U.S. patent application number 13/155737 was filed with the patent office on 2011-12-08 for game dice with two attribute indicia.
Invention is credited to David L. Peterson.
Application Number | 20110300921 13/155737 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45064862 |
Filed Date | 2011-12-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110300921 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Peterson; David L. |
December 8, 2011 |
Game Dice with Two Attribute Indicia
Abstract
A set of N game dice, each of the N dice having at least N faces
with each of N faces of each die bearing one of a group of N.sup.2
design markings. The group of N.sup.2 design markings is formed by
the combination of each of N values of a first attribute series
with each of N values of a second attribute series. The N.sup.2
design markings are divided into N subgroups such that each
attribute value of each attribute series comprises only one design
marking in each of the subgroups. The N design markings of each
subgroup are borne by a multiple of N faces of a different die.
Each design marking is borne by the same multiple of faces.
Inventors: |
Peterson; David L.;
(US) |
Family ID: |
45064862 |
Appl. No.: |
13/155737 |
Filed: |
June 8, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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61352764 |
Jun 8, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/22 ;
273/146 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 9/0415 20130101;
A63F 2009/0484 20130101; A63F 2009/0479 20130101; A63F 9/0468
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/22 ;
273/146 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24; A63F 9/04 20060101 A63F009/04 |
Claims
1. A set of N game dice: each die having at least N faces; each
face of a multiple of N faces of each die bearing a design marking
selected from a group of N.sup.2 primary design markings; said
group of N.sup.2 primary design markings formed by combining each
of N values of a first design marking attribute series with each of
N values of a second design marking attribute series; said group of
N.sup.2 primary design markings split into N subgroups of N primary
design markings; such that each of the N values of said first
design marking attribute series comprises one of the N primary
design markings of each of the N subgroups and each of the N values
of said second design marking attribute series comprises one of the
N primary design markings of each of the N subgroups; each said
subgroup of N primary design markings borne by the faces of a
different die of said dice set; each of the N primary design
markings of said subgroup borne by the same multiple of faces of
said die.
2. The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 1 on one or
more of the following devices: electronic video game machines,
mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical devices,
and hand-held video devices.
3. The game dice as in claim 1, wherein each die has N faces and
each face of each die bears a different primary design marking.
4. The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 3 used on
one or more of the following devices: electronic video game
machines, mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical
devices, and hand-held video devices.
5. The game dice as in claim 3, wherein it is a set of six dice and
each die has six faces.
6. The game dice as in claim 5, wherein the first design marking
attribute type is quantity of dots and the second design marking
attribute type is color of dots.
7. The game dice as in claim 5, wherein the first design marking
attribute type is numeral and the second design marking attribute
type is color of die face.
8. The game dice as in claim 5, wherein the first design marking
attribute type is playing card rank and the second design marking
attribute type is playing card suit.
9. The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 5 used on
one or more of the following devices: electronic video game
machines, mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical
devices, and hand-held video devices.
10. The game dice as in claim 1, wherein each die has 2N faces and
two faces of each die bear the same primary design marking.
11. The game dice as in claim 10, wherein it is a set of five dice
and each die has ten faces.
12. The game dice as in claim 10, wherein it is a set of four dice
and each die has eight faces.
13. The game dice as in claim 10, wherein it is a set of three dice
and each die has six faces.
14. The game dice as in claim 1, wherein: each of the N dice has P
faces and P is larger than N; the first N faces of each of the N
dice bear a design marking from said group of N.sup.2 primary
design markings; each of the remaining P-N faces of each die bears
a secondary design marking with attributes different from the
elements of said first and second design marking attribute
series.
15. The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 14 used on
one or more of the following devices: electronic video game
machines, mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical
devices, and hand-held video devices.
16. The game dice as in claim 14, wherein the secondary design
markings are the same on each die.
17. The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 16 used on
one or more of the following devices: electronic video game
machines, mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical
devices, and hand-held video devices.
18. The game dice as in claim 16, wherein it is a set of five dice
and each die has six faces.
19. The game dice as in claim 18, wherein the first design marking
attribute type is shape, the second design marking attribute type
is shape color, and the secondary design marking is a shield.
20. The game dice as in claim 16, wherein it is a set of four dice
and each die has six faces.
