Patent Application
20240050840
The invention disclosure relates to game cards, and more particularly to gaming devices that include elements of Mahjong in game cards.
Mahjong is a Chinese game played by four players against one another. It is a game of skill, strategy, intelligence, calculation and luck. Depending on the variation, which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. The object of the game is to build complete suits (usually of threes) from thirteen to sixteen tiles. The first person to achieve this goal is said to win the game. The game is very popular in Asia but has not attained the same level of popularity on other continents. One reason is the level of sophistication and complexity of the game. Another reason is the use of unfamiliar tiles which are not as well-known as other gaming props like playing cards or dice.
Conventional bingo is a well-known game. Players are provided with bingo cards that have a matrix of five rows and five columns. The columns are lettered BINGO from left to right across the top of the matrix and each bingo card has five numbers in each row except the center I column which has a “free space” at the intersection of the third row and the third column.
Bingo balls individually numbered 1-75 are mixed together and balls are selected one at a time. As each ball is selected, the number is announced to the players, who cover any corresponding number on their bingo card. When a player achieves a predetermined arrangement of covered spots on his bingo card, that player yells out “Bingo!” and he wins the game.
Bingo can be played as an amusement game, but it is quite popular as a form of gambling. Players purchase bingo cards for use during the bingo session and winning players receive payouts from the operator or gaming establishment. Typically, a bingo session includes a number of individual bingo games concluding with a coverall game in which a large prize is awarded. Some operators also offer a jackpot prize if the coverall is achieved within a fixed number of called numbers, e.g. 50.
There is a need to increase the player appeal of Mahjong incorporated into a bingo game.
It is a further object of the present invention to increase the popularity of mahjong by increasing the difficulty factor of getting a bingo, to allow for prizes high enough to attract players.
The relative lack of success of these games, and others, was based on their superficial attention to Asian culture, and their lack of combining the symbols used with playing methods that Chinese players were accustomed to. Embodiments of this invention address these and other issues in the prior art.
In one aspect, one embodiment discloses a method of conducting a card game using one or more decks of cards depicting Mahjong-type symbols. The method comprises steps of setting up a challenge level of playing the card game; providing a player with a bingo card depicting Mahjong-type symbols and a plurality of spaces; randomly selecting a Mahjong tile having individual symbol corresponding to the plurality of spaces on the bingo card; and awarding an amount of prize when the player achieves a predetermined winning combination on the bingo card.
In yet another aspect, one embodiment discloses a method of playing a game of bingo. The method comprises steps of providing a player with a bingo card depicting Mahjong-type symbols with a plurality of spaces in a play of a bingo game; providing a plurality of Mahjong tiles; randomly selecting a Mahjong tile; and achieving a predetermined winning combination by a player on the bingo card when only Mahjong tiles have been selected.
Optionally in any aspect, the method comprises the step of awarding a prize to the first player who achieves a predetermined winning combination.
Optionally in any aspect, the method comprises the step of setting up a challenge level of playing the card game.
Optionally in any aspect, the challenge level comprises three levels of difficulties.
Optionally in any aspect, the first challenge level comprises four spaces on the bingo card.
Optionally in any aspect, the second challenge level comprises four spaces on the bingo card.
Optionally in any aspect, the third challenge level comprises five spaces on the bingo card.
Optionally in any aspect, the bingo card comprises 12 or 13 Mahjong tiles depicting Mahjong-type symbols depending on challenge levels.
In further another aspect, one embodiment discloses a kit for playing a game of bingo card depicting Mahjong-type symbols. The kit may comprise a set of playing cards depicting Mahjong-type symbols; and a mahjong set.
Optionally in any embodiment, the kit include a set of user instructions for playing the card games.
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure or the exemplary techniques, the drawings to be used in the embodiments or the description of the exemplary embodiments will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only certain embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings may be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without any creative work for those skilled in the art.
The implementation, functional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, and reagents described herein because they may vary. Further, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms and any acronyms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art in the field of the invention. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are described herein. The technical means, creative features, objectives, and effects of the patent application may be easy to understand, the following embodiments will further illustrate the patent application. However, the following embodiments are only the preferred embodiments of the utility patent application, not all of them. Based on the examples in the implementation manners, other examples obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. The experimental methods in the following examples are conventional methods unless otherwise specified. The materials and reagents used in the following examples can be obtained from commercial sources unless otherwise specified.
Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, such as play cards, Mahjong tiles, and/or a marker, or an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.
Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction performance system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions.
