GB2134801A - Board game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a board (2) defining an area (4) representing a snooker table, a plurality of pieces (6) representing the differently coloured snooker balls, and a plurality of sets of colour-coded cards, the sets corresponding to the different colours used for snooker and each card carrying a question the difficulty of which increases with the points value of the particular colour. The questions are answered in a sequence generally in accordance with the game of snooker. A magnetised cue (8) may be provided to attract or repel the pieces (6) which are also magnetised, in appropriate question only being answered when attraction results. The board has zones 12-24 for receipt of the sets of colour- coded question cards and further marked zones for the receipt of "FOUL", "FLUKE", "DOUBLE" and "SNOOKER" cards while two cards are selected at random from each stack on zones 12-24 and placed on a "SNOOKERED" zone. A dice having its faces coloured yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black is also provided. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Board game The present invention relates to a board game.

According to the invention, there is provided a game comprising a board defining an area representing a snooker table, a plurality of pieces representing the-different balls and their colours as in a game of snooker, said pieces being arranged to be located on the table area, a plurality of sets of colour coded carriers, the sets corresponding to the different colours used for snooker, the carriers carrying intelligence questions and the difficulty of the questions increasing with the point value of the colour (as laid down for the game of snooker) to which each set corresponds, and a set of rules, the rules specifying.the order in which the questions are answered, to be in a sequence generally in accordance with a game of snooker, whereby a player selects a piece as the player would a ball in a game of snooker and the correct answering of a question from a set of carriers corresponding to the colour of the ball selected entitling the player a) to-remove the selected piece from the table area, b) to select a fresh piece in preparation for another question, and c) to increase the score accordingly, the failure to answer a question correctly entitling the next player to take his turn.

According to the invention, there is also provided a board game comprising a dice with each face being coloured with a respective one of six different colours, a board including an area simulating the top playing surfaee of a snooker table, and a plurality of differently coloured pieces for placement on the board; the pieces corresponding in number and colour with a set of snooker balls, the board including a plurality of different coloured zones surrounding said snooker table area, each zone locating a series of cards carrying intelligence questions, the cards on each zone being coloured the same as their respective zone colour, and the degree of difficulty of the questions being varied on a colour scale based on the colours 'value' scale in snooker, the board game being played substantially in accordance with the rules as hereinafter described.

A board game embodying the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, which shows a plan view of the game.

Game Synopsis The basis of the game is to win by answering intelligence questions correctly within a set time.

The degree of difficulty of the questions varies on a colour scale based on a colour value scale used in the game of snooker.

Most people have a very slight knowledge of the game of snooker, but, in any event, the game is simple to learn and is suitable for all ages over eight years.

Many of the actions of the game are based on the actual game of snooker, that is to say, it is possible to compile a 'break', pot a ball, play a foul shot, be lucky with a fluke shot and even 'snooker' an opponent.

It is an absorbing game in which general knowledge, memory and subtle tactics combined can produce a really exciting finish to each game played.

Board Description As shown in the sole Figure, a rectangular board 2 supports. a magnetisable rectanguiar plate forming a table area 4 located centrally of the board. The table area 4 is advantageously coloured green and bears the normal markings of a snooker table. A plurality of pieces in the form of magnetic discs 6 corresponding in number and colour to the conventional game of snooker, are randomly located on the table area 4. Each disc is magnetised in such a manner thatone face presents a North Pole, while the opposite face presents a South Pole. Since the discs are randomly placed on the table area 4, some will have their North Pole face uppermost, whilst others will have their South Pole face uppermost.

The two opposite faces of each disc are similar so that there is no way in which a player can visually identify the polarity of the uppermost face of any selected disc.

The game includes a cue 8 in the form of an elongate rod carrying pole pieces 8a and Sb presenting opposite polarities at opposite ends of the cue 8. The cue is uniform so that a player cannot visually identify which pole lies at which end thereof.

A dice is also provided. The dice has its six faces coloured respectively with the colours yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black, after the higher point scoring balls in the conventional game of snooker.

