GB2255288A - Board game. - Google Patents

Abstract

A board game comprises a playing area (2) having a continuous serpentine track (4) divided into individual positions (6) numbered in sequence and being marked to represent rewards (14), penalties (16) and properties (10), a plurality of play members (32, 34), random number indicating means for indicating the number of positions a player may move his/her play member along the track, two packs of reward cards (22, 24), one representing male rewards and the other representing female rewards and marked to represent the gaining of scoring points, two packs of penalty cards (26, 28), one representing male penalties and the other representing female penalties and marked to represent the losing of scoring Points, a pack of property cards indicating properties that can be acquired by the players, scoring means for enabling players to keep a score of the points held, and a set of rules. <IMAGE>

Description

BOARD OR LIKE GAME This invention relates to a board or like game and more particularly to a board or like game relating to the battle of the sexes including penalties and rewards and acquiring property.

According to the invention, a board or like game comprises a playing area comprising a continuous serpentine track divided into a large number of individual positions numbered in sequence and being marked to represent rewards, penalties and properties, a plurality of play members to represent players on the playing area, random number indicating means for indicating the number of positions a player may move his/her play member along the serpentine track, two packs of reward cards, one representing male rewards and the other representing female rewards and marked to represent the gaining of scoring points, two packs of penalty cards, one representing male penalties and the other representing female penalties and marked to represent the losing of scoring points, a pack of property cards indicating properties that can be acquired by the players, scoring means for enabling players to keep a score of the points held and a set of rules.

Preferably the individual positions are of different sizes, larger sizes representing property and smaller sizes marked to indicate the taking up of one or more reward or penalty cards. Some of the reward and penalty cards may have an instruction regarding missing or gaining turns at the game and/or instructions regarding moving play pieces. All of the reward positions may be marked similarly as also may the penalty positions and the property positions. Particularly, the same type of positions may be marked out in one colour, for example black for rewards, red for penalties and white for properties.

Further individual positions may be marked out as special reward or penalty positions marked out with special conditions.

Where the game is a board game, the playing area may comprise a board, or where the game is not a board game, the playing area may be set out in any other suitable fashion. For example, the playing area may be in three dimensions with the individual positions being represented by stairs in a number of flights of stairs connected in circular fashion and up and down which the playing members can be moved. In this latter case, the playing members may be articles of clothing or other indication carried or worn by the player him/herself.

The scoring means may comprise one or more sets of tokens, each representing a specific number of scoring points. Tokens for different numbers of points may be of different shape and/or size and/or colour.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a playing board used in the board version of the game; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a male play piece used in this version of the game, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a female play piece used in this version of the game.

It is to be understood that while the game is essentially intended to be a board game, it can be played in a three dimensional form as will be discussed hereafter.

This board game is intended to be played by any one from children to adult. It represents a passage through life with rewards for good behaviour and penalties for bad behaviour and also the acquiring either companies or categories of goods which can then be used to obtain points from other players.

Referring firstly to figure 1, there is shown a game board 2 on which is marked a serpentine or convoluted continuous track 4 which is divided into a large number of sequentially numbered individual positions 6, in the case of the present board, one hundred and three individual positions. The positions 6 are basically of two different sizes, one (8) of which is a relatively narrow and is hereafter called a "strip" and the other (10) of which is of square shape, and will hereafter be called "squares". There are also a number of sector shape positions 12 which are, as will become apparent later, of the same type as the strips and these positions 12 will also be referred to as "strips".

In addition to the different shapes of positions the positions are also of different colours. For example, the strips are either black (14) representing a reward or red (16) representing a penalty. Rectangular penalty strips have one penalty while sector penalty strips have two, The squares (10), which, in general represent companies or products are white, the only exception to this being a reward box 18, which also doubles as a start square and a penalty box 20. The reward box is a white square with a black surround while the penalty box is a white square with a red surround.

The board is also marked with four positions 22 to 28 to receive packs of male and female reward cards and male and female penalty cards respectively.

