Patent Application
20130288763
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of word games. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a word game that may be played on various media, involving clues displayed to a player to assist the player in determining the answers.
2. Description of Prior Art
Word games are very popular and have been around for centuries. Word games involving clues which a player must use to determine answers are also very popular. Crossword puzzles are an example of such games. Traditionally, these word games have been played on paper media, such as in newspapers or in printed books. More recently these games have been adapted to be played on other types of media, primarily electronic devices. These may include computers, smart phones, tablets, game consoles, and the like.
Games designed specifically to be played on portable electronic devices, and in particular on smart phones, should be simple in structure and have relatively simple rules to follow. They also should have minimal functional input for ease of use. Such games are also aided by access to the internet, where new data comprising clues and answers can be easily uploaded onto the electronic devices. There are currently many such examples of these types of word games, such as “Words with Friends”™, “Moxie”™, “Scrabble”™, etc.
While existing games provide a player with many different choices for game play, new forms of word games are desired to continue to entertain players.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a word game which is comprised of clues used by a player to determine answers.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a word game that presents the clues to the player in a novel format.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a word game that may be played on various media.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a word game that may be played on electronic devices.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a word game that may be played on electronic devices connected to the internet.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a word game that can be played on paper.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method for playing a word game on electronic devices.
Other objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the description that follows.
The present invention comprises a game that can be played on different media, including electronic devices and paper. The game involves the player guessing answers to clues, with the clues comprised of at least two parts, the first being a hint and the second being scrambled fragments of the answer. The game displays the hints and answer fragments, and optionally additional clues, such as how many letters are in the answer, how many answer fragments comprise the answer, or how many words comprise the answer. The player selects answer fragments, in order, corresponding to the clues. If the game is played on an electronic device, the selection by the player is assessed by the game to determine if it is correct (that is, the selection corresponds to an answer). If the game is played on paper, reference may be made to an answer key to determine if the answer is correct.
In embodiments of the game played on an electronic device, the data comprising the clues and answers may be downloaded from the internet. Game play may be varied by providing the player with the option of reshuffling the answer fragments, or to cancel a selection if an error is made. Visual and audio cues may be employed to enhance game play, including animation or other enhancements. Spurious answer fragments may be introduced to raise the level of difficulty of game play. If the electronic device has a touch screen, the player may play the game by directly touching portions of the screen corresponding to answer fragments and functions. If the electronic device does not have a touch screen, the player may use a pointing device, such as a computer mouse or a joystick, to make selections. The game can be played without scoring, or it can be scored based on various factors, such as time needed to complete all answers, difficulty of clues, number of answers, etc. If scoring is enabled, high scores can be saved, either locally on the electronic device, or globally on an internet based server to be accessed by different players.
Other features and advantages of the present invention are described below.
The present invention discloses a game to be played by a human player 1, whereby the game comprises a plurality of clues 7 and a plurality of answers 5. Each of the plurality of clues 7 is distinct from each other of the plurality of clues 7, and each of the plurality of answers 5 is distinct from each other of the plurality of answers 5. The number of clues 7 corresponds to the number of answers 5, with each clue 7 associated with one of the plurality of answers 5 such that each answer 5 has one clue 7 associated with it. The player 1 uses the clues 7 to arrive at the answers 5. The game is won when all of the answers 5 are determined by the player 1.
Each of the plurality of answers 5 is comprised of a plurality of text characters. In the preferred embodiment the text characters are comprised of alphabetic characters, such that the alphabetic characters comprising each answer 5 spell out a word. The words may be in any language, and the alphabetic characters may be from any alphabet. In other embodiments non-alphabetic characters may be used, with the plurality of text characters forming a recognizable pattern, such as the combination of letters, digits, and symbols commonly found in “text messaging”, for example, “how r u 2day” used to connote the phrase “how are you today”. In yet other embodiments one or more space characters may be used, interspersed among the non-space characters, such that the answers 5 containing space characters spell out two or more words, each word separated by a space character. In yet other embodiments at least one of the plurality of answers 5 has a different number of text characters than at least one other answer 5. In yet other embodiments each of the plurality of answers 5 has the same number of text characters as each other answer 5.
Each of the plurality of clues 7 is comprised of a first clue component 10 and a second clue component 20. See
The second clue component 20 of each clue 7 comprises a plurality of answer fragments 25. See
The answer fragments 25 associated with the clues 7 are displayed in a scrambled order in relation to each other. Thus, for example, if there are three answers 5—ANSWER, SOLUTION, and RESULT—and the answer fragments 25, respectively, are AN, SWER, SO, LUT, ION, RES, and ULT, the display of the answer fragments 25 may be ordered as follows:
As can be seen by the examples given, the number of answer fragments 25 associated with each answer 5 may vary, or it may be the same across all answers 5. In one embodiment at least one of the answers 5 must have associated with it a different number of answer fragments 25 than the number of answer fragments 25 associated with at least one other answer 5.
