GB2033239A - Board Games - Google Patents

Abstract

Boards with a pattern as shown are provided in triangular, hexagonal or star form for playing draughts, chess, chinese chequers, backgammon and word games. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A Board Game This invention relates to a board game.

It is an object of this invention to provide a board which can be utilized for variations of known games such as drafts, chess, chinese checkers, backgammon and the like.

Accordingly, one form of the invention may be said to comprise a surface on which is defined a playing area divided into a plurality of repeating patterned arrangements of units, each patterned arrangement consisting of three groups of units wherein each unit of a group which does not form part of the perimeter of the playing area will be surrounded by and contiguous with six other units formed from the other two groups, with the patterned arrangement being such that no unit of any group will be contiguous with other units of that group.

Preferred forms of the invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a view of a playing area in a triangular format: Fig. 2 is a view of a playing area in a hexagonal format; Fig. 3 is a view of a playing area in a hexagonal format with the array chosen in an orientation different from that in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view of a playing area in a six pointed star format; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of chessmen arranged in a starting position on a portion of the playing area of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of specific allowable moves of a rook; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of specific allowable moves of a bishop; Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of specific allowable moves of a knight; Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of specific allowable moves of a pawn;; Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of draftsmen arranged in a starting position on a portion of the playing area of Fig. 2; Fig. 11 is a view of part of the playing area of Fig. 2 indicating specific allowable moves in a variation of drafts; Fig. 1 2 is a view of part of the hexagonal playing area of Fig. 2 indicating the positioning of some pieces for one form of game playable on the board; Fig. 13 is a view of part of the playing area of Fig. 2 with pieces in position for another form of game; Fig. 14 is a view of part of the area of Fig. 13 indicating specific allowable moves; Fig. 15 is a view of part of the playing area of Fig. 2 with pieces in position for a different type of game; Fig. 16 is a view of part of the area of Fig. 1 5 showing allowable directions for moves.

Referring now to the drawings, the playing area may be arranged into a triangular format (see Fig, 1) or in a hexagonal format (see Figs. 2 and 3).

The playing area is composed of a number of units 10 and preferably, although not necessarily, each unit 10 will be hexagonal in shape. The playing area is covered with repeating patterns of groups of units, there being three groups in all, with each group being differently coloured, textured, or otherwise identified as shown for instance at 1 0a, 1 Ob and 1 or. Each pattern will consist of a central single unit 10 of one colour surrounded by two groups of a different colour or identification with each of said two groups consisting of three units 10 which will form a hexagonal shape around the central single unit.

Thus each unit of each group is separated from a similar unit of the same group by a unit of one of the other said groups. When each unit 10 is hexagonal in shape and the playing area is of hexagonal format, each base line 12 can be composed either entirely of units from one group (see Fig. 2), or of units from the three groups (see Fig. 3), depending on the orientation chosen for the hexagons. When each base line 12 is composed entirely of units from one group as indicated in Fig. 2, the base line opposite will also be composed of units from the same group. When the units of all three groups appear in succession along the base lines as indicated in Fig. 3, then this series in succession continues around the entire perimeter.In the case of a triangular format, each base line can either be composed entirely of units from one group, and since there are three groups, then each base line would be composed of a group different from the other base lines (see Fig. 1); or the entire perimeter of base lines can be composed of a succession of units from all three groups. The composition of the base lines again depends on the orientation chosen for the hexagons.

The playing surface above described can be utilized for variations of known games such as drafts, chess, chinese checkers, backgammon and the like. The playing area can be of a regular format such as hexagonal, triangular or sixpointed star formats with either orientation of the hexagons chosen for the bases, or an irregularly shaped format may be chosen for the playing area. A format with either three-fold or six-fold symmetry would normally be selected. The preferred format is hexagonal with each base line composed of units from one group, this format being shown in Fig. 2 and with such format a variation of chess can be played by two, three, four, five or six players. Each player will line up his sixteen chessmen on the appropriate base 12 on each player's side of the playing area.Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 5 wherein the chessmen will be grouped into as near a linear format as the hexagons will allow, so that the eight men occupy the units at or near the base of the playing area and the other eight (the pawns) the units immediately above. The men are therefore placed in a staggered arrangement of one forward, one back, and so on, but the queen 13 must always be placed in a forward position as indicated in Fig. 5.

A rectangle 14 showing the same colour or texture or identification as the base hexagons may be included for quick identification of the player's base area. The colour or texture or identification of the rectangle (not shown) on the opposite side of the hexagonal format of Fig. 2 could be chosen to be either complementary or similar to but not the same as that of the rectangle 14 for the base hexagons.

