Patent Application
20130119609
Various educational games are known in the art. Generally, these games allow players to compete against one another while learning various concepts including, for example, how the government works, history, geography, and English language, industry specific acronyms. Many of these games, by design, are directed to specific age ranges of players and, therefore, a game designed for young children is not challenging for older children or adults and one directed to older players is too hard for younger players.
A game that is both educational, across a number of different topics, and interesting to a broad range of players is needed.
A system of educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements. The system of games delivers relevant, current information regarding elected or appointed officials, government, parliamentary procedures, constitutional law and/or regulatory affairs, along with historical facts. In one embodiment a game may include thematic playing cards, a playing mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonly known suits (clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds) and rank (Ace, 2-10, Jack, Queen, King and Jokers). As a result, known “traditional” card games can also be played with these cards. Several of the games can be played by individuals or in teams to promote family play and interaction. Advantageously, these games, by design, are directed to engage, entertain and inform a wide range of players and, therefore, such games have variations and components to provide for audiences both young and old, novices and experts.
Features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof and from the claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/559,443, filed Nov. 14, 2011, entitled “Game System Including Multiple Decks Of Thematic Playing Cards,” the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Generally, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system of educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements. In one embodiment a game may include thematic playing cards, a playing mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonly known suits (clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds) and rank (Ace, 2-10, Jack, Queen, King and Jokers). As a result, known “traditional” card games can also be played with these cards. Several of the games can be played by individuals or in teams to promote family play and interaction.
Further, a game system is described that is both educational and humorous while providing definitions and pronunciations for acronyms readily used to refer to many government agencies, departments, programs, committees, commissions, Acts, and other aspects of U.S. and Foreign Governments.
Each deck of playing cards includes 54 playing cards made up of the 52 “valued” cards and the two Joker cards. Each deck has a different theme that is incorporated into a corresponding game that can be played using the cards and the theme represented thereon.
Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention incorporate information and elements of parliamentary procedures such as the Electoral College, elections, legislative processes and real political, historical, elected officials and figures, into a game system including a game board and components of games which, in some cases utilize elements of traditional playing cards.
Two or more decks of question cards corresponding to each deck of themed cards are also provided. Each of the question cards includes a question relating to a theme of the cards in the corresponding themed deck. One deck of question cards includes questions that are, generally, relatively more difficult than the questions on the other deck of question cards. As a result, player differentiation may be available in that, for example, younger players would use the “easier” question deck and older players may use the “harder” question deck. Advantageously, therefore, players of different levels may play together without one being at a disadvantage (or advantage).
As the present game system is meant to provide an educational and fun experience, the themed cards may be directed to, for example, and not intended to be limiting: United States Presidents and Founding Fathers; U.S. Senators (Past and/or Present); and U.S. Governors (Past and/or Present). This list is not intended to be exhaustive and the choice of subject matter is not limited to the United States and could be any country's historical and/or government structure.
In one embodiment, a traditional playing deck of cards includes 44, as of the filing date, U.S. Presidents and eight Founding Fathers, plus two original and proprietary Jokers, to make a 54 card playing deck in a standard size. As above, traditional games can be played with this deck of cards. In one non-limiting example, The Founding Fathers chosen may be: James Wilson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Gouverneur Morris, John Witherspoon, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. In this example, the eight Founding Fathers, who were not presidents, were selected by surveying past or current professors of political science from leading US Universities.
In one embodiment, referring now to
Each President or Founding Father card features a photograph or drawing of the individual 112, their name 114, their party affiliation 115, and the years 116 they took and left office, along with the consecutive number 120 of their presidency, within the succession of leaders. Each deck also includes two Jokers which are proprietary in design. All of the cards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 124.
Two decks (beginner and advanced), of “Q” or Question Cards 200, accompany each deck of President and Founding Father playing cards, an example of which is shown in
In another embodiment of playing cards according to the present invention, two decks of traditionally-marked playing cards are provided. Each deck includes 50 of the 100 senators in past, current or future Congresses, with the corresponding past, current or future Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate (the Vice-President of the United States), to make up 52 cards in each deck. Thus, two senators from each of 25 states are in the first deck and two senators from the other 25 states are in the second deck. The separation of the senators between two decks of cards in the deck set is an element of game play for one or more of the games that can be played with the U.S. Senators game and card decks. Two original and proprietary “Jokers” are added to make each playing deck 54 in base size, and provide for the playing of both a set of original and proprietary games with official rules, as well as any traditional card game.