Surrounding the snooker table area 4 is a plurality of different coloured zones 12 to 24 each locating a set of carriers or cards carrying intelligence questions, the set of cards on each zone being coloured the same as the zone colour on which it is placed. The degree of difficulty of the questions in each set increases with the value attributed to its colour. The values of the colours are, of course, those attributed in the conventional game of snooker, i.e. red - 1 point, up to black 7 points. Also surrounding the snooker table area are zones 26, 28 and 30, respectively marked "FOUL", "SNOOKERED" and "SNOOKER", and zones 32 and 34, respectively marked "FLUKE" and "DOUBLE".The game also includes "FOUL" cards marked with different points value, "SNOOKER" cards bearing the designation "SNOOKER", "FLUKE" cards bearing the designation "FLUKE" and "DOUBLE" cards bearing the designation "DOUBLE".

Game Preparation With the coloured discs located on the table area 4 as aforesaid, the red discs may be left in their random positions on the board, but the other coloured pieces are placed on their respective spots as in the game of snooker. The coloured cards are positioned "questions down" in a stack on their respective coloured zones. The "FOUL" cards are placed faced down on the "FOUL" zone while the "DOUBLE" and "FLUKE" cards are respectively placed on their "DOUBLE" and "FLUKE" zones 34 and 32. Two colour cards are selected at random from each stack on the zones 14 to 24, shuffled and placed "questions down" on the "SNOOKERED" zone.

Each player takes one "SNOOKER" card, two "FLUKE" cards and two "DOUBLE" cards. These are placed off the board in front of him. Each player receives a scoreboard or pad (not shown) which he places in front of him, so that others can see it. The coloured dice is placed on the table and the game is now ready to be played.

Order of Play Each player (in precedence of age with the youngest first) in turn rolls the dice until it shows yellow. This player is the one who takes the first shot at a red. The player grabs the cue 8 and moves a selected end thereof towards any selected red disc. If the disc is repelled from the cue (like poles repelling), the cue is passed to the next player sitting on his Ift. The cue may be randomly rotated before handing on to the next player. If the disc is attracted to the cue, then the player is ready to answer a question. Any other player then picks up the top red card of the red stack and reads out the question on the reverse side. The first player, called the player 'ON', must answer the question within say, 1 5 seconds. If the answer is wrong (the correct answer being provided on the card below the question), then play passes to the player sitting on his left.

If the answer is right, the player awards himself the value of the red, 1 point. He.then removes a red piece from the cue and the red card is returned to the bottom of the stack. He may then nominate a colour. These questions vary in difficulty from the questions on yellow cards which are relatively simple to the most difficult questions on the black cards. Once he has chosen the colour, he must answer the question within say, 15 seconds. As above, if he answers wrongly, the play passes to the person sitting on his left who must then start with a red question. Let's assume he chooses the brown. He answers correctly and awards himself 4 points, that being the value shown on the card. He must then continue his break by playing another red, then another colour, and so on until all the reds are removed from the board.Note, after the final red has been potted, and removed from the board, and a colour has been attempted, THE COLOUR IS LEFT ON THE TABLE AND THE NEXT QUESTION WILL BE A YELLOW, THEN GREEN, THEN BROWN, BLUE, PINK and BLACK, that being the order in the real game of snooker. The winner of the game is the player who has the highest number of points at the end.

Double Cards These may be used at any stage in the game. If a player answers wrongly, then he may play his double card and will then receive another card.

from the same colour group. If the player answers wrongly again, then play passes on; if he is correct, he continues his "break". Double cards are returned to the "DOUBLE" zone after use and cannot be used again during the game.

Fluke Cards These cards may only be used while reds remain in play. They may not be used consecutively. These cards may be used after a wrong answer in order that the player may continue his break. He must lay his fiuke card immediately after his answer has been deemed wrong, he may then continue his break as though he had answered the last question correctly. He does not score the point(s) for the wrong answer.

Snooker Cards The aim of the snooker cards is to allow a player to make the next shot as difficult as possible for his opponents. In this game, a well timed snooked can make the difference between winning and losing. As a player is about the play a shot. any other competing player may 'lay' a snooker by placing his snooker card in the zone marked "SNOOKER" on the board.

The player whose turn it is must then, in order to escape from the snooker, pick up the top card from the stack marked "SNOOKERED" and ask the competing player the question. If answered correctly, then the player of the turn is deemed to have played a FOUL shot. He must then pick up a "FOUL" card and award every other player the value shown on the card. His turn is finished and play passes to the person on his left. If the competing player has answered'correctly, then the "SNOOKER" card is returned; if wrongly, then it is forfeited and the competing player must then pick up a "FOUL" card and award all other players the penalty value shown on the card. Any player may snooker any other player at any time, except on the final black.

