IL284426A

IL284426A - Game kits and methods for playing the same

Info

Publication number: IL284426A
Application number: IL284426A
Authority: IL
Inventors: Rozanko Joseph; Reichbach Chen
Original assignee: Rozanko Joseph; Reichbach Chen; Cubartis Games
Priority date: 2021-06-28
Filing date: 2021-06-28
Publication date: 2023-01-01

Description

GAME KITS AND METHODS FOR PLAYING THE SAME TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD The present invention is in the field of board and card games.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A board game is a tabletop game that involves counters or pieces moved or placed, according to a set of rules, on a pre-marked surface or board. Some games are based on pure strategy, but many contain an element of chance; and some are purely chance, with no element of skill.

Games usually have a goal that a player aims to achieve. Most modern board games are still based on defeating opponents in terms of counters, winning position, or accrual of points.

There are many varieties of board games. Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, like checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, like Cluedo. Rules can range from the very simple, like Tic-tac- toe, to those describing a game universe in great detail, like Dungeons & Dragons – although most of the latter are role-playing games where the board is secondary to the game, serving to help visualize the game scenario.

Some board games have a pre-marked board (e.g. Monopoly), with a fixed set of markings along which the game takes place. Other board games have a board game comprised of a plurality of pieces or tiles which make up the board of the game (e.g. settlers of Katan, Carcassonne etc.), thereby allowing the board to be constructed as part of the gameplay itself and/or be different each time the game is played.

A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.

A card game is played with a deck or pack of playing cards which are usually identical in size and shape. Each card has two sides, the face and the back. Normally the backs of the cards are indistinguishable. The faces of the cards may all be unique, or there can be duplicates. The composition of a deck is known to each player. In some cases several decks are shuffled together to form a single pack or shoe.

Games using playing cards exploit the fact that cards are individually identifiable from one side only, so that each player knows only the cards he holds and not those held by anyone else.

Some games that are placed in the card game genre involve a board. The distinction is that the gameplay of a card game chiefly depends on the use of the cards by players (the board is simply a guide for scorekeeping or for card placement), while board games (the principal non-card game genre to use cards) generally focus on the players' positions on the board, and use the cards for some secondary purpose.

Acknowledgement of the above references herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the presently disclosed subject matter.

SUMMARY In accordance with a general aspect of the subject matter of the present application, there is provided a game kit comprising: - a game set comprising any one or a combination of: (a) two or more game pieces which differ from each other by at least one characteristic feature, and (b) at least two identical game pieces, each having at least a first characteristic feature and a second characteristic feature different from the first characteristic feature, wherein each of said identical pieces is configured for displaying one of said characteristic features based on the game piece’s directional orientation; and - a goal set comprising two or more goal indicators, each goal indicator detailing an arrangement of at least two of the game pieces.

The characteristic feature may be, but is not limited to, any one of the following: color, shape, graphic design, marking, indicia, texture etc.

The pieces may be blocks, spheres, plates or any other geometric or spatial object. When the characteristic features relate to color, texture, shape or graphic design for example, the pieces may comprise characteristic areas configured for bearing the characteristic features. For example, in case of a cube or block, a characteristic area may be a face of the cube, bearing thereon a marking, a color, a texture etc. serving as the characteristic feature. In accordance with another example, when spheres are concerned, they may also bear markings, color etc. on different areas thereof.

In accordance with variation (a) of the game set, each piece may include a single characteristic feature unique to that piece, e.g. a blue sphere, a cube with circles marked on all its sides etc. In this case, in order to recreate the arrangement of characteristic features on the goal indicator, a specific piece is required to be placed in a specific location to form a match, regardless of its directional orientation.

In accordance with variation (b) of the game set, the pieces may be identical to each other, but each piece may be placed in a number of different directional orientations, each displaying a characteristic feature associated with that directional orientation. For example, a piece may be a cube (having six faces), wherein different faces may be of different colors or bearing a different marking. In accordance with this example, each piece may bear one of at least two characteristic features, more particularly, one of at least three characteristic features, and even more particularly one of at least four or six characteristic features. In order to recreate the arrangement of characteristic features on the goal indicator, each piece is required not only to be placed in a specific location, but also at a specific directional orientation to form a match with the goal indicator.

In accordance with a particular example, the set comprises at least four pieces, more particularly, at least eight pieces, even more particularly at least sixteen pieces, and even more particularly twenty four pieces and up.

Hereinafter, ‘goal indicators’ may also be interchangeably referred to as ‘cue cards’. In accordance with the game, the players’ goal is to construct an arrangement of pieces, based on a particular set of placement rules, such that the characteristic features thereof recreate, as closely as possible, the arrangement on the goal indicators.

In accordance with still another example, the goal indicators may denote thereon only a portion of a map, making it the player’s goal to achieve at least that arrangement on the map.

In accordance with one design variation, the goal indicators are predetermined and fixed, e.g. a collection of cards, each depicting a unique arrangement of game pieces thereon. In accordance with another design variation, the goal indicators may be assembled as part of the game setup. For example, a goal indicator may comprise a template into which players may introduce two or more indicator pieces, either blindly (without seeing what the indicator piece is) or visibly. In accordance with one specific example, the indicator pieces may be in the form of tiles having a front face depicting a characteristic feature, and a rear face which is identical for all/some tiles, making them indistinguishable from one another when faced down.

The game kit may further include instructions for playing the game, in particular, instructions detailing, but not limited to, any one or a combination of the following: description of the game and goals, indication of the number of players and age, contents of the game and an explanation of placement rules defining the manner in which pieces can be placed and/or moved on the board, explanation on how game pieces may be placed and/or moved during the game, explanation on calculation of points, explanation about different game modes, legend of pieces etc..

It should be understood that different placement rules may be applied during different games, and the placement rules may be mixed and matched to create different game modes. For example, the same game may be played in a variety of modes, differing from one another by their placement rules.

Placement rules may include, but are not limited to: placing pieces on the board, pushing pieces into the board and thereby displacing other pieces, placing pieces one on top of the other, moving pieces on the board, etc..

The game kit may also comprise a game board including a layout onto or along which game pieces may be placed and/or moved respectively. The layout may include, but is not limited to, any one or a combination of the following: a grid, a linear arrangement of spaces, a circular path, a maze-like grid, a graph including nodes and connecting vertices etc.

The game kit may also comprise a game board having thereon at least one blank map, matching in size and shape to the maps on the cue cards or to a portion thereof, and configured for placement of pieces thereon. In accordance with one example, the game board may be a blank board configured for receiving thereon, selectively, one of a plurality of sheets, each sheet having thereon a blank map of a different size and shape corresponding to different goal indicators. In accordance with another example, the board may be a fixed board having thereon a single map. However, it should be noted that the game may be played entirely without a board, the players merely mimicking, on a blank surface (table, floor etc.) the arrangement shown on the cue cards. While this requires some imagination, the arrangements on the cue cards may be simple enough for the players not to require a board at all.

In accordance with one example, each of the goal indicators has thereon a map of a particular size and shape corresponding to the layout of the game board and detailing a unique arrangement of characteristic features on said layout. The cue card may be in the form of a 2D grid arrangement of the characteristic features, such that not all characteristic features lie on the same line (hereinafter: grid arrangement).

Specifically, the 2D grid may be of a square or rectangular shape and comprise a number of squares equal to or smaller than the number of game pieces in the game set.

The game board may also be a 3-D board having a playable surface/plane which is non-horizontal (e.g. slanted or vertical), configured for positioning/placing pieces therein or thereon. The board may further comprise dividers/slots/spaces configured for convenient placement of piece thereon.

The game kit may further comprise additional game items configured for being used during gameplay. Examples of such game items may be, but are not limited to: - a container configured for holding one or more game pieces; - a spacer configured for receiving therein a game piece to be moved along the board; - a spinning wheel; and - dice.

In accordance with one example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: finish the game with the filled grid on the gameboard matching as closely as possible to the color grid map on the player’s cue card.

Two player mode Each player receives eight game cubes, two of each color, and draws a cue card from the deck. Each cue card has a color grid map.

Players decide who will go first, and then alternate taking turns.

In their turn, each player selects one of their game cubes and places it on the game board according to the placing rules.

Scoring When all sixteen game cubes have been placed on the gameboard has been, the points are tallied for each player. Each correct match awards the player with one point.

Each completely matching row or column award the player with an additional point (maximum number of points is 24). The player with the most points wins.

Placement Rules Game cubes can be placed on the board in one of two ways: Into an empty space on the grid – in this case, the cube is assumed to be ‘dropped’ from the top side until it reaches either the brick wall base or a previously placed game cube.

Into a ‘taken’ space on the periphery of the grid – in this case, the cube can be pushed into a space of the grid from the left, right or bottom, thereby pushing the entire row or column to the side or up respectively. - gravity always applies. Therefore, if, during a ‘push’, a game cube finds itself above an empty space, it will ‘drop’ down until it reaches the brick wall base or a previously placed game cube (and will not remain suspended in mid air). - a row/column with four game cubes in it cannot be pushed.

Three player mode One green game cube is discarded. Each player receives four game cubes, one of each color, and the remaining three (red, blue and yellow) are placed in a bag. Each player then draws one cube from the bag.

Four player mode Each player receives four game cubes, one of each color.

Five player mode One green game cube is taken out, and the rest of the fifteen game cubes are placed in a bag. Players take turns drawing game cubes from the bag until all cubes are distributed.

In accordance with another example, each of the goal indicators has thereon a series of indicators, corresponding to the layout of the game board and detailing a unique arrangement of characteristic features. The cue card may be in the form of a 1D grid arrangement of the characteristic features, e.g. arranged along a line. Specifically, the line may comprise a number of squares equal to or smaller than the number of game pieces in the game set.

In accordance with the above example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: finish the game with the filled window line matching as closely as possible to the window line on the player’s cue card.

Gameplay Each player draws a cue card from the deck and the game cubes are placed in a community pile. Each cue card has on it a line of colored squares In turn, each player may perform one of three actions: Place – the player places a cube on the last window in the window line, pushing all cubes currently on the board one window toward the front of the train Cut & swap – the player ‘cuts’ the cube line on the board into two segments, and then swaps the positions of these two segments Flip – the player flips the entire cube chain on the board 90˚ about the longitudinal axis of the train (facets which were previously facing the player are now located on top).

