GB2219744A - Game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a playing surface e.g. in the form of folding board (1) or flexible material and having a pictorial area (2), e.g. a map of the world or map of British isles, zones (3) marked with instruction (12) answer question or illustrations (6) and a pack of question and answer cards with questions and answers associated with pictorial area subject. As shown board (1), is marked with a start square (4) and finish square (13). The illustrations may be famous people (6), places of interest (7), wildlife (8) or forms of transport such as helicopters (9), ships (10) or aeroplanes (11). Questions and answers may be structured to history, general knowledge or other academic subjects and cards may be divided into sections with questions/answers for different age groups. Cards may have illustration on one side with answer on reverse. <IMAGE>

Description

A Game Apparatus This invention relates to an apparatus for playing a game and more particularly to a game using a board or other playing surface requiring both chance and skill.

Various board games are known which invoke chance, different levels of skill and intellegence, depending upon the age of the players. However, many of these games are purely intended as a leisure persuit or pastime.

An aim of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus designed to provide a vehicle for learning combined with an interesting and enjoyable pastime.

According to the invention there is provided a game apparatus comprising a playing surface marked out with a pictorial area and a series of playing zones, a plurality of player identifying tokens, a pack of question and answer cards and a numerical chance device, wherein the playing zones bear instructions to the players landing on them and the question and answers on the cards are associated with the subject depicted in the pictorial area.

Preferably, the subject depicted in the pictorial area is a geographical location.

Conveniently, the geographical location is a map of the world.

Alternatively, the geographical location may be a particular country for example, a map of the British Isles.

An embodiment of the game apparatus according to the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a playing surface, according to the invention; Figures 2a to 2e are elevational views of different player identifying tokens, and Figures 3a and 3b are plan views of different types of question and answer cards.

The game apparatus cosprises a playing surface in the form of a folding board 1 having a central rectangular area 2 with a pictorial area depicting a map of the world.

Surrounding the four sides of the board are rectangular zones 3 which may conveniently number 80 zones although in the illustration only 52 are shown. The zones 3 are each marked with instructions or an illustration associated with the map of the world.

The board 1 is marked at the bottom right hand corner with a square 4 with the word 'START' and an arrow indicating the direction of play. Located at random around the board are zones 5 marked with illustrations for example of famous people 6, places of interest 7, wildlife 8, or forms of transport, such as a helicopter 9, ships 10, or aeroplanes 11. In between the zones 5 marked with the pictures are zones 12 bearing the instruction 'Answer Question: These questions are taken from a pack of question and answer cards as will be hereinafter described in detail with reference to Figures 3a and 3b. The square 13 adjacent the square 4 is marked with the word FINISH indicating to a player landing on the square that they have finished and won the game.

With reference now to Figures 2a to 2e there are illustrated player indicating tokens 14 which may be made of a plastics material in the form of modes of transport. Figure 2a depicts an aircraft carrier, Figure 2b the liner Queen Elizabeth II, Figure 2c a helicopter, Figure 2d the passenger airliner 'Concord' and Figure 2e a passenger airliner 'Bowing 747'.

With particular reference now to Figures 3a and 3b, Figure 3a is a plan view of a question and answer card 15 with questions and answers associated with the map of the world. The cards 15 are divided into two sections the upper section 16 has questions and answers for players aged between 8 and 12 years while the bottom section 17 has questions and answers suitable for players aged 12 years to adults.

The card 18 illustrated in Figure 3b is intended for all ages of players and have a picture of a famous person or land mark place with the answer on the reverse of the card.

Td complete the playing pieces for the board game is a numerical chance device (not shown) which may be a spinner marked with numbers from 1 to 6 or a conventional die or dice and a shaker.

CONTENTS OF THE GAME 1 gameboard 5 player identification tokens 500 question/answer cards 1 dice and shaker RULES OF THE GAME The game is played by two to five players and the object of the game is to progress from the starting point around the board by random numerical throws of the dice and to answer correctly questions when landing on an "Answer Question square.

Each player selects one of the player identification tokens from an aircraft carrier, the liner Queen Elizabeth II, a helicopter, the airliner "Concord" or the airliner "Bowing 747". Each player in turn throws the dice and the highest score starts by moving their player token the specified number of moves around the board. If they land on a picture square then they wait for their next turn, to play, if however they land on an "Answer Question square then they have the question card from the top of the pack of question and answer cards read out to them. The level of difficulty of the question depends upon the age of the player. If they are aged between 8 and 12 years then the question is read from the upper section while if they are aged between 12 years to adult then they are asked a question from the bottom section of the card.

The questions are all associated with the features of the world i.e. capitals of countries, heads of state or royalty, wild life etc. If the player answers the question correctly then they throw the dice again and progress around the board to the finish. If the player is unable to answer the question or gives a wrong answer then they ove back two spaces or back to the START square.

The first player to encircle the board i.e. to go "Around the World in Eighty Spaces" to the "FINISH" wins the game.

In an alternative arrangement the question cards have a pictorial question e.g. a famous person or landmark with the answer on the reverse side of the card.

It will be appreciated that the game has the advantage of being both a game of learning as well as an enjoyable pastime. The level of the questions can be chosen to correspond with a particular syllabus for example to school examination ordinary level geography. However, although the content of the game has been described with reference to geographical locations and personalities it could equally well be structured to cover History, General Knowledge, or other academic subjects. Instead of depicting a map of the world the geographical location may be a map of the British Isles with associated questions such as naming certain counties, towns, roads and rivers.

Various modifications may be made to the apparatus described, for example, the board need not be rigid but can be printed on a flexible material such as a sheet of plastic or cloth-like material so that it can be rolled-up when not in use. The player indicating token can be made as a two dimentional articles slotted into a rigid supporting base so that they stand-up on the playing surface. Alternatively, they may be moulded, for example, from a rigid plastics material in three-dimentional for.

The surface of the board may also be marked with a location area or areas on which the question/answer cards are placed while the game is in progress.

Claims (17)

1. A game apparatus comprising a playing surface marked out with a pictorial area and a series of playing zones, a plurality of player identifying tokens, a pack of question and answer cards and a numerical chance device, wherein the playing zones bear instructions to the players landing on them and the question and answers on the cards are associated with the subject depicted in the pictorial area.

2. A game apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subject depicted in the pictorial area is a geographical location.

3. A game apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the geographical location is a map of the world.

4. A game apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the geographical location is a map of the British Isles.

5. A game apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least some of the playing zones have illustrations associated with the subject in the pictorial area.

6. A game apparatus as claimed in any preceding claims, wherein the question and answer cards have illustrations on one side with an identification of the illustration on the reverse side.

7. A game apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the illustrations are of famous people.

8. A game apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the illustrations are of well known land marks.

9. A game apparatus as claimed in any of claims 5 to 6, wherein the illustrations are of animals.

10. A game apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the question and answer cards are divided into two levels for players of different age groups.

11. A game apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the questions and answers on the cards are selected to correspond to an educational syllabus.

12. A game apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the board is made from a rigid material which has hinged areas to enable it to be folded for storage.

13. A game apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 11, wherein the board is made of a flexible material which can be rolled up for storage.

14. A game apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the player identifying tokens are made in two dimensional form from a rigid material and are each supported on a base to support them in an upright position.

15. A game apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 13, wherein, the player identifying tokens are made in a three dimensional form from a rigid plastics material.

16. A game apparatus when played in accordance with the rules as hereinbefore described.

17. A game apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.