US20040051244A1 - Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game - Google Patents
Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game Download PDFInfo
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- US20040051244A1 US20040051244A1 US10/243,624 US24362402A US2004051244A1 US 20040051244 A1 US20040051244 A1 US 20040051244A1 US 24362402 A US24362402 A US 24362402A US 2004051244 A1 US2004051244 A1 US 2004051244A1
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- game
- game piece
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F3/00—Board games; Raffle games
- A63F3/00697—Playing pieces
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F3/00—Board games; Raffle games
- A63F3/00173—Characteristics of game boards, alone or in relation to supporting structures or playing piece
- A63F3/00261—Details of game boards, e.g. rotatable, slidable or replaceable parts, modular game boards, vertical game boards
- A63F2003/00264—Details of game boards, e.g. rotatable, slidable or replaceable parts, modular game boards, vertical game boards with rotatable or tiltable parts
- A63F2003/00268—Details of game boards, e.g. rotatable, slidable or replaceable parts, modular game boards, vertical game boards with rotatable or tiltable parts about a vertical axis, e.g. a disc
- A63F2003/00271—Details of game boards, e.g. rotatable, slidable or replaceable parts, modular game boards, vertical game boards with rotatable or tiltable parts about a vertical axis, e.g. a disc underneath the playing surface and viewable through holes or windows
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F3/00—Board games; Raffle games
- A63F3/00697—Playing pieces
- A63F2003/00716—Connectable or stackable playing pieces or parts thereof
- A63F2003/00719—Connectable or stackable playing pieces or parts thereof with connections amongst the playing pieces or parts thereof
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F3/00—Board games; Raffle games
- A63F3/00697—Playing pieces
- A63F2003/00716—Connectable or stackable playing pieces or parts thereof
- A63F2003/00719—Connectable or stackable playing pieces or parts thereof with connections amongst the playing pieces or parts thereof
- A63F2003/00725—Peg and socket connection
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F2300/00—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game
- A63F2300/60—Methods for processing data by generating or executing the game program
- A63F2300/65—Methods for processing data by generating or executing the game program for computing the condition of a game character
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F3/00—Board games; Raffle games
- A63F3/00003—Types of board games
- A63F3/00075—War games
Definitions
- the invention relates to games involving the use of game pieces representing characters in the games.
- a degree of realism can be added to games, especially war and fantasy games, through the use of miniature figures to represent characters in the games.
- Each participant in the game manipulates characters, each represented by a miniature figure and each being endowed with certain characteristics, e.g., attack strength and defense strength, that enter into the resolution of a given event, such as a battle or other interface between characters.
- attack strength and defense strength certain characteristics
- the invention described herein provides interconnecting game pieces for a game wherein all of the information needed to effectively strategize is provided on the game piece itself. Record keeping is incorporated onto the game piece bases to obviate the need for complex charts or manuals.
- the permanent information includes symbols located on the sides of the upper surfaces of the bases. The players must match the symbols to align adjacent figures to form an army.
- the variable information includes variable symbols that indicate attack characteristics. A player may also increase the abilities of a given game piece by positioning game pieces with similar patterns of variable symbols adjacent to each other, for example, to increase attacking characteristics of the adjacent game pieces.
- FIG. 1 is top view of a game piece base embodying the invention.
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the game piece base illustrated in FIG. 1, including a representational figure.
- FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an alternate embodiment of the game piece base illustrated in FIG. 2.
- FIG. 4 is a top view of one possible configuration of a player's game pieces for use with the illustrated invention.
- Miniature figures are often used in games, especially war and fantasy games, to represent characters in the games. These characters, for example, can be a Roman legionnaire, a Civil War Union soldier, a magician, or a mythical beast, depending on the game. Games can be played to re-enact historical battles, such as the Spartan defense of Thermopylae against the invading Persian army under King Xerxes, or to create a fantastical battle such as one pitting elves and humans against trolls and orcs. Each participant in the game commands an army of characters, each represented by a miniature figure. Each character is endowed with certain strengths and weaknesses, all of which enter into the resolution of a given battle.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a game piece 4 for use in a game that is designed to provide all of the needed information for effectively strategizing during a game.
- Each game piece 4 includes a base 6 .
- Each base 6 includes a self-contained record-keeping device 8 similar to that described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/958,201, filed Oct. 5, 2001, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein.