Limitations: - two cut&swaps in a row are not allowed; - two flips in a row are not allowed; and - if four turns have passed without any cube being added to the board, then on the fifth turn the player must add a cube.

At the end of the game, the points are tallied for each player according to the cue card. Each match between the cue card and the window line awards the player one point In accordance with yet another example, each of the goal indicators has thereon a shape and size, corresponding to a portion of the layout of the game board and detailing a unique arrangement of characteristic features. For example, the game board layout may comprise nodes and vertices, and the cue card may detail one or more of the nodes and/or one or more characteristic features in each of the nodes.

In accordance with one design embodiment, the board may comprise thereon a grid formed by vertices and edges, allowing players to displace pieces of the set across the board between vertices by moving along edges. As a specific example, the board may comprise a star-shaped grid having five bases and interconnected edges extending between each two bases.

In accordance with the above example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: When the game ends, achieve as many of the goals detailed in the player’s cards.

Setup The board is set up with two game cubes on each of the pentagonal bases, according to their color.

Each player draws four cards from the deck. Each card depicts a base of a certain color which is either empty or has two colored game cubes on it.

Twenty game blocks are placed at the center of the board.

Gameplay In turn, each player picks one of the cubes on the board and moves it from one base to another.

Thereafter, the player takes one of the game blocks and places it on the exit through which his cube was just removed from the base.

Once an exit is blocked, no cube can pass through it on the way OUT of the base. Movement INTO the base through a blocked exit is allowed.

The game continues until all 20 exits are blocked and the points are then tallied up for each of the players’ cue cards.

Limitations A move cannot be reversed on the immediate next turn. For example, if the red cube was moved from the green base to the yellow base, the next move CANNOT be moving a red cube from the yellow base to the green base.

Scoring 6 points – for same color cubes: the right color base has the right color cubes and ONLY the right color cubes; points – for same color cubes: the right color base has the right color cubes but also has additional cubes; 4 points – for same color cubes: the wrong color base has the right color cubes and ONLY the right color cubes; for odd color cubes: the right color base has the right color cubes and ONLY the right color cubes 3 points – for same color cubes: the wrong color base has the right color cubes but also has additional cubes; for odd color cubes: the right color base has the right color cubes but also has additional cubes 2 points –for odd color cubes: the wrong color base has the right color cubes and ONLY the right cubes; for an empty base: the right color base is empty 1 point – the wrong color base has the right color cubes but also has additional cube; OR for an empty cue card, the wrong color base is empty Alternative scoring 4 points – the right color cubes are on the right color base with no additional cubes; 3 points – the right color cubes are on the right color base with additional cubes; 2 points – the right color cubes are on the wrong color base, with no additional cubes; for an empty goal card, the right color base is empty; 1 points – the right color cubes are on the wrong color base, with additional cubes; for an empty goal card, the wrong color base is empty.

Color Bonus – for all of the above, when the goal card has two cubes of the same color, two additional points are awarded for the goal card.

Further on scoring Points are tallied for each base individually, regardless of the others. This means that if a goal was achieved by the player on more than one base, each base will get points.

In accordance with still another example, each of the goal indicators has thereon two or more intersecting sequences, corresponding to the layout of the game board and detailing a unique arrangement of characteristic features. For example, the game board layout may comprise a right-angle intersection, each arm of the intersection including an arrangement of characteristic features. Alternatively, the cue card may detail the arrangement of only one of the arms of the intersection.

In accordance with one design embodiment, the game kit may also have a game board comprising channels or pathways along which the pieces can be moved/slid. In accordance with a particular example, the game kit may also comprise a chamber configured for retaining some of the pieces during gameplay. In particular, the chamber may be arranged, together with the board, in a manner allowing pieces from the chamber to be placed onto the board. Under a particular design, the chamber may be suspended above the board and spaced therefrom, so that, under specific conditions, a piece retained within the chamber may fall onto the board.

In accordance with the above example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: Form a cube line matching as closely as possible to the player’s cue card.

Setup Each player receives three game cubes – red, blue and yellow.

Each player then draws a cue card from the deck depicting a unique cube chain.

This is the player’s goal.

Each player then proceeds to arranging the three game cubes in the five spacers in their respective channel in an order of their own choosing, forming a chain.

A single ‘blank’ cube is placed in the spacer at the center of the cross under the tower Six game cubes are placed in a bag (two red, two blue, two yellow) and then four cubes are drawn from the bag and stacked inside the tower in order of withdrawal.

The board and tower are set such that in the Initial setup, the blank cube supports the game cubes stacked in the tower, and, during gameplay, whenever an empty spacer finds itself under the tower, the lowermost game cube in the tower drops down into the spacer and becomes one of the game cubes in the player’s chain.

Gameplay It is each player’s goal to have the cube chains at the end of the game matching as closely as possible to the cue card.

In turn, each player picks one of the chains on the board and moves it, in its entirety, either one step forward or one step back.

Whenever a chain has moved more than two spaces from the start flag, a blank cube is placed at the start of the channel and the start flag is pushed forward.

The game ends when both cube chains have been pushed all the way past the center of the cross and are resting on the opposite end of the channel, and the initial channels are filled with blank cubes.

At the end of the game, the points are tallied up and each player is awarded one point for each match between any of the cube chains in the channels and the cube chain depicted on the cue card.

In accordance with still another example, the game board may comprise a circular pattern with several markers arranged in a circle, and the cue cards may similarly have thereon a unique circular arrangement of game pieces. The game may also comprise a chamber configured for being positioned on the board and retaining therein one or more game pieces during gameplay. The game pieces retained within the chamber may be configured for being removed from the chamber under certain circumstances of the game.

In accordance with the above example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: Form a circular arrangement matching as closely as possible to the player’s cue card.

Setup Six game cubed, two red, two blue, two yellow are placed in a bag and four are withdrawn and placed within the stack tower in the middle of the board, according to order of withdrawal. The remainder of the cubes are then taken out of the bag and added to six other cubes (also two red, two blue, two yellow) to form a community pile from which each player may draw.

Each player then draws a cue card from the deck depicting a unique pattern of two circular cube chains. This is the player’s secret goal.

Gameplay It is each player’s goal to have the circular cube chains at the end of the game matching as closely as possible to the cue card.

In each turn, a player may perform one of the following moves: - Load & place – the player takes one of the cubes in the community pile, loads it into the tower from the top, and moves the bottom cube of the tower outward along one of the radial lines so that: - if both inner and outer markers on the radial line are vacant, the player can choose on which marker to place the bottom cube; - if only the inner marker along the radial line is vacant, the bottom cube is placed there; and - if only the outer marker along the radial line is vacant, the bottom cube will push the game cube from the inner marker to the outer marker and take its place on the inner marker; - Push – the player pushes one of the game cubes on the circular layout (i.e. a circube) towards the center along one of the lines, replacing the bottom most game cube of the tower with the circube. The bottom most game cube is then pushed along the extension of the same line towards the circular layout and is positioned on the respective marker; - Slide – the player circularly pushes a segment of the cubes on the circular layout towards a blank space on the layout.

Restrictions: • the bottom most cube in the tower cannot be pushed outward to the circular layout, if the marker at the end of the respective line is already taken up by a cube. In other words, a game cube cannot be outwardly pushed off the circular layout; • when moving a segment of the layout, the entire segment must be moved. In other words, breaking up a segment is not allowed.

At the end of the game, the points are tallied up and each player is awarded one point for each match between the circular arrangement along the layout and the cube arrangement depicted on the cue card.

In accordance with another aspect of the subject matter of the present application, there is provided a game kit comprising: - a set of image pieces comprising at least two image pieces, each image piece having thereon an image with at least two different features, each feature having one of a group of characteristics, and wherein each two image pieces differ from each other by at least one of the characteristics of at least one of their features; - a set of feature pieces, each depicting a different feature of the image without any of the characteristics in said group; and - a set of characteristic pieces, each depicting a characteristic.

The image on the image pieces may be any image, including a creature, a robot, a set of geometric shapes, a color map etc. For example, in case of a creature, the features may be parts of the creature (e.g. legs, arms, head etc.). The characteristics may be any one of the following: color of the feature, texture of the feature, filling of the creature (e.g. hatch), shape of the feature (e.g. straight or curved lines) etc.

In accordance with one example, the game pieces may be in the form of cards.

Under this example, the backs of the cards of at least the feature pieces and the characteristic pieces may be identical so that the cards are indistinguishable from one another.

The game kit may also comprise wildcard pieces, configured for performing an action on the pieces of the players. For example, a wildcard may indicate a swap of pieces, shuffling and redistribution of pieces etc.

One example of such instructions may be: Objective: Compile a winning hand of 4 cards matching the player card of the player to your left or to your right.

Gameplay Each player draws four cards from the deck.

In each turn, a player can either lay out a winning hand or, if they don’t have a winning hand, throw down one of their cards to a discard pile and pick up a new card from either the deck or the top of the discard pile.

A winning hand is a hand comprising two feature cards and two color cards such that two feature-color pairs can be formed, matching the features of the player card to the player’s immediate left or right.

Multi-player mode (5-20 players) When a player reaches a winning hand, they lay that hand on the table for everyone to see and leaves the player circle, taking his player card with him. The last person to leave the circle is declared the loser.

Mini-mode (2-4 players) When a player reaches a winning hand, they lay that hand on the table for everyone to see and ‘win’ the matching player card which they then put in their winning pile.

Thereafter, the player draws four new cards from the deck and the player whose card was won draws a new player card.

At the end of the game, the player who won the most player cards is declared the winner.

Joker cards There are 4 jokers in the deck which look like this: When a joker is played in a multi-player mode, the players either move their player cards CW or CCW according to the player’s choosing, or reshuffle the player cards and redistribute them.

When played in a mini-mode, the players move their player card either CW or CCW according to their own choosing.

In accordance with a further aspect of the subject matter of the present application there is provided a game kit comprising: - a board; - at least one target piece either integrated with the board and/or configured for being fitted to the board; and - at least two sets of pieces distinguishable from each other, each set comprising at least one piece.

