Patent Application
20190060740
The embodiments presented provide a board game apparatus, and in particular, a multi-player board game apparatus wherein each player advances their playing pawn throughout the consecutively numbered grids of the board game in response to an incorrect linking of an associated word.
Board games challenges each player's memory, hand-to-eye coordination, and provide valuable team building skills and concepts such as creating strategies and tactics, social interaction, communication, and complex problem-solving. Each game has its own unique challenges and tactics while still providing an opportunity for each individual player to challenge his/her own imagination.
Traditionally many board games were designed to be played in a structured environment on pre-defined boards with strict rules of procedure and order, usually contained within the game's rulebook. These games required each player to follow the same repetitive steps until one player is declared a winner, leaving little room for individual ingenuity and tactical prowess. The resultant play became predictive, one-dimensional, and obsolete.
Conversely, in the past few years many board games have incorporated fantasy with reality which allows players to develop their own play pattern and leads to mixed results and games with no defined beginning or end. These freeform style games are typically controlled by arbitrary or player invented rules and are controlled or monitored by a single player which results in gameplay that is unpredictable, time-consuming, and difficult to construct. These obstacles make it difficult for players new to the group and especially those players new to the game to join an established game group without a substantial period required to learn and understand the house rules, playstyle, and interactive dynamics.
In response to the growing need for interactive play games and devices which require a level of personal creativity yet retain consistent gameplay and predictability for players, there has been a growing market for board games that incorporate both set components and player provided accompaniments. Often, these accompaniments are meant to build off of the set components of the game and permit the gameplay to remain consistent while the content develops and differs in each played game. By their nature, these player provided variables may be tethered to set components of the game without being limited to a finite number of potential expressions.
Though there are several game board systems and designs known in the art such as U.S. Design Pat. No. 389872 to Rhea; U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,898 to Merritt; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,571 to McWilliams; there is no single reference which discloses every feature of the embodiments shown.
The embodiments provided describe a multi-player word-linking board game apparatus configured wherein participants are required to word-link from an associated word provided from a drawn card or fellow player. The apparatus includes a planar board game having ten equilaterally spaced positions arranged around the perimeter of a first side with a variety of colors and word combinations blended into the background. The apparatus further includes a stack of playing cards, hourglass timer, and a plurality of game pawns. During use, the pre-determined first player draws a card from the stack of cards located at the center of the playing board while any player may simultaneously initiate the timer by turning over the hourglass timer. Each of the cards contains an “associating word” with which the subsequent player must correctly link to in order to advance gameplay to the next player in the round. Thereafter, each following subsequent player must link to the word provided by the player immediately preceding the turn.
The embodiments further illustrate a method of use (i.e., play) in which a winner is achieved by remaining in the game while other participating players advance through the successively numbered grids until they reach a final grid. The game is first prepared by gathering all related components of the apparatus, including the hourglass which is kept to the side and the stack of cards which are placed in a separate, designated grid in the center of the board. Gameplay is then initiated, beginning with organizing each of the players in successive order around the square-shaped board game for turn style gameplay. Once the players and apparatus components are properly arranged, the game pawns are distributed amongst players and placed at a starting position (i.e., a “0” grid or unnumbered non-grid position) in anticipation of a new round of play. The turn player first draws a card from the stack of playing cards located at the center of the game board and ends his turn, simultaneously any participating player may initiate the timer. Under this pre-determined timed condition, the next turn player must provide a new word link with the “associated word” drawn from the stack cards. If the turn player is able to “word link” within the allotted time, the turn ends and passes to the next player, or the word link may be challenged by any participating player. Each subsequent turn player must provide a word link for the word provided by the player immediately preceding the turn in the same manner as the player who first provides a word link to the work on the playing card that was drawn at the outset of the round. Each round continues with this turn style play until one turn player fails to successfully word link and the round ends. If the word link fails as a result of either a successful challenge or the turn player's failure to provide a word link within the allotted time, the round ends and the player will advance his playing pawn to the next successively numbered grid on the game board or to the first numbered grid if the pawn was still in a starting position. If the turn player has reached a pre-determined final grid, the player is out and no longer participates for the remainder of the game, and the game continues with a new round of play excluding that player. A winner is declared when all other players' pawns have reached the final grid, and the winning player's pawn is the last remaining on the board, not in the final grid.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
The specific details of the single embodiment or variety of embodiments described herein are set forth in this application. Any specific details of the embodiments are used for demonstration purposes only, and no unnecessary limitation or inferences are to be understood therefrom. Furthermore, as used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship, or order between such entities or elements.
There is shown in the embodiments a word-linking board game apparatus designed for multiple players to challenge individual creativity, terminology, and cognitive development by requiring each participant to create and link a newly created “word-link” from an “associated word” drawn from the stack of playing cards or alternatively created from the last word of a previously created word-link. The game may be played under timed conditions by flipping an hourglass timer between turns. When a player fails to create a word-link, allows the allotted time to lapse within the hourglass timer, or is successfully challenged based on the answer provided, the player must advance his/her playing pawn one successively numbered grid space on the game board. Play will continue in the same manner until a lone player has not reached the predetermined final grid. The last participating player remaining in the “round” is declared the winner, and a new round begins.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the views, there is shown in
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A new round of “Word-Link” is then started 312, beginning with organizing each of the players in successive order around the square-shaped board game for turn style gameplay. Once the players and apparatus components are properly arranged, the game pawns are distributed amongst players and placed at a starting position 314 (i.e., a “0” grid or unnumbered non-grid position) to begin the first round 316. The turn player first draws a card from the stack of playing cards 318 located at the center of the game board and ends his/her turn, simultaneously any participating player may initiate the timer 320 and place pressure on the player by creating timed conditions. Under this pre-determined timed condition, the next turn player must provide a new word link with the “associated word” drawn from the stack cards 322. If this turn player is able to “word link” within the allotted time remaining in the hourglass timer 28, the turn ends and passes to the next player 326, or the word link may be challenged by any participating player 328 who may believe the word-link provided is not valid. If the word is found to be invalid by a challenge from a second participating player 330, the turn player is required to advance his/her playing pawn one successively numbered grid 332. If the participating player has reached the pre-determined “final grid” or the play grid numbered “10”, the player is out of the current round and forfeits his/her turn for the remainder of the game.
The flow of the game is a condition of each player's ability to provide a “word-link” with the last word of the previous “word link” created or the “associating word” shown on the first side of a playing card. If the turn player has reached a pre-determined “final grid”, the player is out and no longer participates for the remainder of the game and the game continues with a new round of play excluding that player 338. A winner 340 is achieved when all other players' pawns have reached the final grid and the winning player's pawn is the last remaining on the board, not in the final grid. A new game may then be started according to the methods discussed above 342.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present embodiment is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the following claims.
