Patent Application
20250025768
The present invention relates generally to board games, and more specifically to games of strategy and skill, where players can employ multi-tiered strategy to think ahead and plan moves in advance, while also keeping the mechanics simple to allow players of lower skills to compete.
It is a general object of this invention to provide a board game that is exciting and challenging for participants of various skill levels. It is also an object of this invention to provide a game where all parts of the game can affect the flow of play. This element allows a player to implement sophisticated strategies and to plan his or her moves accordingly, as opposed to depend solely on luck to win a game. The board game of the present invention is designed to be easy to understand, so that a player with a low skill level is not inhibited from competing even when he or she does not devote serious effort. That is, although skill is an important factor, even a player with a low skill level can be competitive and enjoy the game.
In conventional circuit games, pawns are moved in a linear fashion, only changing their movement when encountering another pawn or obstacles. In the board game of the present invention, a player is not limited to moving his or her pieces and to interacting with other pieces only when the pieces encounter one another. A player is also able to affect the board, drastically changing his or her opponents' strategies and positions.
Many commercial board games are played with each player having a pawn that moves on a pathway. A player receives commands to move his or her pawns and the player wins if he or she achieves a task. The disadvantage of most of the board games of this type is that they do not pose significant intellectual challenge to the players; that is, the outcome of the game depends mostly on luck. This means that a player can only utilize simple strategies that have a limited effect on the outcome of the game. The present invention mitigates this disadvantage by allowing a player to affect pawns, game components, and other aspects of the game through strategic planning, while keeping the overall mechanics simple enough to allow all players to enjoy the game regardless of their skills.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for playing a board game, the board game being played by two or more players. The method for playing a board game has, in order, a setup period, a game start, a playing period, and a game end. The method for playing a board game comprises the steps: (a) providing a board game apparatus, (b) setting up the board game apparatus during the setup period, (c) selecting a player to be a first player to start the playing period of the game, (d) conducting the playing period, and (c) ending the board game.
The board game apparatus comprises (1) two or more types of pawns, (2) an action selection apparatus, and (3) four types of game components. Each player owns one type of pawns; the type of pawn owned by a player is different from all other types of pawns owned by any other player. The four types of game components are home tiles, start tiles, trays, and travel tiles. During the setup period, each player owns a player module, each player module including a start tile, a home tile, and a walkway.
The start tile is a start of a path. The path is a sequence of changes in position of a pawn, which is owned by a player, dictated by actions executed by players that cause the pawn to move from the start tile, which is owned by the player, to the home tile, which is owned by the player. The positions, which the pawn can occupy along the path, are (1) the start tile, (2) any travel tile, and (3) the home tile. The path may include the start tile or a travel tile more than once. A path for each pawn is different from a path of every other pawn. The start tile is owned by the player throughout the setup period, the game start, the playing period, and the game end. The home tile is an end of the path. The home tile is owned by the player throughout the setup period, the game start, the playing period, and the game end.
The walkway comprises a tray and a plurality of travel tiles. The tray has a plurality of tray positions, the plurality of tray positions and the plurality of travel tiles of each player module being the same in number. The walkway is assembled by placing the plurality of travel tiles onto the plurality of tray positions in a predetermined manner.
The setup period comprises the steps (i) aligning the players in a series decided by the players, (ii) assembling a walkway for each player, (iii) aligning the assembled walkways to form a racetrack, and (iv) placing all start tiles and all home tiles owned by the players adjacent to the racetrack. The walkway for each player comprises the plurality of travel tiles and a tray owned by each player at the setup period. The tray has a plurality of tray positions. The walkway of each player is assembled by placing the plurality of travel tiles onto the plurality of tray positions in a predetermined manner. The racetrack is a combination of the walkways in a predetermined layout, each walkway being owned by a player during the setup period, in a predetermined layout. The racetrack has an inner periphery and an outer periphery, the inner periphery having an inner area inside the inner periphery and the outer periphery having an outer area outside the outer periphery. Each player is located at a position on the outer area of the outer periphery adjacent to the outer periphery.
During the playing period, the players take turns, each player taking a turn performing a move. Each player's move comprises the steps of (1) activating the action selection apparatus to generate an action or actions, and (2) executing the action or actions generated by the action selection apparatus. Each action is selected from the group consisting of change in position of a pawn, change in position of a game component, change in position of a walkway, change in position of the racetrack, change in direction of pawn movement, and combinations thereof. When a pawn, which is owned by a player, changes positions to a home tile, which is owned by the player, the pawn cannot be later removed from the home tile during the playing period.
Each type of pawn may have the same number of pawns as each other type of pawns. Each type of pawn may have from 1 to 4 pawns.
Change in position of a pawn may be selected from the group consisting of entering a pawn onto the racetrack, removing a pawn from the racetrack to a home tile, removing a pawn from the racetrack to a start tile, moving a pawn from a travel tile to another travel tile in a direction of pawn movement, switching pawn positions, and combinations thereof. Change in position of a game component may be selected from the group consisting of switching start tiles, switching home tiles, switching travel tiles, and combinations thereof. Change in position of a walkway may be selected from the group consisting of switching walkways, rotating a walkway, and combinations thereof, wherein change in position of a racetrack is rotating the racetrack.
