GB2288549A - Apparatus for playing a game - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a plurality of first playing pieces 10 and a plurality of second playing pieces 11a. The first playing pieces are of identical shape and have two interlocking edges 19, 20 which will interlock with an interlocking edge of another of the first playing pieces and one non-interlocking edge 18. The second playing pieces are of identical shape and have three interlocking edges all of which will interlock with all three interlocking edges of a like piece and with the two interlocking edges of the first playing pieces. Preferably, the first and second playing pieces can be fitted together to construct a polygon with the non-interlocking edges of the first playing pieces defining the outer edge of the polygon. Individual pieces can be made up from a single base plate and a plurality of smaller parts press-fitted on the base plate.

Description

"Apparatus for playing a same" This invention relates to apparatus for playing a game.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for playing a game, comprising a plurality of first playing pieces and a plurality of second playing pieces, the first playing pieces being of identical shape and having two interlocking edges which will interlock with an interlocking edge of another of the first playing pieces and one non-interlocking edge and the second playing pieces being of identical shape and having three interlocking edges all of which will interlock with all three interlocking edges of a like piece and with the two interlocking edges of the first playing pieces.

Preferably the non-interlocking edge of each first piece is a straight edge.

Preferably, the first and second playing pieces can be fitted together to construct a polygon with the non-interlocking edges of the first playing pieces defining the outer edge of the polygon.

Preferably, the interlocking edges of the first and second playing pieces each have a dovetailed projection and a complementary dovetailed recess.

Preferably, the three edge regions of the upper surface of each of some of the playing pieces are visually different.

Preferably, two of the edge regions of the upper surface of each of some of the playing pieces are visually the same, and the third edge region is visually different from the other two.

Preferably, all three edge regions of the upper surface of each of some of the playing pieces are visually the same.

Each playing piece may comprise a single base plate and a plurality of smaller parts which are press fittable on the base plate to define the upper surface of the playing piece. In this case, conveniently, said base plates and said smaller parts are of plastics material and each playing piece also includes a metal member which can be trapped between the base plate and the smaller parts of the playing piece in order that the playing pieces can be picked up by a magnet.

Conveniently, the apparatus further comprises a plurality of die having sides which are coloured and/or patterned to correspond with colours and/or patterns on the upper surfaces of the playing pieces.

Conveniently, the apparatus further comprises a board on which the playing pieces can be mounted.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a first group of playing pieces, Figure 2 shows a second group of playing pieces, Figure 3 shows a third group of playing pieces, Figure 4 shows a fourth group of playing pieces, Figure 5 shows a fifth group of playing pieces, Figure 6 shows a sixth group of playing pieces, Figure 7 is a colour key for the playing pieces shown in Figures 1 to 6, Figure 8 shows two playing pieces correctly fitted together to score points.

Figure 9 shows two playing pieces incorrectly fitted together, Figures 10 to 16 inclusive show other combinations of playing pieces correctly fitted together to score points, Figure 17 is an exploded view showing a playing board and container for the apparatus, Figure 18 is a plan view of all the playing pieces fitted together on the board, and Figures 19 and 20 show completed games using engraved playing pieces.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises thirty first playing pieces 10 (see Figure 1), one hundred and twenty second playing pieces lla - e (see Figures 2 to 6, respectively), and a playing board 12 (see Figure 17).

The pieces 10 will be referred to as flat edge pieces. The pieces lla will be referred to as inner edge pieces and include at least one multicoloured region. The pieces llb will be referred to as multicoloured pieces and also include at least one multicoloured region. The pieces llc will be referred to as triple colour pieces.

The pieces lld will be referred to as double colour pieces and the pieces lle will be referred to as single colour pieces.

Each playing piece 10, 11 comprises a single base plate and a plurality of smaller parts which are press fittable on the base plate to define the upper surface of the playing piece. Each playing piece 10 comprises five of such smaller parts made of a half diamond shaped part 13, two dovetailed parts 14 and two triangular parts 15. Each playing piece 11 comprises six of such smaller parts made up of three dovetailed parts 16 and three triangular parts 17.

The playing pieces 10, 11 are made essentially of plastics material with the smaller parts 13 to 17 provided on a stalk from which they can be removed for fitting to the base plates. However, each playing piece 10, 11 may also include a ferromagnetic washer trapped between the base plate and the smaller parts so that the playing piece can be lifted by a magnet.

The playing pieces 10 are of identical shape and each has one straight edge 18 and two non-straight interlocking edges 19 and 20, each having a dovetailed projection 21 and a complementary dovetailed recess 22 arranged such that each non-straight edge 19, 20 will inters it and interlock with a non-straight edge 20, 19, respectively of another playing piece 10.

