Patent Application
20190099658
The invention relates to educational board games having a game board in which players compete to place player pieces on three consecutive grid spaces in a line on the game board (e.g., a “tic tac toe”) or other game objective during gameplay by selecting a subset of function cards dealt to the players, where each function card specifies one or more grid spaces on which a player piece may be placed, and one or more conditions that must be satisfied in order to place the player piece on the one or more grid spaces, and methods for playing the board games.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material to which a claim for copyright is made. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone at the United States Patent and Trademark Office of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but reserves all other copyrights whatsoever.
Various board games for educational purposes exist. None of the conventional games use a game board or cards that have the design of the present invention, nor are there known games that provide the features of the invention, including board games using cards having tactical programming that specifies predefined tactical actions a player may take during gameplay. The cards provide educational insight on how programs can include predefined functions that can respond dynamically to situations, such as actions other players may take. Various other drawbacks and shortcomings exist with known card.
These and other drawbacks exist with conventional board games.
The invention relates to educational board games having a game board in which players compete to place player pieces on three consecutive grid spaces in a line on the game board (e.g., a “tic tac toe”) or other game objective during gameplay by selecting a subset of function cards dealt to the players, where each function card specifies one or more grid spaces on which a player piece may be placed, and one or more conditions that must be satisfied in order to place the player piece on the one or more grid spaces, and methods for playing the board games. Each function card represents a program having functions that specify a grid space on which a player piece may be placed. If a function returns true (e.g., the specified grid space is unoccupied by a player piece and any other conditions are satisfied), then the player may place a player piece on that grid space. Otherwise, the player may not place a player piece using the function card. The foregoing gameplay mechanism educationally reinforces how programs operate (e.g., based on true/false conditionals) and encourages tactical and strategic analysis to achieve an objective.
The game board system may include a game board, a plurality of first player pieces for the first player, a plurality of second player pieces for the second player, a plurality of first function cards for the first player (e.g. a first deck of function cards), and a plurality of second function cards for the second player (e.g. a second deck of function cards). The first deck of function cards may be identical to the second deck of function cards, other than ornamentation (e.g., coloring, design, etc.) to distinguish a first player's deck of cards from the second player's deck of cards.
The game board may include a game grid having a plurality of grid spaces, a plurality of first function card receiving spaces, and a plurality of second function card receiving spaces. The game grid, the plurality of first function card receiving spaces and the plurality of second function card receiving spaces may be printed on the game board.
Gameplay begins by shuffling the first deck of function cards. The first player is provided with (e.g., is dealt, draws, etc.) a number of first function cards from the first deck of function cards. In some instances, the first player is provided with five function cards. Other numbers may be provided as well. The first player selects a subset of the provided first function cards and arranges the selected subset of cards face-down onto the first plurality of function card receiving spaces (so that the programmatic functions of the function card are concealed from view). In some instances, the first player selects three function cards, from among the five function cards provided to the first player. Other numbers may be selected as well.
In some implementations, the plurality of first function card receiving spaces may be printed on the game board with respect to one another according to an order in which function cards placed on the plurality of first function card receiving spaces must be played. For example, and without limitation, the plurality of first function card receiving spaces may include three (e.g., “top,” “mid,” and “low”) function card receiving spaces that are arranged with respect to one another. Other numbers and labels of function card receiving spaces may be used as well. During gameplay, the first player places each of the selected function cards onto one of the high, mid, and low function card receiving spaces.
The second player is similarly provided with the same number of second function cards from the second deck of function cards, and the second player similarly selects and arranges the selected subset of second function cards. The first player and the second player take turns playing one or more of their function cards in order of the arrangement of the function card receiving spaces.
When it is the first player's turn, the first player must play a function card according to the order of the cards placed at the function card receiving spaces by uncovering the function card at the highest priority card receiving space. For example, the first player must first play the function card at the top function card receiving space and attempt to place a player piece on the game grid according to the one or more positions and/or conditions specified in that function card. The first player does so by evaluating the one or more positions and the conditions specified by the function card. For instance, the function card may specify that a player piece may be placed on one or more possible grid spaces. The function card may encode one or more conditions that must be satisfied in order to place the player piece on the possible spaces. The conditions may include a requirement that the possible grid spaces be: available (i.e., not already occupied by a player piece), be a corner grid space, be a center grid space, be a center grid space, be a cross grid space, used block a three-in-a-row, and/or other condition.
If a player piece cannot be placed on the game grid according to the function card at the top function card receiving space (e.g., if all grid spaces specified by the function card are occupied or if a blocking action is not available), the first player must attempt to play the function card at the next priority order (e.g., mid) function card receiving space, and if no player piece can be placed, then attempt to play the function card at the next priority order (e.g., low) function card receiving space. If no first player pieces can be placed after playing each of the arranged function cards, then the first player must pass (without placing a player piece on the game grid) to the second player. In this manner, the first player must tactically select which function cards to place from among a set of cards that the first player is dealt, and must tactically order the selected cards by placing them on high, mid, and low function card receiving spaces.
