and lie on three of the four tracks provided on the board.

Moving: each player may move one playing piece per turn, but is only allowed to move forwards (radially inwards), backwards (radially outwards), or to the left or right (i.e. across a radial side of the space from which the move commences.) No moves which would involve direct crossing of an intersection between a radial space boundary and a transverse space boundary are permitted. When moving one of his playing pieces, a player may move only one space at a time, unless the player is able to move his playing piece so as to jump directly over another playing piece (which other playing piece could be one of his own playing pieces, or one of his opponents playing pieces) into an unoccupied space.A jump of such a type may be repeated as many times as is possible or desired in the same game turn, (thereby constituting a "multiple move") as shown by respective arrows in Figure 3 in which a player moves one of his playing pieces 21a so as to jump over four other playing pieces of his own in succession. It should be observed that each jump is still in an essentially transverse, or radial, direction.

Beginning moves: the first four moves for each player must consist of two transverse moves in one sense (e.g. to the "left") and two transverse moves in the other sense (e.g. to the "right"), in whichever order each player decides. A player is not allowed to move any playing piece radially towards the central area during his first four moves, unless he is making a multiple move i.e. including a jump and has first made a transverse move to a position from which the jump becomes allowable over another of his playing pieces, examples of four opening moves, including such a multiple move, being shown by arrows in Figure 4, for four of the playing pieces 21.

The centre space: a player may only move a playing piece into the centre space 20 (in this example a central square) by jumping over another playing piece in order to get to the centre space. No playing piece may be left so as to remain in the centre space between moves, and in order to exit the centre space, having jumped into it, the playing piece must jump over another playing piece. Thus the centre space may provide a "stepping stone" for a move comprising two successive jumps, and can provide a valuable short cut to achieving the objective of moving playing pieces so as to occupy the (diagonally opposite) starting positions of the opponent. An example of such a move, by a piece 21b over other pieces 22 and 21, is shown in Figure 5. It is permitted to move into the centre space more than once during a multiple move.

Scoring: as soon as one of the players achieves the objective of positioning all his playing pieces in the spaces initially occupied by his opponents playing pieces, then that player becomes the winner of the game and may be given a score which may be added to other such scores accumulated in the course of playing a number of such games in succession.

The score awarded may be the minimum number of moves required for the loser to move his playing pir 5, from the positions which they occupy at the moment when the winner wins the game, so as to get all of his (the loser's) playing pieces into the starting positions of the winners playing pieces. Thus, the more rapidly one of the players is able to win the game, in comparison with the other player, the greater will be the score which the winner achieves, so that there is a considerable incentive for a player to invoke due ingenuity in devising his strategy of play.

VARIATIONS A variation of the game which renders the game suitable for four players, involves the same starting positions and permitted movements as those described above in relation to a two-player game, but for each basic set of twelve playing pieces, the six pieces lying on one side of the respective main diagonal of the board 10 are turned face down in order to distinguish them from the other six pieces of each basic set. In this manner, four distinct sets of playing pieces are obtained, each of which may be controlled by a respective one of four distinct players.The two players controlling pieces of the first basic set may however be teamed together, and similarly for the other two players controlling the pieces of the other basic set, and the game is played in essentially the same manner as that described above, except that the winning team is the first to get six playing pieces of the same type (i.e. all the pieces of one of the aforesaid distinct sets) into any six of the opponent team's twelve starting positions.

Another variation, for either the two-player version or the four-player version of the game, is to give an extra game turn to any player who makes for example seven or more successive jumps in one turn. The number of jumps required to qualify for an extra game turn is subject to decision by the players and should be decided categorically before the game begins, and should be dependent upon the experience of both players. It should be noted that if an extra game turn is to be given for a predetermined number of moves within a multiple move, then any given space should not be occupied more than once by the playing piece concerned during that multiple move.

In another variation, the game may be played without permitting use of the central space either in the above-described stepping-stone manner or as a normal resting position for any playing piece, which results in a "race to the finish" or a strategic battle in each direction of play.

In other variations of the game, different numbers of game pieces may be used, which may make a considerable difference to the "movement structures" within the game. It has been found that if each basic set of playing pieces comprises ten playing pieces, starting (and hence finishing) positions may be selected which allow most interesting strategies of play to be developed and utilised.