21. The game dice as in claim 20, wherein the first design marking
attribute type is quantity of dots, the second design marking
attribute type is color of dots, a first secondary design marking
is money symbol, and a second secondary design marking is skull and
crossbones.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/352,764, filed Jun. 8, 2010, by the present
inventor.
BACKGROUND
Prior Art
[0002] The following is a tabulation of some prior art that
presently appears relevant:
U.S. Patents
TABLE-US-00001 [0003] U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date Patentee 4,258,919
1981 Mar. 31 Martelli 4,436,306 1984 Mar. 13 Sanders 5,125,660 1992
Jun. 30 Stahl 5,169,148 1992 Dec. 08 Wheeler 7,871,077 B2 2011 Jan.
18 Culvert 6,764,075 B2 2004 Jul. 20 Nigale 4,585,232 1986 Apr. 29
Sheppard and Darnell 6,659,868 B2 2003 Dec. 09 Stern 4,930,788 1990
Jun. 05 Roccanova 5,249,808 1993 Oct. 05 Batte 4,312,508 1982 Jan.
26 Wood 5,364,101 1994 Nov. 15 Spooner and Spooner
[0004] Dice have often been used as elements of games. Such games
take many forms, including those where the dice are elements of a
stand-alone dice game and others where, for example, the dice are
one element of a game consisting of many elements.
[0005] Dice have usually been used to randomly generate outcomes
for use in a game by throwing or rolling the dice onto a surface.
The use of dice for this purpose is so familiar to game players
that many computer and video games provide the digital equivalent
of rolling dice.
[0006] Decks of playing cards are also commonly used to randomly
generate outcomes for use in games. There is a significant
difference in the nature of the probability distributions of the
outcomes between rolling dice and dealing cards. Each card in a
deck and, equivalently, each die face in a set of dice is a
possible outcome. When a card is dealt from a deck, its outcome is
removed from the set of remaining possible outcomes. When one die
from a dice set is rolled, the upper horizontal face presents the
outcome. However, not only is this outcome removed from the set of
remaining possible outcomes, but so are the potential outcomes
present on the other faces of the rolled die. This physical
difference in how the outcomes are grouped and generated for dice
on the one hand and cards on the other is the source for the
difference in the nature of the probability distributions or
statistics of cards and dice.
[0007] Playing cards and the faces of dice have design markings or
indicia that convey information relevant to the various games.
These design markings typically have one or more attributes. The
design markings on conventional dice faces have one attribute type:
the number of dots. For conventional dice the series of attribute
values or elements is R={one dot, two dots, three dots, four dots,
five dots, six dots}. Conventional playing cards, often used for
the game of poker, having design markings with two attribute types:
rank and suit. For such a deck of cards, the series of attribute
values for rank is R={A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2} and
the series of attribute values for suit is S={spade, heart, clubs,
diamond}. The familiar playing card design markings are formed with
a value selected from each of the two attribute series, rank and
suit. Forming every possible combination of the thirteen rank
attribute values with the four suit attribute values results in the
familiar set of fifty-two different design markings.
[0008] Conventional dice are cubical blocks bearing a pattern of
dots on each face to indicate a numerical value from one to six. As
discussed, this single attribute of die face markings is to be
contrasted with conventional playing cards that bear markings with
two attribute types such as suit and rank or color and numerical
value. The use of a single attribute limits the complexity and
variety of games based on conventional dice compared to games based
on conventional playing cards, where two attributes contribute to
game play.
[0009] A set of dice have an advantage over a deck of cards in that
it is easier and quicker to generate new random outcomes. The set
of dice only need to be rolled, where as a deck of cards needs to
be shuffled prior to cards being dealt. This has prompted the
creation of dice games that are analogs to familiar card games.
[0010] In attempts to combine the advantages of cards and dice,
prior art includes examples of incorporating a second attribute
type into dice face design markings. Many of these examples are
poker-related or best-hand dice games, which include the dice game
Yacht and its variations.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,919 to Martelli (1981) disclosed a set
of five six-sided poker dice with design markings comprised of six
ranks and five suits. The rank attribute values are distributed
uniformly across the dice, in that each rank attribute value is
present on one of the faces of each die, while the suit attribute
values are not distributed in a uniform manner. A similar
distribution of design markings, comprised of six numerical values
and five colors, across five machine equivalent six-sided dice, is
used in the Ultimate Yahtzee.TM. computer game (Hasbro, 1996). U.S.