The playing pieces lia - e are of identical shape and each has three non-straight, interlocking edges 23, 24 and 25, each having a dovetailed projection 26 and a complementary dovetailed recess 27 arranged such that each edge of each playing piece lia - e will inters it and interlock with the two non-straight edges of each playing piece 10 and with all three edges of another playing piece 11.

The upper surfaces of some of the playing pieces (e.g. all triple colour playing pieces lic shown in Figure 4) have three differently coloured regions, each of which includes an edge of the playing piece. A colour key for the playing pieces is shown in Figure 7.

The upper surfaces of some of the playing pieces (e.g. all double colour playing pieces lid shown in Figure 5) have two differently coloured regions, one of which includes one edge and the other of which includes two edges of the playing piece.

The upper surfaces of some of the playing pieces (e.g. all single colour playing pieces ile shown in Figure 6) are each of a single colour.

The apparatus also includes a container 28 (see Figure 17) having a base 29 including a plurality of removable trays 30 and a lid 31, three spectrum die each having sides coloured red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, three further die each having three multicoloured sides and the other three sides coloured black, white and grey, respectively, a magnetic wand for picking up the playing pieces and a bag for shuffling the pieces.

Once the playing pieces 10, 11 have been assembled, the pieces 10, 11 can be used to play many games either on a win-basis between opposing players or teams or as a solo puzzle-solving exercise.

Examples of such games will now be given: GAME 1 Scorinq When the pieces are correctly fitted together with the colours of adjacent edges matched they will form diamonds (see Figure 8) or larger shapes (see Figures 10 to 13). Figure 9 shows two pieces 11 incorrectly fitted together.

Points are scored as follows: Diamond (Figure 8) - 2 points Chevron (Figure 10) - 6 points Zig-Zag (Figure 11) - 10 points Hat or Boat (Figure 12) - 10 points Hexagon (Figure 13) - 12 points The multicoloured regions on the playing pieces are wild and can be matched with any other coloured region to score points.

Points are scored as follows: Multicolour with another colour (Figure 14) to form a diamond - 2 points.

Multicolour with multicolour (Figure 15) to form a diamond - 6 points.

A 6 point diamond which is next to a 2 point diamond is automatically extended into a chevron and scores 6 points on top of the 6 points for the multicoloured diamond. If there are two, three or foflr differently coloured diamonds (see Figure 16) next to a 6 point diamond then they are all extended into chevrons scoring 6 points each on top of 6 points for the multicoloured diamond.

Also a wholly multicoloured chevron scores 18 points, a wholly multicoloured zig-zag scores 30 points and a wholly multicoloured hexagon scores 36 points.

Plav Initially, the 54 pieces 10 and ila are put into the bag and the 96 other pieces are set aside in the lid of the container. The pieces in the bag are gently shuffled.

Players then take turns to take 3 pieces from the bag and position them around the edge of the board, making and scoring as many shapes as possible. The pieces 10 must go round the outer edge and the pieces lla must be fitted to the pieces 10 and must always have a multicoloured region open to the centre of the board.

It is possible that the pieces 10 and 11a will come out of the bag in the right sequence so that the edge row can be completed with all the colours matching and multicoloured regions open to the centre of the board.

The more likely outcome will be that there will be a few pieces which will not fit without a mis-match - 2 points are deducted for every mis-match. When the bag is empty and the edge row is complete, the first stage of the game is complete.

The 96 other pieces lib - e are then put into the bag and players then take turns to take between 3 and 6 pieces depending on the number of players, e.g. for 2 players take 6 pieces per turn for 3 II 5 " " " for 4 " " ,I 4 " " " for 5 or 6 " 3 " " " Players take turns to take pieces from the bag and play them onto the edge row. Again more than likely some pieces will not fit without a mis-match (deduct 2 points for each mis-match).

The next stage entails use of the magnetic wand with which pieces may be easily removed from an interlocking position to enable another piece to be played in that place.

First remove all the pieces 10 and lla which do not match from the edge row. By carefully considering different options these pieces can gradually be made to match. Players take turns to match just one piece at a time and scores are added to existing totals.

When the edge row is complete with no mismatches the inner pieces llb - e are studied for mismatches and these pieces are removed. Players take turns to "Mesh About" and points are scored when the previously mis-matched piece is played into the game with all sides correctly matching. Only the scores from the specific piece and the shapes it scores are counted.

Moves for Meshing About 1) THE SWOP - A piece already in play is moved to another suitable vacant position and one of the mismatched pieces is put in its place with all sides correctly matching.

2) THE SWIVEL - A piece already in play is swivelled through 120 but remains in the same place.

3) THE EXCHANGE - Two pieces already in play exchange positions.

Three different or like moves may be used at any one time by any one player in order to correct a mismatch. If only one move is used there is a bonus of 6 points; if only 2 moves are used a bonus of 2 points, and if all three moves are used there is no bonus. If there is no piece which can be played after three moves the player loses that turn and play goes to the next player.

