There are many elements to a good game: chance and luck, strategy and foresight, experience and skill, dexterity and strength, multi-player and solitaire, short and unending, cooperative and competititive, simple and complex, boring and ultramegawesome!
Current game design is limited by scalability and versatility in game pieces, components, boards, and other components or elements of game components or elements.
What is needed is a game board, game pieces, and/or other game components and elements with increased scalability and versatility.
A scalable game board using double dovetails is disclosed.
The game board may include holes, channels, connecting mechanisms and other topographic features.
In some embodiments, the game board may be two-sided, allowing for even greater versatility.
Versatile game pieces, which may be used for a variety of games, and which may be used in multiple orientations and stacking configurations, may be used to create a variety of game pieces and game play.
A tilting game is disclosed wherein a gameboard may be tilted in multiple directions and is configured to remain in a tilted state indefinitely.
A system is disclosed that facilitates creativity in designing and testing game ideas. The system also supports play of classic games and other games.
A kinetic marble timer is disclosed.
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 62/358,351, filed Jul. 5, 2016, and titled “Highly Configurable Game System,” and which is incorporated herein by reference.
A scalable and versatile game board, along with game pieces and components, methods of play, and ability to create a variety of different games, are disclosed.
In one embodiment, a scalable board unit, or “quad,” may employ a double-dove-tail design for unlimited scalability of game board size. Some embodiments may allow for limited scaling.
In another embodiment, a game board may include a mechanism by which the game board may be tilted toward and or away from any of three or more sides or directions, and by which the game board may remain in a tilted position indefinitely without the need for a human to hold the board in the tilted state.
As shown in
The double dovetail is formed by removing a section of material from insert 546a, shown in
Quad 100 further includes full-square holes 130a-d, half-square holes 140a-d, and quarter-square hole 150. These holes, i.e., holes 130a-d, 140a-d, and 150, are positioned in a grid pattern such that they are equidistant from adjacent holes in the horizontal or vertical directions. A variety of embodiments include any combination of whole, half, and quarter holes as described above such that they form a grid of holes.
Lattice lines 170a-e and 172a-d run diagonally, crossing through the centers or square holes 130a-d, 140a-d, and 150. In one embodiment, lattice lines 170a-e and 172a-d are topographic elements, i.e., having topographic characteristics distinct from the adjacent features on quad 100. For example, lattice lines 170a-e and 172a-d may form a topographic formation relative to adjacent holes and areas between hole locations. For example, a lattice line 170n may comprise a “valley,” “ravines,” which may or may not be flat relative to adjacent features. The diamond-shaped areas within the grid formed by the lattice lines may also comprise topographic features, including but not limited to curves, humps, or hills rising up from lattice lines surrounding the curve, hump or hill. The hills may rise up any amount to best equip players with a surface that is flat enough to not impede marbles rolling down a tilted surface, but textured enough to successfully deposit marbles in or around depressions when the game board is in its horizontal, or neutral un-tilted position. The reverse texture on the opposite side may be used for various other games as it aids in game pieces flowing through the ramped features in combination with ribbing or other features. This disclosure is not limited to having a textured surface and comprises embodiments that are flat boards and play less varied games due to the lack of this surface.
As used herein, “marble” may refer to any sphere or even any object that has rolling properties even though not a perfect sphere.
In some embodiments, lattice lines 170a-e and 172a-d may be sufficient depressed to guide marbles or other spheres along such line. In other embodiments, lattice lines may affect marble or sphere motion, but may not be sufficiently depressed to strictly guide marble motion.
Quad 100 may further include channels 160a-d Each of channels 160a-d may be a rectangular-shaped channel, or other shape such as but not limited to an oval. Channels 160a-d may include an opening through quad 100 into the bottom of the quad.
Channels 160a-d may be substantially the same width as holes 130a-d, 140a-d, and 150, and may have a length slightly less than the horizontal or vertical distance between adjacent holes (of holes 130a-d, 140a-d, and 150), such that each of channel 160a-d is separated from adjacent channels and is thereby distinct.
