The present invention relates to an educational board game in which a plurality of players simulate the experience of graduating through a plurality of levels of an educational system, including an Elementary Level, a High School Level, a College Level, and a University Level, including a Bachelors Level, a Masters Level, and a Doctorate Level. The game includes a game board of circular configuration defining divisions of a plurality of annular segments representing the levels of the educational system upon which color coded credit tokens or first game pieces are placed to represent credits earned by the players as the game proceeds. The game also includes a plurality of game cards or question and answer cards having questions and answers imprinted thereon, and a plurality of dice having color codes, symbols, and/or graphic indicia imprinted on a number of dice surfaces for determining a possible number of actions a player may take during a turn. The game further includes a second game piece and a dice cup.
Various types of board games that relate to educational objectives exist in which results are determined by chance devices such as dice or control cards which may include questions and answers which can be divided into various categories of subject matter encountered by a student or player with rules of play controlling the procedural steps followed in a game and determining the winner or winners in accordance with those rules.
Many previously developed games require players to recall specific information regarding various events and may involve various fields of endeavor such as sports, military actions, catastrophic events, political events, historical events and the like. Accordingly, such games that require specific information to play the games do not require the players to analyze situations, determine the results of various activities and make rational decisions in order to properly play the games to an advantageous result.
Typical of prior art game disclosure appears in published patent application U.S. 2003/0218302 that was published Nov. 27, 2003 and includes various game pieces, questions and answers relating to images of postage stamps.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,370 issued Feb. 1, 2000 discloses an educational board game which includes a game board having printed indicia thereon, rules of play, dice, question and answer cards and the like. This patent includes a listing of numerous prior patents relating to various types of board games utilizing various control devices for playing games in accordance with various rules of play.
While various prior art board games relate to educational experiences, they do not utilize a progression of educational experiences from a primary level through high school, college, university and the like, with the questions printed on the cards becoming increasingly difficult as the players progress through different levels of the educational system.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a game in which a plurality of players may compete in a simulated setting to be first to “graduate” through a number of designated levels of an educational system by acquiring knowledge and skills, and earning a number of credits tokens or game pieces at each of the levels to win the game.
Another object of the invention is to provide an educational game that is unique as players of varying intellectual ability can successfully compete against each other. While a player's familiarity with the information or knowledge on the question and answer cards could be an advantage in making progress in the game, anyone could play, enjoy and win the game depending only on good luck in rolling the dice and in drawing the cards. Thus the present invention provides a highly desirable educational and entertaining product in the form of a game that could be adapted for use by parents and teachers to enhance the acquisition of knowledge of their children or students through various educational levels in a pleasant and entertaining format.
A further object of the invention is to provide a game including a game board of circular configuration having a planar upper surface, and defining divisions of a plurality of identical, pie shaped peripheral player domains each extending radially from an innermost circle defined at a center of the game board to an outermost circle at an outermost periphery. The game board also includes a plurality of designated level regions, representing a number of levels of an educational system, extending in series from the innermost circle to the outermost periphery. Each of the player domains also includes an aggregate of aggregated numbers of blank spaces for placing a plurality of color coded first game pieces or credit tokens representing “credits” earned at a corresponding one of the designated level regions. The credit tokens may be in the form of color coded buttons or knobs. The terms “correspondence” and “corresponding” are impliedly used herein to mean “having an association to” or “being mentally connected to” as per dictionary meaning.
The game also includes randomizing means including a plurality of multi surfaced dice having a plurality of color codes, symbols, and/or other indicia imprinted on a number of dice surfaces to determine a possible number of credit tokens and corresponding game cards or question and answer cards a player may earn during a turn, in addition to a possible number of other actions the player may be required to take during the turn. The dice may be rolled from a dice cup which is also provided with the game.
The game also includes a plurality of game cards or question and answer cards color coded for correspondence to the credit tokens, the dice surfaces, and the designated level regions.