The cards of each pack of reward and penalty cards have identical backs, reward cards including the word "REWARD" thereon while the penalty cards carry the word "PENALTY" thereon. Male and female cards are differentiated by the male and female genetic symbols.

The pattern of these card backs can be seen at positions 22 to 28 on the board. On the reverse of these cards are indicated a number of rewards or penalties together with the reason for which they are awarded. For example, a male reward card might say: "For withdrawing all your money from the bank before it went into liquidation, advance to Bon Bank (97) and collect two points." A female reward card might say: "For getting your boss to pay for a taxi home after you had been working late, advance to Prema Taxis (35) and collect one point.

A male penalty card might say: "For drinking coffee first thing in the morning instead of healthy Eakus orange Juice, go back to Eakus orange juice (63) and lose one point." A female penalty card might say: "You are very diet conscious, but when it comes to large sausages, you can't resist them. Go back to Skin sausages (38 and lose one point." Some of the cards will require movement, as indicated above while others will only give or take away points.

Figures 2 and 3 show a suitable forms of stylised play piece 32 and 34 for use in playing the game. The pieces 32 are male pieces while pieces 34 are female pieces. As the present game is intended for up to four players, the play pieces could be red and black,one of each colour for each sex. They have the advantage of being upstanding and therefore are easier to use than disc type counters.

In addition to the above, there is a pack of property cards, one for each of the property squares, and tokens representing points. These tokens may have different values, as in gaming chips, the different values being represented by differences in shape and/or colour and/or size.

Further, two standard six sided dice (not shown) are provided for determining play piece movement together with a set of rules for playing the game.

The way the game is played will now be described: The object of the game is to score thirty five points.

At the beginning of the game, each player is provided with one play piece represented by an appropriate male or female piece and points tokens to the value of ten points. The male and female reward cards and the male and female penalty cards are shuffled and placed face downwards on their appropriate positions 22 to 28 on the board.

To determine the player who is to start, and incidentally who will be "banker", each player throws the pair of dice and the player with the highest score is chosen. Before he (or she) starts, being the banker, he takes the property cards and the remaining points tokens.

To be played best, the game should have two or four players with equal numbers of the sexes sitting alternately.

The game commences on black and white square 21 numbered 1 and labelled "The Reward Box". The player places his play piece in this square and shakes the pair of dice.

He then moves his play piece by the total number of the two dice and takes the action appropriate to the position at which he lands. These actions are as follows: 1) Reward Strip (Black strip or sector 12) - The player immediately to the left picks up one reward card of the sex of the player whose turn it is and reads it out to him. The player then carries out the instruction on the card and receives the indicated number of points tokens from the banker.

2) Penalty Strip (Red strip or sector 14) - The player immediately to the left picks up one penalty card of the sex of the player whose turn it is and reads it out to him. The player then carries out the instruction on the card and returns the indicated number of points tokens to the banker.

3) Property Square (White Square 16) - If no one owns the company or goods indicated in this square, then the player acquires this company or these goods and obtains the appropriate property card from the banker.

If the square already has an owner, he gives the owner two points. The exception to this is where the player is sent to the square by an instruction on a reward or penalty card and in this case he only surrenders one token.

4) The Penalty Box (Red and white square 20) - If a player lands on this square as a result of a throw of the dice, he or she misses a turn. If the player is sent to the square by a penalty card then, if this is the first of two penalty cards, he or she must move to the Penalty Box but does not miss a turn and merely acts on the penalty on his penalty card and carries out the instruction on the second penalty card. If however, the player has been sent to the Penalty Box by the last or only penalty card then he or she misses a turn.

5) The Reward Box (Black and white square 18) Every time a player lands on or passes this square, he or she collects two points tokens.

The first player to reach thirty five points is the winner.

There is one other situation which can be exploited in the game if desired. Certain of the penalty strips, notably those of sector shape, carry the possibility of taking an option instead of the two penalty cards called for. This option may take any desired form. For example, a set of option cards could be provided which give the possibility of avoiding the penalty or making it worse.