In the variation for four, five or six players, a playing area large enough to prevent interference from adjacent players at the start will be required.

With four players on a hexagonal format of Fig. 2 and four units making up each base 12 to each side, for example, two adjacent players would together oppose the other two players since the proximity of adjacent player's pieces could cause complications if they were opponents. A larger playing area would be necessary if the four were to be opponents. In a variation on a large playing area when four or six players take part, then they may either team up in pairs or oppose each other as individuals.

Other arrangements for the initial positions of the chessmen include a compact, near triangular arrangement at the base of each player's side of arrangement across a corner (for two or three players) using the alternative hexagonal format.

The moves are the same in principle as for standard chess, with specific moves being as follows: (a) The rook 1 5 (see Fig. 6) may move any open distance across the faces of any of the six units surrounding it.

(b) The bishop 16 (see Fig. 7) may move any open distance along one of the six lines that join its unit to neighbouring units of the same colour.

This is equivalent to the diagonal in standard chess.

(c) The knight 1 7 (see Fig. 8) may move two units across the faces of any of the six surrounding units, followed by one unit along the line that joins each of these units to the nearest unit to the left and right. The knight has 12 possible moves as indicated in Fig. 8.

(d) The pawn 18 (see Fig. 9) may move forward, one unit at a time, across the face of the unit along the line of units that leads it directly across to the other side of the board. When capturing, the pawn takes an adverse man on either of the two adjacent units in front of it.

Promotion of a pawn occurs when a pawn reaches the opposite side of the hexagonal array.

A pawn may move one or two units forward on its first move.

(e) The queen 1 3 may move any open distance across the faces or along the lines of the neighbouring units. Thus the queen may move in a total of twelve directions.

(f) The king 1 9 may move one unit at a time in any direction across the faces or along the lines of the neighbouring units.

To achieve an "open distance", either for movements across the faces of any surrounding units (rook's move, for example), or for movements along any of the six diagonal lines of units (bishop's move, for example), the units along the path of movement must be unoccupied.

If the playing area is of triangular format as shown in Fig. 1 with each base line 12 composed of units from one group, then the chessmen for two or three players are grouped into a linear format so that eight men occupy the units at or near the base of the triangle and the other eight (the pawns) the units immediately above. The moves are the same as described for the playing area of hexagonal format, except for the movas of the pawn. The pawn may move forward one unit only at a time, except for its first move when it may move one or two units, along its original line of units except when capturing. For this purpose the original line of units will move from left to right for the four pawns on the left hand side of the player's men and from right to left for the four pawns on the right hand side of the player's men.

When capturing, the pawn takes an adverse man on either of the two adjacent units in front of it.

Promotion of a pawn occurs when a pawn reaches the last unit on its appropriate line of units whether this be its original line or one to which it has moved after it has captured an adverse man.

For the six-pointed star format of Fig. 4, the chessmen are arranged as in Fig. 5 at the base of the triangle formed by the star points. They are therefore arranged on the perimeter of a hexagon that forms the interior array of the star format.

The aim of chess played on the playing surface above described, whatever the format, is for one player to place one or more of his opponents in check. Once checkmate has been achieved between two (or more) players, the player responsible for achieving the checkmate gains all of the pieces still in play belonging to the loser(s), except for the king which is removed from play.

However, if another player's man established the check, then, regardless of who places the loser into checkmate, the loser's pieces go to the player who initiated the check.

Additional variants can be achieved by issuing each player with three draftsmen or small objects (not shown in the drawings) to be used as blocks.

These are placed down anywhere on the play area before the game starts to block entry to or through or between those units. Once in place, the positions of the blocks cannot be altered for that game. Alternatively, these blocking pieces may be put into place at any time during the game and left in position until the game is finished.

In a variation of drafts when utilizing a playing area of the preferred hexagonal format of Fig. 2 it is possible for two, three, four, five or six players to participate. Preferably each player is provided with eleven playing pieces although this can be varied. Each player will have each of his pieces of the same colour and will arrange the pieces on an appropriate base line of the hexagonal playing area with the playing pieces being grouped into a rectangular array but placed on units all of the same colour. If, for instance, there are eleven playing pieces, then the playing pieces will occupy three rows of units of the same colour with four playing pieces in the top and bottom row and three playing pieces in the centre row (see Fig. 10).

