NZ547694A - Educational game - Google Patents

Abstract

An educational game comprises at least one pack of playing cards comprising transaction cards and one or more worksheets for preparing financial records of the transactions specified on the transaction cards. Each transaction card represents a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity. The transaction cards include respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transaction. The worksheets include one or more general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general ledger(s) debit and credit data from the transaction cards. At least one player receives at least one card from the pack and for each transaction card received, at least one value is received for the transaction represented on the card, the value determined, at least in part, on the result of rolling one or more dice and the at least one player prepares financial records that include the transaction represented on the card according to the value received.

Description

547694 A 76 9 A *10056651997* NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No. 547694 Date: 6 June 2006 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION EDUCATIONAL GAME We, EXINTELL LIMITED, a New Zealand company of 449 Broadway, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand, do hereby declare this invention to be described in the following statement: intellectual property office of N.Z. 31 MAY 2007 [-RECEIVED 547694 FIELD OF INVENTION The invention relates to the fields of education, and recreational methods and apparatus and in particular to an educational game using playing cards.

BACKGROUND Certain disciplines and skills can be difficult to teach because they are essentially practical in nature and can often appear complex to a novice. Bookkeeping is one such discipline. It can be a challenge to take students through the rules and procedures for the preparation of journals, ledgers, cash books, trial balances, statements of financial performance and statements of financial position and to teach important concepts such as the balancing of ledger accounts, cost of goods sold, gross profit, classes of expenses, net profit, assets, liabilities, capital and drawings, while keeping the students engaged in the process.

It would be desirable to have recreational methods and apparatus for teaching bookkeeping rules and procedures to students that would at least ameliorate the difficulties involved in keeping students of accounting engaged in the learning process or alternatively that would at least provide teachers and students with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION In broad terms in one form the invention provides an educational game comprising at least one pack of playing cards comprising transaction cards, each transaction card representing a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity, the transaction cards including respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transactions; and one or more worksheets for preparing financial records of the transactions specified on the transaction cards; the worksheets including one or more general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general ledgers) debit and credit data from the transaction cards; wherein at least one player receives at least one card from the pack, for each transaction card received, at least one value is received for the transaction represented on the card, the value determined, at least in part, on the result of rolling one or more dice; and the at least one player prepares financial records that include the transaction represented on the card according to the value received 989646-5 (intellectual property] office OF -V z " ' 19MM2U0S RECE rvtD 547694 The term "comprising" as used in the specification means "consisting at least in part of', that is to say, when interpreting statements of the invention including that term the features prefaced by that term in each statement should all be present but other features can also be present. Related terms such as "comprised" and "comprise", as well as similar terms such as "includes", "including", and "include" should be interpreted in a similar manner.

Preferably, the value for the transaction represented by any transaction card received is determined, at least in part, on the result of rolling one or more dice.

Preferably, the financial records include a general journal.

Preferably, the financial records include ledger accounts.

Preferably, the financial records include trial balances.

Preferably, the financial records include a final statement of financial position.

Preferably, the financial records include a final statement of financial performance.

Preferably, the final statement of financial position and the final statement of financial performance are based on both the transactions represented on cards received according to the values received and a set of opening balances that are provided to the at least one player.

Preferably, where there are two or more players, the opening balances for each player are different and are allocated based on the roll of a dice.

Preferably, the worksheets use colour codes to distinguish between debits and credits.

Preferably, the worksheets for producing ledger accounts and trial balances use colour codes to distinguish between assets, liabilities, income and expenses. 547694 Preferably the pack of playing cards further includes one or more trump cards that may be used by the at least one player to increase or decrease the value of one or more transactions to be included in the financial records of a player.

Preferably the pack of playing cards further includes one or more joker cards that may be used to reverse the effect of at least one trump card.

Preferably where there are at least two players, the winner of the game is the player who produces accurate financial records that indicate one of: a net profit higher than any other player, or a capital value higher than that of any other player.

In broad terms in another form, the invention provides apparatus for playing an educational game comprising a pack of playing cards, the pack of playing cards comprising transaction cards, each transaction card representing a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity, the transaction cards including respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transaction; and one or more dice for determining a value for respective financial transactions represented on respective transaction cards; and one or more worksheets for preparing financial records of the transactions specified on the transaction cards, the worksheets including one or more general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general ledger(s) debit and credit data from the transaction cards.

Preferably, each transaction card includes a statement of debits and credits for the transaction. Preferably, each transaction card includes a unique identifier.

Preferably, each transaction card includes at least one digit of a value for the transaction represented.

Preferably the pack of playing cards further comprises one or more trump cards specifying an increase or decrease in the value for specified types of transaction.