Alternatively, the penalty could be or doubled by the throw of one die, for example, odd numbers doubling the penalty and even numbers removing it. In a still further alternative, the players could, prior to the commencement of the game, decide on a system of forfeits, the player then being called on to pay the appropriate forfeit instead of paying his penalties.

If, during the game, a player loses all his points and a suitable option arrangement is in operation, he can take all his subsequent losses in options until he is in a position to play normally. Otherwise the player is out of the game.

As mentioned previously, the game can also be played in a three dimensional form, for example as a party game in a hall or even as a television show game. A number of differences from the board game may then be suitably incorporated. Firstly, the playing area may be a greatly enlarged playing surface marked out for example on a floor. Where the visual effects are of significant importance, the game may be laid out as a series of multi-level staircases connected to provide the necessary continuous track.

For party or like purposes, the individual player can be formed by a team of players, for example, three per team. The teams may be designated in different colours such as red and black, there being one male team and one female team for each colour. The team colours may be depicted by an article of clothing or a symbol carried or worn by the players. One of the players moves around the playing surface while the other two members of the team are responsible for dice throwing and keeping the score. Where options are used, the members of the team can together decide or advise as to when such options are taken.

In order to increase the interest in the team game, some of the reward and penalty cards may pose questions which can be answered by the team in collaboration. A correct answer at a reward position will enable the reward to be gained while a correct answer at a penalty position will prevent the loss of points otherwise demanded Each team could have one or more "jokers" which could be played before a move so as, for example, to double the score of points gained in that move. With a party or show game, it is useful to have a host who will read the various cards and generally oversee the game.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, a number of the variations introduced for the three dimensional version of the game may be incorporated in the board version. Also the pair of dice used in both versions of the game could be replaced by any other random number selector such as a pointer and dial. Other methods of keeping scores could be used other than tokens. For example, each player could have a settable dial or a pin board similar to a cribbage board could be used.

The length of the game could be varied, either by reducing the points scored to, say, twenty five or operating on a time basis, say forty five minutes.

Claims (14)

1. A board or like game comprising a playing area comprising a continuous serpentine track divided into a large number of individual positions numbered in sequence and being marked to represent rewards, penalties and properties, a plurality of play members to represent players on the playing area, random number indicating means for indicating the number of positions a player may move his/her play member along the serpentine track, two packs of reward cards, one representing male rewards and the other representing female rewards and marked to represent the gaining of scoring points, two packs of penalty cards, one representing male penalties and the other representing female penalties and marked to represent the losing of scoring points, a pack of property cards indicating properties that can be acquired by the players, scoring means for enabling players to keep a score of the points held and a set of rules.

2. A game as claimed in claiml, wherein the individual positions are of different sizes, larger sizes representing property and smaller sizes marked to indicate the taking up of one or more reward or penalty cards.

3. A game as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein some of the reward and penalty cards have an instruction regarding missing or gaining turns at the game and/or instructions regarding moving play members.

4. A game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein all of the reward positions are marked similarly, all of the penalty positions are marked similarly and all of the property positions are marked similarly.

5. A game as claimed in claim 4, wherein the same type of positions are marked out in one colour.

6. A game as claimed in claim 5, wherein the colours comprise black for rewards, red for penalties and white for properties.

7. A game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein further individual positions are marked out as special reward or penalty positions marked out with special conditions.

8. A game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the game is a board game and the playing area comprises a board.

9. A game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the playing area is in three dimensions with the individual positions being represented by stairs in a number of flights of stairs connected in circular fashion and up and down which the playing members can be moved.

10. A game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the playing members are articles of clothing or other indication carried or worn by the player him/herself.

11. A game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the scoring means comprises one or more sets of tokens, each representing a specific number of scoring points.

12. A game as claimed in claim 11, wherein the tokens for different numbers of points are of different shape.

13. A game as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein the tokens for different numbers of points are of different size.

14.. A game as claimed in claim 11, 12 or 13, wherein the tokens for different numbers of points are of different colour.

15 A board or like game substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.