The game board may comprise a layout comprising one or more bases or areas, the bases differing from one another in order to distinguish between players. In accordance with some examples the layout may be polygonal, wherein at least some of the sides of the polygon constitute the bases. In accordance with a specific example, the layout is in the form of a square, each side constituting a different player base.

The target piece may comprise one or more target areas, preferably such that the number of target areas corresponds to the number of players playing the game. The target piece may also be configured for changing its orientation with respect to the board thereby entailing a change in the respective position of the one or more target areas with the respective bases.

In accordance with one design embodiment, the game kit may further comprise an action set comprising a plurality of action indicators configured for indicating actions to be performed during gameplay, on the game pieces, the target piece or even the board itself. The action indicators may be chips or cards.

Action pieces may comprise game piece indicators, target piece indicators and game board indicators. The game piece indicators may indicate actions to be performed on the pieces, for example, movement in a specific direction, movement distance etc.

The target piece indicators may indicated change of orientation and/or position of the target piece. Game board indicators may comprise pieces indicating change of orientation of the board itself, e.g. rotation, flipping etc.

In accordance with the above example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: Remove all the player’s game cubes from the board by bringing each of the game cubes to the portal of the same color.

Setup Red, green, blue and yellow game cubes are placed on the matching tiles on the board.

Each player draws six cards from the deck.

Gameplay In each turn, the player chooses one or more of their cards to perform a movement/action and lays this card open on the table. The player then proceeds to perform the movement or action denoted on the card or to skip a turn. At the end of each turn, the player draws a card from the deck to complete their hand to have a number of cards which is greater by 1 than the number of their game cubes on the board.

When a game cube reaches the portal of its matching color, it is removed from the board and moves to the possession of the player. A player who has removed all five of their game cubes is declared the winner. The other players can keep playing until there’s only one player left.

Movements When playing a movement card, a player choose two of their own game cubes on the board to be moved according to the placed card. • if a player has at least two game cubes that CAN move in the direction of the card, he cannot choose one of the two game cubes to be a game cube that is blocked from moving • the arrows on the cards are relative to the vantage point of the player • the gameboard has no boundaries, so when reaching the edge of the board, movement of a game cube simply continues in the same direction from the opposite edge A game cube cannot move through squares in which another game cube is located (without a proper action card).

Game may be positioned on any square on the board, including the squares making up the portal cross.

If a game cube is located on a portal cross of a different color, it blocks that portal.

Actions Action cards are used as wild cards which allow rotating the portal cross, the entire board, performing combined movements and even performing movements for the opponents.

It should be understood that all of the above aspects of the present application may be implemented in software running on devices including, but not limited to: a computer, a smartphone, a hand-held device, server etc. The above aspects may assume a form including, but not limited to: smartphone app, computer game, online game, web-based game, multiplayer online game etc.

The software may be implemented in any one or a combination of the following: - software installed on a user’s device; and - software installed on a remote server, allowing a user access thereto.

The software may allow any one or a combination of the following: - a player playing alone; - a player playing against a computer software; and - a player playing vs. one or more other players simultaneously.

The software may incorporate randomized generation of board layouts, goal indicators and characteristics of game pieces.

The software may be implemented to be applied to touch screens, allowing moving, dragging, placing, removing and rotating game pieces on the board using touch or gestures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figs. 1 is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with one embodiment of the present application; Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a game cube set used in the game kit Fig. 1; Figs. 3A to 3K are schematic front views of playing cards used in the game kit of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a schematic top view of the board shown in Fig. 1, shown in an exemplary gameplay position; Figs. 5A to 5H are schematic top views of the board shown in Fig. 1, shown in various exemplary positions resulting from the position shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with a modification of the game kit of Figs. 1 through 5H; Figs. 7 is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with another embodiment of the present application; Fig. 8 is a schematic illustration of a game cube set used in the game kit Fig. 7; Figs. 9A to 9D are schematic front views of goal cards used in the game kit of Figs. 7 and 8; Fig. 10 is a schematic top view of the board shown in Fig. 7, shown in an exemplary gameplay position; Figs. 11A to 11E are schematic top views of the board shown in Fig. 7, shown in various exemplary positions resulting from the position shown in Fig. 10; Figs. 12A and 12B are schematic isometric and top views of a selection box constituting part of a game kit in accordance with a modification of the game kit of Figs. 7 to 11E; Fig. 13A is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with another embodiment of the present application; Fig. 13B is a schematic isometric view of a game cube used in the game kit of Fig. 13A; Figs. 13C and 13D are schematic front and back views of a goal card used in the game kit of Figs. 13A and 13B; Fig. 14 is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with another embodiment of the present application; Fig. 15A is a schematic illustration of a game cube set used in the game kit Fig. 14; Fig. 15B is a schematic illustration of another kind of game cube used in the game kit of Figs. 14 and 15A; Figs. 16A to 16C are schematic views of different goals cards used in the game kit of Figs. 14 to 15B; Fig. 16D is a schematic view of a back of the cards shown in Figs. 16A to 16C; Figs. 17A and 17B are schematic front and back views of an action card used in the game kit of Figs. 14 to 16D; Fig. 17C is a schematic end position of the game played using the game kit of Figs. 14 to 17B; Fig. 17D is a schematic view of a set of a player’s goal cards used in the game shown in Fig. 17C; Fig. 18A is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with another embodiment of the present application; Fig. 18B is a schematic illustration of game cubes used in the game kit Fig. 18A; Figs. 19A to 19D are schematic illustrations of goals depicted on goal cards used in the game kit of Figs. 18A and 18B; Fig. 20A is a schematic isometric illustration of an initial setup of the game kit used in Figs. 18A to 19D; Fig. 20B is a schematic front view of the tower shown in Fig. 20A; Figs. 20C to 20H are schematic isometric illustrations of arrangements of game pieces in a game performed using the game kit shown in Figs. 18A to 20B; Fig. 21A is a schematic top view of a game board constituting part of a game kit in accordance with another embodiment of the present application; Fig. 21B is a schematic illustration of game cubes used in the game kit Fig. 21B; Figs. 22A to 22G are schematic front views of a goal cards used in the game kit shown in Figs. 21A and 21B; Fig. 22H is a schematic view of the back of a goal card used in the game kit of Figs. 21A to 22G; Fig. 23 is a schematic top view of the board game shown in Fig. 21A, shown during an initial position of the game; Figs. 24A to 24G are schematic top views of the board game shown in Fig. 23 during various game stages using the game kit of Figs. 21A to 23; Figs. 25A is a schematic view of two different goal cards constituting a part of a part of a game kit in accordance with yet another example of the present application; Figs. 25B and 25C are schematic front views of six color cards used in the game kit of Figs. 25A; Figs. 25D and 25E are schematic front view of six features cards used in the game kit of Figs. 25A to 25C; Fig. 25F is a schematic front view of a joker card used in the game kit of Figs. 25A to 25E; and Figs. 25G is a schematic illustration of a winning hand in a game using the game kit of Figs. 25A to 25F.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn accurately or to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity, or several physical components may be included in one functional block or element. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Attention is first drawn to Fig. 1, in which a board is shown, generally designated 10 and comprising a part of a game kit 1 for a game referred herein as ‘PortalTwist’. The board 10 has a square-shaped playing surface 12 with four edges 14a to 14d respectively. Each of the edges 14a to 14d of the board 10 is of a different color, respectively red, blue, green and yellow, indicating to a player sitting at that edge, the designated color of their pieces on the board 10. The surface 12 comprises a nine-by- nine grid 15 of squares 16, most of which have no designation on them. The periphery of the grid 15 comprises colored squares 18, in four different colors matching the four colors of the edges, and marked 18a for Red, 18b for Blue, 18c for Yellow and 18d for Green. The colored squares 18a to 18d indicate to the players where the game pieces, comprising part of the game kit and used in conjunction with the board, should be placed at the start of the game.

The board 10 is fitted with a portal cross 20. The portal cross 20 has a central square 22 colored similar to the empty squares 16 of the board 10, and four outwardly extending squares 24a to 24d, each such square having thereon an image of a portal 26 of a different color 26a to 26d, matching the colors of the edges 14a to 14d. The portal cross 20 is fitted to the board in a manner allowing the portal cross 20 to rotate freely to assume at least four different positions on the board, each position being defined by a unique orientation of the portal cross 20, such that in each position, the color of the portals 26a to 26d faces the edges 14a to 14d differently.

Turning now to Fig. 2, the game kit 1 further comprises a set of pieces 30, comprising five red cubes 32a, five blue cubes 32b, five yellow cubes 32c and five green cubes 32d. In the specific example given, all sides of each cube are of the same color. However, under different game variations, cubes may have facets of different color, making the game more elaborate.

Attention is now drawn to Figs. 3A to 3I, depicting examples of cards forming a deck of cards 40 constituting part of the game kit 1 and used in conjunction with the board 10 and game pieces 30 during gameplay.

Fig. 3A is the back of the card 41, being identical between all cards to make them indistinguishable from one another; Fig. 3B is a single move direction card 42, allowing a player to move one square in the indicated direction; Fig. 3C is a double move direction card 43, allowing a player to move two squares in the indicated direction; Fig. 3D is a push card 44, which, in combination with a direction card, allows a player to move in a certain direction while pushing other pieces on the board; Fig. 3E is a combination card 45, allowing a player to combine two direction cards to perform a combined movement; Fig. 3F is an offset card 46, which, in combination with a direction card, allows a player to move all the pieces on the board in the indicated direction; Fig. 3G is a takeover card 47, which, in combination with other card, allows a player to perform a move for one of the other players; Fig. 3H is a portal twist card 48, allowing a player to rotate the portal cross 20 90˚ in a desired direction; and Fig. 3I is a board twist card 49, allowing a player to rotate the entire board 90° in a CCW direction; Fig. 3J is a board twist card 49’, allowing a player to rotate the entire board 90° in a CW direction; Fig. 3K is a board twist card 49", allowing a player to rotate the entire board 180° in a CCW direction; Each of the cards has thereon the main designation D and a numeric value N (when required). Each card also has four smaller corner indices I which, in all cards other than movement cards, denote the main designation D and shown in four different colors (red, yellow, blue, green). In movement cards, two of the corner indices denote the designation D while the other two denote the numeric value N. As common in playing cards, the indices are useful in helping players know the value of their cards without fully exposing them (merely by looking at the corner).