The players may move one or two units at a time in either of the two forward directions along the line of units of their respective colours at each turn. The players may also jump from one unit to another of the same colour, provided that this takes them in the forward direction, and provided also that one or both of the intervening unit or units is occupied by opposing playing pieces.

Multiple jumps are possible. All playing pieces that are jumped are removed from the board.

Thus the piece represented by a circle 11 in Fig.

11 may move to either A, B, X or Y, or to M via A or B, but not to C, D, E and F. The same piece 11 may jump to X if A is occupied (and the opponent on A would then be removed), but if both A and X are occupied, the piece may not jump. If B is occupied by an opponent, then the playing piece shown may jump to Y and remove the playing piece on B. Ajump to M is also permissible, provided that either one or both units between the piece jumping and its new position is occupied. A playing piece may not move sideways or backwards, and may not jump over another playing piece of the same colour.

When a playing piece reaches the opposite side of the playing area, a player can elevate that piece to the position of king by the addition of another playing piece. The king may now move in any direction on the board provided it remains on units of its own colour. It may now also jump in any of the twelve directions available provided that one or both of the intervening unit or units is occupied by opposing playing pieces. Multiple jumps are again possible, and all playing pieces that are jumped are removed from the board.

The object of the game is for one player to eliminate his opponent(s). When four or six players take part, they may either team up in pairs or oppose each other as individuals. If the last two players left in the game are playing on the same coloured units, then one player can force a win if he can totally block his opponent from moving. If one of the last two players can neither eliminate his opponent nor force a win, then the game is a draw.

If the playing area is of the triangular format of Fig. 1 with each base line composed of units from one group, then a plurality of playing pieces which are preferably in the same three colours as the three groups of units are arranged at each apex of the triangular format, with one piece on each of the correspondingly coloured units. Preferably there are ten playing pieces per person but this can be varied. All moves are the same as for the variation of drafts for the playing area of the preferred hexagonal format, except for promotion to a king which is now achieved when a playing piece reaches the base of the triangular playing area opposite the apex from which it began.

In a variation of chinese checkers played on a playing area of the preferred hexagonal format of Fig. 2, two, three, four, five or six players may participate. A solitary version of chinese checkers may also be played by one person. Preferably each player has ten playing pieces although this can be varied. Each of the player's pieces will be of the same colour, and each player will arrange these in a triangular array starting with four pieces on units of the base, three pieces in the next row of units of the same colour, two pieces in the next and one piece in the fourth row of units of the same colour.

Each player must remain on the same colour units throughout the game. A player may move in any direction with each playing piece by moving one unit along the lines that join his unit to the nearest unit of the same colour. Jumps from one unit to another of the same colour are allowed provided that one or both of the units is occupied either by an opponent's pieces or by a player's own pieces. Multiple jumps are possible and jumps may be made in the forward, backward or sideways direction. No playing pieces are removed when pieces are jumped. For the solitary variant, all moves are made by jumps only, except for the first two moves in each of which a piece should be moved by one unit.

The aim of the game is to be the first player to move all pieces to the opposite side of the board, arranging them in the same configuration in which they began the game. For one player only, the challenge is to achieve the exact array of men by jumps only after the first two moves.

If the playing area is of the triangular format of Fig. 1 with each base line composed of units from one group, the ten playing pieces will be arranged on the appropriate colour at an apex of the triangle. The moves and aims are the same as for the preferred hexagonal format except that the players are now attempting to relocate their array of pieces at the adjacent apex of the triangle located in a clockwise direction from where play began.

In variations of drafts and chinese checkers played on the star format of Fig. 4, either ten or fifteen pieces may be arranged on units of the appropriate colour within the triangles formed by the star points. The pieces move towards the star point on the opposite side of the board.

In a variation of backgammon played on a playing area of the preferred hexagonal format of Fig. 2, two, four or six players may participate with twelve playing pieces each although this can be varied. In Fig. 12 each player's pieces are arranged in four piles of three men, (20a, 20b) placed symmetrically and alternating with his opponent's (21 a, 21 b) whose base is opposite that of the other player. One player will place his first pile of three men on the right hand unit of his base colour (20a), and thereafter his other three piles symmetrically around the board, moving anticlockwise (20b). His playing pieces will move anticlockwise during the game. His opponent will place his first pile on the left hand unit of his base colour (21 a) and will move clockwise.

Play takes place between two players entirely on one circle of units which incorporate the player's two bases. Thus with four players, for example, play is between two sets of two players.

In effect, two simultaneous games are being played, with two players each.

