GB2240280A - Board game - Google Patents

Abstract

A board game apparatus in which a number of playing pieces are to be moved over the surface of a board whose surface is sub-divided into a plurality of playing spaces, the playing pieces being adapted to have a face exposed to a player during play, is characterised in that the board and/or the playing pieces carry a number of indicia, one of which can be selected by the player to determine the movement of the playing piece across the surface of the board. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE: BOARD GAME The present invention relates to a board game, notably to one where the board and playing pieces have co-operating indicia which determine the movement of the playing pieces across the surface of the board.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION: Many forms of board game exist where a playing piece is moved across the board in a movement selected from possible alternatives by the player. Chess and draughts are examples of such a game. Whilst such a game exercises the skill of the players, the number of possible moves available for any one playing piece is fixed for that piece and can be seen by both players. In other forms of game, the movement of the playing pieces is determined by the throw of a dice or the like, so that there is an element of chance as well as skill in the selection of the movement of a playing piece. Again, once the dice is thrown, the possible moves available to a player can be seen by the other players.

In some forms of board game, the moves available to a player can be held secret from other players, but there is usually only one form of movement available to each type of playing piece. For example, some pieces can move two or more spaces forward or backward whereas others can only move single spaces. However, once a playing piece is identified by an opponent, he can predict its future movement options accurately I have now devised a board game where each playing piece can make a number of possible moves which can be selected by a player, optionally at each movement of that playing piece, and which are not all visible to the other players, thus enhancing the complexity and variation of the games which can be played.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the invention provides a board game in which a number of playing pieces are to be moved over the surface of a board whose surface is sub-divided into a plurality of playing spaces, the playing pieces being adapted to have a face exposed to a player during play, characterised in that the board and/or the playing pieces carry a number of indicia, one of which can be selected by the player to determine the movement of the playing piece across the surface of the board.

In the board game of the invention, the board surface is sub-divided into a number of playing spaces through which a playing piece passes as it moves. The playing spaces are preferably contiguous with one another and are of the same plan shape as the plan shape of the playing pieces. Thus, the playing pieces are preferably cubes and the playing spaces are squares. However, the playing pieces can be of other shapes if desired, for example pyramidal or hexahedral, and the playing spaces correspondingly shaped, for example triangular or hexagonal respectively. Whilst it is preferred that the playing spaces and the playing pieces have the same plan shape, this is not necessary and it is within the scope of the present invention to have playing squares and hexahedral playing pieces.

Furthermore, whilst it is usually preferred that the playing board be symmetrically sub-divided into contiguous playing spaces, for example an eight by eight square playing surface, this need not be the case and the board could be rectangular, triangular or other shaped.

For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of a square board sub-divided into 64, 81 or 100 equal playing squares with cubic playing pieces.

The playing pieces carry indicia on at least two faces, and preferably on each face, thereof to indicate the number of squares the playing piece is to be moved when that face is exposed to the player. Preferably, the game is played using the exposed uppermost face. However, the game could be played using the face which is exposed in the direction of the player, so that the opposing player has to deduce the value of that face from those which he has seen in earlier turns. For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of the use of the indicia on the uppermost face.

If desired, the exposed face may also carry indicia giving the form of the move to be made, for example a dog-leg move, a diagonal move and so on. Thus, the faces of the cube may carry indicia corresponding to chess pieces so that the playing piece can adopt different roles depending upon the face which is uppermost. The board squares may also carry indicia which co-operate with those carried by the cube to indicate the possible moves to be made. Thus, the board may have different coloured squares and the cube carry different colours on its faces so that the cube is moved onto a square having the colour of the exposed face.

As indicated, the exposed face and the indicia on the board squares can interact so that a number of possible moves are available to a player and it is not necessary that every face carry an indicia or that the indicia on every face be different.

For convenience, the invention will hereinafter be described in terms of a cube having the numbers 1 to 6 on its six faces for use with a plain black and white chequered board.

During play, the player selects which playing piece he will move and moves that according to the requirements of the indicia on the uppermost face. The move can be dog-leg, diagonal or forward, backwards or to either side. However, it will usually be preferred to limit the movement options to forward or sideways in order to reduce the complexity of the game.

