Method Of Playing A Game Wherein Cards Cover Board Sections

Abstract

A novel parlor game, equipment upon which and with which such game is played, and methods for playing same are described. The equipment includes a playing board, the playing surface of which is subdivided vertically and horizontally into a plurality of sections, and a plurality of separately identifiable but identically marked card packs, each containing one card corresponding to each of said sections plus "wild" cards and "special" cards. Cards are drawn from the card packs and placed on corresponding sections of the board. The winner is the first player to place five of his own cards in a contiguous horizontal, vertical, or oblique row or to place one of his own cards in each of the four corners. The "wild" cards may occupy any board section and the "special" cards may replace an opponent's card on a given board section.

Description

The invention relates generally to games, and more particularly to a totally new concept for a parlor game which may be played quickly and easily and which obtains a delightful balance between luck and skill.

There are, of course, many diverse types of parlor games currently available. Some involve "luck" and some involve skill.

For instance, there are those of the "battleplan" type, such as chess, which require a high degree of skill and take a great deal of time to complete if any degree of success is to be obtained.

Then there are those of the "chase" type, such as Game of India and the like, which rely considerably more on elements of chance and require but little skill. As a result, while being quickly completed, such games do not offer the more rewarding victory which results from a game where cleverness and wits are involved.

The so-called "business, stock market, and real estate" games, while providing the thinking man a challenge, are for the most part quite complex in play and quite tedious in completion.

It was while confronted with these various alternatives which I deemed unsatisfactory, that I developed the present game and the equipment and methods for playing it.

Accordingly, a prime object of the present invention is to provide a parlor game and equipment upon which and with which to play it which would provide a happy blend of luck and intellectual skill.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel game which can be readily played by people of wide age range so that family groups as well as recreational centers would find it an entertaining yet challenging endeavor for pleasantly passing leisure time.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new parlor game which uniquely combines the thrill of good luck and the satisfaction of wise decision making with the charm of cunning strategy in achieving victory.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a game utilizing a playing board whose playing surface is subdivided vertically and horizontally into a plurality of rectangular playing areas or sections, each identified differently, and a plurality of separately identifiable but identically marked card packs whereby, through sequential play, a player must align a certain number of his own cards in designated patterns to win.

These and still further objects as shall hereinafter appear are fulfilled by the present invention in a remarkably unexpected fashion as will be readily discerned from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, especially when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the playing surface of a game board embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric showing of a game in progress in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 3-5 are plan views of the playing surface of a game board embodying the present invention showing three different winning alignments created by playing cards thereupon;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a marker of a type which may be employed in the play of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a regular card embodying the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the face of a knocker card according to the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the face of a wild card according to the invention .

By referring to the drawings, and FIG. 1 in particular, it will be seen that a playing board 11 has been divided into a plurality of, preferably 10, vertical sections or files 12, each of which bears distinct identification, e.g., "1," "2," "3" . . . "8," "9," "10," and a plurality of, preferably five, horizontal sections or ranks 13, each of which bears its own distinct identification, e.g., "A," "B," "C," "D" and "E." With each rank and file thus independently identified, each rectangular section, as defined by the overlapping ranks and files, has its own distinct identification and can be readily located. For example, a section 14, such as is defined by the overlapping of rank "E" and file "10," is called section "E-10."

To further describe the equipment and apparatus with which the game is played, reference will now be made to FIGS. 2, 6 and 7. Each player, for instance four, is provided with a pack of cards 16 and a stack of markers 17.

A suitable marker 17, as shown in FIG. 6, may be a simple circular disk or chip or it may be of any suitable configuration.

Each pack of cards 16 is color coordinated to the players stack of markers 17 so that those cards and markers originally belonging to a particular player are always identifiable. Thus, for instance, the player seated in the north position will have markers and cards whose background or basic color is red, while the player in the east position will have markers and cards whose background color is blue. In a similar fashion, the equipment for south may be yellow and the equipment for west may be green. Of course, the particular colors selected are not critical provided the ability to distinguish between the played cards of the several players is obtained.

Each pack of cards will contain a number of cards corresponding to the number of sections 14 on the playing board plus additional cards as will appear.

To play on the specific board shown in FIG. 1, each player will have 50 cards, each numbered and lettered to correspond to a different section 14. For example, in FIG. 7, the face of the card corresponding to that section defined by the overlapping of rank "B" and file "4" is shown. The indicia in the board sections and on the face of each of the several cards is preferably repeated, one inverse to the other, to enhance readability and hence identification of the several cards and sections.

In addition to the cards bearing indicia of each of the several sections, hereincalled "regular cards," each pack further contains two "wild" cards and two "special" cards, the exact function of which will be hereinafter described.

As constituted for play on the board of FIG. 1, each player shall have a pack 16 containing 54 cards.

It has been found desirable, though not essential, to provide each player with a card tray having two compartments, one for the untouched cards and one for discards. A suitable tray for this purpose is the so-called Canasta tray.

Prior to commencing play, each player hands his card pack to an opponent for shuffling and thereafter places his returned shuffled pack facedown before him.

To start the game, each player draws two cards from the top of his own pack. Then, commencing with a player, selected either by lot or by prior results, each will, in turn, play or discard one card. Upon reaching his decision and carrying it through, the player then draws a fresh card from the top of his pack of unplayed cards to restore his hand to two cards.

Only one card can be used each turn and once a card is discarded, it cannot be used again during that shuffle.

The play of a card bearing the identification of a playing board section, such for example as "B-4" shown in FIG. 7, is faceup on the corresponding section of the board provided that section is empty. If another player has already covered section "B-4" with his own card, the latecomer's card is "dead" for that particular shuffle.

The play developes by each player in turn playing or discarding a card. The regular cards, that is, those bearing section identification, can be used only to cover spaces which are previously uncovered. The card played must always conform, both as to rank and as to file designation, with the identification of the section to be covered.

The "wild" card, when it appears in a player's hand, cannot be discarded. It can however, be used to cover any uncovered space, either to win or block. In a more difficult form of my game, I find it especially desirable to limit the position in which a "wild" card may appear in a winning alignment, that is, it can be the center card only of the five-in-a-row required to win. It, as will appear, can be used in any of the four corners to win. As a blocking card, as will appear, the "wild" card may be played on any uncovered section.

The "Special Card," when it appears in a player's hand, cannot be discarded and cannot be used to cover any open section. It can, however, be used to cover over another player's regular card which has been duly played on a section. The Special Card, or "knocker card" (as I call it), is thus used to knock out, i.e., disrupt, the opponent's playing plan by changing the ownership of a particular section from the opponent, who originally claimed it by depositing his card upon it, to that of the player who deposited his "knocker" card on top of the opponent's card. The opponent's card, thus covered, does not count in determining whether a winning combination has been established by the opponent but the "knocker" card is countable by its player in determining whether he has now established or is about to establish a winning combination. The Special Card can appear anywhere within the winning combination since its specific location, relative to other cards in the combination, is not restricted.

Utilizing the foregoing play pattern, each player has as his goal to be the first player, using only his own cards, to cover five spaces in a row, either vertically, as shown in FIG. 3, or horizontally, as shown in FIG. 4, or obliquely, as shown in FIG. 5. A fourth winning position, not deemed necessary to illustrate because of its understandability, consists of covering all four corners with cards from the player's own pack. These may be either regular cards or Wild cards or knocker cards.

One convenient system of scoring which I find enjoyable when continuous play is desired, involves the use of the markers 17 and three containers or pots. By providing each player with a fixed number of markers, for example, 50, a limit is placed on the game. The transfer of markers, from one player to another is obtained by establishing a first container or "pot" for the winner of each shuffle, a second "pot" for the winner of every fifth shuffle, and a third "pot" for the player who wins by playing the four corners.

At each shuffle, each player will deposit or ante a marker in each of the three pots. Because of the bonus provided the winner of every fifth game, the ante for that game can be omitted if desired.

Certain penalties are established which enhance play and encourage alertness. Thus, if a regular card is played on a wrong section, and play continues without the error being discovered, the offending player, upon detection, must remove the erroneously played card from the board, discard it, and place a marker in each of the three pots.

Further penalties arise when one player completes play by obtaining his cards in a winning alignment and other players have either Wild cards or Special cards in their hand (not in their tray). Such an event requires the player so caught to pay to the winner, a number of markers for his holdings. A penalty of five markers for holding a Special card and a penalty of three markers for holding a Wild card appears to be properly proportionate to the other values described.

On occasion, all spaces or sections will be covered. If this occurs at a time when all Special cards have been played and no player has established a winning alignment, the hand is declared "deadlocked" and any player holding a Wild card in his hand must pay three markers to the first pot.

If when all spaces are covered, some players still have Special cards in their packs, they continue to play while those who have already exhausted their Special cards drop out. Again, a player dropping out with a Wild card in his hand must pay a penalty of three markers to the winner's pot. The players remaining continue play until either a winner or a deadlock is declared.

In either event, the players ante again, reclaim and shuffle their respective cards and go on with a clean board, utilizing the methods and equipment described in their play.

From the foregoing, it becomes apparent that I have developed a highly entertaining and challenging game, yet one which meets all of my aforestated objectives in a remarkably unexpected fashion. It is, of course, understood that the embodiment herein described and illustrated is presented to exemplify my invention rather than to limit it and that such modifications, variations and alterations as may readily occur to the artisan confronted with this disclosure, are intended included within the spirit of this invention as defined by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In the method of playing a game having a board surface with a plurality of sections defined thereupon in rank and file relationship thereto, each section in each one of said ranks bearing a rank identification which is different from the identification borne by a section in any other rank, each section in each of said files bearing a file identification which is different from the identification borne by a section in any other file, and a plurality of card packs, each of said packs being colored to distinguish that pack from each of the other packs, each of said packs containing a plurality of knocker cards, a plurality of wild cards and a plurality of regular cards, said regular cards being equal in number to said sections and each bearing indicia identical to a different one of said sections, said wild cards bearing indicia different from any appearing on any of said regular cards, said knocker cards bearing indicia different from any appearing on any of said wild cards or on any of said regular cards: the steps of each player shuffling his pack of cards; each player placing the shuffled pack facedown adjacent the playing surface whereupon the indicia are hidden from the view of all players; each player drawing two cards from his pack to comprise a hand; thereafter each player in sequence selecting and executing a first play from the group comprising playing a regular card from his hand by placing it on an uncovered section of said playing surface having indicia corresponding to said regular card, playing a wild card from his hand by placing it on an uncovered section of said playing surface, playing a knocker card from his hand by placing it on a section of said surface covered by an opponent's card, discarding one of said cards from his hand onto a discard pile, replacing each played or discarded card with another drawn from his pack; and thereafter repeating said procedure in player sequence with such repeated procedure including the selection and execution onto said playing surface of a further play from said group different from the first selected play, and such repeated procedure also including the discarding of a card from the hand onto said discard pile; the repeated procedure being continued in player sequence until one of said players succeeds in placing five of his own cards in a contiguous horizontal or vertical or oblique row on said surface or in placing one of his own cards on each of the four corners of said playing surface.