In one embodiment of the game the clue 7 comprises a third clue component 30. The third clue component 30 is an indication of the number of text characters contained in the answer 5 corresponding to the clue 7. See
In yet another embodiment of the game, there are one or more spurious answer fragments 25 interspersed with the answer fragments 25 of the second clue components 20. These spurious answer fragments 25 do not correspond to any answer 5 but are randomly distributed among the plurality of answer fragments 25 that do correspond to the plurality of answers 5. The presence of these spurious answer fragments 25 increases the difficulty of the game play.
The game, as described above, can be played using diverse media. In preferred embodiments, the game is played on an electronic device 100 having a user interface 110. See
In one embodiment the user interface 110 disables the ability of the player 1 to select answer fragments 25 previously selected. This disability is temporary while answer fragments 25 are being selected but before the player 1 indicates that all answer fragments 25 corresponding to one answer 5 have been selected. If the selection 130 is determined to be incorrect the disability is removed and the player 1 can again select those answer fragments 25. If the selection 130 was correct the disability becomes permanent for the remainder of game play. In other embodiments other features are accessed through the user interface 110. For example, an incorrect selection 130 may be indicated by a visual cue. Alternatively, an incorrect selection 130 may be indicated by an audible tone. In other embodiments the player 1 can cause the answer fragments 25 to be reshuffled, in the hope that a different ordering of answer fragments 25 will allow the player 1 to more readily determine the answers 5. See
In embodiments of the game played on electronic devices 100 having touch sensitive screens, the user interface 110 is integrated with the screen. See
In embodiments of the game played on electronic devices 100, the plurality of clues 7 and answers 5 may be stored on a hard drive or external media, such as a flash drive, removable chip storage device, CD Rom, or the like. In the preferred embodiment, the electronic device 100 comprises a connection to the internet and clues 7 and answers 5 are downloaded onto the electronic device 100 from the internet.
In embodiments of the game played on electronic devices 100, one embodiment of the game displays fewer than all of the first clue components 10 to the player 1, as long as two or more answers 5 remain undetermined by the player 1. Thus, if there are seven answers 5, in one embodiment only one first clue component 10 (hint) may be displayed, with all of the second clue components 20 (answer fragments 25) displayed. Only after the first answer 5 is determined is the second answer 5 displayed, and so on, until all seven answers 5 are determined. Alternatively, two clues 7 may be displayed at a time, with a new clue 7 displayed as soon as one of the two clues 7 is answered. Any combination of partially displayed clues 7 can be used, with fewer clues 7 displayed raising the level of difficulty of game play.
In embodiments of the game played on electronic devices 100, the various display components (clues 7, answer fragments 25, answers 5) can be represented using any suitable format. Where text is displayed, it can be of any desirable font, size, and color. Answer fragments 25 can be grouped solely by proximity, or by some visual cue, such as a boundary surrounding the text comprising the answer fragment 25, or a color (background or foreground) associated with the answer fragment 25, or any other appropriate style cue. Different answer fragments 25 may have different styles associated with them. Animation may be used. The function icons (select 112, cancel 114, reshuffle 116) may be likewise styled as appropriate, using any suitable design, color, and placement.
In one embodiment, the clues 7 are arranged at the top of the user interface 110 display, with blank areas next to them representing the corresponding answers 5. The answer fragments 25 are delimited by rounded rectangles of substantially equal size, arranged in a regular grid pattern below the clues 7. A temporary selection area 120 is interposed between the clues 7 and the answer fragments 25. As each answer fragment 25 is selected, in series, the text comprising the answer fragment 25 is displayed in the selection area 120 and the selected answer fragment 25 is no longer available for further selection; when all desired answer fragments 25 are selected the completion is signaled. If the selection 130 corresponds to an answer 5, the correct answer 5 is displayed next to the corresponding clue 7, the temporary selection area 120 is cleared, and the selected answer fragments 25 remain unavailable for the remainder of the game. A tone may sound indicating success. If the selection 130 does not correspond to an answer 5, the temporary selection area 120 is cleared, the selected answer fragments 25 become available for future selection, and a tone sounds indicating an error.