The game is complete when all the pieces are matched correctly.

GAME 2 To start the game The pieces are left in position on the board.

First the three further die are used. Turns are taken to throw all three die at the same time. Whichever combination is shown uppermost on the three die the corresponding piece is taken from the edge row and becomes the property of the person who threw that particular combination.

The flat edge pieces 10 which have two or three coloured regions with no multicoloured region are unique and once owned, should another player throw a combination which is already owned, then the player may take any single piece from the other player.

The inner edge pieces lla which have only two differently coloured regions are in pairs. If a player already holds one of the pair and another player throws the combination then he may take the other one of the pair from the board. Two players now each hold one of the pair. The first one to throw the combination again may take the piece from the other player. Once a pair is owned it is safe and anyone who throws that combination again will forfeit one piece to the player who owns the pair. The person who owns the pair may choose which piece to forfeit.

Pieces which have two multicoloured regions come in groups of three, one being a flat edge piece 10 and the other two being inner edge pieces lia. All three must be owned by one player before other players who throw the combination must forfeit a piece.

There are six black, white and grey flat edge pieces all of which must be owned by one player before forfeits are given by other players.

There are three groups of eight flat sided and fully interlocking pieces. These are the pieces with black, white and multicoloured regions, the pieces with black, grey and multicoloured regions and the pieces with grey, white and multicoloured regions. All eight must be owned by one player before forfeits are given.

If a player throws a combination which they already own then another throw may be taken.

The game continues until every combination has been thrown and there are no pieces 10 and lia left on the board. The person with the most pieces at this point is the winner.

The three spectrum die are now used in the same way to gain ownership of the other pieces.

THE 40 TRIPLE COLOUR PIECES AND THE 12 SINGLE COLOUR PIECES Again, as there are no more than two pieces with the same colour combination both pieces must be owned by one player before forfeits can be paid by other players throwing that combination. If two players hold a piece with the same colours then the first one to throw the combination may take the piece from the other player to complete his pair.

THE DOUBLE COLOUR PIECES There are 30 double colour pieces lld and 12 double colour multicoloured pieces llb. A player must collect and own all five pieces lld of the same colour, then if they throw the double colour again the double colour piece llb may be taken. From then on any other player throwing the double colour pays a forfeit piece.

TO SPEED UP THE GAME When all 3 colour combinations have been thrown only two die are used. If two colours are the same a triple colour or double colour may be taken. If the two colours are different then a double of either of the colours with the other colour may be taken.

Optionally the game may be started by throwing only one dice until all single colour pieces are owned, then throwing two die until all the double colour pieces are owned, and then throwing three die for ownership of the triple colour pieces.

A simple game of patience can be played by putting all pieces 10 and 11 in a bag and taking them out one at a time with the aim of completing the puzzle without any mis-matches. It is also possible to fit all 150 pieces 10 and 11 into a perfectly balanced pattern.

The playing pieces may have engraved upper surfaces, such as are shown in Figures 19 and 20, to help add up the scores. Simply by counting the number of eyes or dots in each colour shape gives the number of points scored.

As an alternative to using colours to give the playing pieces different visual appearances, the playing pieces may have one, two or three differently patterned regions.

Claims (12)

1. Apparatus for playing a game, comprising a plurality of first playing pieces and a plurality of second playing pieces, the first playing pieces being of identical shape and having two interlocking edges which will interlock with an interlocking edge of another of the first playing pieces and one non-interlocking edge and the second playing pieces being of identical shape and having three interlocking edges all of which will interlock with all three interlocking edges of a like piece and with the two interlocking edges of the first playing pieces.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the non-interlocking edge of each first piece is a straight edge.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first and second playing pieces can be fitted together to construct a polygon with the noninterlocking edges of the first playing pieces defining the outer edge of the polygon.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the interlocking edges of the first and second playing pieces each have a dovetailed projection and a complementary dovetailed recess.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the three edge regions of the upper surface of each of some of the playing pieces are visually different.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein two of the edge regions of the upper surface of each of some of the playing pieces are visually the same, and the third edge region is visually different from the other two.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein all three edge regions of the upper surface of each of some of the playing pieces are visually the same.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each playing piece comprises a single base plate and a plurality of smaller parts which are press fittable on the base plate to define the upper surface of the playing piece.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said base plate and said smaller parts are of plastics material and each playing piece also includes a metal member which can be trapped between the base plate and the smaller parts of the playing piece in order that the playing pieces can be picked up by a magnet.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a plurality of die having sides which are coloured and/or patterned to correspond with colours and/or patterns on the upper surface of the playing pieces.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a board on which the playing pieces can be mounted.

12. Apparatus for playing a game substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.