Each individual card 300, referring to
Two decks (beginner and advanced), of Senator Question Cards, accompany each set of two Senators decks. These cards 400, referring to
In another embodiment of playing cards according to the present invention, a traditionally-marked deck of playing cards includes 50 cards corresponding to the 50 current or most recent Governors of the 50 states of the United States. Two additional cards feature the U.S. President and Vice President to make a 52 card playing deck. Two Joker cards are provided to make each playing deck 54 in base size, and provide for the playing of both a set of original and proprietary games with official rules, as well as any traditional card game.
Individual cards 500 within the U.S. Governors deck feature a photograph or drawing 504 of the corresponding governor or the emblem or symbol for the state governed by a particular governor, their party affiliation 508, the year they took office 512 and the year 516 the office will next become open, the full name of the Governor 520 and the name of the State 524, and the two letter abbreviation 528 for their state. Each of the cards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 532.
Two decks (beginner and advanced), of Question Cards, accompany each deck of Governors playing cards. These cards contain questions related to the U.S. States, states' rights and U.S. constitutional law. Question cards hold both the question and answer to a particular query. The U.S. Governors deck and Question Card decks may be provided separately or may be combined together, as components to a Game Set, which also includes a playing board and four sets of 50 plastic chips, in four different colors, custom dice, original game playing rules and instructions. Accessories for all games include a soft playing mat and a carrying case. The carrying case includes a section designed to hold game collateral, for example, brochures or itineraries, for those touring educational or historic sites related to the game set.
A game system according to another embodiment of the present invention does not require a traditional deck of playing cards. Rather, a set of 75 bookmark-sized cards (approximately 1.5×6″) is provided. Each card 600 features, on a first side 604 of the card, as presented in
In one non-limiting example, the deck of cards is divided into three subsets of 25, in this case, representing “Tourist” (beginner), “Bureaucrat” (advanced), and “Show-off!” (expert), acronyms as questions. One subset may be printed in red with a white background, the second subset may be printed in white with a red background, and the third subset may be printed in white with a blue background. Of course, a different number of subsets may be chosen as well as any color scheme that will serve to distinguish one group from another. In one embodiment, a font is chosen that is similar to the one used on eye charts. On each card, below each acronym is a pronunciation guide, e.g., DNDO (dee•en•dee•oh) or OSHA (oh•shah).
A playing board and/or mat 700, as shown in
A set of two dice 804, 808, as shown in
Of course, it should be realized that the choice of colors and/or symbol on the first die, as well as point values indicated on the second die, as described herein, are chosen simply for explanatory purposes. The choices of color, symbol and values are not limited to those described above.
This game is based upon the 538 Electoral College points allocated across the 50 U.S. States, plus Washington, D.C. A minimum of 270 Electoral Votes are needed to win the game, similar to the Electoral College requirements to win the presidential election. The game may be played with any of the playing decks, and the corresponding Question card deck, described above and is played like Rummy. In accordance with the present invention, points earned by a player are spent on, or converted into, at that player's discretion, Electoral Votes, and players can only continue their turn after a Question card has been correctly answered. Cards are scored 5 points for numbers, 10 points for tens, and 15 points for Aces and face cards. Additionally, points for correctly answered questions are awarded as dictated by a roll of a set of dice where the class of question, e.g., beginner or advanced, is on the faces of one die, three faces of each, and a number of points, e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, are on the faces of the second die. Electoral votes are purchased at 10 points each. After correctly answering a Question card and then during the course of that player's turn, a state can be purchased with the adequate number of points required for the particular state or Washington, D.C. A player may “win” a particular state or Washington, D.C., only when a number of points equal to or greater than that necessary to purchase a state's electoral votes are acquired. Points may be tallied on specially designed score sheets included in each game, or otherwise recorded. A chip may be placed on a state or Washington, D.C. on the mat to indicate it has been won by a particular player or team and that is player deducts from his bank of overall points, and may show the number on a POTUS (President of the United States) tally scoreboard or sheet.
The object of this game is to be the first player to rid her hand of all cards and/or have the highest number of points, and thereby watch the “Bills” (anti-money or other pool of prize), pass to you. This game can be played with any of the decks of cards described above, and the corresponding question cards. It is played like “Rummy” except that a question card must be drawn by an opponent and answered correctly by the player before any card or series of cards can be pulled from the play deck to advance. If the player answers a question correctly, that player can both draw from the play deck or from the discarded cards and continue to draw from the question cards and continue play in the same manner, until an incorrect answer is given. In this game, cards that are placed in “books” count 5 points for numbers, 10 points for tens, and 15 points for face cards, but also, 5 points are awarded for each beginner question correctly answered, and 10 points are given for each advanced question answered. Players keep the cards from questions correctly answered in order to tally the score at the end of play. When the first player has gone out of playing cards, should the player still holding cards have a higher score, that player is then the winner and the successful “Lobbyist.” Points are deducted from a player's score for cards still held after another player goes out.
