CA1167076A

CA1167076A - Card game played on cross-shaped board

Info

Publication number: CA1167076A
Application number: CA000388073A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Vincent A. Poirier; Francis X. Zacher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-10-16
Filing date: 1981-10-16
Publication date: 1984-05-08

Abstract

A B S T R A C T

This is a game played by two or more players upon a cross-shaped diagram or design imprinted upon a flat surface. The design consists of a number of symmetrically arranged white and black squares upon which are placed "men" or tokens of suitable size and of different colors, each of the players having a different color than all of the others. The disposi-tion of the men upon the cross is determined by the throwing of dice, instructions printed in some of the squares, instruc-tions given on a set of cards which are part of the game, and occasionally by a choice given in the instructions to the play-ers. The winning player is the one who, by chance and skill, is the first to have all his men in a centrally located en-larged square on the diagram.

Description

S P E C :[ F I C A T I O N

The invention consists of a game which is played by -two or more players, upon a cross-shaped diagram, printed or otherwise indicated upon a flatl prefera~ly white surface of a hard or semi-hard material, such as heavy paper, cardboard, wood, or plastic. The diagram consists of a number of symmetri-cally arranged white and black squares upon which are placed tokens or "men", as they are commonly referred to, of suitable size and color, each player having a different identification color than any of the other players. The disposition of the men or tokens upon the game diagram is determined by the a pair of dice, by instructions printed in some of the squares, and/or by additional instructions supplied on a stack of cards which are auxiliary to the game. In some cases the player is given a choice as to what steps he can choose to take, thus the game involves 1~ the element of skill as well as chance. A player wins the game by being the first to get all his "men" into an enlarged central square called "HO~lE"by virtue of having luckily thrown his dice, and skillfully having made his choice, when a choice is offered.
In describing the invention reference will be made to the attached drawings in which ,-Figure 1 is a diagram upon which the game is being played, and Figure 2 shows a sample of one of the cards used in conjunction with the game.
~s shown in the drawings, the dia~ram upon which the game is played consists of a cross-shaped figure having a com-paratively large central square which is marked "HOM¢". Emana-ting from each side of the "}101~ "' square is an arm of the cross.
All of said arms are equal in length, and of a width equal to the side of the "HOME" square. The length of each arm is mar-ked off into five equal spaces. and the width into three equal spaces, thus dividing each arm into fifteen squares.
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At the outer end of each arm there are three squares. The center square of these three is painted black. On each side of the arm -there are five squares. The central square of each of these five is painted black. All other squares remain white. An outside arrow points to one of each of the identically located black squares on the side of -the arm, indicating the start of the game.
Four of the non-abutting white squares in each arm are inscribed with a brief instruction as to how to proceed when a players "man" lands on one of such squares. These instructions are usu-ally, "PICK A CARD", "STA~T OVER","MISS A TURN", "~ACK TO START","~OVE UP ONE", "BACK 2 PACES", "BACK 4 PACES", "AHEAD 3 PACES".
In the upper left hand space between tha adjacent arms is printed a rectangle on which is located the stack of cards shown in Figure 2. In the diagonally opposite location is a similar rectangle indicating upon which the used cards are -to be stacked.
One way of playing the game, described herej by way of example only, is as follows~-Each player choses his color, and places a "man"
in each of the four starting squares. The cards are shu~fled and placed on the "CARDS" rectangle. The first player is the one who throws the lowest score on the dice. The player then rolls the dice, and if one o~ the dice shows a "5" he moves his "man" forward a number of squares equal to the number shown on the other die. All "men" are moved counter clockwise, or to the right of the player. If a player, by moving his "man", lands in a square~occupied by an opponents "man~, the oppon-ents "man" must return to the starting square. IYIen on black squares are "sa-fe" and do not have to be returned. If a play-er lands on a square marked PICK A CARD, he folows the in-struction on theat card. When all the cards have been used, the cards are reshuffled and used again.

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When two similar numbers appear on the dice when they are rolled, the player has a choice of moving the total of the two numbers, or move two "men" on one roll~ such palys ra-quire a certain amount of calculation to determine the most beneficial move, thus introducing the element of skill,i~to the game.
In the above described game , the deck used con-sists of 24 cards, so that when a player lands upon a square inscribed PICK A CARD,ihe picks a covered card from the deck, follows the instructions in the card, and places the card in the USED CARDS pile. The inscriptions on the card may be such phrases as TAKE TWO TURNS, START OVER, ADVANCE
NEAREST TOKEN TO HOME, Etc.
Erom the above description it can be seen that 1~ this game can be found very interesting by people ranging from children just learning to read to adults of all ages.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:-

1. A game in which two or more players can participate, comprising a cross-shaped diagram which is imprinted in black color upon a flat, white background, said diagram having a comparatively large central square, marked "HOME", into which each of the players aspires to be the first to place his "men";
said central square being formed by the intersection of the outlines of the arms of the cross; each of said arms being di-vided in its width into three equal spaces , and lengthwise into five equal spaces to form fifteen equal squares per arm; a black painted square located centrally between the squares at the end of each arm, and a similar black square located centrally between the side rows of each arm; inscriptions as to proceed,marked at random in some of the white squares, some of which say "PICK A CARD"; a similarly located black square located in each arm, designated on the outside thereof as being the starting point of the game; in combination with a deck of procedure instruction cards; a rectangle between one pair of the arms labeled "CARDS" for holding the covered cards thereon; a diagonally opposite printed rectangle, labeled "USED CARDS" for storing thereon cards which have been used; a pair of standard dice which are rolled by each player to determine the extent of the player's move; and a number of tokens to be used as "men" for covering the squares in the cross in the playing of the game.