The action of removing a pawn from the racetrack to a home tile may occur when the pawn, which is owned by a player, changes position from a travel tile of the racetrack to the home tile, the home tile being owned by the player.
The action of removing a pawn from the racetrack to a start tile may occur when a pawn B, which is owned by a player B, changes position to a travel tile A occupied by a pawn A, which is owned by a player A, resulting in the pawn A to move to a start tile E, the start tile E being owned by the player A, wherein the player A is different from player B.
Switching start tiles may occur when a start tile A in a position A before an action, and a start tile C, the start tile C in a position B before the action, exchange positions such that the start tile A is on the position B after the action and the start tile C is on the position A after the action. When the start tiles A and C are switched and there are one or more pawns located on the start tile A, the one or more pawns located on the start tile A before the action remain on the start tile A after the action. When the start tiles A and C are switched and there are one or more pawns located on the start tile C, the one or more pawn located on the start tile C before the action remain on the start tile C after the action. The start tile A is different from the start tile C, and the position A is different from the position B.
Switching home tiles may occur when a home tile A being on a position C before an action and a home tile B being on a position D before the action, exchange positions such that the home tile A is on the position D after the action and the home tile B is on the position C after the action. When home tiles A and B are switched, and there are one or more pawns located on the home tile A, the one or more pawns located on the home tile A before the action remain on the home tile A after the action. When home tiles A and B are switched and there are one or more pawns located on the home tile B, the one or more pawns located on the home tile B before the action remain on the home tile B after the action. Home tile A being different from home tile B, and position C being different from position D.
Switching travel tiles may occur when a travel tile B being on a position E before an action and a travel tile C being on a position F before the action, exchange positions such that the travel tile B is on the position F after the action and the travel tile C is on the position E after the action. When travel tiles B and C are switched and there are one or more pawns located on the travel tile B, the one or more pawns located on the travel tile B before the action remain on the travel tile B after the action. When travel tiles B and C are switched and there are is one or more pawns located on the travel tile C, the one or more pawn located on the travel tile C before the action remain on the travel tile C after the action. Travel tile B being different from travel tile C, and position E being different from position F.
Switching walkways may occur when a walkway A being on a position G before an action and a walkway B being on a position H before the action, exchange positions such that the walkway A is on the position H after the action and the walkway B is on the position G after the action. When the walkways A and B are switched and there are one or more pawns located on the walkway A, the one or more pawns located on the walkway A before the action remain on the walkway A after the action. When the walkways A and B are switched and there are one or more pawns located on the walkway B, the one or more pawn located on the walkway B before the action remain on the walkway B after the action. The walkway A being different from the walkway B, and the position H being different from the position G.
Rotating a walkway may occur when a walkway is rotated 180 degrees about the walkway's axis. When the walkway is rotated and there are one or more pawns located on the walkway, the one or more pawns located on the walkway before the action remain on the walkway after the action. After the action, each pawn remains on the travel tile on which each pawn was before the action.
Rotating the racetrack may be rotating by 1, if there are only two players. If there are more than two players, rotating the racetrack may be rotating by 1, or rotating by more than 1. When a racetrack is rotating by 1 or rotating by more than 1 and there are one or more pawns located on the racetrack before the action, the one or more pawns located on the racetrack before the action remain on the racetrack after the action. Each pawn of the one or more pawns remaining on the travel tile on which each pawn was before the action.
When an action of entering a pawn onto the racetrack is executed, the pawn changes position from a start tile to a travel tile on the racetrack.
If an action compels a pawn, owned by a player, to move from a travel tile to a new travel tile, and the new travel tile is occupied by two or more pawns owned by another player, the pawn, owned by the player, may not be able to move to the new travel tile.
A player's move may comprise the steps in order: (a) activating the action selection apparatus to generate an action or actions, (b) selecting action or actions generated by the action selection apparatus, and. (c) executing the action or action selected. The action or actions may be (i) a compulsory action, (ii) two or more actions from which the player may choose one to execute, or (iii) two or more actions from which the player selects multiple to execute.
During the setup period, the plurality of tray positions may be aligned in a sequence. Aligned in a sequence means that a second tray position is located after a first tray position, and, if there is a third tray position, the third tray position is located after the second tray position. If there are additional tray positions, each subsequent tray position is located after a former tray position. The last tray position is located after a former tray position and there is no tray position after the last tray position.
During the setup period, a home tile, which is owned by a player, may be placed adjacent to a first tray position of a walkaway that is owned by the player.
During the setup period, a start tile, which is owned by a player, may be placed adjacent to a first tray position of a walkaway that is owned by the player.
During the setup period, the formation of the racetrack may comprise end-to-end alignment of walkways.
Each travel tile of the plurality of travel tiles of all player modules may display a symbol. Each symbol displayed by a travel tile of a player module is different from all other symbols of travel tiles of the same player module. All symbols of the plurality of travel tiles of the player module constitute a set of symbols for the player module. The set of symbols are the same for each player module. During the setup period, the symbol may define the tray position of the corresponding travel tile on the tray using a predetermined method.
Each travel tile of the plurality of travel tiles of all player modules may display one or more signs. Each sign may have one or more matching signs on one or more different travel tiles of the racetrack.