The playing pieces can remain in a fixed orientation throughout the game, the orientation being selected by the player initially as he sets out the playing pieces in the start positions for the game selected. However, it will usually be preferred that the orientation of each playing piece should be changed at some or each movement thereof so that the player can alter the possible movement of the playing piece to his advantage when it is moved. Thus, when a playing piece is moved, it is preferred that it be rotated through 900 or a multiple thereof about a vertical or horizontal axis of the playing piece to expose a new upper face and that that new upper face determines the movement of the playing piece for that turn. The rotation can be carried out with the playing piece retained upon the playing space at which it is located.However, it is preferred to roll the playing piece onto an adjacent playing space so that the playing piece moves one playing space laterally, as well as exposing a new upper face to determine its onward movement for that turn from the new playing space. It is within the scope of the present invention to permit the rotation to occur rt the beginning and/or at the end of a turn or to omit the rotation at any one turn.

The board and playing pieces of the invention find use in a number of forms of game and the complexity of the game can be increased by the players deciding what forms of move and what rotations of the cubes may be permitted. In general, the objective of the games will be to remove opponents cubes by occupying a square on which an opponent's cube lies. However, other rules relating to passing over occupied spares and the like may be introduced to limit the freedom of movement of cubes in certain situations. It is particularly preferred to play the game with a rule which specifies that a player may not move onto a square which is within the spread of squares surrounding an opponent's piece and onto which that piece could be moved by the opponent in accordance with the face which is currently uppermost.

However, all the games will be characterised in that the players have the ability to select the movement of their pieces at each turn from a number of possible alternatives to maximise the benefit of that move to them.

Accordingly, the present invention also provides a method for playing a board game in which individual playing pieces are moved across the surface of a playing surface subdivided into a number of playing spaces, characterised in that each playing piece carries upon at least two of the faces thereof one or more indicia to dictate the form and/or value of the movement of that playing piece, and in that the move of each playing piece is dictated by the value of the indicia carried by the face of the playing piece which is exposed to the view of a player.

Preferably, the value of the exposed indicia is changed at at least some of the turns at which the playing piece is moved by rotating the playing piece to expose a different face to the player.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of illustration only with respect to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a single cube playing piece in position on a black and white chequered board and illustrates the forms of move which can be made by that cube; Figures 2a and 2b show the rotational moves which can be made by a cube; and Figure 3 shows the two sets of opposing cubes set out at the start of a game.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT: The board is a conventional ten square by ten square black and white chequered board. Each of two players has a set of ten cubes (one set white, the other set black or some other colour). Each cube carries a number selected from 1 to 6 on its six faces so that each cube will expose five numbered faces, of which only two are readily visible to an opponent, one is visible only to the player and one face is hidden to both players, when the cube is placed on a square on the board. The objective of the game is to remove all the opponents cubes or to place him in a position at which he cannot move any one of his remaining cubes.

The cubes are set out intially along two opposed edge rows on the board. The players may select the orientation of the cubes so that they give him the best advantage.

Typically, the rules will stipulate that at least one of each number and not more that two of each number'must be exposed on the uppermost faces of the cubes as initially laid out, see Figure 3.

A cube moves the number of squares forwards, backwards or sideways according to the number exposed on its uppermost face. In the case of the cube in Figure 1, this will be two squares. However, it will usually be provided in the rules that a cube cannot pass over a square occupied or controlled by an opponent's cube and that a cube cannot move off the board, ie. if it is one square from the edge of the board, the cube of Figure i cannot move in that direction. Other limitations on the movement of a cube may be imposed by the players when setting the rules of the game.

It will usually be preferred that a cube can be rotated at the beginning and/or end of a turn so as to expose a new uppermost face and thus change the number of squares it can move. Thus, although an opponent can see the possible moves of a cube from its exposed top and forward faces (and possibly its side faces), he must also be aware of the possible alternative moves which could be achieved by rotating the cube. The rotation can take place without lateral movement of the cube, ie. the cube is rotated on the square it already occupies. However, it will usually be preferred that the rotation is achieved by rolling the cube onto an adjacent square either forwards or backwards as shown in Figure 2a or sideways as shown in Figure 2b.

This will expose a new upper face and will change the moves possible for that cube. A player may thus chose to rotate a cube at the start of a turn so as to threaten or capture an opponents cube, or may rotate the cube at the end of a turn so at to threaten a square into which an opponent could move a cube on a forthcoming turn or to prevent an opponent's cube from moving within the rules of the game because this would require the cube to pass over the square now occupied by the player's cube or to pass over squares which are controlled by the player's cube.