The object of this variation of backgammon is to move the playing pieces around the board in opposing directions, by distances determined by the throw of two dice. Eventually, each player's pieces are gathered in his own base units before finally playing the pieces off the board. The first player to play off all his pieces is the winner.

When two or more playing pieces of the same colour are located on the same unit, the pieces are protected, and an opponent's piece cannot land on the same unit at the end of a move, although an opponent may move over such a protected piece during the move, counting that unit as part of the die total. If the values thrown on the dice are combined, then each value of the die must be able to move by the playing piece in question. If, at the end of a move from either die, a player's piece lands on one of his opponent's single playing pieces, then the opponent's piece is removed from the board and must start again.

To re-enter a playing piece, the next dice throw must be used provided that one of the members on one side of the dice allows the player to enter a unit not already protected by an opponent.

Numbers one to six are allocated for this purpose to the units from right to left along the base for the player moving clockwise and from left to right for the player moving anticlockwise. If re-entry is not possible on the first turn after a piece is removed from play, the player must wait for another turn. The re-entered pieces are positioned below the appropriate base units to avoid confusion with any pieces already in that area.

Once past the base units, the pieces may return to the normal circle of units.

If a double number is thrown, the player is entitled to make a move four times the number he has thrown on one die.

Once all pieces are on the base units after completing their circuit of the board, the player may begin to play his pieces off the board. For the player moving anticlockwise, his pieces are played off to the right of his base, and for the player moving clockwise, his pieces are played off to the left of his base. Thus for a player moving anticlockwise, any man on the left unit of a base with four units will need a throw of 4, 5 or 6 on one die to be played off the board. Any man on the next unit will need a throw of 3, 4, 5-or 6, etc.

The men on the left for the player moving anti clockwise must be played off first if the values on the dice permit, but if a 3, 2 or 1 is thrown, then men on the other units may be played off if the exact number required to play a man off is thrown. if the dice values do not correspond to an exact playing off of any pieces, then the pieces requiring the highest numbers to be played off must be moved. Once in the base area, the pieces may still be moved individually towards the last unit, according to the dice values thrown. For example, if there are men in the left base unit with a base of four units, but no men in the next, with men also in the two right base units, and if the throw is 5-3, then one man from the left base unit must be played off using the 5, and another man from the left base unit must be moved to the right base unit using the 3.One of the men in the two right units cannot be played off since one man in the left unit could move within the base using the die value thrown, and since an exact number required for playing off (a 1 or 2 in this example) had not been thrown.

In a variation of backgammon on the star format of Fig. 4, play may either take place around the outer perimeter of the star format, or around the perimeter of the hexagon that forms the interior array of the star format.

A variation of acey-duecy may also be played on a playing area of the preferred hexagonal format of Fig. 2. All pieces must be played onto the board at the start of the game with the values thrown on the dice. The moves and aims of this variation of acey-deucy are identical with those of the variation of backgammon already described.

In addition, if the throw of the dice is 1-2, the player moves and then choses any number from 1 to 6 and doubles it for a second move. The player then throws again and moves. If a 1-2 is thrown again, then the same special conditions apply.

A variation of the game known as fox and geese which is commonly played on a draft board may be played on the playing surface of the preferred hexagonal format of Fig. 2. The arrangement of the ten playing pieces for a board with bases of four units is shown in Fig. 13 for units of hexagonal shape. The eight playing pieces 22a and 22b of each colour are known as the attackers while the two individual pieces 23a and 23b are referred to as lone men. The two lone men 23a and 23b are opposing the eight attackers 22a and 22b respectively, and the aim is for the lone men 23a and 23b to break through the lines of the attackers. The overall winner is the player to achieve the most breakthroughs after playing an agreed number of games (say three).

Two colours of playing pieces may be utilized and the playing pieces 22a and 23b may be red in colour, while the pieces 22b and 23a may be black. A player may move his piece by one unit along the line that joins his unit to the nearest unit of the same colour. He can only move along this line to another unit provided that he does not, in so doing, cross a line joining two occupied units which block his path. In Fig. 14, lone man 23a or attacker 22b could move to A, B, C, D, E, or F provided his path is not blocked. The piece shown cannot move to A if 2, 6 or 1, 2 are occupied by opposing pieces; B if 2, 4 or 2, 3 are occupied by opposing pieces; C if 2, 4 or 3, 4 are occupied by opposing pieces; D if 4, 6 or 4, 5 are occupied by opposing pieces E if 4, 6 or 5, 6 are occupied by opposing pieces; and F if 2, 6 or 1, 6 are occupied by opposing pieces.Lone men may move forwards, backwards or sideways, whereas attackers may move only forwards towards the base parallel to their starting line of units. The restrictions illustrated in Fig. 14 apply to moving lone men near attackers and to moving attackers near lone men.