Preferably, the pack of playing cards further comprises one or more joker cards representing the ability to reverse the effect of a trump card on the 989646-5 value of a transaction. intellectual PROPERTY j office of ni 1 3 MAK 2009 RECEivtD 547694 - 4a - In broad terms in another form, the invention provides a method of playing an educational game comprising retrieving at least one card from a pack of playing cards, the pack of playing cards including transaction cards, each transaction card representing a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity, the transaction cards including respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transaction; determining a transaction value for each transaction card retrieved from the pack of playing cards; and preparing financial records that include the transaction(s) represented on the card(s) according to the determined transaction value(s), the financial records including one or more general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general ledger(s) debit and credit data from the transaction cards.. 989646-5 INTELLECTUAL propprtv office of w 19 MAR 2009 REC&ivf.P 547694 - 5 - BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Preferred forms of the educational game of the invention will now be described with reference to the figures in which; Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary transaction playing card for the educational game of the invention; Figure 2 illustrates four further exemplary transaction playing cards for the educational game of the invention; Figure 3 illustrates four further exemplary transaction playing cards for the educational game of the invention; Figure 4 illustrates four further exemplary transaction playing cards for the educational game of the invention; Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary trump card for the educational game of the invention; Figure 6 illustrates four further exemplary trump cards for the educational game of the invention; Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary joker card for the educational game of the invention; Figure 8 illustrates a portion of an exemplary journal page for the educational game of the invention; Figure 9 illustrates a portion of a journal record maintained by a game supervisor for the educational game of the invention; Figure 10 illustrates a portion of an exemplary asset and liability ledger account worksheet for the educational game of the invention; 989646-1 547694 Figure 11 illustrates exemplary cash and bank account worksheets for the educational game of the invention; Figure 12 illustrates a portion of exemplary income and expenditure ledger account worksheets for the educational game of the invention; Figure 13 illustrates exemplary opening balance and trial balance worksheets for the educational game of the invention; Figure 14 illustrates an exemplary closing financial statement worksheet for the educational game of the invention; and Figure 15 is a flow diagram illustrating preferred steps in exemplary embodiments of the educational game of the invention. 989646-1 547694 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORMS The present invention provides a teaching aid for teaching or practicing bookkeeping procedures such as, for example, the preparation of journals, ledgers, cash books, trial balances, statements of financial performance, and statements of financial position. The invention can also be used for teaching, illustrating and/or reinforcing important bookkeeping concepts such as balancing of ledger accounts, cost of goods sold, gross profit, net profit, classes of expense, assets, liabilities, capital, and drawings.

The teaching aid takes the form of a game for one or more players. Where large numbers of players participate in the game, for example in a classroom environment, players may be organised into teams. Each player or team is designated as a separate trading entity. The player or team may be able to choose their own name for their trading entity or alternatively a business name may be assigned to each player or team. Financial transactions are generated for or allocated to each trading entity and the players are guided through the process of producing accounts that capture the transactions for their designated trading entity.

In particularly preferred embodiments, transactions for each trading entity are generated through the use of playing cards. Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary transaction playing card 100 in accordance with at least preferred embodiments. Transaction card 100 may include an identifier 110 to show that the card represents a transaction. A further identifier 120 may indicate what type of transaction is represented by the card. In this case, the transaction represented by the card is a purchase. The card may also contain an explanation 130 of the transaction including the name of any other party involved in the transaction. In this case, the other party is Mr. Morris and explanation 130 includes the information that goods were purchased from Mr. Morris on credit.

Each transaction should be for a certain value in at least one currency, for example, in dollars. The value for the transaction may be provided on the card itself. However, in particularly preferred embodiments at least part of the total value of the transaction is determined by chance, for example, through one or more rolls of one or more 10-sided dice which would then form part of the apparatus of the game. 989646-1 547694 By way of example, in figure 1, transaction card 100 indicates a value 140 comprised of a "1" followed by three blank spaces. At 150, the card indicates that the player or team should roll three dice to obtain values for the three blank spaces. Players may either have to roll one die at a time and enter the three values sequentially as they are rolled, or alternatively, all three dice may be rolled at once and the player or team may be able to allocate the three values obtained to any one of the blank spaces that they choose. This second option allows the player or team to maximise or minimise the total value of the transaction depending on whether a large or small value will provide the most profit to their trading entity.

In the case of card 100, if the player or team rolled three dice at once and obtained the three values "9", "6", and "1", the most advantageous order to place these values would be 1, 6, 9 to obtain a total value $1169 because this results in the lowest possible overall value for the transaction based on the three values rolled and thus a lower purchase price for the goods that their trading entity has purchased.