In the deck above, cards 42 and 43 are referred herein as ‘direction cards’ allowing a player to perform a move, cards 44 to 47 are referred herein a ‘augmentation cards’ allowing a player, in combination with direction cards to perform a combined move, and cards 48 and 49, 49’ and 49" are referred herein a ‘twist cards’ allowing a player to rotate either the portal cross 20 or the board 10.

The deck of cards 40 comprises seventy five cards as follows: • Thirty two single move cards 42, made up of four sets, each set having eight cards of a specific color (red, blue, yellow and green) and including two copies of each direction (up, down, left, right); • Sixteen double move cards 43, made up of four sets, each set having four cards of a specific color (red, blue, yellow and green) and including a single copy of each direction (up, down, left, right); • Four combination cards; • Four offset cards; • Four takeover cards; • Four portal twist cards; • One board twist card of 90 ˚ CW rotation; • One board twist card of 90 ˚ CCW rotation; and • One board twist card of 180 ˚ CCW rotation.

Setup: At the start of the game, the game cubes 32 are placed on the colored squares 18 of the board matching their color. The deck of cards 40 is shuffled and each player is dealt six cards.

Gameplay: In each turn, the player chooses one or more of their cards 40 to perform a movement/rotation and lays these cards 40 open on the table. The player then proceeds to perform the movement or action denoted on the cards 40 or to skip their turn. At the end of each turn, the player draws cards 40 from the deck to complete their hand to have a number of cards 40 which is greater by one than the number of their game cubes 32 on the board 10.

When a game cube 32 reaches the portal 26 of its matching color, it is removed from the board 10 and moves to the possession of the player. A player who has removed all five of their game cubes 32 is declared the winner. The other players may decide to keep playing until there’s only one player left.

Movements When performing a movement, a player chooses two the game cubes 32 on the board 10 which are of their respective color, to be moved according to the placed cards 40. • if a player has at least two game cubes 32 that CAN move according to the placed cards 40, they cannot choose at least one of the two game cubes 32 to be a game cube 32 that is blocked from moving. • the arrows on the cards 40 are relative to the vantage point of the player. In other words, the up, down, left and right directions are associated with the player and not with the board 10. • the gameboard 10 has no boundaries, so when reaching an edge 14 of the board, movement of a game cube 32 simply continues in the same direction from the opposite edge 14.

• A game cube 32 cannot move through squares 16 occupied by another game cube 32 (unless it is combined with a push card).

• A game cube 32 may be positioned on any square 16 on the board, including the squares making up the portal cross 20.

• If a game cube 32 is located on a portal 26 a different color, it blocks that portal 26.

Turning now to Fig. 4, the board 10 is shown in a given position during gameplay.

With additional reference to Figs. 5A to 5H, the following is an exemplary description of moves for a player playing from the red edge 14a in the position shown in Fig. 4, and the respective outcome of these move as shown in Figs. 5A to 5H.

Fig. 5A – the player has played a single move ‘up’ card 42 and chose game cubes 32a and 32a . In this position, the player is not allowed to choose game cubes (1) (4) 32a and 32a because cube 32a is blocked from moving up. (1) (3) (3) Fig. 5B – the player has played a double move ‘left’ card 43 and chose game cubes 32a and 32a . Since, according to the rules of the game, there are no (1) (5) boundaries to the board, the game cube 32a progresses across the blue side 14b and (1) reappears from the yellow side 14d, continuing its movement.

Fig. 5C – the player has played a single move ‘up’ 42 card in combination with a push card 44, and chose game cubes 32a and 32a . As a result, the two green game (2) (3) cubes 32b adjacent the game cube 32a were pushed up one space, and the yellow (2) game cube 32d adjacent the game cube 32a was also pushed one space up. (3) Fig. 5D – the player has played a combination card 45, combining a single move ‘up’ card 42 with a double move ‘right’ card 43, and chose game cubes 32a and 32a . (2) (4) It is noted that according to the rules of the game, the order at which the moves are made (first single ‘up’ and then double ‘right or vise versa) is not important. However, in the given position shown in Fig. 4, such a move could not be played with game cube 32a because the end square in which this game cube would have landed is otherwise (1) occupied (by game cube 32a ). (2) In addition, in the position shown in Fig. 5D, the game cube 32a now blocks (2) the yellow portal on the portal cross 20, preventing any of the yellow cubes from reaching it.

Fig. 5E – the player has played an offset card 46 in combination with a single move ‘left’ card 42. In this example, the game cubes adjacent the blue edge 14b progressed through and proceeded back into the board 10 from the opposite yellow edge 14d.

It is also noted that such a move lands a blue game cube 32b on its respective blue portal and, therefore, this game cube should be removed from the board and added to the stack of the blue player.

Fig. 5F – the player has played a takeover card 47 in combination with a combination card 45, a single move ‘right’ card 42 and a double move ‘down’ card 43, and chose to perform a move for the blue player, choosing game cubes 32b and 32b . (1) (5) Following this move game cube 32b finds itself on the other side of the board (having (5) crossed the yellow edge 14d and reappeared from the blue edge 14b.

In addition, it is noted that the player is not allowed to choose game cube 32b (4) as one of the cubes since it has no clear path for reaching the end square: - If the player performs single right and then double down, the down movement is blocked by a yellow game cube; and - If the player performs a double down and then a single right, the down movement is blocked by a blue game cube (of the player itself).

Therefore, regardless if the end square on which the cube should eventually land is vacant or not, if neither of the paths allows reaching that square, the move is impossible to make.

In accordance with a variation of the rules, any combination of direction cards is treated similar to the knight moves in chess (regardless of the number of squares) in the sense that it allows for a hopping movement rather than a sliding one. Under such a variation, there is no limitation on making a move so long as the end square is vacant, regardless of any other game cubes set in the way.

Fig. 5G – the player has played a portal twist card 48 and chose to rotate the portal cross 20 90 ˚ CW. It is noted that when the portal cross 20 is rotated, the game cubes 32 that are positioned on the cross squares or around them retain their original position and do not move together with the portal cross 20. In this particular example, the blue game cube remains in place.

Fig. 5H – the player played a board twist card 49 which rotated the board 90 ˚ CCW. Under these circumstances, the player who was playing from the red edge 14a is now playing from the blue edge 14b, and therefore is playing now with the blue game cubes 32b. The same goes for the rest of the players – those playing yellow are now player red, those playing green are now playing yellow and those playing blue are now playing green.

It is appreciated that various combinations may be used during a player’s turn, with the maximum possible combination being of five cards: a takeover card 47 in combination with a combination card 45, a push card 44 and two direction card 42/43.

In other words, performing a move for one of the opponents, when this move includes combining two direction cards 42/43 and moving while pushing other cubes 32 on the board 10.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 6, in which another example of a board is shown, generally designated 10’ and comprising part of the game kit 1. The board 10’ differs from the board 10 only in the arrangement of the colored squares 18a to 18d, defining the initial position of the game cubes 32 on the board 10 at the start of the game. In addition, the board may be provided with another variant of the portal cross, generally designated 20’, in which the portal cross 20’ also comprises four outwardly extending squares 24’, but, contrary to portal cross 20, has the portals on the periphery of the central square 22’. Under this example, in order to remove a game cube 32 from the board 10, the game cube 32 needs to enter the central square 22 via the correct portal, i.e. via the correct edge of the central square 22’ (as opposed to landing on a portal square as previously described).

In accordance with a specific example, the game kit 1 may comprise a board 11 having a top face with a design of the board 10 and a bottom face with a design of the board 10’, such that players may choose on which board arrangement to play. In addition, the game kit may comprise a portal cross 21 having a top face with a design of the portal cross 20 and a bottom face with a design of the portal cross 20’, such that players may choose which portal cross to play with. This gives rise to four different combinations within the same game kit 1: Board 10 and cross 20; Board 10 and cross 20’; Board 10’ and cross 20; and Board 10’ and cross 20’.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 7, in which a board is shown, generally designated 110 and comprising a part of a game kit 101 for a game referred herein as ‘CueBricks’.

The board 110 has thereon a layout of a 4x4 grid 115 of squares 116, and an image of a base 118, depicted herein as a brick wall. The base 118 indicates the ‘down’ direction for the game.

With further attention being drawn to Fig. 8, the game kit 101 also comprises a set of sixteen game cubes 130, made up of four sets 132 of different colors – four red game cubes 132a, four blue game cubes 132b, four yellow game cubes 132c and four green game cubes 132d.

Attention is now drawn to Figs. 9A to 9D, where four different examples of goal cards 142a to 142d are shown, constituting part of a deck 140. Each card 142 has thereon a design similar to the design of the board 110, but with the 4x4 grid 115 being filled with sixteen colored squares, four of each color, to form a color map 144. The arrangement on each card 142 is unique, i.e., no two goal cards 142 have the same arrangement depicted thereon. The goal cards 142a to 142d shown here are exemplary, and the game kit may include a greater number of goal cards 142.

In accordance with a particular design example, goal cards 142 may be designed under the mathematical principles of a Latin square, in which each row and each column of the goal card has no two identical colored squares. Specifically, a four-by- four Latin square has five hundred and seventy six unique arrangements and, taking into account that the present game is directional, this number rises to two thousand three hundred and four possible arrangements.

The game kit 101 may further comprise a set of instructions detailing one or more ways in which the game should be played. One example of such instructions is provided below.

Objective: finish the game with the filled grid 115 on the gameboard 110 matching as closely as possible to the color grid map 144 on the player’s cue card 142.

Two player mode Each player receives eight game cubes 132, two of each color, and draws a cue card 142 from the deck 140. Each cue card 142 has a color grid map 144.

Players decide who will go first, and then alternate taking turns.

In their turn, each player selects one of their game cubes 142 and places it on the game board 110 according to the placement rules.

Scoring When all sixteen game cubes 132 have been placed on the gameboard 110, the points are tallied up for each player. Each correct match between the filled gameboard 110 and the cue card 142 awards the player with one point. Each completely matching row or column award the player with an additional point (maximum number of points is 24). The player with the most points wins.

Placement Rules Game cubes 132 can be placed on the board 110 in one of two ways: Into an empty space 116 on the grid 115 – in this case, the cube 132 is assumed to be ‘dropped’ from the top side until it reaches either the brick wall base 114 or a previously placed game cube 132.

