Patent Application
20150196836
The present invention is in the field of exercise and health games.
A variety of different exercise games have been implemented and discussed in the patent literature. A board game described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,885 issued Mar. 23, 1973 to inventor Leaf entitled Exercise Game the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The Leaf game provides an exercise game with cards divided into groups. Each group has a category of exercises that players engage in to obtain points.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,376,750 to inventor Murphy-Aniceto, entitled Online Game System And Method To Promote Healthy Behaviors issued Feb. 19, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, an online game promotes healthy behavior by engaging computer users and providing educational information about health and nutrition. Users are assigned an avatar of a belly “belly-tar” and according to answers to profile questions the “belly-tar” changes in size and shape according to a user correctly answering health knowledge questions.
A health board game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,507,090 issued Mar. 24, 2009 to inventor Herman, entitled Health Education Board Game, the disclosure of which is in corporate herein by reference. Players in the Herman game play on a physical game board and has a plurality of game cards with a path. The health and sickness are color coded spaces representing health complications and improved health indicators. Instead of individualistic play, group board games have also been devised. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,272 issued to Brown on Apr. 3, 2001, entitled Multiplayer Interactive Electronic In Poor Health Education, players can set a first electronic game objective for a first player and a second electronic game objective for a second player and the apparatus promotes player collaboration and support of each other via common scoring. A role-playing element is added in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,654, to inventor Brown, issued Mar. 24, 1998, entitled Multiplayer Videogame For Health Education, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
A variety of different camera based games allow a user to interact with a computer game by providing an input using body movements that are received by the camera. For example in
United States patent publication US20130190135 published Jul. 23, 2013 to inventor Pryor, entitled Motivation And Enhancement Of Physical And Mental Exercise, Rehabilitation, Health And Social Interaction, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, a camera provides optical data for controlling an exercise computer video game. Further technical innovation provides remote data monitoring such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,409,013 to inventor Pendse issued Apr. 2, 2013 entitled Interactive And Electronic Game Results As Health Indicators, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Pendse describes reporting the game exercise results to a caregiver for remote trend identification.
The present invention is a health and fitness online game which is a family fitness challenge. A computer implemented game can promote healthy behavior. The game has steps including assigning to each player an avatar on a computer for use during game play. One or more computer user players can play this game. The computer has a display. The computer facilitates game play by presenting a game board on a display to the plurality of players. The computer also presents a workout exercise to players when a die roll lands a player on a workout space; and presents a fitness question to players when a die roll lends a player on a question and answer space. The computer also presents a cardio challenge to players when a die roll lends a player on a cardio space; and receives a score based upon player performance.
The computer implemented game also has the step of providing a resistance band for enabling resistance band workout exercises. An avatar can be presented on the display and the avatar may gain or lose fat points based upon the score. The player gains or loses fitness points as the game progresses. The track may include a warm-up track, a workout track and a cool down track as different sections of the track where a user progresses from the warm-up track to the workout track to the cool down track. The warm-up track may include a choice between a first track or a second track. The first track can be more difficult having both cardio spaces and question and answer spaces which can be made in combination to form one or more combination cardio and question and answer spaces. The warm-up track has a choice of a first track or a second track. The first track has cardio spaces and question and answer spaces. The workout track has workout spaces, and the cool down track has cardio spaces.
The following call out list of elements can be a useful guide in referencing the element numbers of the drawings.
