Bobble Card Game

Abstract

The present invention relates to a card game featuring a deck of multiple copies of 4 letters—B, O, L, and E—in 4 different colors, as well as multiple copies of offensive and defensive action cards. The game, premised on definition of the word BOBBLE, meaning “to move in an irregular motion (e.g., a bobblehead toy),” is about spelling the word BOBBLE with cards, wherein during play, entire players' hands may be “bobbled to the right or left.” The object of the game is to try to spell BOBBLE, left-to-right, on the table in front of the player, with letters of the same color and in consecutive order. What sets this game apart from other word-forming card games are the 10 offensive and defensive action cards that may be used to advance a player's strategy to spell BOBBLE, or to thwart other players' efforts to do so.

Description

There are various word-forming games on the market, some not consisting of playing cards. Many of these utilize objects such as plastic tiles containing letters and point values. Scrabble (trademark) is one example. In such games, players attempt to make words with their tiles, ultimately trying to use up all their tiles. Players then add up the point value of the letters they used in their words and record the numerical result. Other word-forming games may use a deck of cards containing letters of the English alphabet, also with a point designation. As in the tile games, players attempt to use all their cards to form a word or words before other players do. Again, they usually add up point values of letters in the words they formed to determine the score for the game. Quiddler (trademark) and Letras (trademark) are examples of these word-forming games. There is a trivia game, Linkee (trademark), consisting of multiple copies of cards with the letters L, I, N, K, and E on their face(s) and the purpose of that game is to gain enough cards to spell the word “Linkee.” However, these cards are gained solely by answering trivia questions and looking for “threads” or links among the various questions. Lastly, there are rather simple English alphabet card games targeted to young children for learning activities and games, for example, Dwyer U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,432. In conclusion, we know of no word-forming card game anywhere displaying such a complex, offensive and defensive strategy as the present invention described herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional card decks of 52 cards can be used to play a large variety of games such as poker, hearts, solitaire, spades, or bridge. Most of these traditional games are played with cards with four suits displayed on the cards: clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. These cards also include face cards such as Jack, Queen, and King. All such games are enjoyable, challenging, and even educational. However, there is always great need for new and complex card games which can be learned and mastered, thus the basis for this present invention. This particular card game, premised on definition of the word BOBBLE, meaning “to move in an irregular motion (e.g., a bobblehead toy),” is about spelling the word BOBBLE with cards, wherein during play, entire players' hands may be “bobbled to the right or to the left.”

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This game is an illustrative card deck specifically designed for implementation of offensive and defensive actions, which can either aid or hinder spelling of the word BOBBLE. It utilizes a card deck consisting (only) of multiple copies of 4 letters printed in different colors and 10 different types of action cards. As for the method of the invention, the players try to sequentially place cards on the table in front of them to spell BOBBLE using cards of the same color, but during play, they may also play their action cards offensively or defensively to thwart their opponents' attempts to also spell BOBBLE. As an example, the card, “BOBBLE RIGHT” requires all players to hand their entire hand of cards to the person on their right.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIGS. 1-4 show examples of the front side of the letter cards in different colors. Note the small distinctive “bobbleman” icon located in the upper right corner of each card.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a letter card without the distinctive “bobbleman” icon in the upper right corner.

FIG. 6 shows the back side figure present on all cards in the deck.

FIG. 7 shows two examples of winning puzzles.

FIG. 8 shows the front side of a blue letter wild card.

FIG. 9 shows front side of the action card, “Bobble Right.”

FIG. 10 shows front side of the action card, “Bobble Left.”

FIG. 11 shows front side of the action card, “Each Player Gives You One Card.”

FIG. 12 shows front side of the action card, “Draw a Card from Another Player.”

FIG. 13 shows front side of the action card, “Each Player Gives Me a Card, Color of My Choice.”

FIG. 14 shows front side of the action card, “Exchange Your Hand with Another Player.”

FIG. 15 shows front side of the action card, “Reverse Order of Play.”

FIG. 16 shows front side of the action card, “Place This Card on Another Player's Puzzle.”

FIG. 17 shows front side of the action card, “Steal a Card from Another Player's Puzzle.”

FIG. 18 shows front side of the action card, “Bobble Disaster.”