- the base 6 is shown as a square. It is to be understood, however, that the base 6 could be six-sided or any suitable size or shape to facilitate building an army for use in a game.
- the base 6 is designed to align with other game pieces on all sides. As shown in FIG. 1, the base 6 may also include a mechanism for physically connecting one game piece to another. In the illustrated embodiment, the mechanism is a standard male/female connection, illustrated by the male projection 16 and the female receptacle 20 . However, it is to be understood that the mechanism could be a magnet or any other mechanism appropriate for physically interlocking the bases 6 together. It is further understood that the game piece base 6 may be used without physically interlocking the bases 6 at all. The bases 6 could alternatively be connected on the playing surface simply by placing one game piece base 6 next to an adjacent game piece base 6 in the desired formation.
- Each game piece base 6 contains two types of information relating to how that game piece performs in a game: permanent information 24 and variable information 28 .
- the permanent information 24 or connection codes, is located on the sides 32 of the upper surface of the game piece base 6 .
- the connection codes 24 are blocks of different colors, with each base 6 having a pattern of color blocks on it. It is understood that the connection codes 24 can also be shapes, numbers, or any other symbols appropriate for aligning game piece bases.
- the connection codes 24 In order to place one game piece base 6 adjacent another game piece base 6 , the connection codes 24 must match between the adjacent sides 32 of the bases 6 .
- This information 24 is used in the first level of strategizing how to align a player's army.
- Other forms of permanent information can be located on the base disk 56 and used to strategize which game pieces 4 are selected from a given group of game pieces 4 .
- the permanent information 24 may consist of different types of physical connectors at various locations around the bases.
- connection codes would be the different connection types, rather than symbols on the game piece bases.
- variable information 28 is displayed on the base 6 by the self-contained recordkeeping device 8 through an aperture 36 in the self-contained record-keeping device 8 .
- the variable information 28 represents the current status of the game piece during a game.
- the variable information 28 is a group of different symbols 40 that represent attack characteristics, and numbers 44 that represent both attack 45 and defense 47 characteristics. These symbols 40 and numbers 44 will be described in more detail below. It is understood, however, that the variable information 28 can also be colors, symbols, numbers, letters, any combination of these or any other type of information that is suitable for representing the current status of a game piece in a game.
- FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein the game piece base 6 is coupled with a representational figure 48.
- the figure 48 represents a character in the game and the variable information 28 represents characteristics of that character.
- the figure 48 is coupled with the self-contained record-keeping device 8 such that rotating the figure 48 shows different statistics about that character in the aperture 36 , thereby changing the status of that character in the game.
- FIG. 3 illustrates another view of the embodiment described in FIG. 2, showing the record-keeping device 8 in more detail.
- the record-keeping device 8 includes a label 52 that contains the variable information 28 representing the characteristics of the character in the game.
- the record-keeping device 8 also includes a base disk 56 and a selector disk 60 .
- the record-keeping device 8 is removable from and insertable into the base 6 in such a way that allows the player to align the bases 6 using the connection codes 24 as desired and then reconfigure the record-keeping device 8 so that the figure 48 always begins a game facing forward.
- the label 52 contains six sets of variable information 28 , but could contain any number of sets and remain within the scope of the present invention.
- CREEPY FREAKS a game called CREEPY FREAKS will be used as an example to illustrate the invention.
- a player builds an army 64 from his collection of game pieces 4 to protect his king 72 from attack by an opposing army 64 .
- FIG. 4 illustrates one possible configuration of a player's army 64 and will be described in detail below.
- the terms game piece and soldier are used interchangeably.
- a game may be played using game piece bases 6 with or without an attached figure 48.
- each time a soldier 4 takes a point damage during a game the player clicks the self-contained record-keeping device 8 clockwise to the next set of symbols 40 and numbers 44 .
- Each point of damage taken by a soldier 4 changes the symbols 40 and numbers 44 thereby changing the soldier's characteristics, typically reducing the soldier's effectiveness.
- Each time a soldier 4 takes a click of healing during the game the player clicks the self-contained record-keeping device 8 counter-clockwise. When the soldier 4 has taken six clicks of damage, the soldier has turned 180° on the game piece base 6 and is said to run away. The player then removes that soldier 4 from the play area.