The action selection apparatus may be selected from the group consisting of a deck of cards, one or more dice, a spinner, a random number computer generator, or combinations thereof. The action selection apparatus may display written commands. The written commands are selected from the group consisting of change in position of a pawn, change in position of a game component, change in position of a walkway, change in position of the racetrack, change in direction of pawn movement, and combinations thereof. A spinner is an apparatus that displays written commands and an indicator that randomly select a command after rotation. Rotation may comprise the apparatus rotating in 2 dimensions around the axis at the centroid of the spinner, or the indicator rotating around the axis at the centroid of the spinner.
During the setup period, each player may be given a set of cards from a deck of cards. The deck of cards consists of a draw pile and a discard pile. The set of cards forms a hand for each player, which is a group of one to five cards. The cards are randomly selected for each player from a pile of cards; the cards may give each player options from which each player selects one or more actions.
After an action is executed by a player as a result of a written command of a card, the card may be removed from the player's hand, and the card may be replaced by another card during of the player's next move. The process of replacing the card by another card is called replenishment. The card that replaces the removed card may be selected from the draw pile.
“Path” is a sequence of changes in position dictated by actions executed by the players that affect a pawn to move from the start tile, which is owned by the player who owns the pawn, to the home tile, which is owned by the player who owns the pawn. The path for each pawn may be different from every other pawn as dictated by the actions executed on each pawn, game component, walkway, and racetrack.
“Action selection apparatus” is a device used to generate actions. The action selection apparatus may consist of a deck of cards, one or more dice, a spinner, a random number computer generator, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, “Actions” may consist of change in position of a pawn, change in position of a game component, change in position of a walkway, change in position of the racetrack, change in direction of pawn movement, and combinations thereof. For some actions, all pawns, game components, walkways, and racetrack may change position.
“Pawns” are the objects that each player moves on a board game.
“Game components” are the hardware of the board game.
“Tray” is the game component that holds the travel tiles in place.
“Tray positions” are the positions on the tray.
“Travel tiles” are the individual tiles, which delineate the individual spaces of the walkway.
A “symbol” is an identifying marking on a travel tile. A symbol may be a letter, numeral, illustration, color, picture, or combinations thereof.
A “sign” is an identifying marking on a travel tile. A sign may be may be a letter, numeral, illustration, color, picture, or combinations thereof.
“Walkway” is a game component comprising a plurality of travel tiles and a tray.
“Predetermined manner” with respect to walkways means that travel tiles are placed into a tray in the order according to the symbols on each travel tile.
“Aligned in a sequence” in respect to tray positions means that a second tray position is located after a first tray position, and, if there is a third tray position, the third tray position is located after the second tray position. If there are additional tray positions, each subsequent tray position is located after a former tray position. The last tray position is located after a former tray position and there is no tray position after the last tray position.
The term “plane figure” is a closed two-dimensional, or flat, figure. The plane figure may be any shape but examples of a plane figure may be a square, circle, rectangle, and triangle. Each plane figure has a “centroid”. The centroid, also known as geometric center or center of figure, of a plane figure or solid figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the surface of the figure. The same definition extends to any object in n-dimensional Euclidean space.
The “racetrack” is a combination of walkways aligned end-to-end of each player assembled during the setup period.
Aligning the walkways that were assembled in a “predetermined manner” refers to placing all the walkways with end-to-end alignment to form a racetrack with an inner periphery and an outer periphery.
“End-to-end” with respect to walkway alignment to form the racetrack means the ends of walkways are placed adjacent to each other. A walkway has two ends, the first tray position and the last tray position. To align walkways end-to-end, several conditions must be met. Firstly, the first tray position of a walkway C is placed adjacent to the last tray position of a walkway D. Secondly, if there is a walkway E, the first tray position of walkway D is then placed adjacent to walkway E. Thirdly, if there are more walkways, the first tray position of each walkway is placed adjacent to the last tray position of another walkway until all walkways are aligned end-to-end. The final walkway's first tray position is placed adjacent to the last tray position of walkway C, creating an end-to-end alignment where each first tray position of each walkway is adjacent to a last tray position of a different walkway. In the case of a racetrack that comprises two walkways, the first tray position of walkway C is adjacent to the last tray position of walkway D and the first tray position of walkway D is adjacent to the last tray position of walkway C.
A home tile or start tile that is placed “adjacent” to a tray position, is in the outer area of the racetrack.
“Position” with respect to pawns, home tiles, start tiles, walkways, or racetrack, refers to the placement or current spot of a pawn, home tile, start tile, walkway, or racetrack.
“Owned” by a player, with respect to a player module, means that during the setup period, each player assembles a player module to complete the steps of the setup period. That is, during the setup period, a player owns a start tile, a home tile, and a walkway. The player owns the same home tile and start tile throughout the setup period, game start, playing period, and game end. “Owned” by a player, with respect to home tiles, means that the “objective” of the player is to move all his or her pawns to his or her home tile. “Owned” by a player, with respect to a start tile, means that a path of a pawn, which is owned by a player, begins on the start tile, which is owned by the player. “Owned” by a player, with respect to a pawn, means that the pawn is one of the objects a player moves to a home tile to complete the objective.
