GB2214822A

GB2214822A - Apparatus for playing a game

Info

Publication number: GB2214822A
Application number: GB8802695A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Gavin Mccallum; Kerry Jean Mccallum
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-02-05
Filing date: 1988-02-05
Publication date: 1989-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2008-02-05
Also published as: GB8802695D0; GB2214822B

Abstract

The apparatus comprises playing pieces 1-5, (cards, ceramic material pieces) which can be placed on a playing surface and have playing faces each marked with a line or other marking leading from one edge to one or more of its other edges, the playing pieces being placed with their respective lines/markings in registratim; each player or team takes turns to turn over and play his/their pieces to connect a line from his/their starting point AS or BS to his/their finishing point AF or BF. The points may be arranged for crossing of opponents line of play. As shown, additional piece 7 defines the start and finish points and piece 6 has a cul-de-sac section. There may be two sets of pieces (say 52 each) identified by e.g. different coloured felt backing. Start/finish points may be on a board. The game may involve player giving up an unseen piece and rotating any piece already in play. <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR PLAYING A GAME This invention relates to apparatus for playing a game in which playing pieces are moved to different relative positions on a playing surface.

The game of dominoes is well known and comprises a number of different rectangular playing pieces which are placed next to each other on a playing surface by the players in accordance with rules associated with the markings of the playing pieces.

According to the present invention, apparatus for playing a game comprises a plurality of playing pieces which can be placed on a playing surface to display either a square edged playing face or a square edged back face and each playing piece can be positioned so that any edge of its playing face can be abutted against any free edge of any other playing piece, each playing piece is marked on its playing face with a line or other marking leading from one of its edges to one or more of its other edges, the game being played by distributing the playing pieces with only their back faces visible between two players or two teams of players who then play in a predetermined sequence by turning over one of their playing pieces to reveal its playing surface and then placing such playing piece on the playing surface so that at least one of its edges having a line or other marking is positioned against the edge of another playing piece on the playing surface with their respective lines or other markings in registration, the game being won by the first player or team of players to connect a line or other marking from their starting point to their finishing point.

Preferably there is an additional playing piece having our edges which are mutually at right angles to each other and in sequence define a starting p;int for the first player or team of players, a starting point for the second player or team of players, a finishing point for the first player or team of players and a finishing point for the second player or team of players, whereby each player or team of players is faced with the task of crossing the other players or team of players' line of play to reach its finishing point. This additional playing piece is preferably of the same size and shape as the other playing pieces. The back face of the additional playing piece is preferably marked so that it can readily be identified from the other pieces thereby facilitating the start of the game.

Alternatively, instead of providing tis additional playing piece, a playing board may be provided which defines the respective starting and finishing points.

The playing pieces are preferably arranged in two identical sets, the back faces of each set of playing pieces being readily identifiable by being coloured or otherwise marked as a set.

Preferably the game will begin by each player in turn turning over two of his set of playing pieces so that each player has a choice of two playing pieces for his turn, and after each player has placed his selected playing piece in position on the playing surface he then turns over an unplayed playing piece so that the option for his next move is disclosed to the other players.

Each set of playing pieces preferably includes sever playing pieces in which the opposite edges of their playing face are interconnected by a line or other marking, several playing pieces in which two adjacent edges of their playing face are interconnected zy a line or other marking, several playing pieces in which three edges of their playing face are interconnected by lines or other markings, and several playing pieces in which all four edges of their playing face are interconnected by lines or other markings.Instead of playing one of his upturned pieces, a player may alternatively give up one of his playing pieces of which the playing face is undisclosed and may then, instead of placing any playing piece on the playing surface, rotate a piece that is already in play so long as this does not break any existing connections between the lines or other markings of the remaining pieces that are in play.

Preferably each set of pieces includes at least one cul-de-sac piece which can be played to block the end of any line or other marking of a piece already in play.

Preferably each set of pieces includes at least one bridging piece in which each pair of opposite edges of its playing surface are interconnected by respective lines or other markings but are not connected to the adjacent edges. Such bridging pieces may be played by replacing any piece already in play other than a cul-de-sac piece or another bridging piece.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 illustrates the playing faces of the seven different types of playing piece, Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the correct rotation of pieces already in play, Figure 4 illustrates incorrect rotation of a piece already in play, Figure 5 illustrates the playing of a bridging piece, and Figure 6 illustrates the conclusion of a simple game.

