Patent Application
20230241490
The overall field of this invention is a board game. More particularly, the invention relates to a word formation game playable on a physical board or in a digital format on a computing device, which includes multiple methods of creating a string of words on a unique shape board.
Playing board games is entertaining, but that is only one benefit of board game playing. There has been quite a resurgence in the popularity of board games, and for many people, playing board games connects them with their past. Playing stimulates brain areas that are responsible for memory formation and complex thought processes for all ages. Engaging in play assists in practicing essential cognitive skills, such as decision making, higher level strategic thinking, and problem solving. There have been many attempts at creating a word construction board game but these lack more strategic rules of play and layouts. Thus exists the need for a new word construction game.
The embodiments of the present invention are directed to a game apparatus adapted to be played by a plurality of players, the game apparatus including: sequencing tiles, whereby each player in the plurality of players begins the game with a subset of the sequencing tiles; and a game board, a grid pattern disposed on the game board, whereby the grid pattern defines a plurality of grid spaces, whereby the plurality of players use the sequencing tiles to form words on the game board, whereby the game board has a playing area in a shape of a house, whereby the playing area is defined by the grid pattern including a base and a roof, whereby the base includes 18 rows and 8 columns of the plurality of grid spaces, whereby the roof includes a bottom row of 20 grid spaces of the grid spaces extending diagonally upward into a top row of 2 grid spaces of the plurality of grid spaces, whereby each row from the bottom row to the top row decreases by two grid spaces of the plurality of grid spaces, whereby the roof has non-playable diagonal grid spaces to finish the roof, whereby the plurality of sequencing tiles has an irregular pentagonal shape, whereby the sequencing tiles have a first vertical side extending into two horizontal sides, the two horizontal sides connected by a diagonal side and a second vertical side, whereby each sequencing tile in the plurality of sequencing tiles includes a letter and a numerical point value disposed thereon, whereby a second subset of the sequencing tiles have a first and second side corresponding to a first letter and a second letter, whereby the subset includes a first sequencing tile corresponding to A and W, a second sequencing tile corresponding to A and Z, a third sequencing tile corresponding to D-O, a fourth sequencing tile corresponding to E-H, a fifth sequencing tile corresponding to E-H, a sixth sequencing tile corresponding to I-P, a seventh sequencing tile corresponding to I-P, and an eighth sequencing tile corresponding to O-F, whereby the grid pattern is a physical game board, whereby the grid pattern is a digital display on a computing device.
The embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method for playing a game apparatus adapted to be played by a plurality of players, the apparatus including: sequencing tiles, whereby each player in the plurality of players begins playing the game apparatus with a subset of the sequencing tiles, and a game board, a grid pattern disposed on the game board, whereby the grid pattern defines a plurality of grid spaces, whereby the plurality of players use the sequencing tiles to form words on the game board, whereby the game board has a playing area in a shape of a house, replacing a sequencing tile of the plurality of sequencing tiles in a word on the game board only if a replacement sequencing tile creates a new word when replacing the sequencing tile, whereby sequencing tiles are placeable in a forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards direction, whereby sequencing tiles are placeable around a corner if a first word is formed on a first edge and a second word is formed on a second edge, forming the grid pattern on a physical game board or forming the grid pattern digitally on a display of a computing device.
The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which:
In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features of the invention. Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).
“Exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described in this document as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.
Throughout the drawings, like reference characters are used to designate like elements. As used herein, the term “coupled” or “coupling” may indicate a connection. The connection may be a direct or an indirect connection between one or more items. Further, the term “set” as used herein may denote one or more of any item, so a “set of items” may indicate the presence of only one item or may indicate more items. Thus, the term “set” may be equivalent to “one or more” as used herein.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the one or more embodiments described herein. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.
The present disclosure recognizes the unsolved need for an improved word construction board game apparatus. The word construction game allows words to be played in any direction: forward, backward, up, down and can zig zag around corners where corner words may have a double value. Each word going around a corner may be a complete word of its own or a single word. The word construction game has one hundred fourteen tiles with eight that are doubled sided whereby the player will be allotted seven tiles. The word construction game is played on a uniquely shaped board in the shape of a house.
During play, a player may swap a vowel or consonant one time each for one on the board as long as the swap makes a legitimate word in its place, playing all seven tiles at one play scores 40 extra points, and adding a letter before or after a word already played can be added to one's score but only for face value. The first play of the game must have at least one tile land on one of the four center squares and the game ends when a player has no tiles left and there are no more tiles to draw.
One non-limiting embodiment of word construction game 100 in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in
In a preferred embodiment, the playing area or the entire board of word construction game 100 may be in the shape of a house. The house has a main playing area made up of two components, a base that is 8 rows by 18 column grid spaces and a roof positioned above the base. The roof starts with one row of 20 spaces at the bottom, followed by a second row of 20 spaces, then a row of 18 spaces, then a row of 16 spaces, then a row of 14 spaces, then a row of 12 spaces, then a row of 10 spaces, then a row of 8 spaces, then a row of 6 spaces, then a row of 4 spaces, then finally a row of 2 spaces at the top of the roof. The roof also has non playable area grid spaces to form the rest of the shape of the roof. While this is the standard main playing area, any number of spaces may be used or included in the present invention to create different sized houses or other shaped boards. In some non-limiting embodiments, players may be allotted one or more chimney pieces 170 or other structures that may be placed on the roof to add more grid spaces for a move.
The main playing area may contain geographically arranged bonus spaces 120. Bonus spaces 120 operate to increase a player's scored points for a round played. Some examples include a triple word bonus or a triple letter bonus, yet other bonuses may be available, such as a double word bonus or a double letter bonus.