Pat. No. 4,436,306 to Sanders (1984) disclosed a set of five
eight-sided Yacht dice with design markings comprised of eight
numerical values and five colors. The numerical values are
distributed uniformly across the dice, while the colors are not.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,660 to Stahl (1992) disclosed a set of five
six-sided poker dice with design markings comprised of seven rank
values and four suit values on twenty-eight faces and `joker` on
the remaining two faces. In this example, neither the rank nor the
suit attribute values are distributed uniformly. U.S. Pat. No.
5,169,148 to Wheeler (1992) disclosed a set of thirteen four-sided
poker dice with design markings comprised of thirteen rank values
and four suit values. In this example, the suit attribute values
are distributed uniformly, while the rank attribute values are not.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,077 B2 disclosed a set of nine six-sided poker
dice with design markings comprised of thirteen rank values and
four suit values on fifty-two die faces and `joker` design marking
on the two remaining die faces. In this example, neither the rank
nor the suit attribute values are distributed uniformly.
[0012] Phase 10.TM. Dice (Fundex Games, 2008) is an example of a
dice game based on a non-poker card game. The dice set is comprised
of ten six-sided dice with design markings comprised of eleven rank
attribute values, numerical values one through ten and the letter
W, and four color attribute values. Neither the rank nor the color
attribute values are distributed uniformly.
[0013] The prior art also has examples of dice sets where the die
face design markings have more than a single attribute and the dice
game is not related to a conventional card game. U.S. Pat. No.
6,764,075 B2 to Nigale (2004) discloses a game that uses a
six-sided die with the six face design markings formed by every
combination of two colors with three numerical values. U.S. Pat.
No. 4,585,232 to Sheppard and Darnell (1986) disclosed a game the
uses two six-sided dice with twelve die face design markings formed
by every combination of three colors and four numerical values. The
color attribute values and the numerical values are not distributed
uniformly between the two dice.
[0014] Also prevalent in the prior art are dice sets in which the
die face design markings on each die are formed from a series of
attribute values, such as numerical value or shape, and a single
element of a second attribute series, such as color, is applied to
all the faces of a given die. Examples are conventional dice in
which the dice cubes are fabricated using plastics with different
pigments. Such dice comprise elements of the game disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 6,659,868 B2 to Stern (2003). Closely related is the
example of the Qwirkle.TM. Cubes game (Mind Ware, 2009). In this
example, the body of the dice are all the same color, each die
bearing design markings of six shape values in a single color
selected from a series of six colors.
[0015] Of relevance are examples of dice sets in which the faces of
each die have design markings comprised of a single different
attribute type. U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,788 and U.S. Pat. No. U.S. Pat.
No. 5,249,808 disclose games that have such dice as elements.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,508 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,101 both
disclose examples of dice in which a second attribute, such as
color, is added to a first attribute, such as numerical value or
alphabetic letter, in such a way that the number of different die
face design markings is not increased. The second attribute serves
to either break the first attribute series into groups or to
provide additional visual distinction for the first attribute.
Disadvantages:
[0017] One of the characteristics of a set of multiple conventional
dice is that the distribution of potential outcomes is the same for
any subset of the dice as it is for the whole set. For example, for
a set of conventional dice, the fraction of potential outcomes,
that is die faces, that show three dots, is the same, one sixth,
regardless of how many dice are being considered. When using the
two attribute dice of the prior art, rolling one or more dice from
the set results in changing the distribution of the two attributes
amongst the remaining potential outcomes. It is the non-uniform
distribution of the values of at least one of the attributes
amongst the dice of the prior art that causes this undesirable
trait. In actual game play, this undesirable aspect will cause
delays as the players evaluate what outcomes are possible. This
degrades the advantage of quick play that dice games have over card
games.
[0018] Any of dual attribute dice sets of the prior art is designed
for use in a specific game and is unsuitable to be used in a range
of game types. For example, the poker dice of the prior art are
unsuitable for the dice game analogs of trick-taking or
card-shedding card games.