Played like “War” with one or more of the decks of playing cards described above, except that, a Republican and a Democrat from any state, presidency or governorship, also triggers a battle, as do cards bearing the same mark which distinguish founding fathers or past presidents who were also founding fathers. Object: To gather and hold all of the cards, to win after a long and long-winded war!
A Presidential version of poker. The Most Recent President alone, takes any hand, two senators from the same state beat four of a kind, a handful of Representatives, Governors or Presidents, all of the same party, is higher than a Royal Flush.
Played like “memory” or “concentration” where all cards from the Senators deck described above are placed face down in any pattern. Each player, upon their turn, turns one card over and then turns a second card over in an attempt to match two Senators from the same state to make a “book” and take the state. If a match is made, that player goes again, until they are unsuccessful at making a match. Of course, the other players are attempting to remember where an unmatched senator is located in case the other one comes up during their respective turn at play. Using the play mat or board, a chip is placed on each state taken by a player or team. The winner is the player or team with the greatest number of states once all cards are matched.
Cards in the “acronym” deck are either organized according to degree of difficulty or shuffled to mix cards of varied difficulty, then pulled in consecutive order. The individual pulling the first card faces the acronym side of the card to their opponent. The other player must pronounce the acronym and then identify the government agency or program it represents. Points are tallied according to correct answers provided by each player, and scored according to the value of a particular correct answer: Red (Tourist)=5 Pts., White (Bureaucrat)=10 Pts., and Blue (Show-off!)=15 Pts. The player or team with the greatest number of points after any agreed upon length of play, wins.
In a variation of any of the foregoing examples, cards bearing the current President, Vice President, Speaker of the House or President of the Senate, holds special powers, as do “Jokers.” In the Presidents & Founding Fathers deck, cards representing Founding Fathers who were also President, hold special powers.
As is well known, either from the lore of urban myths, or from actual experience, there are laws and regulations, at the local, state and federal levels, that are so silly and/or obscure as to make one wonder “what were they thinking?,” e.g., by city ordinance, in New York City, it is illegal for a restaurant to call a sandwich a “corned beef sandwich” if it is made with white bread and mayonnaise. Some of these laws and regulations are current while others have been is removed or are no longer enforced. These “funny” laws are at the center of a game in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
A board game combines movement of a game piece along a path on a board, based on a throw of the dice, with the drawing of cards that contain a “funny” law or regulation based on the spot on the path at which a player lands. Depending upon the card drawn, a player may have to, for example, pay money, lose a turn, get money, move forward or move backward.
Referring now to
In addition to the board 902, the game includes a set of regulations or “laws” cards. The cards are separated into different groups of laws and identified by a respective color, for example, Green: EPA regulations, Blue: IRS regulations, Red: Federal Criminal Laws, Yellow: Local or State Crime Laws, Green: Traffic Laws, etc. There may be many colors and regulatory decks of violations or laws. Each card contains a funny regulation or law according to the corresponding group and an action that a player must take.
Each player is given a same amount of play money and chooses a trail by placing their pawn at the start of the trail. The goal of the game is to be the first player to reach the other end of that trail. In play, the player rolls the dice and moves that number of spots along the trail. The player may land on a spot on the trail that is either a “rest” spot where the player takes no action; a “temp” job spot where the player may draw a card from a “temp job” stack of cards and possibly earn additional money; or a spot where the player is instructed to take a card from a specific group of silly laws cards and follow the instructions. Of course, there may be other actions indicated on a spot such as, for example, losing a turn, paying a next player money, is paying a fine, etc. Where the paths intersect, a player may change paths and continue on but may or may not have to complete the original path on which she started.
In one embodiment, each spot represents a “day” and the winner is the player that reaches the end of the path in the fewest number of days. In the event of a tie, the player with the most money is the winner.
Particular versions of the game may be customized to use only a specific state's laws or regulations or, perhaps, a specific city's, if there are enough of them. In the event of game customization, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the names of the paths and the icons shown on the board, as well as the choice of pawns, would be customized to coordinate with the particular area.
It is to be understood that the embodiments of the present invention described herein have been described using non-limiting detailed descriptions of embodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. It should be understood that features and/or steps described with respect to one embodiment may be used with other embodiments, and that not all embodiments of the present application have all of the features and/or steps shown in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the embodiments.
This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/559,443, filed Nov. 14, 2011, entitled “Game System Including Multiple Decks Of Thematic Playing Cards.”
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61559443 | Nov 2011 | US |