20 Workout Card
21 Workout Category Indicated
22 Exercise Indicator
23 Exercise Instruction Indicia
24 Fitness Level Indicia
25 Repetition Indicia
26 Resistance Instruction Message
30 Cardio Card
31 Cardio Exercise Message Text
40 Question-And-Answer Card
41 Question Message Text
42 Answer Choice Text
110 Star Warm-Up Space
111 First Track
112 Second Track
113 Warm-Up Track
120 Workout Card Stack
130 Question And Answer Card Stack
140 Cardio Card Stack
150 Start Workout Space
151 Cardio Space
152 Question And Answer Optional
153 All Players Space
154 Die Indicia
155 Gain Weight Space
156 All Other Players Space
157 Workout Track
158 Roll Doubles Space
160 Space
161 Cool Down Track
162 Question-And-Answer Space
163 Cardio Space
164 Combo Space
165 Workout Space
166 Finish
170 Control Panel
171 Start Button
172 Stop Button
173 First Die
174 Second Die
175 Third Die
176 Timer
177 Completion Button
178 Player Rank Display
179 Upload Button
180 Avatar
188 Gameboard Panel
During gameplay, users may gain or lose weight. The gain or loss of weight is a score. Similar to golf, the lower score is preferred. A user may have an avatar 180, or a custom avatar. A custom avatar could be uploaded by graphic file, or can be a camera on a device such as a smart phone that takes a photograph of a user and then uses the photograph for the avatar. The avatar could be made to appear to gain or lose weight.
The game can be implemented by a physical tabletop board game and can also be implemented on a computer as a game or implemented on both the computer screen and the boardgame. The gameboard implemented on any computer screen will have a gameboard panel 188 and a control panel 170. The gameboard panel 188 and control panel 170 can be set as different frames or sections.
A warm-up section of the game precedes a workout section of the game, and both are followed by a cool down section of the game. The warm-up begins at a start warm-up space 110. During the game, the player moves and advances spaces on a workout track which is a game path. The player advances a random number of spaces equal to the die or dice roll. Rolling doubles or other special combinations may trigger special conditions or events in the game.
The gameboard also has areas for a workout card 20. The workout card has an exercise for a player to engage in. The workout card 20 has a workout category indication 21 and an exercise indicator 22. The workout card 20 can be displayed electronically on a screen with an animation where the workout card 20 is taken from the workout card stack 120 and is expanded to a larger space on the screen than the workout card stack 120. The workout card 20 may require no equipment such as in the case of stretching, yoga poses, pilates exercises, or calisthenics. The workout card 20 may require use of an elastic resistance, also called a resistance band. The elastic resistance device typically has a pair of handles with an elastic member disposed in between. The workout may have arm curls that use different resistance is of a resistance band.
For example, a workout card 20 can have exercise instruction indicia 23 that specifies instructions for the exercise. The exercise instruction indicia can be a video, or can be a textual cross-reference to a paper printed instruction manual such as a workout reference guide. The workout card 20 can have different fitness levels 24 for different players. The different fitness levels could be simultaneously provided in a chart, or alternatively a specific fitness level can be provided for a user depending upon the users pre-stated fitness level. The fitness level indicia 24 for a user can be looked up from a lookup chart. The lookup chart is optionally displayed or hidden from the user. The user or computer or trainer can ascertain the repetition indicia 25 from the fitness level. The repetition indicia 25 gives an instruction for the number of repetitions for that particular exercise on the workout card 20. The resistance instruction message 26 provides that users of a certain age or gender may use different types of bands based upon their colors. The bands have different spring coefficient depending upon their colors. The red band could be less strength than the black band for example as seen in
Cardio cards can be taken from the cardio card stack 140 when a user lands on a cardio space 151. The cardio card 30 has a cardio exercise message text 31. In
Similarly, question and answer cards can be taken from the question and answer card stack 130. The question and answer card 40 comes from the question and answer card stack 130. Again, the question and answer card 40 has a question message text 41 followed by answer choice text 42. The trainer might read the question to the user and require a response from the user. Alternatively, the user could respond directly to the computer by keyboard or mouse interface input. The question and answer card 40 can be drawn when a user lands on a question and answer optional space 152. If a user lands on the space, the user can click on the question and answer card stack 132 to activate the question and answer card 40.