Into a ‘taken’ space 116 on the periphery of the grid 115 – in this case, the cube 132 can be pushed into a space 116 of the grid 115 from the left, right or bottom, thereby pushing the entire row or column to the side or up respectively. - gravity always applies. Therefore, if, during a ‘push’, a game cube 132 finds itself above an empty space 116, it will ‘drop’ down until it reaches the brick wall base 114 or a previously placed game cube 132 (so it does not remain suspended in mid air). - a row/column with four game cubes 132 in it cannot be pushed.

Three player mode One green game cube 132d is discarded. Each player receives four game cubes 132, one of each color, and the remaining three (one red 132a, one blue 132b and one yellow 132c) are placed in a bag. Each player then draws one cube 132 from the bag.

When playing, players ignore the green square in the top row of their cue card 142, to have a total of fifteen colored squares. This is done in order to maintain an equal number of moves per game per player.

Four player mode At the start of the game each player receives four game cubes 132, one of each color.

Five player mode One green game cube 132d is taken out, and the rest of the fifteen game cubes 132 are placed in a bag. Players take turns drawing game cubes 132 from a bag until all cubes are distributed.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 10, in which a given position on the board 110 is shown during gameplay. In the position shown on the board, the bottom row has a red game cube 132a, a yellow game cube 132c and a green game cube 132d arranged from the bottom left corner. The left most column of the grid 115 has thereon, from bottom to top, the red game cube 132a, another red game cube 132a and a blue game cube 132b.

With additional attention being drawn to Figs. 11A to 11E, different exemplary positions are shown resulting from different moves performed on the position shown in Fig. 11.

With reference to Fig. 11A, a player has ‘dropped’ a blue game cube 132b onto the third column from the left as indicated by the blue arrow R . The blue game cube A 132b is moved all the way down until it rests on the green game cube 132d. The position of the other game cubes 132 on the board remains unchanged.

With reference to Fig. 11B, the player has decided to ‘push’ a red game cube 132a from the bottom of the second column from the left as indicated by the red arrow R . Thus, the red game cube 132a now takes the original position of the yellow game B cube 132c on the bottom row, and the yellow game cube 132c is pushed one square up to the second row from the bottom. The position of the other game cubes 132 on the board remains unchanged.

With reference to Fig. 11C, the player has decided to push a yellow game cube 132c from the bottom of the first column from the left as indicated by the arrow R . The C entire left column is now shifted one square up, with the yellow game cube 132c played positioning itself on the bottom left square of the board. In this position, the entire left column of the grid is populated by game cubes 132 and therefore no further pushing from the bottom of this column is possible, nor is it possible to ‘drop’ a game cube onto this column from above.

With reference to Fig. 11D, the player has decided to ‘push’ a green game cube 132d from the left edge, entering at the second row from the bottom as indicated by the arrow R . In this case, the red game cube 132a originally positioned on the left most D square of the second row of the grid 115 is pushed one square to the right, and the green game cube 132d takes its place. The position of the other game cubes 132 on the board 110 remains unchanged.

With reference to Fig. 11E, the player has decided to ‘push’ a green game cube 132d from the left edge, entering at the third row from the bottom, indicated by arrow R , rather than from the second row as in the previous example. As a result, the blue E game cube 132b is pushed one square to the right, and the green game cube 132d takes its place on the left most column. However, since, in this position, the square below the blue game cube 132b is empty, this game cube 132b will ‘drop’ to rest on the yellow game cube 132c.

Attention is now drawn to Figs. 12A and 12B, in which a selection device is shown, generally designated 150, configured for replacing the deck 140 of clue cards 142. The selection device 150 is in the form of a box having a bottom 152 and an encapsulating casing 154, forming a cavity 156. The bottom 152 has a placement area 153 with a design similar to that of the game board 110. The cavity 156 is configured for containing therein sixteen selection cubes 162 (not shown), four of each color (red, green, blue and yellow), and the bottom 152 has an area sized and shaped to accommodate an arrangement of four by four selection cubes 162. The volume and shape of the cavity 156 is greater than the volume of the cubes 162, to a degree allowing the cubes 162 to freely move within the cavity 156. In this particular example, while the bottom is sized and shaped to neatly accommodate the sixteen selection cubes 162, the box has a height considerably greater than that of the cubes 162.

Further, the selection device 150 comprises a cover 159 configured for switching between at least two positions: a closed position in which the selection cubes 162 are obscured from the player and an open position in which the selection cubes 162 are visible to the player, at least via the top opening of the casing 154.

The selection device 150 replaces the cue cards 142, by providing a tool for randomizing a four by four arrangement. In use, a player would pick up the selection box 150, close the cover 159, rattle the selection device 150 and then place it on a surface so the selection cubes 162 may settle down on the bottom 152 in a random arrangement, which will determine that player’s goal for the game.

In practice, the selection box 150 may be used such that during rattling and placing, the cover 159 is in a closed position, and only thereafter, the cover is removed in order to reveal the selection to the player. In the example shown, the cover is a top cover which is not transparent, and may be removed from the selection box once the pieces are set to allow the player to look inside and seen the goal arrangement. The cover on/off positions of the cover constitute, in this example, the open and closed positions.

The casing 154 may be made of a transparent material allowing the player the see the selected arrangement. In addition, the arrangement may be such that all but one of the sides 158 of the casing 154 are not transparent, or mostly not transparent, preventing other players from seeing the goal arrangement, while the remaining side allows the player, and the player alone, to see the way the pieces are set in the selection box.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 13A to 13C, in which a board is shown, generally designated 210 and comprising a part of a game kit 201 for a game referred herein as ‘BrainTrain’.

The board 210 has thereon a line 215 of six squares 216 arranged in a line.

The game kit 201 further comprises a set of six game cubes 232, each having two opposite green sides 232a, two blue sides 232b and two yellow sides 232c.

In addition, the game kit 201 also comprises a deck 240 (not shown) of cue cards 242, one example of which is shown in Figs. 13C and 13D. Each cue card 242 has a back face, identical between all cue cards 242 to make them indistinguishable from one another, and a front face detailing a specific arrangement 244 of colored squares 246.

The game kit 201 may further comprise a set of instructions detailing one or more ways in which the game should be played. One example of such instructions is provided below.

At the end of the game, the points are tallied for each player according to the cue card. Each match between the cue card and the window line awards the player one point Attention is now drawn to Fig. 14, in which a board is shown, generally designated 310 and comprising a part of a game kit 301 for a game referred herein as ‘Locks n’ Blocks’.

The board 310 is of pentagonal shape and has thereon five bases 314a to 314e, each having a different color: red, blue, purple, green, yellow respectively. In addition, each base 314 is connected to its two neighboring bases 314 by two respective circumferential lines 316 extending along the circumference of the board, and to the two other bases by cross lines 317 extending across the board to form a pentagram. A sixth base 318 is located at the middle of the board, referred herein as ‘mid base’.

With additional reference to Figs. 15A to 17B, the game kit 301 also comprises: - a set 320 of game cubes 322, the set including two game cubes of each color: red 322a, blue 322b, purple 322c, green 322d and yellow 322e shown in Fig. 15A; - a set of blocks 330 which are all identical, shown in Fig. 15B; - a set 340 of goal cards 342, each depicting a base of a certain color and either a pair of cubes thereon or an empty base. The cubes may either be of odd colors or of the same color. The backs of the cards are identical in order to be indistinguishable from one another. Examples are shown in Fig. 16A to 16D; - a set 350 of action cards 352, each denoting a predetermined action which can be performed. An example is shown in Figs. 17A and 17B. The backs of all action cards are identical to make the cards indistinguishable from one another.

However, the backs are different from the backs of goal cards 340. Possible actions include removing a block, adding a block, ignoring a block, swapping a card or reversing a move.

In accordance with the above example, the instructions for the game may include, but are not limited to, any one of the following instructions: Objective: When the game ends, achieve as many of the goals detailed in the goal cards.

Twenty game blocks are placed at the mid base on the board.

Thereafter, the player takes one of the game blocks and places it on the exit 319 through which his cube was just removed from the base. The ‘exit’ is defined here as the point where a line (circumferential or cross) connects to the base.

Scoring 4 points – the right color cubes are on the right color base with no additional cubes; 3 points – the right color cubes are on the right color base with additional cubes; 2 points – the right color cubes are on the wrong color base, with no additional cubes; for an empty goal card, the right color base is empty; 1 points – the right color cubes are on the wrong color base, with additional cubes; for an empty goal card, the wrong color base is empty.

Further on scoring Points are tallied for each base individually, regardless of the others. This means that if a goal was achieved by the player on more than one base, each base will grant the player points.

Attention is now drawn to Figs. 17C and 17D, showing an end position of the game on the board and a player’s hand respectively.

The player’s hand includes the following goal cards: st 1 card: Purple base + blue cube + green cube; nd 2 card: Red base + two yellow cubes; rd 3 cube: Yellow base + red cube + green cube; th 4 card: empty blue base; and th 5 card: green base + two purple cubes.

In the end position shown on the board, all exits are blocked by the blocks 350, and the distribution of game cubes is as follows: Red base 314a + two blue cubes 322b; Yellow base 314e + red cube 322a + green cube 322d; Green base 314d + two purple cubes 322c + yellow cube 322e; Purple base 314c + green cube 322d + red cube 322a + yellow cube 322e; and Empty blue base 314b.

The points are tallied up as follows: For the first goal card: 0 points – there is not combination on the board of a blue and green cube; For the second goal card: 0 points – there is not combination on the board of two yellow cubes; For the third goal card: 5 points – four points from the yellow base on the board which includes the exact combination with no additional cubes + one point from the purple base which also has the red + green combination (although it is on the wrong color base and with additional cubes); For the fourth goal card: 2 points – the right color base is empty; and For the fifth goal card: 5 points – three points for the right combination of cubes but with an additional cube + a two point bonus for same color cubes.

In total, in this position, the player with this hand accumulates twelve points.

The game kit may also include a plurality of function card, where each player draws one function card from the deck at the start of the game, and may use the function card once during the game.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 18A, in which a top-view of a board is shown, generally designated 410 and comprising a part of a game kit 401 for a game referred herein as ‘Stackticks’.