- the permanent information 24 is used to align a player's army in formation.
- the permanent information 24 are color blocks that are located on each side 32 of the base 6 .
- the color block 24 on the base 6 of the first game piece 4 must match the color block 24 on the adjacent side of the base 6 of the second game piece 4 .
- CREEPY FREAKS is a two-player game that involves army building, dice rolling and pattern matching. Each player will build an army 64 out of a single king 72 plus any other ten soldiers 4 . It should be noted that CREEPY FREAKS can be played with any number of soldiers 4 greater than two plus a king 72 . A game can be played on any flat surface, such as a table or the floor. Thus, a player needs soldiers 4 , a king 72 , and multiple six-sided dice to play the game. The players flip a coin to determine who is the first player.
- Each soldier 4 can have up to four other soldiers 4 connected to that soldier's base 6 as long as the color blocks match between adjacent sides of the soldiers 4 .
- the player can remove the record-keeping device 8 from the base 6 and reinsert the recordkeeping device 8 into the base 6 so that the figure 48 is facing forward. If a player cannot place any more soldiers 4 , his set-up is over and his opponent continues setting up until he is finished.
- FIG. 4 illustrates one possible configuration a player may use to set up his army 64 to defend his king 72 .
- the position of the record-keeping devices 8 shown in FIG. 4 is merely representational of the different amounts of damage that a player's soldiers 4 may have taken during a game. As stated above, when beginning a game, all of a player's soldiers 4 must face forward, in the same direction the king 72 faces.
- CREEPY FREAKS is played in a series of alternating turns between the two players. Each turn consists of either one attack or one move. The first player gets the first turn. The purpose of the game is to protect your king 72 from attack while at the same time trying to attack the king 72 of your opponent.
- a player may only attack with a soldier 4 that is in his front rank 76 .
- the front rank 76 consists of all of the soldiers 4 that are in the row that is furthest forward in the army 64 .
- Soldiers 4 do not have to be connected laterally to each other to be in the front rank 76 at the same time.
- An attacking soldier 4 can only attack an opposing soldier 4 that is in the other player's front rank 76 .
- any attacking soldier's symbol pattern 40 is the same as the symbol pattern 40 of any soldier 4 connected to that attacking soldier 4 , the connected soldier 4 is also considered an attacker. Compare the symbols rolled on the dice to the symbols 40 in the attacker's aperture 36 and to the symbols 40 of any connected soldier 4 having a matching symbol pattern 40 . Score one click of damage for each symbol 40 matched on each attacker by the roll. A symbol 40 can only be matched once per roll per attacker.
- the defender is damaged by any amount, do one click of damage to that soldier 4 and any soldier connected directly adjacent to the defender if the connected soldier 4 has a matching symbol pattern 40 . Once a soldier 4 has taken six clicks of damage, it runs away and should immediately be removed from play. If, upon removing a soldier 4 that has run away, any of the soldiers 4 that were adjacent to the departed soldier 4 can no longer trace a connection back to the king 72 (i.e. it is no longer connected to any other soldiers 4 ), that soldier 4 is widowed and must be immediately removed from play as well.
- Ending the Game The game ends when one player's king 72 runs away. The winner is the player whose king 72 remains on the table.
Abstract
Apparatus and method for interconnecting game pieces for play in a game providing all of the information needed to effectively strategize on the game piece. The method includes connecting the game pieces in formation by matching connection codes on the bases of adjacent game pieces. That connection can also strengthen the abilities of the game pieces by matching variable symbols on the game pieces.
Description
- The invention relates to games involving the use of game pieces representing characters in the games.
- A degree of realism can be added to games, especially war and fantasy games, through the use of miniature figures to represent characters in the games. Each participant in the game manipulates characters, each represented by a miniature figure and each being endowed with certain characteristics, e.g., attack strength and defense strength, that enter into the resolution of a given event, such as a battle or other interface between characters. As the complexity of each character and each scenario grows, and as the number of characters increases, the complexity of the game increases.
- In some of these games, the configuration and positioning of the figures into armies is an essential part of a strategy for a successful game. Regardless of what constitutes a successful outcome, i.e. whether the goal is to have the most characters left at the end of the game or the protection of a single character, how a player chooses to place the characters in the field of play can affect that player's success. When learning to play these types of interactive games, learning how to effectively organize the characters is often the most difficult part of the game.