SUMMARY
[0019] In accordance with one embodiment a dual attribute dice set
comprises a set of N dice, each die with N faces, for a total of
N.sup.2 die faces in the set. A group of N.sup.2 design markings is
formed by combining each of N values of one attribute type with
each of N values of a second attribute type. Each die face bears a
different design marking that have been distributed among the dice
such that each attribute value of each attribute type appears in
only one of the N design markings on each die.
Advantages
[0020] Accordingly several advantages of one or more aspects are as
follows: to provide two attribute dice sets that may be used in a
multitude of game types, that provide a balanced distribution of
attribute values, leading to easier game state evaluation and,
hence, quicker play. Other advantages of one or more aspects, such
as the possibility of novel dice game types, will be apparent from
a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0021] FIG. 1 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is six, the number of faces on each die is six, the
first attribute is the number of dots, and the second attribute is
the color of dots.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is six, the number of faces on each die is six, the
first attribute is rank (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9), and the second
attribute is suit (club, spade, heart, diamond, crown, anchor).
[0023] FIG. 3 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is six, the number of faces on each die is six, the
first attribute is rank (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9), and the second
attribute is colored suit (club and black design marking, spade and
black design marking, heart and red design marking, diamond and red
design marking, crown and blue design marking, anchor and blue
design marking).
[0024] FIG. 4 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is six, the number of faces on each die is six, the
first attribute is numeric value (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), and the second
attribute is expression of numeric value (number of dots, English
word, Arabic numeral, Roman numeral, Chinese numeral, binary).
[0025] FIG. 5 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is four, the number of faces on each die is eight,
the first attribute is numeral (1, 2, 3, 4), the second attribute
is color (color A, color B, color C, color D), and each different
design marking appears on two faces of the die bearing the design
marking.
[0026] FIG. 6 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is five, the number of faces on each die is six, the
first attribute is symbol, the second attribute is color (color A,
color B, color C, color D, color E), and one face of each die bears
a common design marking.
[0027] FIG. 7 is a representation of an embodiment in which the
number of dice is four, the number of faces on each die is six, the
first attribute is quantity of dots, the second attribute is color
of dots, one face of each die bears a first common design marking,
and a second face of each die bears a second common design
marking.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] FIG. 1 shows a representation of a first embodiment. In this
embodiment, the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have
cubic shapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute
R is number of dots and the second design marking attribute S is
color of dots. The first attribute values are R={one dot, two dots,
three dots, four dots, five dots, six dots}, and the second
attribute values are S={color A, color B, color C, color D, color
E, color F}. From the six values of the first attribute series and
the six values of the second attribute series, thirty-six different
die face design markings are formed by combining one of the six
values of the first attribute series with one of the six values of
the second attribute series. These thirty-six different die face
design markings are distributed on the faces of the dice as
follows. The first die of the dice set bears the following design
markings on its die faces: on the first face, one dot of color A;
on the second face, two dots of color B; on the third face, three
dots of color C; on the fourth face, four dots of color D; on the
fifth face, five dots of color E; and, on the sixth face, six dots
of color F. The second die of the dice set bears the following
design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one dot of
color D; on the second face, two dots of color A; on the third
face, three dots of color B; on the fourth face, four dots of color
E; on the fifth face, five dots of color F; and, on the sixth face,
six dots of color C. The third die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one
dot of color E; on the second face, two dots of color D; on the
third face, three dots of color A; on the fourth face, four dots of
color F; on the fifth face, five dots of color C; and, on the sixth
face, six dots of color B. The fourth die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one
dot of color B; on the second face, two dots of color C; on the
third face, three dots of color F; on the fourth face, four dots of
color A; on the fifth face, five dots of color D; and, on the sixth
face, six dots of color E. The fifth die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one
dot of color C; on the second face, two dots of color F; on the
third face, three dots of color E; on the fourth face, four dots of
color B; on the fifth face, five dots of color A; and, on the sixth
face, six dots of color D. The sixth die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one
dot of color F; on the second face, two dots of color E; on the
third face, three dots of color D; on the fourth face, four dots of
color C; on the fifth face, five dots of color B; and, on the sixth
face, six dots of color A. Colors A, B, C, D, E and F may be red,
orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, respectively.
[0029] FIG. 2 shows a representation of a second embodiment. In
this embodiment, the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have
cubic shapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute
R is rank and the second design marking attribute S is suit. The
first attribute values are R={A, K, Q, J, 10, 9}, and the second
attribute values are S={club, spade, heart, diamond, crown,
anchor}. From the six values of the first attribute series and the
six values of the second attribute series, thirty-six different die
face design markings are formed by combining one of the six values
of the first attribute series with one of the six values of the
second attribute series. These thirty-six different die face design
markings are distributed on the faces of the dice as follows. The
first die of the dice set bears the following design markings on
its die faces: on the first face, A of clubs; on the second face, K
of spades; on the third face, Q of crowns; on the fourth face, J of
anchors; on the fifth face, 10 of hearts; and, on the sixth face, 9
of diamonds. The second die of the dice set bears the following
design markings on its die faces: on the first face, A of spades;
on the second face, K of clubs; on the third face, Q of anchors; on
the fourth face, J of crowns; on the fifth face, 10 of diamonds;
and, on the sixth face, 9 of hearts. The third die of the dice set
bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first
face, A of hearts; on the second face, K of diamonds; on the third
face, Q of clubs; on the fourth face, J of spades; on the fifth
face, 10 of crowns; and, on the sixth face, 9 of anchors. The
fourth die of the dice set bears the following design markings on
its die faces: on the first face, A of diamonds; on the second
face, K of hearts; on the third face, Q of spades; on the fourth
face, J of clubs; on the fifth face, 10 of anchors; and, on the
sixth face, 9 of crowns. The fifth die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, A of
crowns; on the second face, K of anchors; on the third face, Q of
hearts; on the fourth face, J of diamonds; on the fifth face, 10 of
clubs; and, on the sixth face, 9 of spades. The sixth die of the
dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: on
the first face, A of anchors; on the second face, K of crowns; on
the third face, Q of diamonds; on the fourth face, J of hearts; on
the fifth face, 10 of spades; and, on the sixth face, 9 of
clubs.
[0030] FIG. 3 shows a representation of a third embodiment. In this
embodiment, the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have
cubic shapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute
R is rank and the second design marking attribute S is colored
suit. The first attribute values are R={A, K, Q, J, 10, 9}, and the
second attribute values are S={club and black design marking, spade
and black design marking, heart and red design marking, diamond and
red design marking, crown and blue design marking, anchor and blue
design marking}. From the six values of the first attribute series
and the six values of the second attribute series, thirty-six
different die face design markings are formed by combining one of
the six values of the first attribute series with one of the six
values of the second attribute series. These thirty-six different
die face design markings are distributed on the faces of the dice
as follows. The first die of the dice set bears the following
design markings on its die faces: on the first face, black A of
clubs; on the second face, black K of spades; on the third face,
blue Q of crowns; on the fourth face, blue J of anchors; on the
fifth face, red 10 of hearts; and, on the sixth face, red 9 of
diamonds. The second die of the dice set bears the following design
markings on its die faces: on the first face, black A of spades; on
the second face, black K of clubs; on the third face, blue Q of
anchors; on the fourth face, blue J of crowns; on the fifth face,
red 10 of diamonds; and, on the sixth face, red 9 of hearts. The
third die of the dice set bears the following design markings on
its die faces: on the first face, red A of hearts; on the second
face, red K of diamonds; on the third face, black Q of clubs; on
the fourth face, black J of spades; on the fifth face, blue 10 of
crowns; and, on the sixth face, blue 9 of anchors. The fourth die
of the dice set bears the following design markings on its die
faces: on the first face, red A of diamonds; on the second face,
red K of hearts; on the third face, black Q of spades; on the
fourth face, black J of clubs; on the fifth face, blue 10 of
anchors; and, on the sixth face, blue 9 of crowns. The fifth die of
the dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces:
on the first face, blue A of crowns; on the second face, blue K of
anchors; on the third face, red Q of hearts; on the fourth face,
red J of diamonds; on the fifth face, black 10 of clubs; and, on
the sixth face, black 9 of spades. The sixth die of the dice set
bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first
face, blue A of anchors; on the second face, blue K of crowns; on
the third face, red Q of diamonds; on the fourth face, red J of
hearts; on the fifth face, black 10 of spades; and, on the sixth
face, black 9 of clubs.
[0031] FIG. 4 shows a representation of a fourth embodiment. In
this embodiment, the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have
cubic shapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute
R is numeric value and the second design marking attribute S is
expression of a numeric value. The first attribute values are R={1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, and the second attribute values are S={number of
dots, English word, Arabic numeral, Roman numeral, Chinese numeral,
binary}. From the six values of the first attribute series and the
six values of the second attribute series, thirty-six different die
face design markings are formed by combining one of the six values
of the first attribute series with one of the six values of the
second attribute series. These thirty-six different die face design
markings are distributed on the faces of the dice as follows. The
first die of the dice set bears the following design markings on
its die faces: on the first face, one dot; on the second face, the
word `two`; on the third face, the Arabic numeral for three; on the
fourth face, the Roman numeral for four; on the fifth face, the
Chinese numeral for five; and, on the sixth face, the value six
expressed in binary. The second die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, the
value one expressed in binary; on the second face, two dots; on the
third face, the word `three`; on the fourth face, the Arabic
numeral for four; on the fifth face, the Roman numeral for five;
and, on the sixth face, the Chinese numeral for six. The third die
of the dice set bears the following design markings on its die
faces: on the first face, the Chinese numeral for one; on the
second face, the value two expressed in binary; on the third face,
three dots; on the fourth face, the word `four`; on the fifth face,
the Arabic numeral for five; and, on the sixth face, the Roman
numeral for six. The fourth die of the dice set bears the following
design markings on its die faces: on the first face, the Roman
numeral for one; on the second face, the Chinese numeral for two;
on the third face, the value three expressed in binary; on the
fourth face, four dots; on the fifth face, the word `five`; and, on
the sixth face, the Arabic numeral for six. The fifth die of the
dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: on
the first face, the Arabic numeral for one; on the second face, the
Roman numeral for two; on the third face, the Chinese numeral for
three; on the fourth face, the value four expressed in binary; on
the fifth face, five dots; and, on the sixth face, the word `six`.
The sixth die of the dice set bears the following design markings
on its die faces: on the first face, the word `one`; on the second
face, the Arabic numeral for two; on the third face, the Roman
numeral for three; on the fourth face, the Chinese numeral for
four; on the fifth face, the value five expressed as binary; and,
on the sixth face, six dots.
[0032] FIG. 5 shows a representation of a fifth embodiment. In this
embodiment, the dice set consists of four dice. These dice are
regular octahedrons with eight die faces. The first design marking
attribute R is numeral and the second design marking attribute S is
face color. The first attribute values are R={1, 2, 3, 4}, and the
second attribute values are S={color A, color B, color C, color D}.
From the four values of the first attribute series and the four
values of the second attribute series, sixteen different die face
design markings are formed by combining one of the four values of
the first attribute series with one of the four values of the
second attribute series. These sixteen different die face design
markings are distributed on the faces of the dice as follows. The
first die of the dice set bears the following design markings on
its die faces: on the first and sixth faces, numeral 1 on face of
color A; on the second and fifth faces, numeral 2 on face of color
B; on the third and eighth faces, numeral 3 on face of color C;
and, on the fourth and seventh faces, numeral 4 on face of color D.
The second die of the dice set bears the following design markings
on its die faces: on the first and sixth faces, numeral 1 on face
of color B; on the second and fifth faces, numeral 2 on face of
color C; on the third and eighth faces, numeral 3 on face of color
D; and, on the fourth and seventh faces, numeral 4 on face of color
A. The third die of the dice set bears the following design
markings on its die faces: on the first and sixth faces, numeral 1
on face of color C; on the second and fifth faces, numeral 2 on
face of color D; on the third and eighth faces, numeral 3 on face
of color A; and, on the fourth and seventh faces, numeral 4 on face
of color B. The fourth die of the dice set bears the following
design markings on its die faces: on the first and sixth faces,
numeral 1 on face of color D; on the second and fifth faces,
numeral 2 on face of color A; on the third and eighth faces,
numeral 3 on face of color B; and, on the fourth and seventh faces,
numeral 4 on face of color C. Colors A, B, C and D may be red,
yellow, green, and blue, respectively.