The board 410 has thereon a layout of a cross comprising two intersecting channels 414, such that there are two channel start sections 414a, 414c, and two channel end sections 414b, 414d. The game kit 401 also comprises placement frames 418, which can be placed within the channels 414 in a manner allowing movement of the placement frames 418 during gameplay. Each placement frame 418 is configured for receiving therein a game cube 416 (shown in Fig. 18B). The channel lengths are designed such that each of the start sections 414a, 414c, and each of the end section 414b, 414d, is can house five placement frames 418.

The board 410 further comprises a tower 412 which can be placed over the intersection of channels 414 in a manner allowing to stack one or more game cubes 416 therein.

With further attention being drawn to Fig. 18B, the game kit 401 also comprises a set of twelve game cubes 416, made up of three sets 416 of different colors – four red game cubes 416a, four yellow game cubes 416b, four blue game cubes 416c, and 11 blank cubes 416d.

Attention is now drawn to Figs. 19A – 19D, wherein four different examples of cue cards 422a to 422d are shown, constituting part of a deck 424. Each cue card 422 has thereon a depiction of a chain 426 of five game cubes 416, made of red, blue and yellow colored game cubes. The arrangement on each cue card 422 is unique, i.e., no two cue cards 422 have the same arrangement depicted thereon. The cue cards 422a to 422d shown here are exemplary, and the game kit may include a greater number of goal cards 422.

The game kit 401 may further comprise a set of instructions detailing one or more ways in which the game should be played. One example of such instructions is provided below.

Objective: Finish the game with the end of the player’s respective channel 414b, 414d on the gameboard 410 stacked with five different game cubes 416 to create a cube chain matching as closely as possible the cube chain 426 on the player’s cue card 422.

Setup Each player receives three game: red 416a, yellow 416b, and blue 416c, and draws a cue card 422 from the deck 424. Each cue card 422 has thereon a depiction of a cube chain 426.

Six game cubes, two each of colors: red 416a, yellow 416b, and blue 416c, are placed in a bag (not shown) and each player takes turns in drawings two game cubes from the bag. The four game cubes 416 drawn from the bag are then stacked in the tower 412 in an order in which the game cubes 416 are drawn from the bag. A blank game cube 416 is placed at the intersection of the channels 414, under the tower 412 such that the lowermost cube 416 in the tower 412 rests thereon.

Each player places their three cubes 416 onto the five placement frames 418 as they see fit.

Players decide who will go first, and then alternate taking turns performing moves on the board.

Movement Rules In each turn, a player is allowed to push their entire set of placement frames 418, together with the cubes 416 on them either one step forward or one step backwards. The board is designed such that at the beginning of the game, the five placement frames 418 completely fill the start channels 414a, 414c, so the only possible first move is a single push forward. Such a move will also push the blank cube 416d from under the tower 412.

During gameplay, blank cubes 416d are placed on the board at the end of each turn (if needed) to maintain no more than one space behind the set of placement frames 418, thereby allowing a player to move their placement frames 418 backward only one step.

Scoring The game ends when a player’s end channel 414b, 414d is completely stacked with colored game cubes 416, while the second placement frame 412b is completely filled with blank game cubes 416. After the placement frames 412 are stacked, on the gameboard 410, the points are tallied up for each player. The game ends when both cube chains 426 have been pushed across the center of the cross section of the placement frames 412 and are stacked on a placement frame 412 opposite an initial placement frame 412 the player started with. Each player is awarded one point for each game cube 416 placed in a respective placement frame 412 matching a game cube 416 of the cube chain 426 depicted in the player’s cue card 422.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 20A, in which a given position on the board is shown during gameplay. In the position shown on the board, a blank cube 416d is placed at the center of the board, the tower 412 is placed over the intersection and is filled with four different game cubes: a yellow game cube 416b, a blue game cube 416c, another yellow game cube 416b, and a red game cube 416a, arranged from top to bottom. The cubes 416 are placed in the tower 412 according to the order in which they were drawn from the bad.

Fig 20B depicts a top view of the channel 414a, comprising five different placement frames 418a-e. In the example depicted, the player has distributed their three cubes as follows: - placement frame 418a is stacked with a blue game cube 416c; - placement frame 418b is empty; - placement frame 418c is stacked with a red game cube 416a; - placement frame 418d is empty; and - placement frame 418e is stacked with a yellow game cube 416b.

With additional attention now being drawn to Figs. 20C to 20G, different exemplary arrangements of game pieces are shown, using the game kit shown in Figs. 20A and 20B. For purpose of clarity, the arrangements are shown without the tower and without the placement frames.

With reference to Fig. 20C, during a setup stage of the game, a blank game cube is shown placed at the center of the intersection. Above it, within the tower (not shown), four game cubes are stacked, one on top of the other, in order of their drawing from a bag containing two red game cubes, two yellow game cubes and two blue game cubes.

Drawing is performed blindly to randomize the arrangement within the tower.

Following the stacking of the tower, player one, playing the forward channel, has decided to place their three game cubes (one blue game cube, one yellow game cube and one red game cube) in placement frames (shown Fig. 20B) one, three and five respectively. Comparatively, player two, playing the lateral channel, has placed their three game cubes (one red game cube, one blue game cube and one yellow game cube) within the start segment of their respective channel, in placement frames (shown Fig. 20B) one, two and five respectively. The spaces are counted from a start point of the respective channel.

Turning now to Fig. 20D, player one performed a forward move, pushing their entire chain one space forward towards their respective finish point. As a result, the blank cube is now pushed forward and the red game cube now supports the four game cubes stacked in the tower.

Turning now to Fig. 20E, player two also performs a forward move, pushing their entire chain one space forward towards their respective finish point. As a result, player one’s red game cube is pushed out of player one’s chain and is replaced by player two’s yellow game cube. The yellow game cube now becomes mutual for both player one and player two, while the pushed red game cube is now part of player two’s chain. The yellow game cube now also replaces the red game cube in supporting the game cubes stacked in the tower.

Turning now to Fig. 20F, player one now performs a backward move, pushing their entire chain one space backwards. As a result, player two’s original yellow game cube is pushed back and become part of player one’s chain. The blank cube now once again supports the four game cubes stacked in the tower.

Turning now to Fig. 20G, player two performs another forward move. This results in an empty placement frame being positioned at the intersection of the channels, under the tower, allowing the bottom most red game cube within the tower to drop down into the placement frame and become part of the players’ chains. In addition, performing such a move yields two empty spaces at the start of the lateral channel.

According to the rules of the game, whenever there is more than one empty space at the start of a channel, a blank game cube must be placed such that only one space remains.

This prevents an endless forward/backward play which may prevent the game from ever being finished.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 20H, in which a final position of the game is shown. Each of the end segments of the channels is filled with game cubes, reaching all the way to the finish point, while the beginning segments of each channel are filled with blank cubes. In this position, the points can finally be tallied and the final chains compared to the goal indicator cards.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 21A, in which a top-view of a board is shown, generally designated 510 and comprising a part of a game kit 501 for a game referred herein as ‘CubaSix’.

The board 510 has thereon a layout of two different sets of squares, comprising inner squares 512 and outer squares 514. The board may further comprise radial rays 515a – 515f, each radial ray 515 comprising one inner square 512 and one outer square 514 thereon. Each inner square 512a-512f is positioned onto a radial ray 515 such that they are in contact with a circumference of an inner circle 516, while the outer squares 514a-514f are placed onto a radial ray 515 such that they are in contact with a circumference of an outer circle 518. The board further comprises a tower 520 to stack one or more game cubes, wherein the tower is placed over a center of the board 510.

Further, the board 510 comprises of an arrow 522 depicting the north of the board 510.

With further attention being drawn to Fig. 21B, the game kit 501 also comprises a set of twelve game cubes 524, made up of three sets of different colors – four yellow game cubes 524a, four blue game cubes 524b, and four red game cubes 524c.

Attention is now drawn to Figs. 22A – 22G, wherein different examples of cue cards 526a to 526g are shown, constituting part of a deck 528. Each cue card 526 has thereon a design similar to the design of the board 510, including the inner squares 512 and the outer squares 514 stacked with game cubes 524, each of different color. The arrangement on each cue card 526 is unique, i.e., no two cue cards 526 have the same arrangement depicted thereon. The cue cards 526a to 526g shown here are exemplary, and the game kit may include a greater number of cue cards 526. Fig. 22H depicts the back of the goal cards 526, which is identical to all.

The game kit 501 may further comprise a set of instructions detailing one or more ways in which the game should be played. One example of such instructions is provided below.

Objective: Finish the game so that the arrangement of the game cubes 524 on the board 510 matches the player's cue card 526 as closely as possible.

Setup The cue cards deck 528 is shuffled and placed face down on a playing surface.

All twelve game cubes 524 are placed in an opaque bag. One of the designated players may blindly draw four game cubes 524 and the drawn game cubes 524 are placed into the tower 520 in a first in last out order in which the game cubes 524 are drawn. The remainder of the game cubes 524 are placed in a mutual pile on the playing surface.

Finally, each player may draw a cue card 526 from the deck 528. Players decide who will go first, and then alternate taking turns.

Scoring The game ends when all inner squares 512 and the outer squares 514 have a game cube 524 placed thereon. Once the game ends, the points are tallied as below: The player receives 1 point for each matching game cube 524 to a game cube 524 on the player’s cue card 526. Further, the player may receive 0.5 points for each matching radial pair to a radial pair on the player’s cue card 526. The player earns 3 points for each matching inner circle 516 and/or outer circle 518 to the player’s cue card 526. Finally, when a player’s north segment of the cue card 526 coincides with a north segment of the board 510, as given by the arrow 522, the player is awarded 4 points.

During calculation of the points, the player may choose an orientation of the cue card 526 with respect to the arrow 522, such that a north segment of the board 510 and a north segment of the cue card 526 do not have to match. However, once the orientation is chosen, it cannot be changed, during the point calculation.

Placement Rules Game cubes 524 can be placed on the board 510 in one of three ways: Radiation - A player may push a center cube 524, i.e., the game cube 524 placed at the bottom of the tower 520 outwards along one of the radial rays 515. The player can either push the game cube 524 to an inner square 512 or an outer square 514. If there is a game cube 524 already occupying an inner square 524 along the ray 515, said game cube 524 may be pushed outwardly towards a corresponding outer square 524, unless there is another game cube 524 already occupying said outer square 524 along the same ray 515, i.e., game cubes 524 cannot be pushed off the board 510.