- Many of these games require voluminous rules of play manuals. These manuals include massive amounts of rules and statistics for all of the figures in the game. The number of included statistics makes it difficult for a player to find a specific figure's statistics. In addition, a player is limited to figures included in their specific manual. All of these factors make strategizing very difficult. Further, the rules often entail detailed record keeping by the players, which are often recorded on miscellaneous slips of paper that can become misplaced or disorganized.
- Accordingly, the invention described herein provides interconnecting game pieces for a game wherein all of the information needed to effectively strategize is provided on the game piece itself. Record keeping is incorporated onto the game piece bases to obviate the need for complex charts or manuals.
- Two types of information are provided on each game piece, permanent information and variable information, each providing a different level of strategy. The permanent information includes symbols located on the sides of the upper surfaces of the bases. The players must match the symbols to align adjacent figures to form an army. The variable information includes variable symbols that indicate attack characteristics. A player may also increase the abilities of a given game piece by positioning game pieces with similar patterns of variable symbols adjacent to each other, for example, to increase attacking characteristics of the adjacent game pieces.
- Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims, and drawings.
- FIG. 1 is top view of a game piece base embodying the invention.
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the game piece base illustrated in FIG. 1, including a representational figure.
- FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an alternate embodiment of the game piece base illustrated in FIG. 2.
- FIG. 4 is a top view of one possible configuration of a player's game pieces for use with the illustrated invention.
- Before one embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.
- Miniature figures are often used in games, especially war and fantasy games, to represent characters in the games. These characters, for example, can be a Roman legionnaire, a Civil War Union soldier, a magician, or a mythical beast, depending on the game. Games can be played to re-enact historical battles, such as the Spartan defense of Thermopylae against the invading Persian army under King Xerxes, or to create a fantastical battle such as one pitting elves and humans against trolls and orcs. Each participant in the game commands an army of characters, each represented by a miniature figure. Each character is endowed with certain strengths and weaknesses, all of which enter into the resolution of a given battle.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a
game piece 4 for use in a game that is designed to provide all of the needed information for effectively strategizing during a game. Eachgame piece 4 includes abase 6. Eachbase 6 includes a self-contained record-keeping device 8 similar to that described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/958,201, filed Oct. 5, 2001, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein. In the illustrated embodiment, thebase 6 is shown as a square. It is to be understood, however, that thebase 6 could be six-sided or any suitable size or shape to facilitate building an army for use in a game. - The
base 6 is designed to align with other game pieces on all sides. As shown in FIG. 1, thebase 6 may also include a mechanism for physically connecting one game piece to another. In the illustrated embodiment, the mechanism is a standard male/female connection, illustrated by themale projection 16 and thefemale receptacle 20. However, it is to be understood that the mechanism could be a magnet or any other mechanism appropriate for physically interlocking thebases 6 together. It is further understood that thegame piece base 6 may be used without physically interlocking thebases 6 at all. Thebases 6 could alternatively be connected on the playing surface simply by placing onegame piece base 6 next to an adjacentgame piece base 6 in the desired formation. - Each
game piece base 6 contains two types of information relating to how that game piece performs in a game:permanent information 24 andvariable information 28. Thepermanent information 24, or connection codes, is located on thesides 32 of the upper surface of thegame piece base 6. In the illustrated embodiment, theconnection codes 24 are blocks of different colors, with eachbase 6 having a pattern of color blocks on it. It is understood that theconnection codes 24 can also be shapes, numbers, or any other symbols appropriate for aligning game piece bases. In order to place onegame piece base 6 adjacent anothergame piece base 6, theconnection codes 24 must match between theadjacent sides 32 of thebases 6. Thisinformation 24 is used in the first level of strategizing how to align a player's army. Other forms of permanent information can be located on thebase disk 56 and used to strategize whichgame pieces 4 are selected from a given group ofgame pieces 4. - In other embodiments, the
permanent information 24 may consist of different types of physical connectors at various locations around the bases. By providing different connection types at different locations on thebases 6, only certain figures would fit together in alignment, for example, how a puzzle piece only has one correct fit in a puzzle. In this embodiment, the connection codes would be the different connection types, rather than symbols on the game piece bases. - The