The game involves the use of knowledge, intelligence, varying degrees of analytical ability commensurate with the designated level regions, and the probability of luck and chance for arousing the excitement of players as they compete to be the first player to earn the required aggregate of credit tokens to win the game and cap the innermost circle or designated “Summa Cum Laude” circle with a second game piece or “Summa Cum Laude” token. (The term “to cap” is used herein to mean “to place on” with an implied sense of finality.)
These objectives, together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numeral refers to like parts throughout.
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 construction 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 embodiment, 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 educational board game of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings,
The game board also includes six division lines 28 each extending radially from the innermost circle to a circle at the outermost periphery, wherein the innermost circle, the radial division lines and the circle at the outermost periphery in combination define divisions of the game board into six identical pie shaped peripheral player domains 32 having a different one of numerical indicia (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) 34 printed on each of the player domains for identifying each of the player domains. Each of the player domains further includes an aggregate of aggregated numbers of circular blank spaces 38A-44C defined therein for placing a possible number credit tokens 114-120 earned by an assigned player during the game, with one of said blank spaces 44C being defined in the level region 44 adjacent the innermost circle 46, and the number of blank spaces in each adjacent level region 44, 42, and 40 increasing by one toward a sixth outermost level region 38 having six blank spaces 38A defined therein, with each of the aggregated numbers in the sequence of blank spaces being representative of the number of credit tokens a player requires for graduation at a corresponding one of said level regions, as illustrated in more detail in
Six of the credit tokens 114A-114F, 116A-116F, 118A-118F, and 120A-120F corresponding to each of the level regions each has inscribed thereon one of the numerical indicia, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, for further identifying the number of credit tokens earned by a player assigned to a corresponding one of the player domains. A player may place a credit token corresponding to each of a possible number of upward facing surfaces of the dice on the blank spaces in the designated level region within his player domain. A player who has earned the aggregated number of credit tokens to graduate at any of the level regions may place one of the credit tokens identified with his player section 114A-120F on one of the blank spaces in the corresponding level region. The first player to earn an aggregate of the aggregated numbers of credit tokens as shown in
Described in greater detail, one of the surfaces 58 of each of the dice is coded with same first color as the credit tokens 114 for use at the designated Elementary Level 38 to represent a number of possibilities of earning credit tokens at that level. One of the remaining surfaces 60 of each of five of the dice is coded with same second color as the credit tokens 116 for use at the designated High School Level 40 to represent a number of possibilities of earning credit tokens at that level. One of the remaining surfaces 54 of each of four of the dice is coded with same third color as the credit tokens 118 for use at the designated College Level 42 to represent a number of possibilities of earning credit tokens at that level, and one of the remaining surfaces 64 of each of three of the dice is coded with same fourth color as the credit tokens 120 for use at the designated University Level 44 to represent a number of possibilities of earning credit tokens at that level. Thus, eighteen (18) of the thirty-six (36) surfaces of the dice are each color coded with a different one of the four color codes to represent a number of possibilities of earning credit tokens at a possible number of the six level regions 24.
Further, an additional four remaining surfaces of the dice are each color coded to correspond to the credit tokens for use at the designated Elementary Level 38, each of which has superimposed thereon a different one of four symbols shown in
Another four surfaces of the dice are each color coded to correspond to the credit tokens for use at the designated College Level 42, each of which has superimposed thereon a different one of the four symbols representing a possible number of additional actions a player may be required to take during a turn. These include the possibility of earning an “Honors” reward 102, a “Work In Progress” reward 82, a “Detention” penalty 88, and an “Expulsion” penalty 100 at that level. A further four surfaces of the dice are each color coded to correspond to credit markers for use at the designated University level 44, each of which has superimposed thereon a different one of the four symbols shown in
Thus, an additional sixteen (16) of the dice surfaces are color coded to correspond to the designated level regions, having superimposed thereon a different one of each of the four symbols representing a number of additional actions which a player may be required to take at each of the level regions during a turn. The remaining two (2) surfaces of the dice 94 may each have a number of other kinds of indicia, for example, a depiction of a “Happy Face” imprinted thereon to represent a number of other actions a player may take during a turn in accordance with a number of rules provided with the game.