Upon starting the game, players have a marker that moves down a track. The track is segmented into the warm-up track 113, then the workout track 157 begins at the start workout space 150. The cool down track 161 follows the workout track 157. The track is composed of a number of spaces 160. The players can choose a first track 111 or a second track 112 on the warm-up track. The first track 111 is a hard track that has a question and answer space 162 that is included with a cardio space 163. The combination space 164 is a space that a user can land on that has both a question and answer card challenge as well as a cardio card challenge. A user would try to answer the question on the card as well as perform the cardio challenge on the card. This is a combined challenge that may be more difficult than a cardio challenge alone. The easy track is the second track 112 that does not have the question and answer space 162 that a user could potentially land on. Instead, the easy track only has cardio spaces 163 to land on.
A user moves forward on the track depending upon a dice roll. The guys may include a first die 173, a second die 174, and a third die 175. The three guys can be located on the control panel 170. A user may roll the dice by clicking on any one of the dice. Dice have die indicia 154 which indicate the number of spaces to advance.
Other features of the game may include a roll doubles space 158. The roll doubles challenge provided allows a user to roll three times to try to go for a doubles. Upon rolling a doubles, the user may receive a −3 pounds bonus. Some spaces may be all player space 153 such that all players must perform the exercise on the workout card or the cardio card. This provides group participation. Some spaces have a gain weight space 155 so that users landing on the space will be penalized with their in game avatar gaining weight. Other spaces may include a lose weight so that users line on the space will be given a bonus of loss weight. The gain weight and lost weight spaces can correspond with different foods such as unhealthy and healthy food. Some spaces may have and all other players space 156 where all other players must perform the exercise on the workout card or the cardio card.
In the control panel, a completion button 177 can be pressed once a user completes the exercise. The timer 176 can be a visual indicator such as an hour glass or an analog clock, or a digital clock. The timer 176 could be counting down or counting up. The completion button 177 can be a go button that starts the exercise, and then pressing again signifies the completion of the exercise. The completion button 177 can be pressed by a cursor that is activated by a touchpad, touchscreen, or mouse. The trainer may be in charge of the timer and go button. The completion button 177 might alternate between being a completion button and a go button. Alternatively, the exercise could be started and stopped using a start button 171 to start the exercise, and then a stop button 172 to end the exercise. The start button 171 could also activate the timer and the stop button could end the timer. As users play, some users will lose more weight than others. This can be noted in the player rank display 178 that can be formed as a chart having a pair of columns, namely a player column and a rank column. Each player may be assigned to a different row of the chart and usernames can be input in the player name fields. Additionally, music could be uploaded with an upload music button 179 that allows music to be synchronized to the timer such that the music is started and stopped with the timer. The music can be extracted from a cloud storage, such as iTunes on iOS.
The boardgame implementation could be optionally used along with the computer screen implementation, for additional play value.
When implemented as a game board, the game may further include a box for housing the game board and figures. For a game board, the equipment includes: one game board; one minute timer; six dumbbell shaped play figurines, two dice, two workout bands including a red band denoting light resistance, and a green band denoting medium resistance. The equipment also includes 100 question and answer cards (Q & A) preferably in an orange color. The question and answer cards feature 200 questions with two questions on each card. 46 cards in green color can feature 80 questions specially designed for children. 100 workout cards of yellow color provide different exercises. 60 cardio cards of blue color provide cardiovascular exercises. Reward and punishment cards include a stack of fitness points cards for gaining fitness points, and a stack of lose fitness points cards. One stack of gain fat pounds cards and one stack of lose fat pounds cards can also be included. A standard answer sheet for question and answer cards can be provided. The children's answer sheet can also be provided for the children question and answer cards. For true and false questions or other questions, an answer sheet provides correct answer. If lost or misplaced the answer sheet could be put online. The game also includes one health and fitness success book, a workout reference guide having a visual display of all workout exercises, and a fitness condition evaluation sheet. The game is designed for one to six players, ages eight and above.