"Fouls" and "Foul" Cards Any player who breaks the rules is penalised thus penalties accrue when a) a player piays out of turn, b) a player answers the question put to another player, and c) a player plays two reds in succession. In the event of answering another player's question, the guilty player misses his next turn. In any other case where a penalty must be paid, the guilty player must pick up a "FOUL ' card and award the points shown on the reverse of the card to ail other players.

Final Black If scores are level after the final black has been played the tying players only answer black question to a sudden death win.

It will be appreciated that many modifications can be made to the hereinbefore described rules of the game.

For example, the provision of the cue 8 and magnetisation of the disc 6 can be omitted.

Furthermore, the DOUBLE and FLUKE cards and areas can be omitted.

Also, instead of effecting a snooker and responding to the snooker by means of a card lifted from the "SNOOKERED" zone, other arrangements can be made. For example, the coloured dice 10 can be thrown to select a difficulty of question to be answered.

In a modification, instead of a player once having "potted" a red, having a choice of colours, the colour can be selected by the throw of the dice.

Claims (9)

1. A game, comprising a board defining an area representing a snooker table, a plurality of pieces representing the different balls and their colours as in a game of snooker, said pieces being arranged to be located on the table area, a plurality of sets of colour coded carriers, the sets corresponding to the different colours used for snooker, the carriers carrying intelligence questions and the difficulty of the questions increasing with the point value of the colour (as laid down for the game of snooker) to which each set corresponds, and a set of rules, the rules specifying the order in which the questions are answered to be in a sequence generally in accordance with a game of snooker, whereby a player selects a piece as the player would a ball in a game of snooker and the correct answering of a question from a set of carriers corresponding to the colour of the ball selected, entitling the player a) to remove the selected piece from the table area, b) to select a fresh piece in preparation for another question, and c) to increase the score accordingly, the failure to answer the question correctly entitling the next player to take his turn.

2. A game, according to Claim 1, including a further set of carriers designated "FOUL", different ones of said set of carriers bearing different ones of the said point values, the rules further specifying that in the event of an infringement of the rules, the guilty player must select a FOUL carrier and increase the scores of all the other players by the amount indicated on the carrier selected.

3. A game, according to Claim 2, including a plurality of snooker carriers, each bearing a designation indicative of a SNOOKER, the rules specifying that each player is provided with at least one such carrier, and when played against a player whose turn it is, the player whose turn it is must select a carrier in a random fashion from one of said sets of colour coded carriers and ask the question thereon of the player who played the snooker carrier, a correct answer by the respondent requiring the player whose turn it is to award all the other players with points of value according to the colour of the carrier bearing the question, and an incorrect answer requiring the respondent to award all the other players with said points.

4. A game according to Claim 3, wherein the rules further specify that the random selection of the carrier is effected by extracting an equal plurality of carriers from each set of colour coded carriers, distributing them randomly and selecting the question to be answered therefrom.

5. A game, according to any preceding Claim, wherein said pieces are magnetised and including a cue member magnetised with a different polarity at each end, and wherein said rules specify that each player upon selecting a piece must attract a said piece with the cue before proceeding with the turn, the turn being forfeited in the event that the piece is repelled and not attracted by the cue.

6. A game, according to any preceding Claim, wherein each said carrier comprises a card and wherein said board is designated with a separate area for each said set of carriers in a region of the board surrounding the table area.

7. A game, according to any preceding Claim, including a dice having six sides each coloured with a respective one of the colours yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black, and wherein the rules specify that each player must throw the dice in turn and that th6 first player to produce a yellow colour uppermost is the player to initiate the game.

8. A board game, comprising a dice with each face being coloured with a respective one of six different colours, a board including an area simulating the top playing surface of a snooker table, and a plurality of differently coloured pieces for placement on the board; the pieces corresponding in number and colour with a set of snooker balls, the board including a plurality of different coloured zones surrounding said snooker table area, each zone locating a series of cards carrying intelligence questions, the cards on each zone being coloured the same as their respective zone colour, and a degree of difficulty of the questions being varied on a colour scale based on the colours 'value' scale in snooker, the board game being played substantially in accordance with the rules as hereinbefore described.

9. A board game and a set of rules, substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying drawing.