variable information 28 is displayed on thebase 6 by the self-containedrecordkeeping device 8 through anaperture 36 in the self-contained record-keeping device 8. Thevariable information 28 represents the current status of the game piece during a game. As shown in FIG. 1, thevariable information 28 is a group ofdifferent symbols 40 that represent attack characteristics, andnumbers 44 that represent bothattack 45 anddefense 47 characteristics. Thesesymbols 40 andnumbers 44 will be described in more detail below. It is understood, however, that thevariable information 28 can also be colors, symbols, numbers, letters, any combination of these or any other type of information that is suitable for representing the current status of a game piece in a game. - FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein the
game piece base 6 is coupled with a representational figure 48. In this embodiment, the figure 48 represents a character in the game and thevariable information 28 represents characteristics of that character. The figure 48 is coupled with the self-contained record-keepingdevice 8 such that rotating the figure 48 shows different statistics about that character in theaperture 36, thereby changing the status of that character in the game. - FIG. 3 illustrates another view of the embodiment described in FIG. 2, showing the record-keeping
device 8 in more detail. The record-keepingdevice 8 includes alabel 52 that contains thevariable information 28 representing the characteristics of the character in the game. The record-keepingdevice 8 also includes abase disk 56 and aselector disk 60. The record-keepingdevice 8 is removable from and insertable into thebase 6 in such a way that allows the player to align thebases 6 using theconnection codes 24 as desired and then reconfigure the record-keepingdevice 8 so that the figure 48 always begins a game facing forward. Thelabel 52 contains six sets ofvariable information 28, but could contain any number of sets and remain within the scope of the present invention. - Although the invention described herein may be used for a wide variety of games, a game called CREEPY FREAKS will be used as an example to illustrate the invention. In CREEPY FREAKS, a player builds an
army 64 from his collection ofgame pieces 4 to protect his king 72 from attack by an opposingarmy 64. FIG. 4 illustrates one possible configuration of a player'sarmy 64 and will be described in detail below. In this description, the terms game piece and soldier are used interchangeably. A game may be played using game piece bases 6 with or without an attached figure 48. - In CREEPY FREAKS, each time a
soldier 4 takes a point damage during a game, the player clicks the self-contained record-keepingdevice 8 clockwise to the next set ofsymbols 40 andnumbers 44. Each point of damage taken by asoldier 4 changes thesymbols 40 andnumbers 44 thereby changing the soldier's characteristics, typically reducing the soldier's effectiveness. Each time asoldier 4 takes a click of healing during the game, the player clicks the self-contained record-keepingdevice 8 counter-clockwise. When thesoldier 4 has taken six clicks of damage, the soldier has turned 180° on thegame piece base 6 and is said to run away. The player then removes thatsoldier 4 from the play area. - The
permanent information 24 is used to align a player's army in formation. In CREEPY FREAKS, thepermanent information 24 are color blocks that are located on eachside 32 of thebase 6. In order to align twosoldiers 4 adjacent one another in formation, thecolor block 24 on thebase 6 of thefirst game piece 4 must match thecolor block 24 on the adjacent side of thebase 6 of thesecond game piece 4. - Beginning a Game: CREEPY FREAKS is a two-player game that involves army building, dice rolling and pattern matching. Each player will build an
army 64 out of a single king 72 plus any other tensoldiers 4. It should be noted that CREEPY FREAKS can be played with any number ofsoldiers 4 greater than two plus a king 72. A game can be played on any flat surface, such as a table or the floor. Thus, a player needssoldiers 4, a king 72, and multiple six-sided dice to play the game. The players flip a coin to determine who is the first player. - Setting Up Each Army: Both players begin by placing their kings72 on the table. Starting with the first player, each player alternates placing a
single soldier 4 until all tensoldiers 4 have been placed or the player cannot place anymore soldiers 4. All of thesoldiers 4 are of the same value but each have different strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of the game is to protect your king 72 from your opponent'sarmy 64. When asoldier 4 is placed, it must be attached to at least oneother soldier 4 or king 72 that is already on the play area. To connect asoldier 4 to anadjacent soldier 4, the player must match color blocks 24 on thefirst soldier 4 with the color blocks 24 on the adjacent side of theother soldier 4. Eachsoldier 4 can have up to fourother soldiers 4 connected to that soldier'sbase 6 as long as the color blocks match between adjacent sides of thesoldiers 4. Once thebases 6 are connected, the player can remove the record-keepingdevice 8 from thebase 6 and reinsert therecordkeeping device 8 into thebase 6 so that the figure 48 is facing forward. If a player cannot place anymore soldiers 4, his set-up is over and his opponent continues setting up until he is finished. - FIG. 4 illustrates one possible configuration a player may use to set up his
army 64 to defend his king 72. The position of the record-keepingdevices 8 shown in FIG. 4 is merely representational of the different amounts of damage that a player'ssoldiers 4 may have taken during a game. As stated above, when beginning a game, all of a player'ssoldiers 4 must face forward, in the same direction the king 72 faces. - Playing the Game: CREEPY FREAKS is played in a series of alternating turns between the two players. Each turn consists of either one attack or one move. The first player gets the first turn. The purpose of the game is to protect your king72 from attack while at the same time trying to attack the king 72 of your opponent.