With reference to Figure 1, each of the seven different types of playing piece comprises a square wafer formed from a suitable material. Whilst these squares may be cut from sheet material such as card, they are preferably made from a ceramic material of which one face and the four edges are glazed, the other face being covered with coloured felt. The glazed face of each piece is the playing face and incorporates one of the seven patterns illustrated which are formed by lines incorporated in the glaze. Instead of using lines, any other suitable marking such as, for example, rows of dots or rows of dashes, may be used.

It will be noted that piece 1 has the centres of two opposite edges interconnected by a line to define a straight section, pie.ce 2 has the centres of two adjacent edges interconnected by a curved line to define a curved section, piece 3 has the centres of three edges interconnected by lines to define a T section, and piece 4 has the centres of all four edges interconnected by lines to define an X section.

Fiece 5 is similar to piece 4 except that whilst each pair of opposite edges are interconnected by respective lines, they are not connected to either of the adjacent edges - thus piece 5 defines a bridging section. Piece 6 has a line leading only from the centre of one edge and terminating on the playing face to define a cul-de-sac section. Piece 7 defines the start and the finish of the game for both players or both teams of players - a line leads from the centre of each edge to a start or finish mark which can be identical coloured areas as shown or can, is so desired, be incividually marked in any convenient manner so long as the starting and finishing points alternate.

The basic object of the game is for each player, or team of players, to place their pieces edge-to-edge on a playing surface to interconnect their respective start and finish marks, the winning player or team of players being the first to do so. Because the start and finish positions on piece 7 alternate, each player or team of players is faced with the problem of crossing the other player's or team of players' line of play whilst simultaneously trying to obstruct the opponents attempts to do likewise.

Whilst a set of playing pieces could be made up from various combinations of the seven pieces shown in Figure 1 and possibly some of the described pieces could be omitted or possibly substituted by pieces having other purposes, we prefer to operate with 105 pieces comprising one of the start and finish pieces 7 and two identical sets of 52 pieces made up from the pieces 1 to 6. Each of these sets is made up from 15 of piece 1, 20 of piece 2, 10 ol piece 3, 4 of piece 4, 2 of piece 5 and one piece 6.

Each set of pieces is provided with a different coloured felt backing so that each set can be sorted out whilst the pieces are lying with their playing faces down on the playing surface, and the start and finish piece 7 is uniquely identified on its back face in any convenient manner for instance by covering one area of its back surface with one colour of felt and another area with the other colour of felt.

The provision of the start and finish piece 7 enables the game to be played on any convenient surface without any need for a special playing board. For this reason the pieces are supplied with a sheet of felt incorporating a pocket in which the pieces can be stored when not in use. However, the start and finish piece 7 could be omitted, if so desired, in favour of a playing board defining start and finish posItions provided these are arranged so that each player has to cross other players lines of play. A playing board would enable the game to be played by more than two players or two teams of players provided that sufficient playing pieces were also provided.

When the game is to be played by two players, each player has one set of pieces. If four persons wish to play, they play as two teams, with each set divided equally between the players of each team.

The game is preferably played by each player initially turning over two of his pieces to display their playing faces for all players to see. The players then play in a predetermined sequence by first selecting one of their displayed pieces and abutting one of its edges against either the start and finish piece 7 or any other piece in play, provided that one of its lines connects with a line of the piece against which it is abutted.; Immediately after making his move, the player must then t'arn over a replacement piece so that the option for his next move is disclosed to the other player or players.

Each set has one of the cul-de-sac pieces 6 which can be played onto the end of the opponents line thereby permanently terminating ito If this makes it impossible for the other side to proceed, the game is terminated as a draw.

The game is made more interesting by the provision of a special rule under which a player may, instead of using his turn to place a new piece on the playing surface, give up one of his unseen pieces by returning it to the bag, and may then rotate any piece already in play provided that in doing so he does not break an existing line. Such a rotated piece can be rotated again, but not in successive moves until its lines are linked to two or more other pieces. true rules of rotation are illustrated by Figures 2 to 4.

