Graduation game

Abstract

A board game played by multiple players to simulate experiences and satisfaction from graduating through all levels of an education system from elementary school to high school through college and university to obtain diplomas, undergraduate degrees, masters degrees and doctorates. The players roll dice having color coded side faces and symbols on certain side faces to simulate the experiences encountered in successfully obtaining credits to graduate from one educational level to another. Question and answer game cards are provided with degrees of difficulty corresponding to the educational levels to provide an additional control of players earning credits to graduate from one educational level to the next higher educational level.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a circular game board illustrating a representative embodiment of the shape and configuration of the segments thereof.

FIG. 2 is a plan view simulating a section of the game board and an exemplary detail of the different levels of the educational system as they will appear in the circular game board shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a group plan view illustrating the dice, the color codes on certain sides of the dice and the symbols on certain sides of the dice with each of the dice having different symbols indicating certain experiences which may be encountered by players at the different educational levels in each level of the educational system.

FIG. 3A is a group plan view of an alternate group of dice with different symbols and indicia.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of the top and bottom surfaces of question and answer game cards.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of one credit marker to be placed onto the empty spaces of the game board representing the various levels of education to signify credit earned through a correct response to a question at a particular level or a credit earned as a result of rolling the dice.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Although one preferred embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention is to be limited in its scope to the details of constructions and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, in describing the preferred embodiments, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. It is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

The graduation game illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings includes a circular game board 10 having a planar upper surface 12 preferably constructed of substantially rigid cardboard, wood, metal or any other suitable material on which markings can be made. The game board 10 includes six inner circles 14 and six radial division lines 16 which form six triangular sections 18 of equal shape and dimension with numerical indicia 20 printed on each section. The game board 10 also includes generally descriptive terminology 22 of the different levels of the educational system including the elementary level, the high school level, the college level and the university level and at the center of the game board, the designation of “Summa Cum Laude”.

FIG. 2 is a depiction of the different levels of the educational system as they will appear on the circular game board to indicate the different number of spaces at each of the six levels onto which the credits earned by the different players at the six different levels of the education system, as represented by credit markers 52 (shown in FIG. 6), are placed to record successful answering of the question or credits earned through rolling the dice. The single circular area in the center of the game board represents an area to be capped the winner of a game with the designation of “Summa Cum Laude”.

FIGS. 3 and 3A are group views of the dice used in the graduation game with a symbol color or indicia 42, 44 appearing on certain sides of the dice with the significance of the symbols and the color codes being illustrated centrally in FIGS. 3 and 3A.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of game cards 46 with questions 48 and answers 50 thereon with the question and the answer on one end of the card and a further elaboration of the answer (not shown) on the other end. One of the surfaces of the cards will be colored in one of the four colors representing the four distinct educational group levels. The other surface of the cards may be plain or colored. The cards may include a legend of the general grouping of the question, such as “Philosophy”.

Typically, each graduation game includes the game board 10 for up to six players and six color coded cubes or dice. The game also includes 126 buttons or knobs which serve as credit markers with 36 knobs of the same color representing credits to be earned at the elementary level, 30 knobs of the same color to represent credits to be earned at the high school level, 24 knobs of the same color representing credits to be earned at the college level, and 36 knobs of the same color representing credits to be earned at the university level, including bachelors, masters and doctorate levels.

The game also includes a pack of 126 question and answer cards with two cards for each question and answer with 36 cards at the elementary level, 30 cards at the high school level, 24 cards at the college level, and 36 cards at the university level. Having the same questions and answer printed on two different cards in the pack enhances the players chance of correctly answering a question. One of the credit markers 52 at each of the four distinct educational levels will be numbered 1-6 for each of the six player domains to identify each player's academic standing during a game.

The formulation of the questions and answers on the cards and the difficulty of the questions are adapted to the different levels of an education system. The rules cannot be changed during a game and all players must comply with the established rules.

Each level of the education system would be reflected by different degrees of difficulty of the questions. The questions 48 would be printed on the front side of each card 46 with the answer 50 to the particular question 48 being printed on the same side of each card 46 but in an upside down relationship as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In playing the game, the first player to earn the necessary credits to graduate through all six levels of education would be considered the winner and obtains the privilege of capping the Summa Cum Laude level marker as shown in FIG. 1. A player can acquire credits by either rolling the color cubes or dice or by testing other players on the information on the question and answer cards. While a player may earn credits at any level during the course of the game, a player may be qualified to graduate at a particular level only after earning the credits needed to graduate at the previous levels.

Only the questions on the question and answer cards may be asked during the course of the game. The correct answer to each question must be accepted as the one given on the card.

A game begins with each player tossing the dice in turn and the color of the dice facing upwardly determines the level and number of credits earned by each player. The circular game board, the 36 surfaces on the dice, the details of the credit markers 52 and the specific questions and answers are chosen to depict various conditions that may be encountered in various educational levels and depending on the educational subjects being pursued. Likewise, the dice can be thrown by hand, shaken and discharged from a dice cup or electronically generated.

For example, one side of a dice indicating “incomplete” earns a player no credit, one side of a dice indicating “expulsion” deprives the player of a credit already earned at the particular level. Once a player has earned the full credits for graduating at a particular level, they are no longer subject to the consequences of the rules pertaining to that level during the course of the game. Also, a player who gets an “expulsion” who does not yet have any credits at that particular level cannot be affected.

The above rules and similar rules may be provided and offered with the player ultimately graduating from all levels being termed the winner of the graduation game. It will be appreciated that the various rules of playing the game may be varied to enhance the interest in the game by maintaining competitive situations throughout each of the levels of the education system. Also, the question and answer cards may be directed to particular areas of information such as sports, science, arts, politics, geography, physics and the like.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and, accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents my be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A graduation game in which players simulate the experience of graduating through a plurality of educational levels in an education system, said graduation game comprising a game board having a planar upper surface provided with indicia indicating the players of the game and indicating educational levels in an education system including elementary school, high school and college levels with bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees,a plurality of game cards having questions and answers printed thereon,a plurality of dice having color coded sides and symbols to control the award of credits earned at each level of the educational system in addition to players correctly answering questions on the question and answer cards, and color coded game pieces indicating the credits earned by the players at each level of the educational system by placement on the game board.

2. The graduation game as defined in claim 1, wherein said game board indicating the players of the game being of circular configuration with numerically indicated arcuate segments delineated thereon to indicate the credit domain occupied by each player.

3. The graduation game as defined in claim 1, wherein said game board indicating the levels of the educational system is divided into seven segments with the elementary school level being at a base of a triangular configuration and the summa cum laude designation at an apex of the triangular configuration located at a center of the game board.

4. The graduation game as defined in claim 1, wherein the game cards have a question printed along one edge thereof and an answer printed below the question with certain additional facts related to the question on each card printed along the opposite edge of the card readable from opposite ends of the card.

5. The graduation game as defined in claim 1, wherein said symbol on the dice indicates a penalty or award of credits at each level of the education system.

6. The graduation game as defined in claim 1, wherein the player obtains credits to advance from the elementary school level through the doctorate level by rolling the dice or answering certain questions correctly thereby vicariously experiencing the satisfaction of graduating from the different levels of the educational system and ultimately earning the title summa cum laude.

7. The graduation game as defined in claim 1, wherein the game board is circular.