In this embodiment, holes 130a-d, 140a-d, and 150 are at local minima between the adjacent diamonds formed by lattice lines 170a-e and 172a-d.
The configuration of quad 100 allows for combining multiple quads, at different relative orientations, to create game boards or components. For example, using the double-dovetailed inserts and slots of quad 100, four identical quads may be combined to create the board 190 shown in
Multiple quads such as quad 100 may also be joined at 90-degree angles to form box like game boards or components, or containers. As seen in
A quad may be made out of many materials, or compositions of materials, known in the art, e.g., Quads can be made of plastics, polymers, rubbers, foams, ceramics, wood, metal, stone, particle board, cardboard, etc. While obtaining dovetail tolerance requirements to form appropriate connections may work well with injected molded plastic, a variety of methods and materials would do for forming or manufacturing quads. Quads represent the game board, and may come together to form game boards, even entire game boards in one quad.
Boards 190 and 195 may be combined with identical boards to create larger and larger boards, such that quads may be scaled to virtually any size board. Larger versions may also be scaled in another sense to form outdoor or life-sized games. The ability to infinitely scale may be referred to as tessellation.
The holes in quad 100 may include a funnel feature, which may surround a hole in a circular or square pattern, to direct rolling objects, e.g., marbles, in the vicinity of a hole, to role into the hole.
The topographic elements of quad 100, e.g., lattice lines, channels, square holes, and hills, result in variability and apparent randomness for applications such as rolling marbles on quad 100. Marbles when dropped or rolled onto the top surface of a game board will roll around often in seemingly random directions until coining to rest at or near valley and hole locations. This random element introduces a fun characteristic in many kinetic shooting and aiming games where players are attempting to reach specific locations on the board with their marble pieces, often dislodging opponent's pieces, or reaching other game pieces located on or off of the board. When marbles reach a channel they will naturally roll to either side and into or next to one of the adjacent holes. When game boards are tilted, marbles, coins, or other game tokens may roll down the sloped surface of either side of the board, or may be impeded by other game tokens. One side may have features that create very different games than on the opposite side of the board so that players may enjoy a variety of different games. Marbles and other game tokens such as coins may be bounced onto the board, or shot, rolled, spun, or flicked into play from off of the game board or while on the game board surface. Coins may slide out of channels or off the game board entirely. When other game tokens or indentation feature or features surround the perimeter of the game board, marbles are more easily retained in play.
The double dove tail design could be adapted for a variety of angles not limited to the ninety-degree variety, but could compensate for the construction of pyramids or other polyhedrons and three dimensional shapes, as well as assist in a variety of flat counterpart game boards such as triangles and hexagons. This disclosure is not limited to multiple quads forming entire game boards; our game boards may be comprised of one piece and may or may not tessellate or fold into three dimensional configurations.
In some embodiments, because of hills or humps between lattice lines, edges, e.g., 102 and 103, may be curved so to maintain uniform height along the edge.
Tilting
In another embodiment, a game board may have improved versatility through the ability to tilt and remain in a tilted state in multiple directions.
Although the disclosures relating to tilting herein may be implemented and/or applied to many types of gameboards of varying sizes, shapes, and configurations, this disclosure will use the board of
In one embodiment, the hinge mechanisms on raised pivot point 520 may be tight and/or have friction, such that the hinge is moveable with modest force, but remains in a tilted or non-tilted position after movement with the modest force. For example, a human player may be able to adjust the tilt of board 500 with his or her hand, and when he or she releases the board and ceases to apply force, the board may remain in the position in which the human player left it, i.e., tilted in some direction or un-tilted. In another embodiment, the edges of board 500 may include secured and/or embedded magnets, e.g., at corners 520a-d. If the base on which board 500 and raised pivot point 520 are resting have complementary magnets, as would result if the base was a board similar to board 500 with similarly embedded or secured magnets, then board 500 may remain tilted through magnetic attraction by bringing magnets at locations 520a-d in close proximity to the corresponding magnets on the board acting as a base, e.g., acting as a table. Metal bases or other components may be used to attract magnets as well.