“Setup period” is the phase in which the game is prepared.
The term “prior to the game start” refers to the setup period.
Players aligned in a “series” means that a second player is located after a first player, and, if there is a third player, the third player is located after the second player and before the first player, if there are no additional players. If there are additional players, each subsequent player is located after a former player, and a last player is located after a former player and before the first player. If there are only two players, then each player is the former and subsequent player for the other. The term “after”, referring to the location of player Y in relation to player X, means that player Y is located to the left of player X, when the direction is clockwise. The term “after”, referring to the location of player Q in relation to player P, means that player Q is located to the right of player P, when the direction is counter-clockwise. The term “before”, referring to the location of player Y in relation to player X, means that player Y is located to the right of player X, when the direction is clockwise. The term “before”, referring to the location of player Q in relation to player P, means that player Q is located to the left of player P, when the direction is counter-clockwise. However, when only two players are playing the game, the terms “before” and “after”, referring to the location of one player in relation to the other player, is not used. A two-player game may have a player J and a player K. Player J may only have player K as the next player in the series, whether the direction is clockwise or counter clockwise. Player K may only have player J as the next player in the series, whether the direction is clockwise or counter clockwise.
A “legal action” means an action that is allowed within the rules of the game.
The “enter cards” are cards that correspond to an action that allow a player to change the position of a pawn from a start tile to a travel tile on the racetrack.
“Numbered cards” are cards that correspond to an action that allow a player to change the position of a pawn from a travel tile to another travel tile or home tile.
“Remove” or “removal” with respect to a pawn or pawns moving to a home tile means that the pawn or pawns are taken off the racetrack and located on a home tile. “Remove” or “removal” with respect to removing a pawn from the racetrack to a start tile means that the pawn or pawns are taken off the racetrack and located on a start tile.
To “obstruct” is the act of preventing a player's pawns from moving onto a travel tile.
The “activity cards” are cards that display actions with commands that correspond to comprise switching travel tiles, switching pawns, switching home tiles, switching start tiles, switching walkways, rotating walkways, rotating the racetrack, or change the direction of pawn movement.
“Switching start tiles” is the action of changing the position of two start tiles. The first start tile is moved to the position the second start tile and the second start tile is moved to the position the first start tile. “Switching home tiles” is the action of changing the position of two home tiles. The first home tile is moved to the position the second home tile and the second home tile is moved to the position the first home tile. “Switching travel tiles” is the action of changing the position of two travel tiles. The first travel tile is moved to the position the second travel tile and the second travel tile is moved to the position the first travel tile. “Switching walkways” is the action of changing the position of two walkways. The first walkway is moved to the position the second walkway and the second walkway is moved to the position the first walkway. “Switching pawns” is the action of changing the position of two pawns. The first pawn is moved to the position the second pawn and the second pawn is moved to the position the first pawn
“Direction of pawn movement” refers to the direction, which pawns move around the racetrack.
A “cycle” means each player has taken a turn performing a move before any player takes another turn.
The board game of the present invention is a board game that comprises player modules. These player modules are assembled during a setup period to form the board game. The method of playing the board game includes actions that change the position of pawns, start tiles, home tiles, travel tiles, walkways, the racetrack and combinations thereof.
Each player owns a type of pawns. Furthermore, each player owns a start tile and a home tile. The start tile, which is owned by a player, is where the type of pawns, which are owned by the player, begin the game. That is, the path of each pawn, which is owned by the player, starts from the start tile, which is owned by the player. The home tile, which is owned by the player, is the tile where the path of the pawns, which are owned by the player, ends. A path end may not be achieved by all pawns. That is, a pawn, not moved onto a home tile when the game end starts, does not reach the end of the pawn's path.
In
Each player owns a type of pawns. The type of pawns owned by a player are distinguished from each other type of pawns owned by each of the other players. The distinctive characteristic that distinguishes each player's pawns from another player's pawns may be a color, a marking, a shape, or a combination thereof.
Each travel tile has a symbol and may have a plurality of signs. Examples of symbols are shown in
The board game is played in four phases. The phases are, in order, setup period, game start, playing period, and game end. Each phase is separate from all other phases. That is, the phases do not overlap in time. The setup period is the first phase of the game. The game start takes place after the setup period ends. The playing period takes place after the game start. Finally, the game end takes place after the playing period. The game is completed at the game end.
The setup period includes assembling the walkways and the racetrack, preparing the action selection apparatus, and aligning the players in series.
To prepare the board game apparatus, players are aligned in a series. After the alignment of the players, each player assembles the player module that each player owns. Assembly of the player module is accomplished first by assembling the walkway in a predetermined manner. The travel tiles that are owned by each player are placed onto the player's tray, formatting the walkway of each player for the setup The order, in which the travel tiles are placed, is dictated by the symbols on each travel tile. That is, the symbol displayed on a travel tile indicates the position of the travel tile within the tray. For example, the travel tiles 4 in player module 1 of
Each type of pawns may have the same number of pawns as each other type of pawns. The number of pawns of each type is 1 to 10 pawns. A player executes moves to move his or her pawns along a path from his or her start tile to his or her home tile.