The cubes can move in any direction as dictated by the exposed face and having regard to the constraints on its movement due to other cubes on the board or due to the confines of the board itself. Typically, it will be preferred that a cube cannot pass over a square already occupied by an opponents cube or into which that cube could be moved in accordance with its exposed upper face; and it may be desired to limit the possible alternative moves to certain stages of the game.Thus, during the initial stages of the game, for example until the number of an opponents cubes has been reduced to say three, rotation of a cube cannot be carried out at the end of a turn; and during later stages of the game, moves must be accompanied by one or more rotations of the cube to reduce the risk of a stalemate situation which could occur if simple linear moves without a rotation to change the denomination of the exposed face were permitted. When the players are reduced to one cube supplementary rules can be introduced to prevent a stalemate arising. Thus, for example, the players could compare the numerical values of the exposed faces at the start of each turn and the difference between the values given as a point score to the player having the highest exposed value.When a player has accumulated a specified total of such score points, say 12, he can then remove his opponents cube or cubes to win the game.

However, other scoring methods may be used and these may be varied throughout the course of the game to reduce the risk of an inconclusive score arising.

The objective of the game is to remove opponent's cubes by landing on a square occupied by one of his cubes and/or to prevent his cubes from completing a move according to the rules, thus forcing him to make moves which place his cubes in squares from which they can be removed by one's own cubes in a subsequent turn or preventing him from making a move at all.

Typically, the game will be played by the players setting out their cubes in alternate turns along the base lines of the board as shown in Figure 3 and then moving their cubes according to the rules until a conclusion is reached.

Thus, as shown in Figure 3, the various cubes can be moved from their base line positions to the dotted positions without any rotations. However, the arrowed white 6 cube can be moved to remove the opposing black 5 cube since it would occupy the same square, or vice versa. The arrowed black 6 cube cannot be moved forward since it would pass over the square occupied by the opposing white 5 cube and vice versa. In order to move the black 6 cube when the white 5 cube has been moved forward it will be necessary to rotate the cube, for example by rolling it forward onto the next square to expose the 3 which will allow it to move forward to adjacent the white 5 cube. Had the black cube been orientated so that the 4 was shown on the rearward face seen in Figure 3, the rotation of the cube would have allowed it to move 4 squares and thus remove the white 5 cube.

The game of the invention is capable of many permutations of rules to enable more or less complex games to be played and variations of the rules can readily be devised to suit the calibre of the players.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS:

1. A board game in which a number of playing pieces are to be moved over the surface of a board whose surface is subdivided into a plurality of playing spaces, the playing pieces being adapted to have a face exposed to a player during play, characterised in that the board and/or the playing pieces carry a number of indicia, one of which can be selected by the player to determine the movement of the playing piece across the surface of the board.

2. A board game as claimed in claim 1, wherein the playing pieces are cubes carrying an indicia upon each face thereof.

3. A board game as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2, wherein the faces of the playing pieces have secondary indicia which are adapted to co-operate with indicia carried by the playing spaces of the board to determine the form of movement of the playing piece.

4. A board game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the playing pieces and the playing spaces have the same plan shape.

5. A board game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the playing board is a chequer board having 64, 81 or 100 square playing spaces thereon.

6. A board game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising a square chequer board playing surface in association with two sets of playing pieces, each set comprising the number of cubes required to fill the playing spaces of one row of the playing surface.

7. A board game substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

8. A method for playing a board game in which individual playing pieces are moved across the surface of a playing surface sub-divided into a number of contiguous playing spaces, characterised in that each playing piece carries upon at least two of the faces thereof one or more indicia to dictate the form and/or value of the movement of that.

playing piece, and in that the move of each playing piece is dictated by the value of the indicia curried by the face of the playing piece which is exposed to the view of a player.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the playing piece is rotated about an horizontal or vertical axis to expose a new indicia to the player at the comencement and/or end of a playing turn in which that playing piece is to be moved by the player.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the rotation of the playing piece is achieved by rolling the playing piece onto a playing space adjacent to the one it occupies.

11. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the board and playing pieces comprise the game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

12. A method for playing a board game as claimed in claim 6 substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to the accompanying drawings.