The game of the preferred embodiment includes one hundred and twenty-six (126) question and answer cards. The number of cards provided for use with the game is equal to the number of blank spaces 38A-44C included in all of the player domains as shown in
The object of the game is for one of the players to be first to place an aggregate of aggregated numbers of credit tokens 114-120 on the corresponding blank spaces 38A-44C in his player domain to become the winner, and cap the “Summa Cum Laude” circle 46 with the “Summa Cum Laude” token 122. The players having each been assigned to a different one of the player domains 34, a game begins with each player rolling the dice 52, 66, 72, 80, 86, and 90 from the cup 124 in turn, and taking all of the actions indicated by the upward facing surfaces of the dice, shown in
A player in possession of any number of question and answer cards, typically illustrated in
Only the questions on the game cards may be used during the game. The correct answer to a question is always the answer printed on the particular card. An answering player who incorrectly answers a question forfeits one of his credit tokens, shown in
A player may begin to place credit tokens at any of the designated levels 38-44 at which he earns at least one credit token, shown in
“The above rules and similar rules may be provided and offered with the player ultimately graduating from all levels being termed 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. The rules cannot be changed during the game and all players must comply with the established rules.” In another embodiment of the invention, for example, a surface of the dice indicating “incomplete” does not earn a player any credit tokens, while the surface of the dice indicating “expulsion” deprives a player of a credit token already earned at the corresponding level. In the preferred embodiment, on the other hand, a surface of the dice indicating “Work-In-Progress” protects a player's credit tokens from the consequences of the “Detention” penalty at a corresponding level, while an “Expulsion” symbol deprives a player of a credit token already earned at the corresponding level.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and rules of play are merely illustrative of the principles and application of the invention. Many, if not all, of the different features of the game are flexible and could be adapted for use in a wide variety of situations. For instance, the game could be formatted to accommodate different educational levels and interests. Also, other packs of question and answer cards relating to other areas of information such as sports, science, arts, politics, geography, physics and the like could be formatted for use with the invention.
Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not intended to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described herein. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1572254 | Tornes | Feb 1926 | A |
3594003 | Elder | Jul 1971 | A |
3672680 | Grey | Jun 1972 | A |
4065131 | Martin, Jr. et al. | Dec 1977 | A |
4109918 | Mele et al. | Aug 1978 | A |
4223892 | Matherne | Sep 1980 | A |
4279422 | Shaw | Jul 1981 | A |
4368889 | Reker, Jr. | Jan 1983 | A |
4449710 | Davis | May 1984 | A |
4566698 | Sneden | Jan 1986 | A |
4591161 | Vanderhoof | May 1986 | A |
4640513 | Montijo | Feb 1987 | A |
4773651 | Papapavlou | Sep 1988 | A |
4895375 | Blitz et al. | Jan 1990 | A |
4984805 | Medlock | Jan 1991 | A |
4998735 | Blackwell, III | Mar 1991 | A |
5007650 | Reed et al. | Apr 1991 | A |
5273431 | Charouhas | Dec 1993 | A |
5660389 | Freda, III | Aug 1997 | A |
5876211 | Schmoyer et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
5906371 | Peterson | May 1999 | A |
6019370 | Morris | Feb 2000 | A |
7198271 | Thomas | Apr 2007 | B1 |
7303398 | Soto | Dec 2007 | B2 |
7549639 | Martineau | Jun 2009 | B2 |
7699317 | Eggers | Apr 2010 | B2 |
7896347 | Vail | Mar 2011 | B1 |
7927104 | Compton | Apr 2011 | B2 |
8025295 | Bizilia | Sep 2011 | B2 |
8104768 | Al-Buijan | Jan 2012 | B2 |
20030218302 | Nelson | Nov 2003 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2558383 | Jul 1985 | FR |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20080067742 A1 | Mar 2008 | US |