- Attacking: A player may only attack with a
soldier 4 that is in hisfront rank 76. Thefront rank 76 consists of all of thesoldiers 4 that are in the row that is furthest forward in thearmy 64.Soldiers 4 do not have to be connected laterally to each other to be in thefront rank 76 at the same time. An attackingsoldier 4 can only attack an opposingsoldier 4 that is in the other player'sfront rank 76. When you make an attack, compare the attacking soldier'sattack value 45 to the defending soldier'sdefense value 47. Both values are variable and are shown in theaperture 36 of the self-contained record-keepingdevice 8. If theattack value 45 is lower than thedefense value 47, roll one die for the attack. If theattack value 45 is the same as thedefense value 47, roll two dice. If theattack value 45 is higher than thedefense value 47, roll three dice. Each die has symbols that match thesymbols 40 provided in thevariable information 28 on thegame pieces 4. - This is where the second level of strategy comes in. If any attacking soldier's
symbol pattern 40 is the same as thesymbol pattern 40 of anysoldier 4 connected to that attackingsoldier 4, theconnected soldier 4 is also considered an attacker. Compare the symbols rolled on the dice to thesymbols 40 in the attacker'saperture 36 and to thesymbols 40 of anyconnected soldier 4 having amatching symbol pattern 40. Score one click of damage for eachsymbol 40 matched on each attacker by the roll. Asymbol 40 can only be matched once per roll per attacker. - If the defender is damaged by any amount, do one click of damage to that
soldier 4 and any soldier connected directly adjacent to the defender if theconnected soldier 4 has amatching symbol pattern 40. Once asoldier 4 has taken six clicks of damage, it runs away and should immediately be removed from play. If, upon removing asoldier 4 that has run away, any of thesoldiers 4 that were adjacent to the departedsoldier 4 can no longer trace a connection back to the king 72 (i.e. it is no longer connected to any other soldiers 4), thatsoldier 4 is widowed and must be immediately removed from play as well. - Moving: If a player decides to use his turn to move a
soldier 4, the player must remove thesoldier 4 from hisarmy 64 and then reattach it in a location where adjacent color blocks 24 on thebases 6 of thesoldiers 4 match. If moving onesoldier 4 widows anothersoldier 4, the widowed soldier must be removed from play immediately. A move can create a newfront rank 76 for thearmy 64. After asoldier 4 is moved or removed, all directlyadjacent soldiers 4 must be checked for widowing. The players should continue checking and removingsoldiers 4 until all widowed soldiers have been removed. - When moving a
soldier 4, the orientation of thegame piece 4 must remain consistent. A player cannot remove thebase 6 and realign thedevice 8. Once the game starts, thebase 6 and thedevice 8 are considered a single piece for determining placement and connections. - Ending the Game: The game ends when one player's king72 runs away. The winner is the player whose king 72 remains on the table.
- Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.
Claims (27)
1. A game piece connectable with additional game pieces to form a grouping in a game having rules of play, the game piece comprising:
a first side having a first connection code; and
a second side having a second connection code, wherein the first connection code permits a first connection with one of the additional game pieces on the first side when the adjacent side of the one of the additional game pieces includes a connection code that matches the first connection code, and wherein the first connection modifies the abilities of the grouping according to the rules of play.
2. The game piece of claim 1 , wherein the game piece includes a base, the base including a self-contained record-keeping device, wherein the record-keeping device adjustably displays variable information relating to the game.