The order of assembly of the walkway is determined by the symbols displayed on the travel tiles. The travel tile displaying the first symbol in the order is the first travel tile and is placed in the first tray position. Analogously, the travel tile displaying the last symbol in the order is the last travel tile and is placed in the last tray position in the walkway. The other travel tiles are placed in order according to the symbol that is displayed on each travel tile between the first and last travel tiles After all walkways have been assembled, the walkways are aligned to form the racetrack in a predetermined manner. By aligning the walkways that were assembled to form the racetrack, all the walkways are connected in end-to-end alignment. At the game start state, the walkways, which consist of a tray and travel tiles, are no longer owned by players.
After assembly of the walkway, the tray positions have travel tiles residing on them throughout the remainder of the setup period, game start, playing period, and game end. Each tray has a first position, a last position, and may have a plurality of positions in between.
The plurality of tray positions may be aligned in a sequence.
The inner periphery is the inner edge of the racetrack, which is formed by aligning the walkway end-to-end.
During the setup period, the home tiles and the start tiles are also placed adjacent to first tray positions of the walkaways. Home tiles and start tiles are not part of the racetrack but are close in proximity to the racetrack. As show in
After the home tiles and start tiles have been placed on the outer area, a player's pawns are placed on the start tile, which is owned by the player. This is done for each player. An example of a game has four pawns per player. In another example, each player owns one pawn. In other examples of a game, each player owns two pawns, or three pawns, or five pawns, or six pawns, or seven pawns, or eight pawns.
In another example where the number of pawns per player is less than four, the game has a shorter playing period compared to a game with four pawns per player. In another example, the number of pawns is not equal for all players. In this example, a handicap may be created for one or more players depending on the players skill levels. The players with a handicap have more pawns to move to a home tile to complete the objective to complete the game.
During the setup period, the action selection apparatus is prepared. The action selection apparatus may be a deck of cards, which comprises a draw pile and a discard pile. To prepare the deck of cards during the setup period, all the cards are shuffled together to create a random ordering. The shuffled deck of cards forms the draw pile. From the draw pile, sets of cards are distributed to each player. Each player may receive a set of five cards, which is his or her hand. The cards that are not distributed to players remain in the draw pile. The size of a hand can be changed depending on the number players and the number of choices of actions the players want to allow.
After the setup period is complete, all pawns, home tiles, start tiles, walkways, and the racetrack have a starting position. The position of a pawn, a home tile, a start tile, a walkway, or the racetrack, may change throughout the playing period.
The game start takes place after the setup period is completed. The playing period takes place after the game start. The game start is completed when a player is chosen to take a first turn performing a move. When the player is chosen, the game start is completed and the playing period begins. Choosing a player to take the first turn performing a move may be done by any method of random chance or ordering that the players see fit.
The playing period comprises a series of turns taken by players to perform moves. During the playing period a player has an objective to have all pawns, which are owned by the player, positioned on a home tile, which is owned by the player. The player accomplishes the objective by executing actions during the player's turns performing a move. The actions change the position of pawns, the position of start tiles, the position of travel tiles, the position of walkways, the position of the racetrack, or the direction of pawn movement. The player may use as many or as few actions as needed to complete the objective. A player who successfully positions all pawns, which are owned by the player, onto a home tile, which is owned by the player, wins the game by completing the objective before any other player completes the objective.
The playing period begins by a player who is chosen to take a first turn performing a move. When the player is chosen to take the first turn performing a move, the player who is chosen begins the game by taking his or her turn performing a move. During his or her turn a player performs his or her move. An example of a move may be selecting a card from the draw pile, adding the card to the player's hand, and executing an action that is commanded by a card.
During a player's move, the player may select an action or actions from the action selection apparatus. The act of selecting an action or actions from the action selection apparatus is a replenishment step. The number of actions a player may select during the replenishment step is determined by the game rules. An example of a rule may be the allowed number of actions selected is one action. Another example may be the allowed number of actions selected is two actions. A player selecting an action or actions may be selecting a card from the draw pile. When a card or cards is selected from the draw pile, a player adds the card or cards to the set of cards in the player's hand and the card or cards is available to be executed during the player's move. During the replenishment step, players may select new actions to add to his or her hand. A draw pile may comprise (a) one stack of cards, (b) two or more stacks of cards, or (c) a random pile of cards.
During the replenishment step, if the draw pile comprises one stack, one card is available to be selected. That is, in a game where one action is selected, during a player's replenishment step, the player may draw one top card from the one stack. If the player is in a game where two actions are selected, during a player's replenishment step, the player may draw one top card from the one stack and then may repeat by drawing another top card from the one stack.
If the draw pile comprises two or more stacks, a player may select a top card of any stack available of the two or more stacks. That is, in a game where one action is selected, during a player's replenishment step, the player may choose any available stack of the two or more stacks from which to draw one top card from one of the two or more stacks. If the player is in a game where two actions are selected, during a player's replenishment step, the player may draw one top card one of the two or more stack and then the player may repeat by again drawing another top card from one of the two or more stacks.