(End of rules and selected variations) The board 10 described above may for example be provided with a wooden frame 24, of picture-frame type (see Figure 6), and may be provided with a plurality of feet 26 on which the board may stand when laid flat on the floor, or on a table, for use. Desirably, a chain 28 is attached to the reverse of the board or frame in order to permit the board to be hung on a wall, as would generally be the case for a painting or other work of art, thereby enabling the board to provide an attractive source of decoration in a room when it is not actually in use for the playing of a game. The board may be provided on its underside with a drawer 30 to hold the playing pieces when they are not in use, the drawer being held in its fastened position by a releasable catch 32, and being out of view when closed. Thus the playing pieces may be stored in a safe and convenient manner, which does not interfere with the aesthetic appearance of the board when hung on the wall between periods of use.

The playing pieces in the above example comprise respective short cylinders which are circular in plan view and may be made from any suitable material. The playing pieces in the above example are cast in glass with sand blasted side edges and polished upper and lower surfaces, the colour of the glass being different in respect of each set. Alternatively, the playing pieces may be made from any other suitable material or may have any other shape.

For example, the playing pieces may comprise "lead soldier"-type figures, the pieces of one set being a different colour to the pieces of another set. Such figures may be of any type whatsoever, according to any appropriate features or marketing techniques adopted, and the figures could for example represent medieval soldiers carrying swords and lances, such as on horseback, or more modern soldiers carrying guns for example, or space craft or space men, dwarfs, sappers or any such entities. The board, in particular the centre space and the starting/finishing positions, may be decorated appropriately.

Where it is desired to play a game having four players, then preferably the playing pieces are opaque or differ in respect of their upper and lower surfaces e.g. by being provided with different finishes or indentations or different coloured upper and lower surfaces to enable four clearly distinguishable part-sets of playing pieces to be provided simply by inverting half of each basic set of playing pieces. For alternotive lead figure type playing pieces, half of each basic set may have some common distinctive feature for distinguishing it from the other half of that set.

The board may be made from a suitable sheet material, for example cardboard, wood, plastics or the like, or may comprise a sheet of glass or perspex R,T.M Referring now to Figure 7 in which parts corresponding to those previously described are correspondingly numbered, but with the prefix "I", an alternative board 110, of alternative apparatus in accordance with the invention, has a three-dimensional playing surface. In more detail, the tracks 112, 114, 116, 118 of the alternative board 110 lie on respective portions of the surface at respective different heights, in vertical succession, and in this example also have different radial extents and are arranged in succession in order of decreasing radial extent.The markings provided on each portion of the playing surface are such that, in plan view the alternative board 110 has essentially the same appearance as that of Figure 1, and games on the board 110 are played in the same, or essentially the same, manner. However, the three-dimensional aspect of the alternative board 110 can provide increased inferest and difficulty, particularly for the benefit of advanced players. The board of Figure 7 may be described as being in the form of a "Ziggurct", that is a stepped-pyramid, the outermost track being the lowest, and successive tracks in a radially inward direction being at successively greater heights, the central space 120 being the summit of the Ziggurat. Each portion of said alternative board 110 may be formed from a basically transoarent material.

such as perspexlor glass for example. The various portions of the board are all supported on each of four rods 140, the rods being generally vertical and having diameters which decrease in a stepped manner in an upward direction, successive tracks being supported on respective annular steps formed where the rod diameters change. If desired, the central space could be at the same height as the innermost track.

Glass used for the board, for example, may be stained glass, or opalescent glass. The board may be lit from beneath. Adjocent areas of a board may be either bonded together with resin, copper-foil-wrapped, or "leaded"in a Victorian style). Alternative boards may comprise glass marbles, or chrome balls in any aesthetically pleasing manner.

An alternative three-dimensional board 210, and a portion of an alternative version thereof, are illustrated in Figures 8a and 8b respectively.

In the board 210, the height of the step between successive tracks 212, 214, 216, 218 is decreased compared with the board 110, which can facilitate simultaneous viewing of all the playing pieces. This alternative board is relatively inexpensive to produce, being formed as a one-piece plastic moulding, and each space of the board can as an alternative be formed with a plastic lip 250 (Figure 8b) at its periphery which helps to maintain the shape of the moulded board and additionally helps to prevent accidental movement of playing piece onto adjoining spaces.

Another alternative three-dimensional board may be in the form of an inside-out Ziggurat, with its outermost track at the greatest height, and its central area at the lowest height.

An alternative objective of the game might for example be for a player to surround (i.e. block all otherwise permitted movements of) a specified number of the opponents playing pieces with his own playing pieces, in which case one of the players may for example play with only one playing piece which the other player must attempt to surround using a minimum of six of said other player's playing pieces where the playing piece to be surrounded lies on a innermost or outermost track, or a minimum of seven of said other player's playing pieces where the piece to be surrounded lies on one of the two other tracks.