In Figure 2 three pieces have been linked together and the piece 2 is rotated clockwise through a right angle to leave it in the position shown in the righthand half of the Figure. In Figure 3 the piece 3 is also rotated clockwise through a rightangle to leave it in the position shown in the right-hand half of the Figure. It will be appreciated that the rotational moves shown.in Figures 2 and 3 can have a profound effect on the playing of the game. Figure 4 illustrates an incorrect rotation of piece 2 as this breaks the existing line connecting it with piece 1. The playing of a bridge also can have a profound effect on the game. A bridge piece is used to replace any piece that is already in play except for the cul-de-sac piece 6.The playing of a bridge piece is illustrated by Figure 5 in which the curved piece 2 is removed and then replaced by-the bridge piece 5 thereby permanently interrupting the previous connection between pieces 1 and 3 whilst opening new options for playing further pieces against the connections q and i; Figure 6 illustrates the completion of a very simple game by two players, player A being allocated AS as his starting point and AF as his finishing point, and player B being allocated BS as his starting point and BF as his finishing point.Player A starts the game by placing piece Al and player B follows by placing piece B1, then player A places piece A2 followed by B placing piece B2, and so on until player A wins the game by placing piece AS, the winning cor section being identified by the superimposed dotted line. From a post mortem of this game it will be noted that player A has realised that, when player B used the T junction piece for his move B1, this opened the possibility of player A using player Ets line by eventually joining Al to B10 This realisation was initially concealed by player A who has first placed A2 thereby directing his finish connection to the left for eventual connection through B1 to Al.Player B has then played B3 with a view to keep outside any connection from A2 and, in doing sos increases the damage caused when player A places piece A3. Player B has then made the further mistake of placing B4 rather than trying to frustrate player Ats opportunity of interconnecting B3 and A4 to win the game. When played by experienced players, the game would naturally be much more complex particularly bearing in mind that each player knows, before playing any piece, what his opponents choice of following moves are apart from the possibility of a rotation move. Even this move has an unforseeable consequence as the player making such a move is unable to assess the type of piece that he has to discard which might well be a valuable and rare piece such as a bridge or a cul-de-sac.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

lo Apparatus for playing a game comprising a plurality of playing pieces which can be placed on a playing surface to display either a square edged playing face or a square edged back face and each playing piece can be positioned so that any edge of its playing face can be abutted against any free edge of any other playing piece, each piece being marked on its playing face with a line or other marking leading from one of its edges to one or more of its other edges, the game being played by distributing the playing pieces with only their back faces visible between two players or two teams of players who then play in a predetermined sequence by turning over one of their playing pieces to reveal its playing surface and then placing such playing piece on the playing surface so that at least one of its edges having a line or other marking is positioned against the edge of another playing piece on the playing surface with their respective lines or other markings in registration, the game being won by the first player or team of players to connect a line or other marking from their starting point to their finishing point0
2.Apparatus, according to Claim 1, in which there is an additional playing piece having four edges which are mutually at right angles to each other and in sequence define a starting point for the first player or team of players, a starting point for the second player or team of players, a finishing point for the first player or team of players and a finishing point for the second player or team of players, whereby each player or team of players is faced with the task of crossing the other players or team of playerts line of play to reach its finishing point.
3. Apparatus, according to Claim 2, in which the additional playing piece is of the same size and shape as the other playing pieces.
4. Apparatus, according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the back face of the additional playing piece is marked so that it can readily be identified from the other pieces thereby facilitating the start of the game.
5. Apparatus, according to Claim 1, including a playing board defining the respective starting and finishing points for the players, and these starting and finishing points are arranged so that each player or team of players is faced with the task of crossing the other player's or team of player's line of play to reach its finishing point.
6.. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which the playing pieces are arranged in two identical sets, the back faces of each set of playing pieces being marked to distinguish them from the playing pieces of the other set.
7.' Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which the game begins by each player in turn turning over two of his set of playing pieces so that each player has a choice of two playing pieces for his turn, and after each player has placed his selected playing piece in position on the playing surface he then turns over an unplayed playing piece so that the option for his next move is disclosed to the other players.
8. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which each set of playing pieces includes several playing pieces in which the opposite edges of their playing face are interconnected by a line or other marking.
9. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which each set of playing pieces includes several playing pieces in which two adjacent edges of their playing face are interconnected by a line or other marking.
10. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which each set of playing pieces includes several playing pieces in which three edges of their playing face are interconnected by lines or other markings.
11. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which each set of playing pieces includes several playing pieces in which all four edges of their playing face are interconnected by lines or other markings.
12. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which a player may, instead of playing one of his upturned pieces, alternativeiy give up one of his playing pieces of which the playing face is undisclosed and may then, instead of placing any playing piece on the playing surface, rotate a piece that is already in play so long as this does not break any existing connections between the lines or other markings of the remaining pieces that are in play.
13. Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which each set of pieces includes at least one cul-de-sac piece which can be played to block the end of any line or other marking of a piece already in play.
14o Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, in which each set of playing pieces includes at least one bridging piece in which each pair of opposite edges of its playing surface are interconnected by respective lines or other markings but are not connected to the adjacent edges."
15.' Apparatus, according to Claim 14, in which the bridging pieces are played by replacing any piece already in play other than a cul-de-sac piece or another bridging piece.
16.' Apparatus for playing a game substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.