IL174729A - Puzzle game - Google Patents

Description

174729 p'Ji | 453513 m* A PUZZLE GAME The field of invention The invention is in the field of indoor games, and in particular in the field of puzzles, including three-dimensional combination puzzles or jigsaw games.

The prior art In the prior art, the player gets a whole body, a picture for example, which have been previously divided to pieces, disassembles the whole body and tries to recombine it correctly. The game complexity is determined, to much extent, by the number of pieces. Also, the similarity of the various pieces affects the challenge. To overcome the puzzle challenge, the player uses determination, patience, imagination and systematic thinking.

The competitive field of games continuously calls for novel ideas and greater variety. This is especially important in the field of puzzles, which should nowadays overcome the fierce competition from the field of computer games and virtual reality games. Thus, it is the objective of the present invention to add a new dimension of complexity and interest to the traditional puzzle games.

Another objective of the present invention is to introduce puzzle games into the realm of computer technology and virtual reality. Further objective of the present invention is to introduce puzzle games to the mathematical education field, as well as to the field of occupational psychology. The embodiments given bellow on the way of example contribute to the achievement of those objectives.

Brief description of the invention In the puzzle game of the preset invention, the player gets a first number of six or more pieces, of which he should choose a second number of three or more pieces and combine them together to constitute a predetenriined whole body. The said second number is smaller than the said first by a third number that equals three or more. Every piece of the said first number of pieces may find its place in at least one of the possible combinations of the said whole body. The puzzle challenge is to find and compose all of the combinations that enable the assembly of said whole body. To this end, the player should conduct three steps. First, the player should invoke the very concept of systematic survey of all possible combinations of a second number of pieces out of a first number of pieces. Secondly, he should actually conduct that survey. In the third step, the player should try every possible combination to see if it is a successful one, namely, the combination leads to the assembly of the whole body.

The first two steps necessitate some mathematical reasoning by the player, and may provide the player with a sense of satisfaction, as he overcomes it. The challenge of the third step depends upon the first number of pieces and the second number of pieces, as well as on the particular aesthetic shaping of the whole body and its division into pieces. Moreover, as described bellow, a principle of a common part which is shared by several pieces is inherent in the game design. A player of certain imagination and some spatial analysis capability may discover that this principle embodies in the pieces and may gain a lot of intellectual enjoyment from his discovery.

The design and production of a choicely puzzle is comprised of the following steps: 1. Choosing a whole body. 2. Division of the whole body to a fourth number of different parts. 3. Splitting the said fourth number of parts to at least two groups, wherein a first group includes a fifth number of different parts and a second group includes a six number of different parts, and every part of the second group of parts has two or more neighboring parts within the first group of parts. 4. Production of the first group parts, separately, and production of the second group parts several times for every part, wherein every time the second group part is produced in one piece with another part out of his neighbors from the first group of parts.

The whole body may be either a two or a three dimensional body. The whole body and the game pieces may be composed of an integer number of cells identical in their external boundaries. With the identical cell design, the player may first list all the possible combinations, sum up the total number of identical cells in every combination and than cancel out the combinations that do not sum up to the number of cells in the whole body, eliminating the need to try to combine together the majority of the possible combinations. The parts may be visually designated, by separate colors for example, to enhance the player fun. Also, the choicely puzzles of the present invention and their design method may be implemented on a computerized platform, especially virtual reality devices, wherein said whole body and said pieces are two-dimensional or three dimensional images which appear on a display device , while the player uses an appropriate interface to select the second number of pieces out of the first number of pieces, to move the images on the display device, and to assemble them together to form a virtual whole body.

The present invention enriches the puzzle game landscape by the addition of a novel choice concept and by the solution options based on a systematic thinking and by a mathematical knowledge in the fields of geometry, arithmetic, and combanitorics. Moreover, the choicely puzzle of the present invention may be used in the field of education as means for the study of mathematical thinking, and in the field of occupational psychology as means for identification of good systematic thinking and spatial apprehension abilities. 174729/2 Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description bellow of several preferred embodiments.

Brief description of the drawings The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several preferred embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 (Prior Art) presents a puzzle game of the prior art.

Fig. 2 shows the division of a whole body into two groups of parts as a step in the construction of a choicely puzzle game.

Fig. 3 depicts a choicely puzzle game based on a two dimensional body which can be divided to identical cells.

Fig. 4 depicts a choicely puzzle game based on a three dimensional body which can be divided to identical cells.

Description of preferred embodiments The prior art puzzle game is illustrated in Fig. 1. A two-dimensional body in frame 10 is divided to pieces 12, 14, 16,18 and 20. Once the player disassembles the whole body, either he or other player tries to reassemble it again. The game designer determines the number of pieces so that the challenge will fit the expected players: up to ten pieces fir infants and small kids, tens of pieces for children and hundreds of pieces for youth or adults. Usually, a picture is imprinted on the whole body, and the player utilizes the piece outline, its content, color and texture to overcome the assembly challenge.

A first preferred embodiment of the present invention is depicted in Fig. 2. A two-dimensional body in frame 21 is divided, in the design phase, into parts 22, 24, 26 and 28. In the production phase, two groups of pieces are being manufactured. The first group contains parts 22, 24 and 26. The second group 174729/3 has three pieces: part 28 together with part 22, part 28 together with part 24 and part 28 together with part 26. Hereafter we designate those pieces by 22&28, 24&28 and 26&28, respectively. In the playing phase, the player has six pieces: 22,24,26, 22&28, 24&28 and 26&28. The game rules are to choose three pieces out of the six pieces a time and assemble them inside frame 21 to get the whole body. As part 28 is hidden inside each of three pieces, a successful combination should include one and only one of those three pieces. Hence, there are exactly three successful combinations.