OBJECTIVE:
Bring families together to educate and develop healthier minds, bodies and self-esteem, through greater nutritional awareness and fitness.
HOW TO SET UP THE GAME:
Open up the game board and place it on a flat surface (i.e. table or carpet). The game board is divided in two sections: (a) the workout section (located on the upper/middle part of the game board; represented by the yellow track); and (b) the warm-up/cool down section (located on the lower part of the game board; represented by the blue track). Place all playing cards on their appropriate places between the workout section and the warm-up/cool down section. Reminder: place all Question and Answer (Q & A) cards, including the ones for children, on orange Q & A card field. Be sure to separate kid's stack of question cards from adult stack of question cards. Designate one player to be the trainer, passing out the Reward/Punishment cards, which are Fitness Point cards (gain and lose) and Fat Pound cards (gain and lose). Every player chooses one dumbbell play figure to move throughout the game. Place figures on “Start Warm Up” at the warm-up/cool down section. Length of play time (workout time) is decided among all players. Based on three to four players situations, two dice will require approximately one hour and thirty minutes of play time, but if all scores are doubled on the second dice, the play time will be approximately one hour. Players should choose a fitness level that is appropriate. Fitness one, two, three, and four are offered; where level one is the easiest and level four is the most advanced. Once a fitness level is chosen, players will play at that level throughout the game. It is recommended that players who do not workout at least one time per week start with level one. To determine the appropriate fitness level for a user, refer to the following exercise: do “push-ups” for one minute by using a minute/hour glass for timing). If a player completes zero to seven push-ups in one minute, the player is fitness level one. If a player completes eight to twenty push-ups in one minute, the player is fitness level two. If a player completes twenty-one to forty push-ups in one minute, the player is fitness level three. If a player completes more than forty push-ups in one minute, the player is fitness level four. For reduced tension, keep both knees on the ground. If necessary, refer to picture number three in the workout reference guide for visual image of push-up exercise. The highest roll goes first, and players will follow in a clockwise rotation. Always move in a forward direction, unless directed to move backwards. If a player has a health concern in which exercise may prove harmful, please consult a physician prior to playing this game.
HOW TO PLAY THE GAME:
Warm-Up/Cool Down Section—use only one die throughout the warm-up/cool down section. During the warm up section only, all players will move game pieces together and do cardio together taking turns with each roll. Each player may choose either track, but will start off at “Start Warm Up” of the warm-up/cool down section. As a personal fitness advice, warming up and cooling down is crucial to every workout or sport. Cardio exercise will ensure increased blood flow in muscles and joints—consequently, preventing injuries.
Choose either Track One or Track Two to warm up. Choosing a track to begin play can be done before or after a player's first roll. Each player may choose the track they prefer to play. Track One is hard for advanced players as it consists of blue spaces, and half blue/half orange spaces. This track will give users an opportunity to lose or gain more fat pounds and become more knowledgeable in nutrition and health. Track Two is easy for beginning players as it consists of blue spaces only. Once users have played “Hooked on Fitness” a few times, a user's knowledge in nutrition and health will increase—enabling the user to take advantage of Track One for a chance to lose more fat pounds.
Rules to play warm-up/cool down section: (Cardio/Q & A). When a user lands on a blue space, draw one blue cardio card and complete the exercise non-stop for one minute (use minute or hour glass for timing). If cardio exercise is completed non-stop for one minute, pick up one “gain one fitness point” card. If cardio exercise is not completed non-stop for one minute, pick up two “lose one fitness point” cards and move back one space. If no attempt is made to complete the exercise at all (choosing to rest instead) pick up three “lose one fitness point” cards and move back one space.
When a user lands on a half orange/half blue space, the user must draw one blue cardio card and one orange Q & A card. Both question and cardio exercises need to be attempted. Before looking at the Q & A card, users must choose to answer either the true or false question or the multiple choice question first. If it is the blue space complete cardio exercise according to rules. In addition, if Q & A is answered correctly, then pick up one “lose one fat pound.” card. If Q & A card is answered incorrectly, then pick up one “gain one fat pound” card and move back one space.