There are one hundred fourteen total tiles 112 capable of being used by the players. Tiles may be in the shape of an irregular pentagon with a first vertical side extending into two horizontal lines at its upper and lower end. A fourth side may be extending diagonally downward from the upper horizontal line, eventually connecting a fifth side which is vertically extending upward from the lower horizontal line. This allows the players to visualize what grid squares tiles 112 are being placed upon. Of these one hundred fourteen tiles 112, eight of the tiles are double sided and three are blank. The set of draw tiles 112 are identified by the following table identifying the letter and the number of tiles marked with that letter in the set of tiles and their associated point values:
The letter A, 12 tiles, 1 point
The letter B, 3 tiles, 3 points
The letter C, 2 tiles, 5 points
The letter D, 5 tiles, 3 points
The letter E, 13 tiles, 1 point
The letter F, 4 tiles, 4 points
The letter G, 3 tiles, 3 points
The letter H, 4 tiles, 4 points
The letter I, 10 tiles, 1 point
The letter J, 2 tiles, 10 points
The letter K, 2 tiles, 5 points
The Letter L, 4 tiles, 1 points
The letter M, 3 tiles, 3 points
The letter N, 6 tiles, 1 point
The letter O, 8 tiles, 1 point
The letter P, 3 tiles, 4 points
The letter Q, 1 tile, 10 points
The letter R, 6 tiles, 1 point
The letter S, 6 tiles, 1 point
The letter T, 7 tiles, 1 point
The letter U, 4 tiles, 3 points
The letter V, 2 tiles, 5 points
The letter W, 3 tiles, 4 points
The letter X, 2 tiles, 8 points
The letter Y, 2 tiles, 4 points
The letter Z, 2 tiles, 10 points
Blanks, 3 tiles,
Double Sided, 8 tiles, A-W tile, A-Z tile, D-O tile, E-H, E-H tile, I-P tile, I-P tile, and O-F tile.
While a numerical point value and number of tiles are listed and specified above, any point values and any number of tiles may be encompassed by this disclosure.
When drawn, the three blank tiles within the set of draw tiles 112 may constitute a form of a “wild card” and can represent any letter the player so chooses. However, once a blank tile is played by a player, an opposing player cannot alter the assigned blank letter tile and must honor that tile as such played letter.
Word construction game 100 may include several trays for receiving the drawn tiles 112 of a player and displaying tiles 112 conveniently thereto. The trays may be made of any material but preferably are made of wood or other similar material. Further, the total number of tiles and the letter distribution within the total number of tiles may change or be modified by the game manufacturer or players. The number and distribution of tiles may change to better correspond with a particular language or overall difficulty of the game.
Players decide who selects their first set of seven tiles and who begins the game by randomly drawing a tile of draw tiles 112; the highest tile selects first and goes first. All tiles are returned to their container. The highest tile is the tile with the highest numerically assigned value from the tiles that were drawn. In the event there is a tie for the highest selected tile, the players in the tie will return the tiles to the container and redraw.
Each player then selects even tiles from the set of draw tiles 112. The selection is done by removing a tile from the container. Selection is ordinarily done in a single sequential manner, however, the players may alter the selection of the tiles in a manner to suit their needs, such as to speed up the selection process by choosing two, three, four, etc. tiles at a time.
The player who begins the game may form any word atop one of the four center spaces whereby the word is disposed within a contiguous line of grid spaces, whereby each letter of the root word is disposed in a distinct one of the grid spaces. The next player then attempts to form words vertically (top-down) or horizontally (left to right) utilizing the letters already in play disposed on the board. Players continue to try to form one or more words on their turn. If a player plays all seven tiles at once to form a word, the player is awarded an extra 40 points to their score.
The words may also be placed in any direction such as forward, backward, up, down, and can zig zag around corners where each word going around a corner is a complete word of its own. For instance, the word may be herself where the player places the letters HER S from left to right and then the letters E L F below the S whereby the words hers and self are created around a corner. Letters at the corner are doubled in points such as in this case the S would be counted twice towards the players score. All words except the first must be connected to another word that is already on the board.
The player calculates a turn value by adding the associated point values of each letter, any points gained from bonus spaces, and adds that turn value total to their overall score. If two words are formed by a letter that is on a bonus space, that bonus is applied to both words. Adding a letter before or after a word already played can be added to one's score but only for face value. When players finish their turn, they may draw tiles from the set of draw tiles 112 until they do. After the second player has completed their turn, the third and fourth players and so forth continue with their turn. After all players have completed their respective turn, the next round begins with the first player and the game continues until all tiles have been drawn from the set of draw tiles 112.
Players have the option of replacing letters from any word on the board before they play a word on their turn. For example, a player can remove the letter C from the word Cat and replace the letter C with the letter B whereby the word on the board is now Bat. When replacing a letter with a letter from a tile in their hand, the remaining letters must still form a word, and that word must still be connected with the other words on the game board. In a preferred non-limiting embodiment, a player may only do this once but in other embodiments they may do this several times throughout the course of the game. In more complex word arrays, extractions can affect multiple words and even separate one word into two separate words, depending on the game board. As stated previously, the three bank tiles may be used as a letter to create a specific word whereby that blank may be replaced by one of the players by another letter. The player may now utilize the blank tile as another letter to form another word
Game play continues until all tiles 112 are drawn from the set of draw tiles 112 and one player runs out of tiles 112. Any opponent having remaining tiles must calculate a deduction value by adding the values of the tiles remaining in the player's set. A player holding a blank tile at the end of the game must count the blank tile as thirty points or another agreed upon point value when calculating a deduction value. This deduction value is subtracted from those players' total point value to that point. The total point values accumulated for all players are then compared. The player with the highest score wins the game.
The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best use the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications suited to the use contemplated.