Stabbing - A player may draw a game cube 524 from the mutual pile and place the drawn game cube 524 onto one of the outer squares 514. In case a game cube 524 is already occupying the outer square 514, said game cube 524 may be pushed inwardly along the ray 515, such that all game cubes along the ray 515 (inner square 512, bottom of the tower 520, opposite inner square 512, etc.) are moved to an adjacent inner/outer square provided that no game cubes 524 are pushed of the board 510.

Rotation - The player may choose a circular segment consisting of three consecutive game cubes 524 along the inner circle 516 or the outer circle 518 and rotate the game cubes 524 within the circular segment till the circular segment hits an occupied inner square 512 or an occupied outer square 514. A circular segment, by definition, cannot have empty squares in it. In an implementation, a rotation move may not be reversed in the next immediate turn in which it was played. That is, e.g., if player one performed a rotation play, player two cannot perform the opposite rotation play on their next turn by returning the board 510 placement to be exactly the same before player one made their move.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 23, in which a setup position on the board 510 is shown. In the setup position shown on the board 510, the tower 520 is filled with four different game cubes 524, i.e., a yellow game cube 524a, a blue game cube 524b, a red game cube 524c, and another yellow game cube 524a stacked from top to bottom.

With additional attention now being drawn to Figs. 24A – 24G, different exemplary gameplays are shown resulting from different moves performed on the position shown in Fig. 23.

With reference to Fig. 24A, a player may decide to play a ‘radiation’ move such the yellow game cube 524a, at the bottom of the tower 520 may be moved to an unoccupied outer square 514f, along the ray 515f, as depicted by arrow A1. The other inner and outer squares remain unoccupied on the board 510.

With reference now to Fig. 24B, a player may decide to play the ‘radiation’ move with the red game cube 524c at the bottom of the tower 520, however, the outer square 514f is already occupied by the yellow game cube 524a, along the ray 515f.

Therefore, the player may move the red game cube 524c from the bottom of the tower 520 to the inner square 512f instead, along the ray 515f, as shown by arrow A2. The other inner and outer squares remain unoccupied on the board 510.

With reference to Fig. 24C, a player may decide to play the ‘stabbing’ move. As previously shown in Fig. 24B, the yellow game cube 524a may occupy outer square 514f and the red game cube 524c may occupy the inner square 512f, along the ray 515f.

Now referring to Fig. 24C, the player may select a blue game cube 524c from the mutual pile and wish to place it on the outer square 514f. To do so, the player may play the stabbing move, such that the blue game cube occupies the outer square 515f, whereas the yellow game cube 524a moves to replace the red game cube 524c at inner square 512f as depicted by arrow A3. Further, the red game cube 524c may now move further to the inner square 512c, as depicted by arrow A4. The other inner and outer squares remain unoccupied on the board 510.

With reference to Fig. 24D, a player may again decide to perform a ‘radiation’ move. As depicted in Fig. 24D, the inner circles 512f and outer circle 514f along the ray 515f are already occupied with a yellow game cube 524a and a blue game cube 524b respectively, therefore a placing a game cube 524 along ray 515f may not be possible.

Therefore, the player may first move the red game cube 524c placed on the inner square 512c to the outer square 514c along the ray 515c as depicted by arrow A5. The player may then place the blue cube 524b from the bottom of the tower 520 onto the inner square 512c, as shown by arrow A6.

With reference to Fig. 24E-24F, the player may decide to play a ‘rotation’ move using a blue game cube 524b, by moving a circular segment of game cubes 524 placed on inner squares 512 along the inner circle 516 (inner square 512a not shown for brevity), in a direction shown by the arrow A7. The circular segment may comprise of red game cube 524c placed on inner square 512b; yellow game cube 524a placed on inner square 512c; and blue game cube 524b placed on inner square 512d. The player may move the game cubes 524 till the entire segment of game cubes 522 may hit an occupied inner square 512, herein the inner square 512f. That is, by performing this move, the player changes the position of these game cubes 524 such that the red game cube 524c is now placed on inner square 512c; the yellow game cube 524a is now placed on the inner square 512d; and the blue game cube 524b is now placed on inner square 512e, as depicted in Fig. 24F. The selected blue game cube 524b, thereby occupies the now vacant inner square 512b, rendering all the inner squares 512 occupied with game cubes 524, as shown in Fig. 24F.

With reference to Fig. 24G, all inner squares 512 and all outer squares 514 are now occupied with a respective game cube 524. This may be the end of the game. The points for each player may be tallied based on the player’s respective cue card 526, as well as the scoring criteria described in the foregoing. The player having the greatest number of points is declared the winner.

Alternatives Black Hole In the ‘black hole’ alternative, during any ‘stabbing’ moves by a player, any game cube 524 placed on an outer square 514 may be drawn inwards along a ray 515 towards an inner square 512 unless that inner square 512 is occupied. All moves mentioned in the description above may still apply and a player may perform a ‘radiation’ move against the direction of the ‘black hole’ gameplay.

Centrifuge In the ‘centrifuge’ alternative, during any ‘radiation’ play by a player, the game cubes 524 may progress outwardly along a ray 515 until the game cubes 522 may reach an outer square 514, unless that outer square 514 is occupied (in which case the game cube 524 shall remain at the inner square 512). All moves mentioned above may still apply and a player may perform a ‘stabbing’ against the direction of the ‘centrifuge’ gameplay.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 25A – 25G, depicting a part of a game kit 601 for a game referred herein as ‘Reach-A-feature’. The game kit 601 comprises a deck of cards 608 comprising a plurality of goal cards 610, a plurality of color cards 612, and a plurality of feature cards 614.

Two examples of goal card 610a and goal card 610b, are shown in Fig. 25A.

The goal cards 610a and goal card 610b shown herein are exemplary, and the game kit 601 may include a greater number of goal cards 610. Each goal card has a different color combination for different features (e.g. face, nose, ears, feet etc.).

The game kit 601 may further comprise of the plurality of color cards 612. As depicted in Fig 25B and Fig 25C, the plurality of color cards 612 may comprise of orange color card 612a, red color card 612b, blue color card 612c, grey color card 612d, green color card 612e, and yellow color card 612f.

Attention is now drawn to Fig 25D and 25E, wherein the game kit 601 may further comprise the plurality of feature cards 614. In an embodiment, the plurality of feature cards 614 may each represent a cartoon figure, such as a bear, and having one or more parts (herein referred to as "feature") of the cartoon figure, such as ears, nose, face, and the like highlighted in grey. As depicted in Fig. 25E, the plurality of feature cards 614 may include feature card 614a, having snout and ears highlighted, feature card 614b having the face highlighted, and feature card 614c having the arms highlighted. Further, referring to Fig. 25E, the plurality of feature cards 614 may further comprise feature card 614d having an inner stomach portion highlighted, a feature card 614e having an outer stomach portion highlighted, and a feature card 614f having paws highlighted.

Referring now to Fig 25F, the game kit 601 may further comprise a plurality of joker cards 616, such as the joker card 616a.

The game kit 601 may further comprise a set of instructions detailing one or more ways in which the game should be played. One example of such instructions is provided below.

Objective: Each player to compile a winning hand of four different cards, comprising two color cards 612 and two feature cards 614, to match a goal card 610 of a player sitting on a left or a right side.

Gameplay: Each player draws four cards from the deck of cards 608.

In each turn, a player may either lay out a winning hand or if the player does not have a winning hand, they may throw down one of their drawn cards onto a discard pile of cards and pick up a new card from either the deck 608 or a card played in the last turn from the top of the discard pile of cards.

A winning hand for a player may comprise of two feature cards 614 and two color cards 612, such that two pairs of features and colors may be formed matching the features of the goal card 610 of another player sitting onto the player’s left or right.

Multi-player Mode (5-20 players): In the multi-player mode, when a player reaches a winning hand, they may lay their winning hand on a playing surface such that all the feature-color sets are visible to every other player. The wining player may then leave the game and their cards may be excluded from the game. The last player to leave may be declared the loser.

Further, when a joker card 616 is played by a player in the multi-player mode, all the players move their cards clockwise or counter-clockwise according to the player’s choosing or reshuffle all the goal cards 610 and redistribute them amongst the players.

Mini-Mode (2-4 players): In the mini-mode, when a player reaches a winning hand, they may lay the winning hand on the playing surface such that all the feature-color sets are visible to every other player. The player may then add the winning hand to a winning pile designated to the player. Thereafter, the player may draw four new cards from the deck 608 and the player whose goal card 610 was included in the winning hand, may draw a new goal card 610.

At the end of the game, a player having the greatest number of goal cards 610 is declared as the winner. Further, when a joker card 616 is played by a player in the mini- mode, all the players move their cards clockwise or counter-clockwise according to the player’s choosing.

Attention is now drawn to Fig. 25G, showing a winning hand. As seen, the goal card 610b to be matched depicts first feature including red ears and snout and a second feature including green arms, for the character. The player having feature card 614a, depicting ears and snout, matches the feature card 614a with a green color card 612b.

Further, the player further matches the feature card 614c, depicting arms, with a green color card 612e, thus completing the feature-color set to fulfil the requirements of the goal card 610c and producing a winning hand.

It should be appreciated that for all examples described above, the games may be implemented in a computer software configured for use on PC, smartphone or any other computerized mobile device.

It should be appreciated that for all examples described above, the different game pieces, boards, elements etc. may be marked with indicia or writing indicating the different colors in order to accommodate people with color blindness, and likewise, may be provided with texture, Brail writing or other tactile sensory aids in order to accommodate people with visual impairments.

Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate that numerous changes, variations, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, mutatis mutandis.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A game kit comprising: - a game set comprising any one or a combination of: (a) two or more game pieces which differ from each other by at least one characteristic feature, and 5 (b) at least two identical game pieces, each having at least a first characteristic feature and a second characteristic feature different from the first characteristic feature, wherein each of said identical pieces is configured for displaying one of said characteristic features based on the game piece’s directional orientation; and 10 - a goal set comprising two or more goal indicators, each goal indicator detailing an arrangement of at least two of the game pieces.