The player may find the three successful combinations by trial and error, where he may repeat certain unsuccessful combinations for several times each.

However, the player may be much more efficient by using systematic thinking and analysis talent to invoke two elements. First element is to use basic combanitorics to calculate that the number of different combinations of three pieces out of six pieces is 20. The second element is to list those 20 combinations systematically, avoiding excess repetition of any combination, and trying every possible combination exactly one time.

The third element is to get insight into the structure of the six pieces, and thus discovering the design concept of a common part shared by three pieces. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the player should reveal that part 28 is common to 22&28, 24&28 and 26&28, and understand that every combination should include one and only one of, 22&28, 24&28 and 26&28. Based on that insight, the player will realize that he should pick up one of 22&28, 24&28 and 26&28, and two of 22,24,26 which do not partially overlap the previously chosen piece to get a successful combination.

In another version of the embodiment of Fig. 2, the player gets at least three copies of frame 21 : a first frame with 22, 24 and 26&28, a second frame with 26, 22 24&28, and a third frame with 24, 26 and 22&28, and other optional frames, each with the pieces of one of the first three frames. Once the player disassembles the pieces out of the three frames, he has to reassemble them in a correct manner. In this version, there is no need for game rules and the whole game is somewhat different from the previous version. To make the challenge simpler or more complex, the pieces might be colored uniformly, differently for different pieces or differently for each piece.

Yet another embodiment is described in Fig. 3. A square frame 30 contains a two-dimensional body, which may be divided to 16 cells, which are identical regarding their outlines. Based on the cellular identity, the player might examine the overall number of cells in each of the possible combinations, and immediately delete every combination that does not sum up to 16 cells. For example, the combination of pieces 32, 34 and 36 sum up to 14 and thus should be deleted. In contrary, the combination of pieces 32, 34 and 36&38 sum up to 16, and should further be tried, and finally found successful. Another example is the combination of pieces 36&38, 34&38 and 36, which also sum up to 16 cells. However, this combination fails due to the double inclusion of parts 38 and 36.

A three-dimensional embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein the whole body is a cube composed of 27 identical cell. The player gets pieces 41,42,43,44, 45 and 46. Fig. 4a, 4b and 4c show three combinations could be assembled to form the whole cube : pieces 41, 42 and 43 in Fig. 4a, pieces 42,44 and 45 in Fig. 4b, and pieces 41, 45 and 46, in Fig. 4c. To find those combinations, the player might write down all the possible combinations, count the identical cells, delete the combinations which do not sum up to 27 cells, and finally focus his assembly trials on the remaining combinations.

The player might also notice that the pieces could be classified into two groups as follows: Group a Group b 43 45 44 41 46 42 wherein every piece in group a is composed of the same row piece in group b together with a L shaped part made of three cubic cells. As the said L part should appear in every successful combination, the player might deduce that the successful combinations are those of Fig. 4a, 4b and 4c.

Claims (14)

174729/2 What is claimed is:

1. A puzzle game comprising: a) a first number of six or more different pieces; b) three or more combinations of the different pieces, the pieces of each combination being able to be assembled into a certain whole body, each combination including a second number of three or more pieces, the second number being lower than the first number by three or more; c) said whole body being the same for all the combinations; and d) each of the first number of pieces being assigned to at least one of the combinations.

2. The puzzle game of claim 1 , wherein the whole body is a two- dimensional picture.

3. The puzzle game of claim 1, wherein the whole body is a three- dimensional body.

4. The puzzle game of claim 1 , wherein the whole body is a two- dimensional body dividable to an integer number of cells, identical in their outlines.

5. The puzzle game of claim 1 , wherein the whole body is a three- dimensional body dividable to an integer number of three- dimensional cells, identical in their external surfaces.

6. The puzzle game of claim 1, wherein at least six pieces of said first number of pieces are different from each other by both shape and color. 174729/2 7. The puzzle game of claim 1 , implemented on a computerized platform, wherein images of said first number of six or more different pieces appear on a display device, and the player selects the second number of pieces out of the first number of pieces, moves the images on the display device, and thus assembles the selected pieces together to form a virtual whole body. 174729/2

7. The puzzle game of claim 1, implemented on a computerized platform, wherein images of said first number of six or more different pieces appear on a display device, and the player selects the second number of pieces out of the first number of pieces, moves the images on the display device, and thus assembles the selected pieces together to form a virtual whole body.

8. A process to design and construct a puzzle game, said process comprising: a) choosing a whole body; b) dividing the whole body to a certain number of parts; c) splitting said certain number of parts to at least two groups, the first group including a first number of different parts and the second group including a second number of different parts, and each part of the second group of parts has two or more neighboring parts of the first group of parts; d) producing each of parts of the first group of parts; e) producing each of the parts of said second group of parts several times for each part, wherein in each time of said several times, the each part being produced in one piece with another part out of the neighbors of each part from the first group of parts.

9. The process of claim 8, wherein the whole body is a two-dimensional picture.

10. The process of claim 8, wherein the whole body is a three-dimensional body.

11. The process of claim 8, wherein the whole body is a two-dimensional body dividable to an integer number of cells, identical in their outlines. 174729/1

12. The process of claim 8, wherein the whole body is a three-dimensional body dividable to an integer number of three-dimensional cells, identical in their external surfaces.

13. The process of claim 8, wherein the produced parts are virtual computer parts.

14. The process of claim 8, wherein said certain number is four, said first number is three and said second number is one.