It is here expressly stated, for the avoidance of doubt, that a computer version of the apparatus will remain within the scope of the invention. Such apparatus would comprise means for producing on a screen an image nominally of the board, together with a set of images nominally of the playing pieces, means for receiving input commands from a player and computing means for storing current positions and identities of the images of the playing pieces and for effecting changes of position of the images of appropriate playing pieces in accordance with said commands.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, or a class or group of substances or compositions, as appropriate, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (37)

CLAIMS:

1. Apparatus for playing a game, the apparatus comprising a board having a surface provided with a pattern of markings, said markings including a plurality of tracks disposed around a common central region, each track defining a respective plurality of positions which may be occupied by c playing piece, and a set of playing pieces which, in the course of playing the game, are moved between said positions.

2. Apparatus according to Claim I wherein there are at least two sets of opposing playing pieces, to enable the game to be played by at least two players.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 2 wherein the board provides respective "stcrting" positions for the pieces of each set.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3 wherein said tracks extend from the starting positions of one set to the starting positions of the other set, and/or vice versa.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4 wherein it is an object of the game for each player to move his playing pieces so as to occupy some or all of the starting positions of his opponent's playing pieces.

ó. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tracks are of closed-loop-type.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said central region comprises a central area or "space" of the board.

8. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tracks are disposed in succession around said central region.

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8 wherein the tracks are so disposed in vertical succession and/or radial succesion.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 8 or Claim 9 wherein the tracks are concentric or generally concentric.

II. Apparatus according to Claim 10 wherein the tracks are side by side.

12. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each track defines the same number of positions.

13. Apparatus according to Claim 12 wherein the corresponding positions on different tracks are radially aligned.

14. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each track is of generally rectangular form.

15. Apparatus according to Claim 14 wherein each track is of square form.

16. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the board is two-dimensional.

17. Apparatus according to Claim 16 wherein the tracks are provided concentrically on the surface of the board around a central area of the board.

18. Apparatus according to any one of Claims I to 15 wherein the "board" is three-dimensional.

19. Apparatus according to Claim 18 wherein each track is at a respective different height.

20. Apparatus according to Claim 19 wherein the board is in the form of a "Ziggurat" with concentric tracks, at respective different heights, the outermost track being the lowest, and successive tracks in the radially inward direction being at successively greater heights.

21. Apparatus according to Claim 20 wherein the central region includes a central area affording a summit of the Ziggurat.

22. Apparatus according to Claim 19 wherein the board is an "inside out" Ziggurat, with its outermost track at the greatest height, and central area at the lowest height.

23. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the board is capable of being hung on a wall when not in use for playing the game.

24. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the board is provided with a drawer for storing the plaving pieces when not in use.

25. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the playing pieces are in the form of short cylinders.

26. Apparatus according to any one of Claims I to 24 wherein the playing pieces have elaborate shapes such as those of soldiers or the like.

27. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the playing pieces are made from wood, metal (e.g. cast metal), plastics, glass or stone.

28. Apparatus accordng to Claim 2 or according to any one of Claims 3 to 27 where directly or indirectly dependent upon Claim 2, wherein the sets of playing pieces are distinguished from each other by being of different colours, pattern, ornament, materials, sizes, shapes or structures.

29. Apparatus according to Claim 2, or according to any one of Claims 3 to 28 where directly or indirectly dependent upon Claim 2, wherein half of each set may be transformed in some manner so as to change its appearance.

30. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the

board is made trom card, wood, metal, plastics, glass, perspex; or any other suitable material.

31. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising Rules of the game for determining the precise manner in which pieces are allowed to be moved, together with other points concerning the playing of the game on the apparatus.

32. Apparatus according to Claim 31 wherein such Rules provide that the playing pieces may be moved along tracks and/or from track to track.

33. Apparatus for playing a game, the apparatus comprising means for producing on a screen an image nominally that of a board having a surface provided with a pattern of markings, said markings including a plurality of tracks disposed around a common central region, each track defining a respective plurality of positions which may be occupied by a playing piece, means for additionally producing on said screen a set of images nominally of playing pieces, means for receiving input commands from a player, and computing means for storing current positions and identities of the images of the playing pieces and being operative to effect changes of position of the images of appropriate playing pieces in accordance with said commands, between said positions.

34. Apparatus according to Claim 33 wherein the computing means operates in accordance with rules of the game.

35. Apparatus for playing a game, in which any of the features of Claims 2 to 32 relating to apparatus in accordance with Claim I is or are utilised correspondingly in apparatus in accordance with Claim 33 or Claim 34 by means of any suitable computer methods and/or apparatus.

36. Apparatus for playing a game, substantially as hereinbefore described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

37. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings.