US20020145252A1

US20020145252A1 - Player elimination board and dice game

Info

Publication number: US20020145252A1
Application number: US09/826,668
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth Michalek
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-04-05
Filing date: 2001-04-05
Publication date: 2002-10-10

Abstract

A player elimination board and dice game having a board, two standard dice, nine flippers, and wherein flippers are chosen to be flipped according to the sum of the upper face value of two rolled dice or according to combinations of numbers which in sum equal the sum of the upper face value of the two rolled dice.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The instant invention relates to board games and more particularly to board games that utilize dice and elimination by mathematical mode.

BACKGROUND

People enjoy playing elimination dice games. Proficiency in mathematics is a useful skill. Numerous examples of games that employ dice, and some form of mathematical application, are known to exist.

The following represents a list of known related art:

U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,126 to Merrit, issued Nov., 18,1997;

U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,330 to Spears, issued Sep. 2, 1997;

U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,331 to Boe, issued Feb. 25, 1997;

U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,732 to Taylor, issued Jun. 6, 1995;

U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,430 to Strychewski, issued Dec. 28, 1993;

U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,381 issued Winters, Jan. 5, 1993;

U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,740 to Odhner, issued Nov. 21, 1989;

U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,386 to Rosenthal, issued May 30, 1989;

U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,938 to Gray, issued Jan. 13, 1987;

U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,836 to Regis, issued Nov. 6, 1984; and

U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,227 to Porciello, issued Nov. 16, 1982.

The teachings of each of the above-listed citations (which does not itself incorporate essential material by reference) are herein incorporated by reference. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Heretofore, application of methods and articles with the following characteristics have not been provided: (1) game play is not limited by the number of players; (2) players use two standard die in conjunction with operations of rolling dice, adding the dice faces, and figuring combinations of number pairs which equal the sum of the added die faces; (3) players are assigned scores based on the elimination of numbers which correspond to numerals on flippers; (4) play involves strategy and mathematical facility in selecting individual die numbers, dice sums, and dice combinations during play; and (5) the board, flippers, and dice tossing area are conveniently integrated and easy to manufacture.

Therefore, it is highly desirable to create methods and articles meeting these needs and objects. Potential customers for the present invention include families, persons, toy stores, game stores, and any person or entity that plays games, sells games, markets games, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. [0018]
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a flip. [0019]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention in play.[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention, mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like reference materials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding, or similar components in differing figure drawings. The figure drawings associated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensional accuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus on clarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy. [0021]
A board and dice game apparatus and method of play is provided. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and [0022] 3, board and dice game apparatus comprises a board 10, a flipper support portion 12 connected to the board, nine flippers 14 movably connected to said flipper support portion, and two standard six-sided die 16. Flippers can be flipped up 24 or down 22 and the flippers are numbered from one to nine in sequence, one number to a flipper.
In the preferred embodiment, the board is octoganal with a [0023] base 18, said base covered with a felt and enclosed by eight walls 20 corresponding to the octoganal shape of the base, said walls for the purpose of bouncing the dice off and keeping the dice within the board after tossing the dice. Flipper support apparatus is configured at the top of, lateral to, one of the walls and can also be connected to adjacent walls, as shown in FIG. 1. The flipper support portion includes a bar 26 upon which the flippers are rotatably connected. Bar is set in opposite ends of the flipper support portion, either through holes drilled in flipper support portion, or through cradles placed in flipper support portion. Flippers are aligned on said bar, ready to be flipped, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. In the preferred embodiment, the bar is made of steel. The bar can also be made of wood or plastic or any metal. Similarly, the base, walls, flipper support portion, and flippers can be plastic or wood or metal, the preferred embodiment being wood. The flippers can be any shape, provided the shape does not impede the flipability of said flippers. In the preferred embodiment, the flippers are rectangular.
In operation, the method of play follows a set of playing rules. There are no limit to the number of players who may participate in a game. Each player proceeds to play his or her turn in the following manner. All the flippers are set in the unflipped position, as shown in FIG. 1. The player rolls two dice, trying to eliminate all flippers by flipping them down. The player adds the upper face value of the two die to get a sum, and then eliminates the flipper or flippers corresponding to any two real nonnegative integers which add up to the sum of the upper face values of the two die. Alternatively, the player can choose to eliminate the flipper denominated with the numeral equal in value to the sum of the two upper face values of the dice, if that sum is “9” or less. An example includes a player who roles the two dice, and the upper face value of the first die is “3”, and the upper face value of the second die is “4”, with the sum of the two upper face values equal to “7”. Accordingly, the player can flip the flippers denominated “1” and “6”, or “5” and “2”, or “4” and “3”, or the flipper denominated “7”, as shown in FIG. 3. The player continues to role until the player can no longer match unused flipper numerals. The highest denominated flipper that remains unflipped is assigned to be the player's low score. This process is repeated for all players. The player with the lowest assigned score after all of the players have had a turn is the winner. If there is a tie, then no winner is declared and all players are tied. In case of a tie, the game is started over. This is continued until a winner is declared. [0024]
It is understood that modifications of the invention, in its various aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some being apparent only after study, others being matters of routine mechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, function or property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodiments are also possible, their specific designs depending upon the particular application. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiments herein described but should be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. [0025]

Claims

I claim:

1. A board and dice game apparatus comprising:

a. A board;

b. A flipper support portion connected to said board;

c. Nine flippers movably connected to said flipper support portion, wherein said flippers are numbered, from one to nine, one number per flipper, for a total of nine numbered flippers; and

d. Two six-sided die, each die being numbered on each side of die from one to six, with each number corresponding to a side of each die.

2. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein the board comprises:

a. a base; and

b. a plurality of walls connected to and encircling said base.

3. The game apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flipper support portion includes a bar, wherein said flippers are rotatably connected to said bar, and said bar is disposed along the length of one of said walls.

4. A method of playing a board and dice game, comprising the steps of:

a. Tossing two six-sided numbered die;

b. Adding the numbers on the tops sides of the two tossed die;

C. Flipping the flipper or flippers corresponding to:

I. The number equaling the sum of said added numbers; or

II. The two numbers which in sum equal the sum of said added numbers;

d Repeating each of said foregoing steps a-c until no flipper can be flipped;

e. Assigning to the player a number equal to the number on the highest denominated unflipped flipper;

f. Repeating each of said foregoing steps a-e for the second and remaining players in the game, until all players have an assigned number;

g. In the event that the lowest assigned number is held by two or more players, repeating steps a-f until only one player has the lowest assigned number; and

h. Declaring the player with the lowest numbered player to be the winner.