When a user lands on a blue space that pictures a food item, for example chicken or chocolate, the user will gain fat pounds or lose fat pounds as specified; regardless of completing the exercise, gain and lose fat pound cards are to be collected when a user lands on this space. In addition, for spaces that indicate that a user loses fat pounds, the user must take a rest and receive one “gain one fitness point” card. Users do not have to exercise (these displayed food items are good for the players—players does not have to work the pounds off). For spaces that indicate that a user gain fat pounds, the user must draw a blue cardio card and complete the exercise non-stop (these displayed food items are bad for players—players have to work the pounds off). Same rules apply as to when users land on a blue space.
If a player's last roll of the warm-up section exceeds the number of spaces left, then the player should advance all spaces possible on the warm-up section. Then the player's dumbbell play figure should be place in the middle of the workout section on “Start Workout” and keep advancing forward until the player's roll is completed.
Workout Section—use one or two dice throughout workout section (as agreed at the beginning of the game, when deciding what length of playtime). During the workout section, all players will start off at “Start Workout” of the workout section (middle of game board—start of yellow track). Rules to play the work section are as follows: when a user lands on a yellow space, draw one yellow workout card and attempt to complete the exercise as indicated on the card. Complete as many repetitions as required for the user's fitness level in one minute (use one minute/hour glass for timing). The workout card will give users the following information. The upper section of the workout card refers to the type and targeted group of exercises. The middle section of the workout card refers to a user's fitness level and number of repetitions required in one minute.
The lower section of the workout card refers to what color workout band is required for exercise and age group. Girls and women over sixteen years of age may choose either band or bands from either age groups to workout with (sixteen years and under or over sixteen years) without penalty. The number in the upper right hand corner represents the specific muscle used during the workout. The added benefit with this numbering system is if users only wanted to target a specific muscle or muscles rather than a random muscle selection of all body parts. For targeted workouts, use this numbering to identify areas of the body the user may wish to concentrate on, by simply separating workout card by this number. The numbers are as follows: number one represents legs, number two represents shoulders, number three represents back, number four represents front of arms, number five represents chest, number six represents back of arms, and number seven represents abdominal. If the workout is completed within one minute pick up two “gain one fitness point” cards.
If workout exercise is not completed within one minute pick up two “lose one fitness point” cards and move back two spaces. If no attempt is made to complete the exercise at all (choosing to rest instead), pick up three “lose one fitness point” cards and move back two spaces.
When a player lands on a blue space, draw one blue cardio card and attempt to complete the exercise non-stop for one minute (use one minute/hour glass for timing). Same rules apply as in warm-up/cool down section. When a player lands on a half orange/half yellow space, the player draws one yellow workout card and draw one orange Q & A card. Orange space that states option Q & A card is not required, but gives an opportunity to perform better in the game. Yellow spaces are to be completed according to rules. In addition, when a player chooses to draw a Q & A card, if the Q & A is answered correctly, pick up one “lose one fat pound” card. However, if the Q & A is answered incorrectly, pick up one “gain one fat pound” card and move back one space.
When a player lands on a yellow space indicating “one die,” the player draws one yellow workout card and complete workout exercise according to the rules. Roll only one die on the user's next turn only.
When a player lands on a half blue/half yellow space that indicates “All Other Players (Optional),” the player should draw one yellow workout card and one blue cardio card. Yellow spaces are to be completed according to rules. In addition, a blue space means all other players can choose to complete cardio exercise at the same time according to rules where fitness points (win/lose) will be awarded to all players who participate in the exercise.