If the draw pile is a random pile of cards, any card in the random pile of cards is available to be selected. That is, in a game where one action is selected, during a player's replenishment step, the player may choose to draw any one card from the random pile. If the player is in a game where two actions are selected, during a player's replenishment step, the player may draw any two cards from the random pile.
During a player's move, a player may forget the replenishment step. That is, the player may execute a numbered card, an enter card, or an activity card for the player's move without completing the replenishment step. When a player does not complete the replenishment step before the completion of the player's executed action, two options may occur. A first option is to allow the player to replenish the player's hand at any time. A second option is to prohibit the player from replenishing the player's hand and to require the player to play with one less card in the player's hand for the remainder of the game. That is, if a player takes a turn performing a move and forgets to perform the replenishment step before completing the execution of his or her action step, a next player in the cycle may begin taking his or her turn performing a move by initiating his or her replenishment step. If the next player completes his or her replenishment step, the player is prohibited from completing his or her replenishment step and will have one less card in his or her hand for the remainder of the game. The next player in the cycle may not take a turn performing a move until the previous player in the cycle discards the card or cards, the previous player in the cycle executed, to the discard pile.
After completing the replenishment step, the player chooses an action to execute. The actions that a player may choose, include change in position of a pawn, change in position of a game component, change in position of a walkway, change in position of the racetrack, change in direction of pawn movement, or combinations thereof. Change in position of a pawn may comprise entering a pawn onto the racetrack, removing a pawn from the racetrack to a home tile, removing a pawn from the racetrack to a start tile, moving a pawn from a travel tile to another travel tile in a direction of pawn movement, switching pawn positions, and combinations thereof. Change in position of a game component may comprise switching start tiles, switching home tiles, switching travel tiles, and combinations thereof. Change in position of a walkway may comprise switching walkways, rotating a walkway, and combinations thereof. Change in position of the racetrack may be rotating the racetrack. The actions available to a player during his or her move are determined by the enter cards, the numbered cards, or the activity cards that the player has in his or her hand during the player's move. Any action may be chosen as long as the action is a legal action. An example of an action that is not a legal action may be moving a pawn onto a travel tile occupied by two or more pawns, which are owned by a different player.
During a move by a player, the player may choose a card to execute. A card may be an enter card, a numbered card, or an activity card. Each card displays an action which a player may execute. The process of choosing a card and executing an action is an action step. The chosen card displays the action that a player may execute. After the card is chosen, the player executes the action displayed on the card. After the action has been executed the action step is complete.
During an action step of a player, a player may choose an enter card from his or her hand to execute an action of entering a pawn onto the racetrack. This action changes the position of a pawn from a start tile to a travel tile located on the racetrack. Examples of enter cards 12 are illustrated in
During an action step of a player, a numbered card may be chosen to execute an action of moving a pawn from a travel tile to another travel tile or home tile in a direction of pawn movement which may have three separate outcomes, first outcome, second outcome, and third outcome.
The first outcome is the moving of a pawn from a travel tile E to a travel tile D in a direction of pawn movement. For example, if the numbered card is “3”, pawn D, which is owned by player D, changes position to travel tile D as a result of the execution of a numbered card. Travel tile D is three positions away from travel tile E in the direction of pawn movement. That is, if Q is the number displayed on the numbered card, execution of the numbered card by player D allows player D to move pawn D that is owned by player D from travel tile E to travel tile D, wherein travel tile D is located Q positions away from Travel Tile E in the direction of pawn movement. Player D has the choice to move any other pawn, instead of pawn D, that he or she owns by Q positions in the direction of pawn movement, if this movement is not restricted by another rule of the game. One such rule is a player's pawn cannot be moved to a travel tile that has two or more pawns on it, if the two or more pawns are owned by another player. Moving Q positions by pawn D is allowed if travel tile D does not have two or more pawns, owned by a player M, located on travel tile D. That is, two or more pawns, owned by player M, on travel tile D obstruct pawns owned by player D from changing position to travel tile D.
The second outcome is removing a pawn from the racetrack to a home tile. This occurs when a player C executes a numbered card to move a pawn C from a travel tile F to a home tile owned by player C. The action may occur if travel tile F is located X travel tiles or less away from the home tile, which is owned by player C, in the direction of pawn movement, where X is the number displayed on the numbered card minus 1. Pawn C ends the action by being removed from the racetrack and being positioned onto the home tile owned by the player.
The third outcome is removing a pawn from the racetrack to a start tile. This occurs when a player B executes a numbered card to change the position of pawn B, which is owned by player B, from a travel tile G to a travel tile A occupied by a pawn A, which is owned by a player A. This results in pawn A to move to start tile E, start tile E being owned by player A. Player A is different from player B. That is, if R is the number displayed on the numbered card, travel tile G must be R positions away from travel tile A. Examples of numbered cards 11 are illustrated in
During a player's action step, the player may choose to execute an activity card action. Examples of activity cards 13 are illustrated in
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards that involve switching start tiles. Switching start tiles occurs when an activity card is executed during the player's action step, wherein the activity card displays the action switch start tiles.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards that involve switching home tiles. Switching home tile occurs when an activity card is executed during the player's action step that displays the action switch home tiles.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards that involve switching travel tiles. Switching travel tiles occurs when an activity card is executed during the player's action step that displays the action switch travel tiles.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards that involve switching walkways. Switching walkways occurs when an activity card is executed during the player's action step that displays the action switch walkways.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards that involve switching pawns. Switching pawns occurs when the player executes an activity card that displays the action switch pawns.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards involving rotating walkways. Rotating a walkway occurs when an activity card is executed that displays the action rotate a walkway.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute activity cards involving rotating the racetrack. Rotating the racetrack occurs when an activity card is executed that displays the action to rotate the racetrack. Each walkway is passed from a previous position to a new position. For example, walkway C passes from position I, the walkway C being in position I before the rotating, to position J.