[0033] FIG. 6 shows a representation of a sixth embodiment. In this
embodiment, the dice set consists of five dice. These dice have
cubic shapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute
R is symbol shape and the second design marking attribute S is
symbol color. The first attribute values are R={first shape, second
shape, third shape, fourth shape, fifth shape}, and the second
attribute values are S={color A, color B, color C, color D, color
E}. From the five values of the first attribute series and the five
values of the second attribute series, twenty-five different
primary die face design markings are formed by combining one of the
five values of the first attribute series with one of the five
values of the second attribute series. These twenty-five different
primary die face design markings and five instances of a common
secondary die face marking, shield, are distributed on the faces of
the dice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears the
following design markings on its die faces: on the first face,
first shape of color A; on the second face, second shape of color
E; on the third face, third shape of color D; on the fourth face,
fourth shape of color C; on the fifth face, fifth shape of color B;
and, on the sixth face, shield. The second die of the dice set
bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first
face, first shape of color B; on the second face, second shape of
color A; on the third face, third shape of color E; on the fourth
face, fourth shape of color D; on the fifth face, fifth shape of
color C; and, on the sixth face, shield. The third die of the dice
set bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the
first face, first shape of color C; on the second face, second
shape of color B; on the third face, third shape of color A; on the
fourth face, fourth shape of color E; on the fifth face, fifth
shape of color D; and, on the sixth face, shield. The fourth die of
the dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces:
on the first face, first shape of color D; on the second face,
second shape of color C; on the third face, third shape of color B;
on the fourth face, fourth shape of color A; on the fifth face,
fifth shape of color E; and, on the sixth face, shield. The fifth
die of the dice set bears the following design markings on its die
faces: on the first face, first shape of color E; on the second
face, second shape of color D; on the third face, third shape of
color C; on the fourth face, fourth shape of color B; on the fifth
face, fifth shape of color A; and, on the sixth face, shield.
Colors A, B, C, D and E may be red, yellow, green, blue and purple,
respectively.
[0034] FIG. 7 shows a representation of a seventh embodiment. In
this embodiment, the dice set consists of four dice. These dice
have cubic shapes with six die faces. The first design marking
attribute R is number of dots and the second design marking
attribute S is color of dots. The first attribute values are R={one
dot, two dots, three dots, four dots}, and the second attribute
values are S={color A, color B, color C, color D}. From the four
values of the first attribute series and the four values of the
second attribute series, sixteen different primary die face design
markings are formed by combining one of the four values of the
first attribute series with one of the four values of the second
attribute series. These sixteen different primary die face design
markings, four instances of a first common secondary die face
marking, dollar symbol, and four instances of a second common
secondary die face marking, skull and crossbones symbol, are
distributed on the faces of the dice as follows. The first die of
the dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces:
on the first face, one dot of color A; on the second face, two dots
of color B; on the third face, three dots of color C; on the fourth
face, four dots of color D; on the fifth face, dollar symbol; and,
on the sixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. The second die of
the dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces:
on the first face, one dot of color D; on the second face, two dots
of color A; on the third face, three dots of color B; on the fourth
face, four dots of color C; on the fifth face, dollar symbol; and,
on the sixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. The third die of
the dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces:
on the first face, one dot of color C; on the second face, two dots
of color D; on the third face, three dots of color A; on the fourth
face, four dots of color B; on the fifth face, dollar symbol; and,
on the sixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. The fourth die of
the dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces:
on the first face, one dot of color B; on the second face, two dots
of color C; on the third face, three dots of color D; on the fourth
face, four dots of color A; on the fifth face, dollar symbol; and,
on the sixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. Colors A, B, C and
D may be red, yellow, green, and blue, respectively.
[0035] The dice sets of the first, second and third embodiments
have the same functionality and may be used in poker-related or
Yacht-like games. The dice may be rolled according to a variety of
game rules. For example, the entire set of dice may be rolled on
the first roll, and then subsets of the dice are selected for
subsequent second and third rolls. The goal of these type of games
would be to achieve the best poker-type hand, including straight
flush, flush, straight, pairs, triples, four-of-a-kind, etc. When
playing variations such as seven card stud and Texas hold-em, poker
hands are evaluated based on the best five cards, so these dice
games may analogously use `best five dice` evaluation rules.