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This card deck contains multiple copies of only four letters in the English language (B, O, L, and E) (FIGS. 1-4) and thus, is designed for only spelling the word BOBBLE. Further, the card deck contains wild cards (FIG. 8) which can be substituted for letters, and also ten action cards (FIGS. 9-18) for implementation of battle-like offensive and defensive actions to thwart other's success in spelling BOBBLE. The cards have two sides: front side A, and backside B. The present invention discloses a new set of playing cards in two decks—deck 1, for 2 to 4 players which contains 76 cards, and deck 2 (an expansion), for 5 to 8 players, containing an additional 37 cards. Thus, there are a total of 113 cards in this game. The players decide whether to play with one or both decks. The two decks can be separated by presence or absence of a small “bobbleman” icon in the upper right corner of the front side (examples—FIGS. 1-4). All cards in deck 1 have the “bobbleman” icon in the upper right corner of the cards, while cards in deck 2 do not (example—FIG. 5). The backside (side B) of all 113 cards contains a graphic of a large bobblehead man (FIG. 6), chosen as the game image due to definition of the word BOBBLE—meaning “to move with an irregular bouncing motion.” In deck 1, the frontside (side A) of cards include 2 complete sets of enough letters B, O, L, and E, to spell BOBBLE in 4 different colors: red, blue, green, and yellow. Eight wild cards (2 of each color) are included which can be played as a substitute for a letter card. Also, deck 1 includes multiple copies of the 10 specially marked action cards that can be used to enhance a player's success in spelling BOBBLE or to prevent another player from spelling BOBBLE. Table 1 below provides a detailed description of the types and activities of these action cards. Deck 2 is intended to be combined with deck 1 when 5 to 8 players play the game. Deck 2 contains 1 more set of the letters B, O, L, and E in 4 colors, 4 more wild cards, as well as 9 additional copies of the 10 action cards described in Table 1.

The method of the game is unique. First, all the Bobble Disaster card(s) are to be removed from the deck before the shuffle/deal. Seven cards are dealt to each player. Then the Bobble Disaster card(s) are added back to the remaining cards in the deck and shuffled (this will be the draw pile). The dealer places the draw pile in the center of the table and (also) creates a discard pile by turning over the top card of the draw pile and placing it next to the draw pile. Play commences clockwise unless someone plays the action card, “Reverse Order of Play.” The object of the game is to be the first to spell the word BOBBLE in cards of the same color on the table in front of the player. Players decide which color(s) to construct their puzzle of letters. The puzzle may be mixed colors at the beginning of the game, before deciding which color to zero-in on. The puzzle each player is trying to construct can be up to 10 cards laid out on the table in a row in front of the player. The winner of the game is the individual with BOBBLE spelled left-to-right, with the letters in consecutive order, anywhere within their 10-card puzzle. Two examples of a winning puzzle are presented in FIG. 7. A player's puzzle can be less than 10 cards, but never more than 10 cards. For example, a player can win the game with as few as 6 letters in their puzzle—B, O, B, B, L, and E. What sets this game apart from other word-forming card games are the numerous offensive and defensive action cards that may be used to advance a player's strategy, or to thwart the other players' efforts to win. These specially marked cards and their actions are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1
Explanation of how to use the 10 action cards.
Bobble right (FIG. 9) -- To “Bobble” is the theme of the game, so when the “Bobble Right” card is played,
that means each player gives their entire hand of cards to the person immediately to their right.
Bobble left (FIG. 10) -- To “Bobble” is the theme of the game, so when the “Bobble Left” card is played,
that means each player gives their entire hand of cards to the person immediately to their left.
Each player gives you one card (FIG. 11) -- Playing this card means each player is required to give you a
card of their choice.
Draw a card from another player (FIG. 12) -- When playing this card, you choose who you want to draw a
card from (from their hand, NOT their puzzle). The card choice is blind, i.e., you don't get to see which
type of card you are picking. You just point to, or pick, one. The donor can shuffle or arrange the cards
any way they like before you draw (but it must include all of their cards).
All players give me one card, color of my choice (FIG. 13) -- When you play this card, YOU designate the
color you are asking for, and each player must give you one letter card of that color, and of their
choice, from their hand OR their puzzle. Note: we highly recommend that each player transfer their
(donated) card face down so the other players can't see it. This is strategically important.
Exchange your hand with one player (FIG. 14) -- When playing this card, you choose one player with
whom you want to swap your entire hand of cards.
Reverse the order of play (FIG. 15) -- Playing this card reverses the order of play, L-R or R-L.
Place this card on another player's puzzle (FIG. 16) -- Playing this action card from your hand directly on
(and covering) ONE letter of another player's puzzle essentially blocks or “kills” that player's puzzle
piece and can only be removed later by the puzzle's owner as a “discard” which includes BOTH cards
(the action card and the card it overlays).
Steal a card from someone else's puzzle (FIG. 17) -- Only one card can be removed, and only from one
other player's puzzle. The stolen card must be placed in your hand, not on your puzzle. It can be moved
to your puzzle later as an action. Note: If a card of yours is stolen or otherwise removed by another
player, that space in the 10-card puzzle will remain blank until filled by the owner of that puzzle. Also
note that if this card is picked up from the discard pile, it CANNOT be played during that same turn.
Bobble disaster! (FIG. 18) -- When a player draws this card from the draw pile, they must do the
following: Examine all players' puzzles and discard any puzzle cards covered by an action card, being
sure that both cards (the letter card and the action card) are removed and placed deep in the discard
pile. Take note of how many puzzle cards each player has remaining. Combine everyone's puzzle cards,
shuffle them, and deal them back on the table in front of each player, the exact number of cards
consecutively for each person, face up. It must be the exact number of cards that person originally had
in their puzzle. The cards must remain in this new order they are dealt, i.e., a player may not arrange
these newly dealt cards in any other order than that which they were dealt. The player that drew the
Bobble Disaster card must now lay the card aside. The Bobble Disaster card is now dead for the
remainder of the game. Note: In the event this card is turned over at the beginning of the game as the
first card in the discard pile, that card must be shuffled back into the draw pile.