Play begins with one player moving one of his lone men. His opponent may then move an attacker and in response the first player may again move either of his lone men. Play then changes to the other side of the board where the same order of moves takes place with a lone man being moved first. In essence, the lone men move twice for each attacker's single move.

A breakthrough occurs when a lone man can move between his attackers and is no longer blocked. Capture occurs when a lone man is surrounded by three attackers or by two attackers if the lone man is by the edge of the playing area.

In Fig. 14, for example, if 2, 4, and 6 were all occupied by attackers, then the piece shown would be captured and unable to move. Once a lone man has broken through his opposition's ranks, he need move no further, but can concentrate all his moves on his other lone man.

The layout of pieces in a unique game that may be played on a playing area of the preferred hexagonal format and units of hexagonal shape is shown in Fig. 1 5. Two, four or six players may participate. Eight playing pieces 24 are used by each player and are represented by the circles, with the centre hexagon carrying two playing pieces. The object of the game is to be the first to move one's men to the corresponding positions on the opposite side of the playing area.

The playing pieces are moved across one of the faces of the hexagons in any one of the three forward directions available, as illustrated in Fig.

1 6 to the next unit of the same colour. The distance moved is determined by the throw of two dice. Each die value must be taken as a whole and applied to one playing piece. Thus one die value may be applied to any piece and the other die value may be applied either to the same piece or to any other piece.

If a player can move one of his pieces to land on a unit occupied by a single piece of his opponent's men, then that piece is knocked from play. Thus it is possible for a player to knock two of his opponent's pieces from play in the course of one throw of the dice.

The playing pieces may take a "dog-leg" path, if desired; they do not necessarily have to move in a straight line. The players may adjust the path taken in their moves to try to make their men land on unprotected players, thus knocking them from play. The path chosen must always be clearly indicated by the player to others in the game, and each unit moved must always be in the forward direction.

If two or more playing pieces of the same colour are located on the same unit, then those pieces cannot be knocked from play by an opponent, but are protected. In addition, no other player's piece may land on the protected hexagon at the end of either die value, although the unit is still counted as the player moves across it as part of his dice throw.

Any playing pieces that have been knocked from play must be returned by the player in his next move(s) before he can continue with normal play. Pieces may be returned to play by any dice throw, provided they are not blocked from doing so by the opponent's protected pieces, already in place in the player's original seven units.

The pieces are re-entered at the left hand unit of the two base units that formed part of the original arrangement of the pieces. To enter a man, one of the die value is taken, and this left unit is counted as 1. The subsequent units around the player's home area are counted as 2-3 4-5-6. Thus a throw of 6 on one die may be used to enter a man back to the right hand unit of his two base units. If neither die value can be used to enter a man because of opponent's protected pieces, then the player must wait until his next turn to throw again since he cannot move until all of his men are back on the board. After entering a man with one die value, the second die value may be used to enter another man, or to move the man just entered or another man.If on returning to play on one of the six allowed units, a man lands on an unprotected opponent's piece, then that piece is knocked from play.

If a player throws a 1 on one of the dice, and if an opponent has an unprotected piece already in the player's home area, and if the player's doubled centre piece is still in place, then this doubled piece can "strike" out at his opponent with the throw of 1 and knock his opponent's piece from play. However, he must return to his central position by subtracting one from the value on the second die. He can then move another man by the reduced value on the die. If a player throws a double 1 in this situation, he cannot move at all in addition to making his strike. (He does not have to make a strike if he throws a 1, but that is the only occasion which permits him to do so). It is also one of the three occasions when a player may move along the line joining units of the same colour, the others being re-entering and closing play. When this doubled piece is eventually separated and moved across the board, all special powers are lost until a doubled centre piece is again in position on his opponent's home area. It is possible for a player to have two doubled centre pieces at some time during the game one in its original place and one in his-opponent's home area.

In the final stages of the game, it is quite likely that some pieces in position in the new base area will be protected. to complete the game, the player must distribute these pieces to form the same pattern in which play began. Once all pieces are on one or more of the seven final positions, then the pieces may be distributed around the area by moving clockwise along the line joining the units, according to the dice throw. However, the exact value needed to re-distribute a piece is required before that piece can be moved. A throw of 1 is needed to move either to or from the central unit.

ln,a variation of this game on the star format of Fig. 4, the playing pieces are arranged in the same configuration shown in Fig. 15, as close to the apex of the star point as possible.