[0036] These embodiments may also be used in dice games that mimic
card-shedding games, such as crazy eights and Uno.TM. (Mattel). In
such games, the dice would be rolled to form sequences in which
adjacent dice share an attribute element, such as a color or
numeric value. The goal of such games would be to assemble the
longest possible sequences.
[0037] Multiple sets of dice of the first, second and third
embodiments may also be used in dice games that mimic trick-taking
card games, such as Euchre or hearts. In such games, each player
would have a set of dice. These dice sets may have another
attribute, such as body color, so as to easily distinguish each
players' dice. These games may involve picking a trump suit and
following suit during a trick. The highest ranking die, determined
by the rules, would take each trick. The goal of such games is to
take or avoid tricks or points.
[0038] The fifth embodiment, with a smaller number of dice, may be
used in simpler versions of the same games as the first, second and
third embodiments.
[0039] The dice set of the sixth embodiment may be combined with an
additional two dice for a novel type of dice game. Each of the two
additional six-sided dice would have face design markings formed
from the values of each of the two attribute series. The first
additional die would have the first attribute series, symbol shape,
expressed in a neutral color, as the design markings. The second
additional die would have simple face design markings to indicate
the color values of the second attribute series. Both of the
additional dice may have the same common face design marking,
namely the shield. Rolling the two attribute series dice determines
which face design markings of the dice set of the sixth embodiment
represent positive points, and which represent negative points. The
shield design markings may represent a neutral outcome, resulting
in zero points. The goal of such a game would be to maximize the
outcome point value of the rolled dice of the sixth embodiment in a
certain number of rolls.
[0040] The dice set of the seventh embodiment may be used for
another novel type of dice game. Each player would have a dice set
of this embodiment. These dice sets may have another attribute,
such as body color, so as to easily distinguish each players' dice.
In turn, the players roll their dice one or more times to achieve
the best result. The skull and crossbones may require players to
add chips to a common bank, while the money symbol would allow
players to take chips from this bank. The player with the best
`hand` formed by the colored dots would receive a bonus, such as
chips equivalent to all players' money symbols. The goal of such a
game would be to have the most chips at the game's end.
RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE
[0041] Accordingly, the reader will see that the dual attribute
dice of the various embodiments may be used to provide balanced
outcome statistics for a variety of dice games, including games
that are analogs to best-hand or poker-like, card-shedding and
trick-taking card games as well as novel types of dice games.
[0042] Attribute types that may be used include, but are not
limited to: playing card rank, color, playing card suit, numerical
value, quantity, numeral, roman numeral, font, expression form,
shape, symbol, language, and pattern. In addition to visual
attribute types, an attribute series may be composed of any group
of attribute values that the users recognize as having a logical
connection. The dice set of the fourth embodiment is comprised of
an attribute series for which the values are different means of
expressing numerical values.
[0043] The design markings incorporated into the several
embodiments may be trademarked or copyrighted and the embodiments
may be used as material for commercial promotion. A couple of
examples serve to illustrate the range of possible attribute types
as well as use in commercial promotion. The first example is a set
of five six-sided dice similar to the sixth embodiment with a first
attribute type `city with a team from each of five professional
sports leagues` and a second attribute type `professional sports
team logo` with the values: football team logo, baseball team logo,
basketball team logo, hockey team logo, and soccer team logo. The
common design marking is the logo of a sports equipment company.
Such an embodiment would have the same game functionality as the
sixth embodiment, but it would also serve a commercial promotional
purpose as well. Similarly, such a dice set could have a first
attribute set of university and a second attribute set of
university identifier with values: university name, football helmet
graphic, sports team logo, sports team nickname, sports team motto.
The common design marking may be the logo of a college football
conference.
[0044] Anyone familiar with the art will recognize that all of the
several embodiments may be implemented as machine equivalents in
digital gaming devices, including, but not limited to electronic
video game devices, computers, and hand-held video devices. Any of
the several embodiments may be used as elements in games that
include elements such as cards, chips, game tokens, game boards,
tiles as well as other game elements.
[0045] Although the description above contains many specificities,
these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the
embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of
several embodiments.
[0046] Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by
the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the
examples given.
* * * * *