Unique to this disclosure is the ability to tilt a game board from one side to the next and maintain this tilt during game play, movement, or other actions and or turns. Propping one edge up with a game token or piece with or without an elevated or securing base mechanism simple, and adjusting its location to subsequent edges or sides would cause a downward tilt from said placement. Securing the center of the game board would allow one to rotate a wheel or wheel-like mechanism underneath the game board resulting in an elevated edge as the wheel rotates about the game. Magnetic and or other mechanical features allow the user to simply touch corners or edges with a temporarily permanent tilt. Any mechanism that maintains a tilt and allows a smooth or not smooth transition from one side to the next would improve the ergonomic and desirable attributes of playing supported tilting games. Magnets when reversed themselves or when entire game boards are reversed act as springs rather than attracted bodies, facilitating games that come to rest in a neutral, elevated, flat, or horizontal state on their own. Springs or other components may also be included to help constrain or maintain these properties.
Crown, Door, and Bridge
Additional game pieces, components, or elements may increase and improve the scalability and versatility of a game. Such pieces include at least a crown piece, a door piece, and a bridge piece.
In another alternative, door piece 600 may be inserted into a hole 130n (i.e., one of 103a-d, 140a-d, and 150).
Door pieces may not require feature 610 or 605, but could slide into crown pieces to act as doors between such crown locations. Doors may be placed between any crown locations in this embodiment, instead of being limited to perimeter channel locations. Using a circular or square shaped peg as denoted with 605 the door piece may be moved about the board, and spun, or rotated about hole locations. This feature in conjunction with the throne allows doors to stack on each other, receive and hold marbles, and stack with other game pieces such as crowns and bridges. Doors may be used as probability tokens or dice, and in some embodiments may receive or stabilize lasers or act as laser shooting pieces that project imaginary or real beams that may reflect between other doors pieces, and particularly bridges.
There are many embodiments of the crown pieces, and they range in capability for holding various numbers of doors and other game pieces such as bridges, as well as probability tokens. They may also serve as tilting mechanisms for many games. Crowns are very important because they may stack in more than two different ways with other crowns, stack on or under bridges, hold marbles, and of course, while in quads, some crown embodiments propagate bridges in up to 17 directions and hold up other quads for hidden maze games as well as tilt the board from underneath in up to eight or more directions or allow game boards to spin when placed in a center hole. When a game piece or pieces, especially crowns, are inserted into the central hole or peg of game boards, they act as the point of a top and allow players to spin the game board on the ground as a top.
Crown stub 710 is sized to fit in hole 130a-d, 140a-d, or 150. Stub 710 could be circular or any other shape beyond the square representation.
Crown pedestal 720 is sized, shaped, and formed to support a sphere, e.g., a marble as many other game tokens can do.
Crowns could be formed in many shapes.
In one embodiment, the quads, pieces, and other components disclosed and described herein may be used to play games involving marbles, or in marble-centric games. For example, marbles may be moved across one or more quads by tilting quads. Marble movement may be enabled or obstructed by placement of doors, crowns, bridges, and other marbles. The topographic features on quads disclosed herein may result in some apparent randomness or unpredictably in marble motion and marble paths, or may result in directed marble movement along topographically defined paths. Additionally, marbles may be placed on top of crowns, doors, or bridges, and may roll across channels on bridges or doors, and may sit in holes.
A person of ordinary skill will appreciate that, by using the quads, boards, pieces, and components described herein, many games of varying rules, and using many sets of pieces, may be played.
Marble Timer
A kinetic marble timer may be formed using a component that may double as a gamepiece organizer. In one embodiment, the timer may be formed from one or forms having a marble track. Based on length, turns, elevation changes, and other features, a timer may be based on the time it takes a marble to traverse a length of track. In one embodiment, the track may be made out of a thermal form.