Rotating the racetrack can be of two different types, the types being rotating the racetrack by 1 and rotating the racetrack by more than 1. Rotating the racetrack by more than 1 having possible variations depending on the number of walkways of the game.
Specifically, rotating the racetrack by 1 occurs when each walkway is passed from a previous position, that is, the position of the walkway before the rotating, to a new position, the previous position being adjacent to the new position before the rotating, the new position being located adjacent and on the left of the previous position. For example, walkway D is passed from a previous position K, (before the rotating) to a new position L. Position L is located adjacent and to the left of position K.
Rotating the racetrack by more than 1 has variations depending on the number of walkways of the game. A variation is rotating the racetrack by 2, which occurs when each walkway is passed from a previous position, that is, the position of the walkway before the rotating, to a new position, the new position being located two positions away and on the left of the previous position. For example, walkway E is passed from a previous position M before the rotating to position N, position N being located two positions away and on the left of position M.
Analogously, another variation is rotating the racetrack by 3, which occurs when each walkway is passed from a previous position, that is, the position of the walkway before the rotating, to a new position, the new position being located three positions away and on the left of the previous position. For example, walkway F is passed from a previous position O before the rotating to position P, position P being located three positions away and on the left of position O. Analogously, and depending on the number of walkways, rotating the racetrack by 4, 5, 6 et cetera are other variations that may be also possible.
From the above, it becomes clear that, if there are only 2 walkways, it is not possible to have an action of rotating the racetrack by 2, 3, 4 or more. Analogously, if there are only 3 walkways, it is not possible to have an action of rotating the racetrack by 3, 4 or more.
During an action step of a player, the player may choose to execute a change in direction of pawn movement action to alter the direction of pawn movement on the racetrack. The direction of pawn movement begins the game moving clockwise around the racetrack. When a change in direction of pawn movement action is executed, the direction of all pawn movement is changed. If the direction of pawn movement on the racetrack was clockwise before the action, then all pawns change to counter clockwise pawn movement on the racetrack when the pawns are moved along their respective paths. If the direction of pawn movement on the racetrack was counter clockwise before the action, then all pawns change to clockwise pawn movement when the pawns are moved along their respective paths.
At the start of the playing period, the direction of pawn movement starts in a clockwise direction on the racetrack. When the direction of pawn movement is changed by an action, the direction of pawn movement for all pawns is changed after the action, until the game end, or until another action changes the direction of pawn movement again. If the direction of pawn movement is clockwise prior to the action, then the direction becomes counter-clockwise after the action is executed. If the direction is counter-clockwise prior to the action, then the direction becomes clockwise after the action is executed.
In another example, during a player's turn performing a move may consist of an action step with multiple action being executed in combination. During a player's action step a player may choose to play multiple actions. For example, a player may choose an to execute an action of switching travel tiles as a first action followed by choosing an action to enter a pawn onto the racetrack as a second action. The player may choose any combination of multiple actions provided by the action selection apparatus. During the player's next replenishment step, the player may select card from the draw pile equal to the number of actions executed during the previous action step.
After a player has completed the execution of an action, the player may perform the discard step. The discard step means that during a player's move, after the execution of an action, the player places an enter card, a numbered card, or an activity card that was chosen to execute an action during the move, into the discard pile. When the player has discarded the card that was chosen, the player has completed his or her move.
After the player has completed his or her move, another player performs his or her move, and so on, until all players have performed a move which completes a cycle. For example, if a player L, a player M, and a player N are participating in a three-player game and the player L takes the first turn performing a move in the cycle, the player M and the player N must each take a turn performing a move to complete a cycle before Player L may take another a turn performing a move. The order, in which the players perform their moves, may be decided by the alignment of the players in a series during the setup period. That is, if the order is clockwise around the series, each player to the left of the player taking a turn performing a move is the next player to take a turn performing a move. If the order is counter-clockwise around the series, each player to the right of the player taking a turn performing a move is the next player to take a turn performing a move. After the first cycle is completed, another cycle takes place, until the game ends. If a player cannot execute a legal action during his or her move, the player loses his or her opportunity to play an action in that cycle. That is, in this case the player does not perform an action during his or her turn during the cycle.
The playing period is complete when a playing completes an objective. The objective a player completes is moving all the pawns, which are owned by the player, onto the home tile, which is owned by the player. A player who completes the objective of moving all the pawns, which are owned by the player, onto a home tile, which is owned by a player, before any other player completes the objective, wins the game. When a player has won the game, the playing period ends.