The plurality of second function card receiving spaces are similarly arranged on the game board, and the second player similarly is provided with function cards (but this time from the second deck of function cards for the second player), and selects, orders, and plays her function cards according to their placement on the second function card receiving spaces. If both the first player and the second player cannot place a player piece on the game grid, then the first player is able to place a first player piece onto any available grid space. Gameplay may repeat this turn-based process until a player places three player pieces in a row on the game grid or other game termination event occurs. It should be noted that when the foregoing process is repeated, the same or different function cards may be played. For example, new function cards may be provided to each player, and each player may select and arrange those new cards. Alternatively, the first and second players may simply re-play the originally selected function cards.
A two player game is described throughout this disclosure for illustration and not limitation. Other numbers of players may be used as well, including single player (e.g., in which a player attempts to achieve the objective without other players) and more than two player modes (in which three or more players compete). Furthermore, although an objective of placing game pieces on three consecutive grid spaces of a 3×3 grid in a line is described, other objectives (such as two or four or more consecutive grid spaces), whether in line or not, and whether a 3×3 grid or not (e.g., more or less grid spaces and/or in other configurations) may be used as well.
These and other objects, features, and characteristics of the system and/or method disclosed herein, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The invention relates to educational board games having a game board in which players compete to place player pieces on three consecutive grid spaces in a line on the game board (e.g., a “tic tac toe”) or other game objective during gameplay by selecting a subset of function cards dealt to the players, where each function card specifies one or more grid spaces on which a player piece may be placed, and one or more conditions that must be satisfied in order to place the player piece on the one or more grid spaces, and methods for playing the board games. A given function card may be offensive in nature (e.g., place a player piece at one or more specified grid spaces irrespective of a block and/or to complete a row to win), or defensive in nature (e.g., place a player piece at one or more specified grid spaces only to block another player).
Referring to
In some implementations, the plurality of first function card receiving spaces 10 may be printed on the game board with respect to one another according to an order in which function cards placed on the plurality of first function card receiving spaces must be played. For example, and without limitation, the plurality of first function card receiving spaces may include three (e.g., 20A “top,” 20B “mid,” and 20C “low”) function card receiving spaces that are arranged with respect to one another. Other numbers and labels of function card receiving spaces may be used as well. Likewise, the plurality of second function card receiving spaces may include three (e.g., 22A “top,” 22B “mid,” and 22C “low”) function card receiving spaces that are arranged with respect to one another.
During gameplay, the first player places each of his selected function cards onto one of the 20A high, 20B mid, and 20C low function card receiving spaces. The second player likewise places each of her selected function cards onto one of the 22A high, 22B mid, and 22C low function card receiving spaces.
In some implementations, the game grid has exactly nine (3×3) grid spaces 10 using which players compete to place three of their game pieces consecutively in a row, in a manner similar to “tic tac toe.” However, instead of players taking turns to select any available grid space to ultimately get three in a row as in a conventional tic tac toe game, players take turns playing one or more of their function cards, and may place a game piece only according to one or more grid spaces 10 and/or conditions specified by the played function card. In this manner, a given function card “programs” or limits the possible “moves” that a player may make (in addition to being prevented from placing a player piece on a grid space 10 that is already occupied).
In some implementations, and as illustrated, the game board 2 is printed in a player-versus-player configuration. For instance, the game board 2 is printed so that the first player and the second player face each other during gameplay. As such, the first function card receiving spaces 20 are printed on the game board 2 so that the first player (as illustrated, the “BLUE” player) can read them. Likewise, the second function card receiving spaces 22 are printed on the game board 2 so that the second player (as illustrated, the “RED” player) can read them and are inverted with respect to the first function card receiving spaces 20.
Function Cards
Alternate Gameplay Modes
The foregoing descriptions and examples described a standard game mode of operation. The following represent alternatives to the standard game mode, with differences from the standard game mode noted.
Reverse Tacto—players play the worst Functions possible. The first player to place three consecutive player pieces in a line loses.
Constructed Tacto—Instead of drawing five cards at the beginning, players can select their Function cards from their entire deck.
Draft Tacto—Players draw five cards as in the standard mode, but then then take turns playing their function cards face up (e.g., player 1 plays his top function card, then player 2 plays her top function card, then player 1 plays his mid function card, and so on . . . ), performing them as they are played.
Wild Tacto—At the end of a player's turn, the player draws a function card, then swaps one of the player's selected function cards with the newly drawn function card.
Timed Tacto—Each player has a limited amount of time to make their move. If they fail to do so, the other player may place a player piece anywhere on the game grid.
Other implementations, uses and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. The specification should be considered exemplary only, and the scope of the invention is accordingly intended to be limited only by the following claims.