The playing surface may also be used in several games requiring only pencil and printed playing area of any format.

Two, four or six players may participate in an extension and variation of the game noughts and crosses.

In the game between two participants, for example, one player places the number 1 in one unit and the other a number 2 in another unit of the same colour. Only units of this one colour are used for two players; four players would oppose each other by playing two simultaneous but separate games between four players on two colours. The numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 would be used if four players participate. Alternatively, several players could alternate in playing with numbers 1 and 2 all on units of the same colour, such that a team of ones is opposing a team of twos.

The object of the game is to try to achieve complete rows of units with the same number in each. These rows may be either joined by a line between units of the same colour or be separated by two units of different colours. There are therefore six possible different orientations for a winning line. In scoring, incomplete rows of units which have three or more in a continuous row bearing the same number are taken into account.

When all units of the same colour have a number in them (either 1 or 2 for play between two players), a score for each player is obtained by taking each of the six orientations in turn and totalling how many units occur with a continuous line of three or more units bearing the same number. When a player has achieved a complete row across the playing area, the number of units bearing the same number is doubled when counted in the score.

Number games which involve writing down arithmetic or geometric progressions of numbers may also be played on the playing surface which may be of any format.

One variation of play may start between two players with one player writing down a simple progression (1, 3, 5, 7 for example) with one number in each unit along one complete row of units. The other player must then use one of these numbers in another progression whose line of units intersects with the original line of units used for the first progression. The two progressions therefore share one number at their point of intersection. However, no number may be used in any other progression in the game, except at other points of intersection of progressions. In other words a given number may only appear once on the playing surface. The first player whose only choice is to use a progression which does not contain a number already used elsewhere is the loser.There are six possible orientations for meshing the progressions, and any progressions written down must mesh in all directions or they are not allowed. If all of the units of the same colour in the playing area are occupied with progressions of numbers without the repetition of any number, then the game could be referred to as an ideal game and classed as a draw. Such games may have one, two or more players.

Word games may be played on the playing surface with a playing area of any format.

Selected combinations of letters may be allocated to each player, or chosen at random, or each player may be allowed to use any letters of his own choice.

The object of one variation of word games is to find as many words and as iong a words as possible to fill as many of the units of one colour on the playing area as possible. Intermeshing with several directions of units is allowed provided that words are created in the process. Sometimes writing a word in one direction adds a letter to another row in which the letters already present will not make a word. Such nonsense rows are ignored for scoring purposes. However, if a word shorter than a full line occurs, no player can add a letter on to either end (as could happen when writing a word in a different direction) unless the letters so written also make a word. There are six directions in which units of the same colour can be used for words. For vertical columns of units, words should be made to read downwards, and for all other orientations, words should read from left to right.

One or more players may participate in these word games. Score keeping is done as each word is written down by counting the number of letters in each word. If a word occupies a complete line of units, the number of letters is doubled for the purpose of the score. For words shorter than a complete line of units, the number of letters in the word is taken as the score. For a word that intermeshes with more than one other word, the number of letters in the new word is trebled for the purpose of the score. The winner will be the player with the highest total at the conclusion of play when no more words can be written.

All of the games described above may be played on any format of the playing surface, provided that suitable modifications are made to the conditions of play.

Claims (12)

Claims

1. A surface on which is defined a playing area divided into a plurality of repeating patterned arrangements of units, each patterned arrangement consisting of three groups of units wherein each unit of a group which does not form part of the perimeter of the playing area will be surrounded by and continguous with six other units formed from the other two groups, w;th the patterned arrangement being such that no unit of any group will be contiguous with other units of that group.

2. A surface having a playing area divided into a plurality of repeating patterned arrangements of units as claimed in claim 1, wherein the playing area is in a triangular format.

3. A surface having a playing area divided into a plurality of repeating patterned arrangements of units as claimed in claim 1, wherein the playing area is in a hexagonal format.

4. A surface having a playing area divided into a plurality of repeating patterned arrangements of units as claimed in claim 1, wherein the playing area is in a six pointed star format.

5. The game of chess as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.

6. The game of drafts as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.

7. The game of chinese checkers as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.

8. The game of backgammon as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding clainis 1 through 4.

9. The game of acey-deucy as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.

10. The game of fox and geese as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.

11. The number games as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.

12. The word games as herein described, whenever played on a playing area as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 through 4.