In another example, the game can be extended even after the first player completes the game. The game may continue until all but one player has moved his or her pawns onto a home tile. When a player moves all his or her pawns onto a home tile, the player has no more actions to execute. The player is no longer active in the game. When the player's turn to perform a move in the cycle arrives, the player is skipped and the next active player takes his or her turn performing a move. This process is repeated until only one player is left without all the player's pawns on a home tile. When all but one player has moved his or her pawns onto his or her home tile, the game is complete.
Another option for the game is to play in a team format. Players participating in a game with a team format are grouped into teams. The number of teams may comprise 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11 or 12. A four-player game with a team format may have two teams. A six-player game with a team format may have two or three teams. An eight-player game with a team format may have two or four teams. A nine-player game with a team format may have three teams. A ten-player game with a team format may have two or five teams. A twelve-player game with a team format may have two, three, four, or six teams. A fourteen-player game with a team format may have two or seven teams. A fifteen-player game with a team format may have three or five teams. A sixteen-player game with a team format may have two, four, or eight teams. An eighteen-player game with a team format may have two, three, six or nine teams. A twenty-player game with a team format may have two, four, five or ten teams. A twenty two-player game with a team format may have two, or eleven teams. A twenty four-player game with a team format may have two, three, four, six, eight, or twelve teams. A group of players form a team. Each team has an equal number of players. For example, a four-player game with a team format with two teams may have a player F, a player G, a player H, and a player I. A team A maybe the group the player F and the player G and a team B may be the group the player H and the player I.
In a game with a team format, players may be arranged in a series according to team. That is, in an example of a four-player game with a team format with two teams may have a player N, a player O, a player P, and a player Q. A team A may be comprised of the group the player N and the player O. A team B may be comprised of the group the player P and the player Q. The series are arranged such that the player P may be to the left of the player N, the player O may be to the left of the player P, the player Q may be to the left of the player O, and the player N may be to the left of the player Q. In another example a six-player game with a team format with three teams may a player R, a player S, a player T, a player U, a player V, and a player W. A team C may be the player R and the player S, a team D may be the player T and the player U, and a team E may be the player V and the player W. The series are arranged such that the player T may be to the left of the player R, the player V may be to the left of the player T, the player S may be to the left of the player V, the player U may be to the left of the player S, the player W may be to the left of the player U, and the player R to the left of the player W. From the examples, it becomes clear that for any allowed number of teams in a game with a team format, players arranged in a series by team means a player from each team must be arranged in the series before another player from a same team may be arranged in the series.
During a game with a team format, pawns owned by a player of a same team do not obstruct pawns, which are owned by a player of the same team. Obstruction only occurs when multiple pawns, which are owned by a player of a different team, are positioned on a travel tile. Pawns, which are owned by a player of the same team, and pawns, which are owned by another player of the same team, may be positioned on a travel tile simultaneously. All other actions are unaffected by a game with a team format.
During a game with a team format, when a player X completes the objective to move all the pawns, which are owned by player X, onto a home tile, which is owned by player X, the player assumes joint ownership of the pawns, home tile, and start tile of another player on his or her team. That is, if, the player X is on team F and all the pawns, which are owned by player X are moved onto a home tile, which is owned by the player X, player X relinquishes ownership of the pawns, home tile, and start tile, which were owned by player X. The player X may then assume joint ownership all pawns, home tile, and start tile of a player Y who is in the series to the left of player X and also on team F. The game with a team format continues with both player X and player Y owning the pawns, home tile and start tile, which were originally owned only by player Y. When all players of a team have completed an objective, the team wins the game and completes the game. The game may end with only the players of one team completing objectives or may allow all players of all teams except one team to complete objectives. After the playing period is completed, the game end starts. The game end is the phase of the game when a player, players, team, or teams, have finished an objective or objectives.
Another variation of a game with a team format is, when a player X completes the objective to move all the pawns, which are owned by player X, onto a home tile, which is owned by player X, the player assumes joint ownership of the pawns, home tile, and start tile the other players on his or her team. That is, if, a player X is a member of team F and all the pawns, which are owned by player X are moved onto a home tile, which is owned by player X, player X relinquishes ownership of the pawns, home tile, and a start tile, which were owned by player X. Player X may then also execute numbered card and enter card action during his or her action step on any pawn owned by a player of team F. That is, player X may, having moved all the pawn owned by player X onto the home tile, owned by player X, execute a numbered card action or enter card action on any pawn owned by a player of team F as if the pawn were owned by player X. The pawn player X chooses to perform the action on is then moved according to the rules. The pawn must still be moved to the home tile of the player owning the pawn. That is, if player X moves a pawn owned by a player Y, the pawn owned by player Y may still only end the pawn's path on the home tile owned by player Y. The game with a team format continues with player X moving any pawns owned by a player of team F as if player X owns them with the exception that the pawns must still end their path on the home tile owned by the original owners of the pawns. The cycle is repeated until all players of a team have completed an objective. When all players of a team have completed an objective, the team wins the game and completes the game. The game may end with only the players of one team completing objectives or may allow all players of all teams except one to complete objectives. After the playing period is completed, the game end starts. The game end is the phase of the game when a player, players, team, or teams, have finished an objective or objectives.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63528047 | Jul 2023 | US |