2. A game kit according to Claim 1, wherein the set comprises at least four game pieces, more particularly, at least eight game pieces, even more particularly at least sixteen game pieces, and even more particularly twenty four game pieces. 15

3. A game kit according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the goal indicator has thereon an arrangement which is any one or a combination of the following: - predetermined; and - assemblable as part of gameplay.

4. A game kit according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the game kit includes 20 instructions for playing the game, said instructions detailing at least a set of placement rules defining rules for any one of the following: placing game pieces on the board, pushing game pieces into the board and thereby displacing other game pieces, placing game pieces one on top of the other, and moving game pieces on the board.

5. A game kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the game kit 25 comprises a game board having thereon a layout including spaces onto or along which game pieces are to be placed and/or moved respectively.

6. A game kit according to Claim 5, wherein the layout includes at least any one or a combination of the following: a grid, a linear arrangement of spaces, two or more intersecting paths, a circular path, a maze-like grid, and a graph including nodes and 30 connecting vertices. - 47 -

7. A game kit according to Claim 6, wherein the layout is at least a four-by-four grid of spaces configured for positioning game pieces thereon, and includes a base indicating a direction.

8. A game kit according to Claim 7, wherein the goal indicator includes a map of 5 the layout in which each space is populated by a symbol chosen from a group of four symbols, each symbol matching a characteristic feature of a game piece of the game kit.

9. A game kit according to Claim 8, wherein the four groups of four symbols are arranged under the principles of a Latin square.

10. A game kit according to Claim 7, wherein the goal indicator includes a map of 10 the layout in which each of only fifteen of the sixteen spaces is populated by a symbol chosen from a group of four symbols, each symbol matching a characteristic feature of a game piece of the game kit.

11. A game kit according to Claim 6, wherein the layout includes an inner circular path, an outer circular path and at least six radial paths extending outwards from a 15 center of the circular paths, wherein each circular path has thereon at least three spaces configured for positioning game pieces thereon.

12. A game kit according to Claim 11, wherein each of the inner and outer circular paths has thereon six spaces.

13. A game kit according to Claim 12, wherein the goal indicator includes a map of 20 the layout in which the majority of the spaces are each populated by a symbol, chosen from a group of three symbols matching the characteristic features of the game pieces of the game kit.

14. A game kit according to Claim 6, wherein the layout includes two intersecting paths, each comprising at least seven spaces configured for positioning game pieces 25 thereon.

15. A game kit according to Claim 14, wherein the goal indicator includes a map of at least a portion of one of the two intersecting paths, in which each of at least four of the spaces is populated by a symbol chosen from a group of three symbols, the symbols matching the characteristic features of the game pieces of the game kit. 30

16. A game kit according to Claim 6, wherein the layout includes n nodes and a corresponding number of vertices connecting every two nodes to one another, each node being configured for positioning game pieces thereon. - 48 -

17. A game kit according to Claim 16, wherein each node has a characteristic feature matching the characteristic features of the game pieces of the game kit.

18. A game kit according to Claim 16 or 17, wherein the goal indicator includes a map of the layout in which each node is populated by at least two symbols, chosen from 5 a group of n symbols, matching the characteristic features of the nodes and of the game pieces.

19. A game kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 18, wherein the game kit comprises additional game items configured for being used during gameplay, which are at least any one of the following: 10 - a container configured for holding one or more game pieces; - blank game pieces; - a tower configured for receiving game pieces therein; - one or more placement frames configured for receiving thereon or therein a game piece; 15 - a spinning wheel; and - at least one die.

20. A game kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 19, wherein the game set comprises any one of the following: - sixteen game pieces comprised of four groups of four pieces each, the pieces 20 of each group having a unique characteristic feature; - twelve game pieces comprised of three groups of four pieces each, the pieces of each group having a unique characteristic feature; - five or more identical game pieces, each piece including at least two different characteristic features; and 25 - ten game pieces comprised of five groups of two pieces each, the pieces of each group having a unique characteristic feature.

21. A game kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 20, wherein the game kit is intended for two or more players playing simultaneously, and each player having a different goal indicator. 30

22. A method for playing a game using the game kit of any one of Claims 1 to 21, wherein the method includes the steps of: - 49 - - each player receiving a goal indicator detailing an arrangement unique to said player; and - taking turns placing or moving pieces along the same board until at least any one or more of the following: 5 o no further moves are possible; o all spaces on the board are occupied; and o there are no game pieces left to be placed on the board.

23. A method according to Claim 22, wherein the layout has a directional indicator indicating the direction of gravity. 10

24. A method according to Claim 23, wherein a move includes any one of the following: - placing a game piece on the board to be dropped in the direction of the directional indicator; and - pushing a game piece into a space on the layout from the left, right or 15 bottom, thereby pushing the entire row or column to the side or up respectively.

25. A method according to Claim 22, 23 or 324, wherein game pieces are not allowed to be pushed off the board during gameplay.

26. A method according to Claim 22, wherein the layout is a single path including 20 spaces, and wherein a move includes any one of the following: - positioning a game piece in the last space of the path, pushing all game pieces currently on the board one space toward the front of the path; - cutting a chain of game pieces on the board into two segments, and then swaps the positions of these two segments; and 25 - flipping the entire game piece chain on the board at a multiple of 90˚ about the longitudinal axis of the path.

27. A method according to Claim 22, wherein each of the goal indicators has thereon a depiction of a node corresponding to a portion of the layout of the game board, and of a unique arrangement of characteristic features, and wherein a move 30 includes displacing a game piece from a given node on the board to another along a given vertex. - 50 -

28. A method according to Claim 27, wherein a move further includes placing a block at the intersection of said given node and said vertex, indicating that no further game piece is allowed to leave said given node via said vertex.

29. A method according to Claim 27 or 28, wherein the game ends once all vertexes 5 are blocked.

30. A method according to Claim 22, wherein the layout has two or more intersecting channels, and wherein the method includes a setup step of arranging m placement frames within at least a portion of the channels and thereafter placing a game piece within between 1 and m placement frames. 10

31. A method according to Claim 30, wherein the method further includes the step of pushing a chain of placement frames along the channels.

32. A method according to Claim 22, wherein the possible moves are any of the following: - taking a game piece from a community pile, loading it into a tower positioned 15 over the board, and moving a bottom game piece in the tower outward along one of the radial lines; - pushing one of the game pieces on the circular layout towards the center along one of the lines, replacing the bottom most game piece of the tower; and - rotating a segment of the cubes on the circular layout towards a blank space on 20 the layout.

33. A game kit comprising: - a set of image pieces comprising at least two image pieces, each image piece having thereon an image with at least two different features, each feature having one of a group of characteristics, and wherein said at least two image 25 pieces differ from each other by at least one of the characteristics of at least one of their features; - a set of feature pieces, each feature piece depicting a different feature of the image without any of the characteristics in said group; and - a set of characteristic pieces, each characteristic piece depicting a 30 characteristic. - 51 -

34. A game kit according to Claim 33, wherein the image on the image pieces includes any one or more of the following: a creature, a robot, a set of geometric shapes, and a color map.

35. A game kit according to Claim 34, wherein the image is a representation of a 5 creature and the features constitute parts of the creature.

36. A game kit according to Claim 33, 34 or 35, wherein the characteristics are any one or more of the following: color, texture, filling, size, and border of the feature.

37. A game kit according to any one of Claims 33 to 36, wherein at least one of the image pieces, the feature pieces or the characteristic features is in the form of a playing 10 card.

38. A game kit according to any one of Claims 33 to 37, wherein the game kit further comprises wildcard pieces.

39. A game kit according to any one of Claims 33 to 38, wherein a winning hand is considered as a combination of m pairs, each pair including an image piece and a 15 characteristic piece, each pair matching a feature and color of the same image card.

40. A game kit comprising: - a game board; - at least one target piece either integrated with the board and/or configured for being fitted to the board; and 20 - at least two sets of pieces, each set comprising at least one game piece having at least one characteristic feature, the sets being distinguishable from each other by said characteristic features.

41. A game kit according to Claim 41, wherein the game board comprises layout comprising one or more bases or areas, the bases differing from one another in order to 25 distinguish between players.

42. A game kit according to Claim 41, wherein the layout is in the form of a square, each side constituting a different player base.

43. A game kit according to Claim 40, 41 or 42, wherein the target piece comprises one or more target areas. 30

44. A game kit according to Claim 43, wherein the number of target areas corresponds to any one or more of the following: - the number of players playing the game; - 52 - - the number of bases; and - the number of sets of game pieces in the kit.

45. A game kit according to Claim any one of Claims 40 to 44, wherein the target piece is configured for changing its orientation with respect to the game board thereby 5 entailing a change in the respective position of the one or more target areas with respect to the bases.

46. A game kit according to any one of Claims 40 to 45, wherein the game board includes a layout having thereon regular spaces, and characteristic spaces bearing a characteristic of any one or more of the game pieces of the said at least two sets. 10

47. A game kit according to any one of Claims 40 to 46, wherein the game kit comprises an action set comprising a plurality of action indicators configured for indicating actions to be performed during gameplay, on any one or more of the following: the game pieces, the target piece, and the board.

48. A game kit according to Claim 46, wherein action indicators comprise any one 15 or more of the following: - game piece action indicators configured for indicating actions to be performed on the game pieces; - target piece action indicators configured for indicating actions to be performed on the target piece; and 20 - game board action indicators configured for indicating actions to be performed on the game board.

49. A game kit according to Claim 48, wherein said actions are at least any one of the following: - moving a game piece one square in an indicated direction; 25 - moving a game piece two squares in an indicated direction; - moving a game piece a desired number of squares in an indicated direction; - moving all of the game pieces on the board in an indicated direction; - performing a move on an opponent’s game pieces; - pushing an opponent’s game pieces while moving one’s own game pieces; 30 - rotating the target piece in an indicated direction; - flipping the target piece; and - rotating the board by an indicated angle. - 53 -

50. A method for playing a game using the game kit of any one of Claims 40 to 49, wherein the method includes a setup step in which game pieces are placed on specific spaces on the board, such that a characteristic feature of the space matches a characteristic feature of the game piece placed thereon.