Another very unique aspect of this game is what happens upon each player's turn. A player's turn consists of three actions each time such as: 1) Draw a card from the draw pile or draw a card from the top of the discard pile (top card only) and put it in your hand. Note: to then place one of these “drawn” cards in your puzzle counts as another separate action. When cards are placed in the player's puzzle, they must be laid down consequently, left-to-right. They can be manipulated or re-arranged later as an action. 2) Discard a card from your puzzle to the discard pile (i.e., remove a card from your puzzle). 3) Re-arrange the order of cards in your puzzle. 4) Play a specially-marked action card and do whatever the card says (e.g., Bobble left or right). A player can do any one of these above-described actions, even repeat the same action three times. For example, a player may choose to draw 3 cards from the draw pile, draw 3 cards from the discard pile, play 3 cards on their puzzle, play 3 different action cards, or mix it up, such as draw 1 card, play 1 action card, and change the order of cards in their puzzle, etc. As long as a player performs 3 actions during their turn, they may complete their turn without ever drawing from the deck or discard pile. A player can never exceed 7 cards in their hand AT THE END of their turn. Before ending their turn, they must discard enough cards to return to the 7-card maximum in their hand. Discarding from one's hand to the discard pile at the end of a player's turn does not count as an action. Play continues clockwise (unless someone plays the action card, “Reverse Order of Play”) until someone successfully spells the word BOBBLE in letters or wild cards of the same color on the table in front of them.

Claims

1. A deck of playing cards comprising: A. Multiple sets of four letters of the English alphabet in four colors, yellow, red, green, and blue; “wild” cards which may serve as substitutes for these aforementioned letter cards; and multiple copies of “action” cards which may be used offensively and defensively during the game;B. The entire deck of cards totals 113-18 yellow cards with the letters B, O, L, and E on them; 18 blue cards with the letters B, O, L, and E on them; 18 red cards with the letters B, O, L, and E on them; and 18 green cards with the letters B, O, L, and E on them; 12 Wild cards (3 each of the above-mentioned colors); and 29 specially-marked action cards which may be played offensively and defensively;C. Seventy-six of the cards are marked with a small “bobbleman” icon in the upper right corner of the front side of the deck for use with 2-4 players, while the other 37 cards comprise deck 2, an expansion deck to be combined with deck 1 when 5-8 players are present;D. The number and type of action cards in the entire deck are 4 “Bobble Right” cards and 4 “Bobble Left” Cards; 4 “Each Player Gives You a Card” cards; 4 “Draw a Card From Another Player” cards; 4 “All Players Give Me a Card, Color of my Choice” cards; 4 “Exchange Your Hand with One Player” cards; 4 “Reverse Order of Play” cards; 4 “Place This Card on Another Player's Puzzle” cards; 4 “Steal a Card from Someone's Puzzle” cards; and 2 “Bobble Disaster” cards.

2. A method of playing a card game premised on definition of the word BOBBLE, meaning “to move in an irregular motion (e.g., a bobblehead toy),” which is about spelling the word BOBBLE with cards, wherein during play, entire players' hands may be “bobbled to the right or to the left,” comprising the steps of: A. Providing a deck of cards consisting of 113 cards to be played by 2 to 8 players (or 76 cards if 2-4 players) in the following steps;B. players choose a dealer who first removes all Bobble Disaster cards from the deck (one card if playing 2-4 players and two cards if 5-8 players) and then deals each player a hand of 7 cards;C. dealer then places the Bobble Disaster card(s) back in the deck and shuffles it;D. dealer places the cards in the center of the table, creating a draw pile, and (also) turns over the top card of it to establish a discard pile next to the draw pile;E. play begins with the person to the left of the dealer and continues clockwise unless someone plays a “Reverse Order of Play” card;F. upon their turn, each player must conduct three actions, as exampled in the following—1) draw a card from the draw pile or draw a card from the top of the discard pile (top card only) and put it in their hand, 2) play a card on the table to their puzzle, 3) discard a card from their puzzle to the discard pile (i.e., remove a card from their puzzle), 4) re-arrange the order of cards in their puzzle, or 5) play a specially-marked action card and do whatever the card says;G. each player may do any combination of the above-described actions upon their turn, even repeat the same action 3 times;H. all above-mentioned actions lead to players making progress toward forming the word “BOBBLE,” in a puzzle-like display on the table in front of them, correctly spelled, letters in order, and all of one color; the puzzle each player constructs may be up to 10 letters long, but initially needs not be all of the same color;I. wild cards may be used as substitutes for any letter in a player's puzzle (no limit how many per puzzle) provided it is the same color as the other letters being used to spell BOBBLE;J. by use of specially-marked action cards, players may thwart, hinder, or block other players from spelling the word BOBBLE as described above;K. the first player to successfully spell the word BOBBLE all in one color (and using wild cards if needed) is declared the winner of the game.