When a player lands on a blue or yellow space that pictures a food item, such as chicken or donuts collect “gain fat pound” cards or “lose fat pound” cards as specified. In addition, for blue spaces with food items that indicates a user loses fat pounds, user will take a rest and receive one “gain one fitness point” card. Players do not have to exercise (displayed food items are good for players—players do not have to work them off). For blue spaces with food items that indicate a player gains fat pounds, the player has to draw a blue cardio card and attempt to complete exercise according to the rules because the displayed food items are bad, and the player has to work them off. For yellow spaces with food items that indicate a player loses fat pounds, take a rest and receive two “gain one fitness point” cards. Player does not have to exercise because the displayed food items are good, and the player does not have to work them off. For yellow spaces with food items that indicate player gains fat pounds, the player has to draw a yellow workout card and attempt to complete exercise according to rules, because the displayed food items are bad and the player has to work them off.
When a player lands on an orange, blue, or yellow space indicating an “All Other Players (Optional),” the player should draw one orange Q & A card, one blue cardio and one yellow workout card. A yellow space requires the player to complete the workout exercise according to rules. A blue space allows all other players to choose to complete cardio exercise together according to the rules where fitness points (win/lose) will be awarded to all players who participate in the exercise.
In addition, if the Q & A is answered correctly, pick up one “lose one fat pound” card. If the Q & A is answered incorrectly, pick up one “gain one fat pound” card. When a user lands on the yellow space indicating “Advance to Chicken,” draw one yellow workout card and advance to the next yellow space featuring a chicken leg. A yellow space requires the player to complete the workout exercise according to rules. Collect the number of “lose fat pounds” as specified on the picture.
When a player lands on a yellow or blue space indicating “Roll Doubles,” use two dice to try and roll doubles. The player is given three attempts. If the player rolls doubles within three attempts, collect indicated number of “lose fat pound” cards and take a rest, no workout is required. If the player does not roll doubles, draw one workout card (if landed on a yellow space) or one blue cardio card (if landed on a blue space) and complete exercise according to rules.
If a player's last roll of the warm-up section exceeds the number of spaces left, then the player should advance all spaces possible on the warm-up section. Then the player's dumbbell play figure should be place in the middle of the workout section on “Start Workout” and keep advancing forward until the player's roll is completed.
Warm-up and cool down section are identical. Always use only one die.
Whenever backward movements are made on the track, fitness points and fat pounds are not in effect.
HOW TO WIN THE GAME:
All players have to finish the game. The player with the most fitness points wins, but all players who finish “The Family Fitness Challenge” are winners.
Bonus Awards: anytime during the game, in case of two dice game, pick up two “gain one fitness point” cards every time the user rolls doubles.
Bonus pounds awarded to “first to finish” players. First place player will lose five pounds, second place player will lose three pounds, and third place player will lose one pound.
Converting fat pounds to fitness points at the end of the game: for every “lose one fitness point” card, subtract away from “gain one fitness point” card. For every “gain one fat pound” card, subtract away from “gain one fitness point” card. For every “lose one fat pound” card, receive two “gain one fitness point” cards.
Overall Fitness Evaluation form (located in the box)—this form helps users identify possible fitness condition. Users should calculate the total number of “gain one fitness points” earned throughout the game. For this evaluation to be of use, users must complete the came from start to finish.
The avatar has counters and reacts to changes in the counters such as change in fat points. The avatar moves as a game piece on the electronic screen gameboard. The avatar has a body illustration having feet that are located on the space that the user is located in. In this way, the avatar, virtual game piece, changes shape as it moves around the gameboard when users complete exercises and accumulate lost calories or fitness points, sufficient to justify an avatar improvement. For example, an adult avatar can have six different versions and for every 100 calories burned the version can change. Users can also upload an image for use as an avatar, such as a photograph of themselves, or any other graphic.
Users can use a band that is provided, or weights that are provided with the game. Users can also use other exercise equipment such as treadmills, elliptical exercisers, jump rope, gyroscopic wrist exercisers, hula hoops, kettle bells, wrist weights, ankle weights or exercise balls.
