Patent Application
20140062019
The instant application relates to board games.
Board games have been played throughout history, providing entertainment for one or more players in a variety of formats.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The instant application describes a board game allowing players to role play being performers trying to win various industry awards. There are two levels. In the first level, players have game pieces shaped like cars and cruise along the board, picking up cards that determine how successful they are in their careers. When they finish the first level, they get to move on to the second level, choosing nicer cars, obtaining better roles, and having more opportunities. A player wins by having the player's name card selected from a set of name cards of three nominees for the award.
These and other features of an awards board game will now be described with reference to drawings of certain embodiments, which are intended to illustrate and not to limit the instant application:
The subject matter of the present invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.
The instant application describes a board game allowing players to role play trying to win an industry award. Examples of such awards include, but are not limited to, The Golden Globe Awards®, an Oscar® from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences®, a Grammy®, a CMA®, and the Genie Award®. Other embodiments may include other real or imaginary awards.
In the embodiment described herein, the awards will be based on acting awards, specifically the Golden Globe® and the Oscar®. These examples are not meant to be limiting, but rather to highlight one possible variation of an award show game.
The following is an example set of rules for an award show game.
Opponents cruise around the board in different models of cars trying to endure the bumpy rides of their acting careers, ultimately hoping to get nominated and then to go on to win the Oscar®.
The game has two different levels which they must get through before eventually arriving at Oscar® Night.
A game starts with everyone rolling a die and a player with the lowest roll goes first, choosing a car from a “Used Up Cars” car lot and proceeding around the board. A next player may follow in a similar manner.
Players cruise around in not-so-expensive cars while starting their acting careers. They may have to deal with bad auditions and movies that bomb at the box office. The results of auditions and box office results are determined by cards selected from a shuffled deck. This level is more challenging than the next level due to the players rarely landing good roles and receiving good reviews. However, by the end of this level, players will be able to land a role which is noteworthy and make them eligible for better roles.
After making it past the first level, players will be able to enjoy all the benefits of being a successful actor/actress. Before starting this level, players will have a chance to trade in their cars from level 1 for nicer cars. Whoever advances to this level first gets first pick at the cars; the next person gets next pick, and so on. Level 2 is where they will start landing better roles and big auditions. They may have a chance to shop on Rodeo Drive and win “bonus chips.” They may also be the lucky player to win the “Golden Globe Card”.
Players can only start taking advantage of “Bonus Chips” (BCs) once they have reached Level 2. BCs are important because they can help land you a nomination on Oscar® night. These are extra points earned throughout Level 2 by landing leading roles, cover stories and big auditions. The player with the highest BCs at the end of Level 2 will automatically win an Oscar® nomination. See Special Rules later.
The player who picks this card will try to hold on to this card until Oscar® Night to help earn them a nomination. At any time during the game, if another player earns 15 points or more they have the option of trading in all or some of their points for the “Golden Globe Card” (GGC). The player who is holding the GGC has to release the card upon request unless they have more BCs than the opposing player at that time. Otherwise, they will just continue holding onto the card until any other player is able to trade in their points. For example, if the person holding the GGC has 15 points and the opposing player has 16 BCs, then the opposing player will have to trade in all of their BCs in order to retrieve the GGC. If the opposing player had only 15 BCs then they would not have been able to retrieve the card. You need to have at least one more “BC” than the current GGC holder. You will only have to trade in the amount of BCs that it takes to actually retrieve the GGC. In another example: If the GGC holder has 18 BCs and the opposing player has 20, then the opposing player will only have to trade in 19 BCs. It may be to their advantage to wait until the end of level 2, after they have earned all of their BCs, before trying to retrieve the GGC.
The first player to reach Oscar® Night will be the only one to obtain the Limo. This is important because the player with the Limo will receive automatic nomination, unlike the player with the GGC.
Only three people can be nominated: The Limo holder, GGC holder and the highest Bonus Chips holder. Once all players have made their way to the Kodak Theatre and placed their cars in the Oscar® seating area, Bonus Chips will then be added and exchange of the GGC, if necessary, will take place. The remaining players will leave their cars in the initial seating at the Kodak Theatre while the nominees advance to the nominee section in hopes of winning the Oscar®. The nominees then go on to select one person from the Oscar® seating area to act as “Announcer.” The person selected as Announcer will write down all the nominees' names on individual pieces of paper and then place each of the names into separate Oscar® envelopes. They will then be placed inside of the Shuffler, which will then be started. Once the cards have been shuffled the Announcer will push the button and one card will shoot out. The Announcer then opens the envelope and reads the card as followed: “The Oscar® for best Actor/or Actress for best leading role goes to” . . . and reads the name that is written on the paper.
This will be played the same as 4 or more players except only two people will be nominated. The Limo holder will still have automatic nomination and the GGC will be treated the same. The one who is not nominated will automatically be the Announcer.
If there are times when there are ties due to “Bonus Chips”, players will have to roll the die to see who will go on to be nominated. The one with the highest roll will win. For instance, after everyone is seated and BCs are being added, players with the same amount of BCs can compete for the GGC or to see who has the highest BCs by the roll of the die. Only one person at a time will be able to compete for the GGC.
If the GGC has been released at the end of the game, the person who held it will be treated as if she never held it. In a four-or-more-player game, the player will have to count the BCs in the same way as the other players for possible nomination. In a three-player game, the player will become the announcer.
If the GGC is not picked, the two players with the highest number of BCs will be nominated. The Limo holder rules will still apply.
In another embodiment, rather than players moving pieces along paths on a game board, the game board may be electronic, and pieces may be moved automatically by the board. In another embodiment, rather than rolling one or more dice, the game board may include a pseudorandom number generator to provide numbers to move pieces.
In yet another embodiment, the game may be represented in a computer program, providing a computer game operating under similar goals as the examples herein described. One skilled in the art will realize that many variations of embodiments are possible.
While the detailed description above has been expressed in terms of specific examples, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other configurations could be used. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that various equivalent modifications of the above-described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.