In alternate embodiments, the game is played on paper. See
As with the other embodiments, the game played on paper may comprise answers 5 comprised of a plurality of alphabetic characters, such that the characters spell out a word. Non-alphabetic characters may also be used, for “text messaging” style answers 5. A fourth clue component 40 may be used to indicate the number of sentence fragments associated with each answer 5. Multiple “words” may be represented in the answers 5. If so, a fifth clue component 50 may be used to indicate how many words correspond to each answer 5. One or more spurious answer fragments 25 not corresponding to any answer 5 may be randomly distributed among the plurality of answer fragments 25 corresponding to the plurality of answers 5, to increase the level of difficulty of game play. The various display components (clues 7, answer fragments 25) can be represented using any suitable format. Where text is displayed, it can be of any desirable font, size, and color. Answer fragments 25 can be grouped solely by proximity, or by some visual cue, such as a boundary surrounding the text comprising the answer fragment 25, or a color (background or foreground) associated with the answer fragment 25, or any other appropriate style cue. Different answer fragments 25 may have different styles associated with them. In the preferred embodiment, the game is presented in a newspaper, using fairly regular groupings for the answer fragments 25.
The invention also contemplates a method of playing the game described herein. The game comprises the same components: a plurality of answers 5 and a corresponding plurality of clues 7, with the clues 7 comprised of at least a first clue component 10 (a hint) and a second clue component 20 (answer fragments 25). The game is played on an electronic device 100 having a user interface 110, with the game embodied in a computer software program capable of being operated by the electronic device 100. The method of playing the game comprises the following steps:
A. a player 1 initiates the game;
B. the game displays each of the plurality of the first clue components 10 using the user interface 110 of the electronic device 100;
C. the game displays each of the plurality of answer fragments 25 of each of the plurality of the second clue components 20 using the user interface 110 of the electronic device 100, with the plurality of answer fragments 25 being scrambled in relation to each other;
D. the player 1, using the user interface 110, selects a plurality of answer fragments 25, one at a time, with the aggregate of the selected answer fragments 25 corresponding to one of the plurality of answers 5;
E. the player 1, using the user interface 110, signals that the selection of answer fragments 25 corresponding to one of the plurality of answers 5 is complete;
F. the game assesses whether the answer fragments 25 selected by the player 1 correctly corresponds to one of the plurality of answers 5;
G. if the answer fragments 25 selected by the player 1 in step D correctly correspond to one of the plurality of answers 5, the game displays said answer 5 using the user interface 110, otherwise the game indicates an error using the user interface 110 and cancels the selection of answer fragments 25; and
H. repeat steps D through F one or more times until the player 1 correctly determines all of the plurality of answers 5 or quits the game. See
In one alterative embodiment, in step C the game further displays one or more spurious answer fragments 25 not corresponding to any answer 5. The spurious answer fragments 25 are randomly distributed among the plurality of answer fragments 25 corresponding to the plurality of answers 5. This increases the difficulty of game play.
In another alterative embodiment, in step B the game initially displays fewer than all of the first clue components 10. In this embodiment, the method further comprising the following step:
G1. if the answer fragments 25 selected by the player 1 in step D correctly correspond to one of the plurality of answers 5, the game displays one or more first clue components 10 not previously displayed.
Step G1 occurs after step G.
In yet another alterative embodiment, the method further comprising the following step:
G1. if the answer fragments 25 selected by the player 1 in step D correctly correspond to one of the plurality of answers 5, the game disables the ability of the player 1 to thereafter select the answer fragments 25 selected by the player 1 in step D.
Step G1 occurs after step G. See
In yet another alterative embodiment, the method further comprising the following steps:
D1. the player 1 optionally selects a shuffle operation using the user interface 110;
D2. the game reorders the plurality of answer fragments 25 such that the answer fragments 25 are ordered differently than they were prior to step D1, with the plurality of answer fragments 25 remaining scrambled in relation to each other; and
D3. the game displays each of the answer fragments 25 using the user interface 110.
Step D1, if chosen to be performed by the player 1, occurs one or more times after step C and before, concurrent with, or after step D, with step D2 occurring immediately after step D1 and step D3 occurring immediately after step D2. See
In yet another alterative embodiment, the method further comprising the following steps:
D1. the player 1 optionally selects a cancel operation using the user interface 110, and
D2. the game cancels the selection of answer fragments 25 selected by the player 1.
Step D1, if chosen to be performed by the player 1, occurs one or more times concurrent with step D, with step D2 occurring immediately after step D1. See
In yet another alterative embodiment, the method further comprising the following step:
A1. the player 1 downloads the plurality of answers 5 and clues 7 onto the electronic device 100 from the internet.
Step A1 occurs prior to the performance of step A. See
Modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments of the game without departing from the subject or spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.
