Patent Application
20120256374
The present invention relates to a game that includes an element of sabotage and rescue.
Turn-based games involving skill or chance are a well known form of amusement. There are also games that involve a sabotage mechanic wherein a player is sabotaged, for example, by drawing a chance card. Typical sabotage is usually brief, such as the loss of a turn or an inventory item. The prior art lacks a significant sabotage element that requires a player's main piece to be rescued by said player's rescue piece, wherein the rescues piece moves according to a predetermined movement mechanic.
The present invention provides an improved multi-player game that incorporates a rescue dynamic into a game involving chance and skill.
Referring to the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures.
For illustrative purposes, the game will be described as a board game.
Unmarked spaces on the board in
Some spaces on the board are “action spaces” associated with special playing instructions that will affect the player's turn, rather than destinations. At least two spaces will be secured spaces 195 upon which a player's piece can land but cannot be sabotaged. Additionally, there are six spaces upon which a player may not land, including spaces 150, 155, 160 and 165 upon which action cards are placed, one space where the rescue pieces are placed while not in use, and one space marked with a Police car to indicate the speed trap.
The following is a complete listing of the special instructions that apply to the numbered spaces of
The chance and assignment cards may be placed in the center of the board for convenience. Otherwise, if path to traverse passes through the center of the board multiple times, the cards may be set aside so as not to interfere with game play.
A player draws an appropriate card when they land on a corresponding space or area of the board. Assignment cards will be drawn upon landing on an assignment card drawing space and every time a player's primary piece passes the start position. Chance Cards will be discussed later with reference to
One person is selected to handle the money and the tokens. Each player receives a primary piece 180 equipped with a removable security system 190, a rescue piece 185, a destination marker 170, $2000.00 of money and an Assignment Card. All cards are shuffled and placed on their respective spaces on the game board. Each player places their primary piece 180 on the Primary Piece Start Position 101 and places their rescue pieces 185 on the Rescue Piece Holding space 110. Each player's rescue piece 185 remains on the Rescue Piece Holding space 110 until it is required to rescue a player's primary piece 180 that has been sabotaged by another player.
As mentioned previously, drawing an Assignment Card gives each player an assignment to complete to earn money. Each player who decides to use the Assignment Card will place their destination markers 170 on the space where the assignment begins as a visual goal indicator. Once the player reaches the assignment start space by roll of the die or spin of the wheel, the player would move the marker to the assignment destination space indicated on the assignment card to mark the assignment's destination.
Each player will then roll the die or spin the wheel to determine who plays first (usually the person rolling/spinning the highest number).
To move the pieces, the player will roll a die or spin a wheel to determine the number of spaces to move, and move their primary piece 180 the number of spaces determined by the die or wheel.
If a player lands on a location space and is not beginning or completing an assignment, nothing happens. If a player is trying to land on a particular space to begin or complete an assignment, the player need only roll a number greater than or equal to the number of spaces needed to reach the destination. For example, if a player needs to advance three spaces and he/she rolls a six, he/she moves three spaces and forfeits the other three space advancements.
The game is won when a player collects five tokens and returns to the Truck Depot space 105. A player must buy the tokens. Tokens may be purchased at the end of a player's turn, before he/she passes the die to the next player. Only one token may be purchased per turn. If a player purchases a token and does not have enough money to pay the fines incurred during play, he/she may sell a token back to the person assigned to handle money and tokens for half the purchase price. A player automatically loses the game if he/she cannot pay a fee incurred during play, so caution should be exercised by the players when purchasing tokens.
If a player lands on a space with special instructions (e.g. Chance Card space 120, or Pulled Over by DOT space 140, the player will follow the directions given by the space (e.g. draw a Chance card and follow instructions, pay a fine, etc.). Since the Rescue Piece Start Position space 105 is used as the starting space for the rescue pieces when a player's primary piece has been sabotaged, nothing happens when the primary piece lands on this space.
When a player passes “Speed Trap” 135 with a roll/spin of six, the player must pay a speeding fine of $100. However, if a player passes space 135 with a roll of less than six, or if the player lands on space 135, even with a roll of six, the space does not affect the player.
When a player lands on space 140 of
When a player lands on a secure lot space 195, they cannot be sabotaged by another player.
Examples of the cards are given in
The cards may include an artistic graphic for aesthetics consistent with the theme of the game.
Sabotage occurs when a second player's primary piece lands on the same space as a first player's primary piece. In this situation, the first player's primary piece is the piece being sabotaged. Sabotage can happen on any space on the board except for the secure spaces 195.
Every piece starts the game with a security system 190 (
To sabotage a first player, a second player may do one of the following:
For the first type of sabotage, the second player will declare sabotage either verbally, passing a sabotage instruction card to the first player, or other indication that the first player's primary piece is inactive. This will require the first player to call their rescue piece 185. Such a call is indicated by immediately moving the first player's rescue piece 185 from Rescue Piece Holding Area space 110 the Rescue Piece Start Position 105.
Since the first player's primary piece is now stalled on the sabotage location, the first player's subsequent die rolls are used to move the rescue piece until the rescue piece reaches the sabotaged primary piece. The rescue piece may or may not be affected by the spaces on the board in that the rescue piece may or may not be required to pay fines, lose turns or draw cards.
While a first player's primary piece is sabotaged and awaiting the arrival of the rescue piece, it remains vulnerable to the other two types of sabotage; theft of a collectible card or inventory item, or theft of an assignment. An assignment may only be stolen from a sabotaged player if the second player is not currently completing an assignment. A second player who lands on the space of a first player to complete an assignment may immediately hijack the assignment of the first player. The first player remains vulnerable until either there is nothing left to steal or until the rescue vehicle arrives.
Once the rescue piece reaches the primary piece, the first player is released from the sabotaged state. The first player then moves their rescue piece back to space 110 and on their next turn they can resume moving their primary piece.
One example game aesthetic is an over-the-road trucking theme. In such a theme, the primary playing pieces may have a silhouette as shown in
Other theme aesthetics may be used with the game mechanic of the present invention. Alternative themes may include car-racing or motorcycle-racing in which the primary pieces 180 may resemble race cars or motorcycles and the rescue pieces 185 may resemble ambulances, tow trucks, and other rescue-type vehicles. The destination marker 170 may resemble a checkered flag, and the Assignment Cards may indicate where street race begins and ends.
It is noted that the shapes of the pieces are merely exemplary as the pieces may take on any shape, so long as the primary playing piece 180 is easily distinguished from the rescue piece (185). Other examples may exist that would be considered within the spirit of the present invention.
As mentioned previously, the unnumbered spaces in
It should be understood that the above rules and board descriptions can be used together or by themselves to keep games fun and exciting, and create an enhanced atmosphere of competition among players. It should be understood that a myriad of variations on the above rules are readily apparent to one of skill in the art and are within the scope of the present invention. For example, dollar values may be altered, board locations changed, or different cards used.
While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the above disclosure includes use of a die for determining a random number. A variety of other means for determining a random number (such as an arrow on a spin wheel that has numbers on its base, drawing a number from a shuffled deck of cards and using a computer to generate a random number) are possible and within the scope of the present invention even if the specific structure of the means is not explicitly disclosed herein. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.
This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Application No. 61/516,891, filed Apr. 11, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61516891 | Apr 2011 | US |