3. The game piece of claim 2 , wherein the game piece further includes a figure coupled to the base.
4. The game piece of claim 3 , wherein the figure represents a character in the game.
5. The game piece of claim 4 , wherein the character has characteristics related to the game, and wherein the variable information displayed on the base represents those characteristics.
6. The game piece of claim 5 , wherein the variable information displayed on the base forms a pattern.
7. The game piece of claim 6 , wherein matching the pattern of variable information displayed on the base of a first game piece with similar patterns of variable information displayed on the base of adjacent game pieces affects the characteristics of those game pieces.
8. The game piece of claim 7 , wherein the variable information on the base includes attack abilities and wherein the first connection improves the attack abilities of the grouping of the game pieces.
9. The game piece of claim 2 , wherein the base is square-shaped.
10. The game piece of claim 2 , wherein the base includes a mechanism for physically connecting one game piece to other game pieces.
11. The game piece of claim 10 , wherein the mechanism for physically connecting one game piece to other game pieces is a male/female connection.
12. The game piece of claim 1 , wherein the first connection code is a color block.
13. The game piece of claim 1 , wherein the first connection code is a symbol.
14. A method of playing a game comprising:
providing first and second game pieces, each game piece including a first side having a first connection code and a second side having a second connection code;
connecting the first and second game pieces into a grouping by matching connection codes between adjacent sides of the first and second game pieces:
engaging the grouping in play following a set of rules; and
modifying the abilities of the grouping based on the connection according to the rules of play.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein providing first and second game pieces includes providing first and second game pieces, each including a base having a self-contained record-keeping device, wherein the record-keeping device adjustably displays variable information relating to the game.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adjusting the record-keeping device to vary the information on the base.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein adjusting the record-keeping device includes varying the characteristics of the game piece during game play.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein adjusting the record-keeping device includes varying a combination of symbols and numbers.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein adjusting the record-keeping device includes forming a pattern of symbols and numbers.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein adjusting the record-keeping device includes changing the pattern.
21. The method of claim 14 , wherein modifying the abilities of the grouping based on the connections includes modifying the attack abilities of the second game piece.
22. The method of claim 14 , further comprising rolling a die.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein rolling a die includes rolling a die containing symbols to randomly select a symbol that matches a symbol displayed on the first game piece.
24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising attacking an opponent by matching the symbol on the die to one of the symbols on the first game piece.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein attacking an opponent includes matching the symbol on the die to one of the symbols of the second game piece connected to the first game piece.
26. The method of claim 14 , further comprising disconnecting the first and second game pieces; and moving the first game piece to a new location having matching connection codes.
27. The method of claim 14 , further comprising removing the first game piece from the play area when the game piece is no longer connected to the second game piece.
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US10/243,624 US20040051244A1 (en) | 2002-09-13 | 2002-09-13 | Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game |
AU2003260114A AU2003260114A1 (en) | 2002-09-13 | 2003-08-27 | Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game |
PCT/US2003/026865 WO2004024254A1 (en) | 2002-09-13 | 2003-08-27 | Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US10/243,624 US20040051244A1 (en) | 2002-09-13 | 2002-09-13 | Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20040051244A1 true US20040051244A1 (en) | 2004-03-18 |
Family
ID=31991693
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US10/243,624 Abandoned US20040051244A1 (en) | 2002-09-13 | 2002-09-13 | Interconnectable game pieces and method of playing a game |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
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US (1) | US20040051244A1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2003260114A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2004024254A1 (en) |
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WO2006133071A2 (en) * | 2005-06-03 | 2006-12-14 | Mattel, Inc. | Board games with selected player movers and methods for playing same |
US20070018397A1 (en) * | 2005-07-06 | 2007-01-25 | Tsunekazu Ishihara | Game piece and method of playing game using same |
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US11298608B2 (en) | 2020-08-13 | 2022-04-12 | Dungeon in a Box, LLC | Game piece and method of manufacture |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2004024254A1 (en) | 2004-03-25 |
AU2003260114A1 (en) | 2004-04-30 |
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Legal Events
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: WIZKIDS LLC, WASHINGTON Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:WEISMAN, JORDAN K.;REEL/FRAME:014009/0192 Effective date: 20030314 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |