Patent Application
20160284229
The field of the present invention relates to the art of educational apparatus including board games, electronic gaming apparatus and electronic gaming generally wherein the game of the present invention is concentrated with providing the participant with an understanding of how to safely use a surf beach.
With 75% of the Australian population living within two hours drive of the ocean, surf education has become increasingly important. Many beach goers fail to realise that although surf beaches are a beautiful and sometimes tranquil environment, they are, under certain conditions, extremely dangerous and in an instant can become life threatening and destroy a human being and theft families, as has sadly been demonstrated several times every summer. One poor decision can literally mean the difference between life and death.
There are incidents every day when someone, through sheer ignorance, swims in to a dangerous “Rip” or channel and finds themselves washed out to sea and needing rescue. Even the basic things, that regular beach goers take for granted, like swimming between the flags, regularly applying sunscreen, wearing sun protective clothing, staying out of the water if under the effects of drugs or alcohol, wearing loose fitting clothing in the water, being competent to swim in certain conditions, learning to ride a surfboard away from experienced riders, holding their surfboard through breaking waves rather than throwing it away and injuring the people behind them, seem to escape the knowledge of novice beach goers.
It is not only the ocean that can be a ruthless master but there are many incidental threats to well being that the novice surf beach goer needs to be aware of for a safe and secure experience. For example, there have been many incidents of “Surf Rage” in the past, where, but for the lack of knowledge of a few simple rules, usually on the part of the novice, violence has erupted and people have been hurt.
It is an object of the invention to identify aspects of safe surf beach use and incorporate them into a game that can be played by participants and through doing so, are educated with the information necessary to safely use a surf beach, at least, in Australia.
In a first aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus comprising:
wherein a player uses the random number generator to generate a number which the player then advances their token or player indicial by the number of predetermined positions generated, the player then being presented the content of a scenario card associated with the predetermined position landed on, and then either moving forward along the path or reversing along the path as directed by the scenario card and repeating the process until a player reaches the end point and is declared the winner of the game or provided a score for the performance of the player during the game.
Preferably there are specialised positions located on the path at the transition, at least, from one surf zone to another in which players are required to spend time (turns) or generate specific numbers via the random number generator before they can progress to the next set of predetermined positions in the next surf zone.
More preferably, the apparatus further comprises training bonus cards which are accumulated by players after each turn in a specialised position in which they must remain for a given number of turns, or after being presented a scenario card with generally positive content, wherein the training bonus cards are retained by the player or players to return in order to speed theft advance through the specialised positions that require specific numbers to be generated.
Still more preferably the specialised positions comprise a swimming pool in which the players are required to spend a certain number of turns before heading into the swim zone and/or waiting positions located in the surf zone which require a player to (i) generate a number that results in the players token or indicia landing on the waiting position precisely and/or requires the payer to generate exactly a precise number in order to advance along the path, and wherein the players that generate numbers insufficient to reach the waiting position or insufficient to proceed from the waiting position can surrender training bonus cards to make up the difference to the precise numbers required.
In one embodiment, the surf zones comprise a sand zone, a swim zone and a surf zone. With respect to the predetermined positions there are preferably sand positions associated with the sand zone, swimming positions associated with the swim zone, and paddle, soft board and fibreglass positions associated with the surf zone. It is preferred that there are a corresponding set of scenario cards associated with the sand positions/sand zone, a set associated with swimming positions/swim zone, and a set associated with paddle and soft boards positions/surf zone, and a further set associated with fibreglass board positions/surf zone.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of for playing an electronic implementation of the educational surf game of the first aspect of the invention in which the apparatus that the game is played on has:
and wherein the apparatus is adapted to provide to the user of the apparatus:
generating a random number;
using the random number generated to advance the players indicia by the number of predetermined positions generated;
presenting a scenario associated with the predetermined position indicated by the indicia;
moving the players indicia either forward along the path or reversing along the path;
repeating the steps of generating random numbers and moving the players indicia until the player reaches the end point and is declared the winner of the game or provided a score for the performance of the player during the game.
Preferably the scenarios relate to uses of the plurality of surf beach zones and are either
Preferably mini-games are provided for the player to complete at specialised positions located on the path at the transition, at least, from one surf zone to another which simulate aspects of the surf zone and which are required to be completed before advancing along the path.
In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The first aspect of the invention is an apparatus and method for using the same. The method involves playing a game with the apparatus where generally users are provided a plurality beach surf zones and where they need to navigate through the zones by way of exposure to various scenarios and where depending on the scenario will cause theft tokens to either advance their position on the board or cause the player to move back in theft position. In all embodiments of both aspects of the invention there is an end point. In some embodiments where there are more than one player the winner of the game will be the person who reaches the end point first. In other embodiments, a scoring system is provided where participants or players compete against each other by way of comparing scores attained at the time the end point is reached.
In all embodiments, however, the players will have, by exposure to the scenarios, assimilated a wealth of knowledge regarding life experiences at the beach including:
In the first aspect of the invention, the invention comprises physical playing surface which may be provided by way of a traditional board. Referring to
The board 10 also has marked on it a starting position 18 and an end point 20. The starting position 18 and end point 20 define a path 22 upon which further markings or indicia are provided to indicate predetermined game positions. Predetermined game positions fall into a number of categories including:
Each of the zoned positions are colour coded and are associated with particular aspects of surf beach use including but not limited to:
Associated with each type of zoned position are a deck of cards. As depicted in
Training bonus cards are provided in training bonus card pile 50 and are provided to players in a variety of situations including upon each turn in the swimming pool 24 or as a result of picking up one of the cards contained in piles 42, 44, 46, and 48 that contains a positive scenario and which indicates that the player is to advance themselves on the path 22. Training bonus cards contain what could be regarded as tips for novice surfers and are to be read aloud before being retained by the player. Examples of training bonus cards are provided in
In the embodiment depicted in
The game is played by way of each player placing a token or indicia of their position on the start position 18. The first player rolls the dice and advances their token by the number of zoned positions along the path 22. The first move by any payer will result in them landing on a sand zoned position 32 in which case the player picks up a card from the pile of sand cards 42. Once they pick the card up from the pile of sand cards 42 they read it out aloud for the benefit of the other players and either advance or reverse their token along path 22 in the manner instructed by the card.
The first specialised position encountered is the swimming pool 24. If the movement based on what was rolled by the player would result in the player's indicia going beyond the swimming pool 24, the player must stop at the swimming pool 24. If the player lands on or is stopped at the swimming pool 24, the player must remain in the swimming pool for three turns. This is to simulate the importance of being a competent swimmer before entering the ocean. After each turn in the swimming pod the player picks up a training bonus card from the training bonus card pile 50 and keeps it. On the third turn, the player automatically advances to the jetty 24.
Thereafter the player or players advance themselves through the swim zone 14 by stopping at the swimming zone positions 34 along path 22. When landing on a swimming zone position 34 the player picks up a card from the pile of swim zone cards 44 and reads the scenario to the other players and either advances or reverses along path 22 as directed. The same applies to the paddle positions 36 and soft board positions 38. In each case the player does not need to roll any precise number to advance onto the next type of position and associated cards.
With respect to the wait positions 28 and 30 a player must roil the exact number that when advanced on the path 22, would result in the player landing on the wait positions 28 or 30. If the player generates a number that would see the player and on a point beyond the wait position, the player is to move forward to the wait position and then in effect, turn around on the spot and continue in reverse (where the wait position 28 is counted as a position for the purposes of counting the number of steps backwards are required).
Once the player has rolled the precise number required to and on a wait position 28 or 30, on their next turn, from the wait position, the player must roll a 10 to advance theft position. In the case of the first wait position 28, to advance to the fibreglass surfboard positions 40 or in the case of the second wait position 30 to advance to the end point 20. If the player rolls either 11 or 12, the payer forfeits their turn. If the player rolls between 2 and 9, the player follows the alternative pathways set out on the board to positions leading up to the waft position. For instance, if a player rolls a 9, the pathway indicated for the number 9 takes the player one position backwards of the wait position. If a player rolls a 2, they are advanced 8 positions backwards of the wait position.
Bonus cards 22 can be used to help a player advance more quickly through wait position's 28 and 30. In particular, they can be used to make up numbers. For instance, if the player threw or generated the number 7, three retained bonus cards could be surrendered to allow the player to proceed from the wait zones 28 notwithstanding a 10 was not thrown or generated. In the case of the wait zone 30 which precedes the end position 20, three cards must be used to make up one number. For example if a 7 were thrown, 9 training bonus cards would need to be used to make up the number 3 which is added to 7 to achieve the perfect 10 score which allows the player to advance to the end point 20.
Training bonus cards from training bonus card pile 50 can also be used to pay penalties rather than retreating as directed by the cards contained in piles 42, 44, 46, and 48 that contain a generally negative message and direct the payer to retreat by a given number of positions. In some circumstances a card may direct a player to return to a specific position (usually the shore or beach but in the case of the swimming zone positions 34, the jetty 24). In such cases training bonus cards cannot be used to stop the player from being directed to return to the directed position. When directed to the shore or the beach, the payer must return their token to the first position of either the paddle positions 36, soft board positions 38 or fibreglass positions 40 that is nearest the beach.
The educational aspect of the invention is delivered through the content contained on the cards contained in piles 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50, as well as by the positive and negative reinforcement provided by the very structure nature of the game play (set backs and advances, concepts of training and bonuses etc).
Referring to
Specifically, with respect to the first embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, it is adapted for incorporation into the memory of a smartphone or tablet such as Apple Inc's iPad. Such devices 52 comprise a touch sensitive display 54 which is used to output the game graphics as well as receive input from a user. The device 52 would also generally include one or more accelerometers which determine the motion of the device which could also be used as a method of interacting with the device 52 including shaking the device or spinning a simulated wheel or interacting with simulated dice to generate a random number. In the present aspect of the invention, players may play alone against the device 52 and at the finish of the game, may be provided with a score which may be tallied against others scores in the game, including by way of a network connection including the internet. Alternatively players may play together on the one device in turn, or on two networked or connected devices where the game proceeds simultaneously (or incrementally as players come onto the network).
Game play could also be modified by virtue of the fact that such devices may be networked to the Internet in which case new content could be served to the device whereby the cards and their contents could be updated on a regular basis. Further, rather than simply be presented with content that is on the cards shown in
In the second aspect of the invention, it is also possible to simulate many of the scenarios that are contained on the cards depicted in
In the second aspect of the invention there would also be dexterity based challenges that could take the place of the wait zones of the first aspect of the invention. Mini-games could be incorporated at the junctions between the various zones and position types. For example, there could be a mini-game provided for replacement of the three laps in the swimming pool as described with respect to the first aspect of the invention. In this case, the user would tap the screen to actuate simulated swimming strokes. To slow and they would not win, too fast and they would become inefficient and not win. The second mini-game could be incorporated between the swim and paddle positions. The same controls would be available however the user must now contend with the force of waves. The third mini-game could be incorporated between the paddle positions and the soft board positions. In this game an added control would be provided to make the simulate user duck under waves to improve speed. The fourth mini-game could be incorporated between the soft board and the fibreglass positions. In this game the simulated surfer would need to paddle fast enough (via tapping) to catch a wave then perform a swiping gesture to get up on the simulated board. In a fifth mini-game which would be the final game before the ending of the overall game, the standing up onto the board would be the first achievable target, after standing up, the player must perform basic manoeuvres. The players could drag their fingers on the screen to orientate the simulated surfer. Players would be awarded points for doing successful turns at the top and bottom of a wave. Players could also be awarded points for performing a cutback and awarded points for time spent in the tube of a simulated wave. If the player gets enough points to get a perfect “10 out of 10” they will win the overall game.
Similar electronic implementations are provided in the second, third, fourth, and fifth embodiments of the second aspect of the invention as depicted in
In
Referring to
The person skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein where the invention can be broadly applied and take the form of alternate embodiments.
The present invention has industrial applicability in the area of gaming, and in particular board games and also electronic games played on a variety of electronic devices.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013903837 | Oct 2013 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2014/000957 | 10/3/2014 | WO | 00 |