These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming devices, such as game cards, and methods of operating gaming devices to incorporate elements of Mahjong game play. Mahjong is an ancient and popular game that originated in China and is common in various forms throughout Eastern Asia. The term “Mahjong” (or “Mah Jong”) is used in this document, as it is the most common form of spelling in roman characters, meant to represent the phonetic spelling of the Cantonese dialect for the term, whereas spelling for Mandarin in pin yin format would be Ma Jiang, the Chinese characters being traditional Chinese, and
in simplified Chinese. The traditional Asian game of Mahjong consists of 144 tiles (although variations of the game sometimes contain more or fewer tiles). It is these symbols, and commonly recognized variations of these symbols, that are referred to in this invention.
Embodiments of this invention are meant to provide unique games for enjoyment, which may be in social setting, family gathering, or in casino type environments (whether land based, sea based, server based, Internet type, or otherwise). These methods of play, incorporated with the use of Mahjong tiles, open up a new realm of games for potential offer to people. Application of these games could be, but is not limited to the following: table style gaming (in similar fashion to Blackjack or others), electronic gaming machines (slot machines), computer games (including but not limited to Internet style games), and hand held device style gaming (such as mobile phones, tablets, and PDAs or otherwise) as discussed below.
As discussed below embodiments, the present concept combines the traditional tiles of the ancient Chinese game of Mahjong with various features of traditional gaming devices to create a unique mix of games readily identifiable by Asian players with easily understood methodology and potentially meaningful payouts based on pay tables that resemble winning combinations within the actual game of Mahjong.
The advantages of the methods of gaming outlined in the embodiments discussed in this disclosure include symbol recognition with familiar game play elements. In addition, some embodiments of the present invention utilize all of the tiles used in the game of Mahjong instead of just including a few of them as art work as previously attempted. Other embodiments described herein take advantage of already popular game styles, such as bingo games, which players can associate with, but with the additional cultural association with the Mahjong tiles that are incorporated. For example, these combinations, sequences, or groupings of tiles may relate to the various traditional groupings used in Mahjong, such as “Chow” (sequence of suited tiles, such as 1, 2, and 3 of a particular suit), and/or “Pung” (three identical symbols of the same tile, such as 3 units of the single bamboo suit), or any other combinations or groupings. While these traditional groupings may be utilized on the bingo card, other embodiments of the invention may use completely different groupings, sequences, or sets to indicate a winning hand.
As shown in
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In one embodiment, a kit for playing a game of bingo cards depicting Mahjong-type symbols may comprise a set of playing cards, as shown in
In one embodiment, the kit may further include a set of user instructions for playing the card games. In one embodiment the Mahjong set comprises a plurality of tiles, which has a character printed on it on each tile, for example.
In one embodiment, the kit further comprises a marker or a pin that is used to be put on the plurality of spaces on the bingo cards.
As shown in
In the method 800, the challenge level may comprise three levels of difficulties, a first challenge level, a second challenge level, and a third challenge level. The first challenge level may comprise four spaces, such as Mahjong tiles 216, 226, 244, 254 in
The bingo card may comprise a total of about 17 pictures of Mahjong tiles, in which there are 12 or 13 Mahjong tiles depicting Mahjong-type symbols depending on challenge levels. In challenge level one, 13 Mahjong tiles 212, 214, 222, 224, 232, 234, 236, 242, 246, 252, 256, 262, and 266 depict Mahjong-type symbols as shown in
The method 900 of playing a game of bingo may comprise steps of providing a player with a bingo card depicting Mahjong-type symbols with a plurality of spaces in a play of a bingo game in step 910; providing a plurality of Mahjong tiles in step 920; randomly selecting a Mahjong tile in step 930; and achieving a predetermined winning combination by a player on the bingo card when only Mahjong tiles have been selected in step 940.
Optionally the method 900 may further comprise steps of awarding a prize to the first player who achieves a predetermined winning combination; and setting up a challenge level of playing the card game.
For example, a player holds a bingo-Mahjong card 200 as shown in
For example, a player has a bingo-Mahjong card as shown in
For example, a player has a bingo-Mahjong card as shown in
The above shows and describes the basic principles, main features and advantages of the utility patent application. Those skilled in the industry should understand that the present utility patent application is not limited by the above-mentioned embodiments. The above-mentioned embodiments and the description are only preferred examples of the present utility patent application and are not intended to limit the present utility patent application, without departing from the present utility patent application. Under the premise of spirit and scope, the present utility patent application will have various changes and improvements, and these changes and improvements fall within the scope of the claimed utility patent application. The scope of protection claimed by the utility patent application is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