Transaction card 100 also includes a guide to debits 160 and credits 170 arising from the transaction. Preferably these will be colour coded as described further below. For versions of the game for more advanced players, these guides 160, 170 may not be shown on the transaction cards.

Transaction card 100 may also include a unique code 180 identifying the particular transaction card and therefore the particular transaction and parties involved. As with the debit and credit guides 160 and 170, the transaction code 180 may not be shown on the transaction cards for more advanced versions of the game.

Figure 2 illustrates four more exemplary transaction cards illustrating different transactions that may be represented within the game. Transaction card 100a represents receipt of a payment by cheque, 100b represents the payment of wages by cash, 100c represents the payment of rent by cheque, and lOOd represents the sale of goods on credit.

Figure 3 illustrates four more exemplary transaction cards illustrating further transactions that may be represented within the game. Transaction card lOOe represents a loan, lOOf represents goods returned to the player or team's trading entity, lOOg represents interest on a loan paid in intellectual property 989646-5 office o .v 1 9 MAK 2rn RECEIVED 547694 -9- cash, and lOOh represents goods returned by the player or team's trading entity to a third party.

Figure 4 illustrates four more exemplary transaction cards illustrating further transactions that may be represented within the game. Transaction card lOOi represents capital investment by the owner of the player or team's trading entity, lOOj represents payment for advertising by cheque, 100k represents the sale of goods by the player or team's trading entity, and 1001 represents a cheque cashed for business purposes.

The transaction cards illustrated in figures 1 to 4 are exemplary illustrations only. They do not represent an exhaustive set of transaction cards. The transaction cards of the educational game are capable of representing virtually any transaction that a real trading entity may conduct. The format of the cards and the exact information provided on the cards may also differ from that illustrated in figures 1 to 4 without departing from the scope of the invention herein described.

It is envisaged that other types of cards may also be provided to allow players or teams to interact with each other competitively. Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary trump card 200 that may be included in a pack of playing cards for the game. Trump cards provide a benefit to the player or team that picks or is dealt the card in the form of an increase or decrease in the value of one or more transaction in the game. The benefit is set out at 210 and 220 on illustrative trump card 200. At 210 a percentage increase or decrease is indicated and at 220 an explanation is provided of how the increase or decrease may be applied. For trump card 200, the benefit provided to the team or player that receives the card is a 15% discount on the value of any expense item.

Trump card 200 may also include conditions about the validity of the card. For example, at 230, card 200 provides that the card is valid for one turn only.

Figure 6 illustrates four further exemplary trump cards for the educational game. Trump card 200a allows the player or team who draws the card to apply a 10% discount to any future purchase card that applies to them. Trump card 200b allows a 20% increase in the value of one future sale card that applies to the team or player. 989646-1 547694 Trump cards 200, 200a, and 200b all provide an advantageous alteration to the value of transactions for the player or team who draws the trump card. However, trump cards may also be used to impose a disadvantage on competing players or teams. For example, trump card 200c illustrated in figure 6 can be used to decrease the value of a sale transaction of one competing player or team thereby decreasing their overall income in the game. Trump card 200d increases the value of any purchase transaction for competing players or teams thereby increasing their overall expenses in the game.

Another type of card, the joker card, may enable a player or team to reverse the effects of a trump card. Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary trump card 300 for the educational game. As illustrated at 310, this card provides the trump card "reversal" benefit on the player or team who receives the card. However, the card may be valid for one turn only.

Transaction cards and their values, together with trump cards and joker cards are used to determine a set of transactions and the values for those transactions for each team or player participating in the game. Where only one player is participating in the game, trump and joker cards may be removed from the card deck since the primary measurement for success in the game will be the accuracy with which the transactions are used to create accurate financial records such as financial statements. Where more than one player or team is competing, the winner of the game will be the player or team that produces correct financial records from their transaction, trump, and joker cards and who shows the highest net profit or net asset value in comparison to the other teams.

Typically, the deck of playing cards, comprising transaction, trump, and joker cards, will be shuffled and the cards played one at a time. Typically, the cards are either placed face down in front of the players or teams, who then choose cards to pick up in turns. Alternatively, cards may be dealt to the players or teams from the deck in turns. As a further alternative, a certain number of cards may be dealt to each player or team at one time. It is possible to play the game so that cards that are chosen by or are dealt to a particular player or team contribute only to the transaction accounts of that particular team or player's trading entity. Alternatively, it is possible to play the game so that every transaction card that is dealt or chosen by a team applies to all players or teams in the game with the only difference being the 989646-1 547694 -11- values of the transactions as determined, for example, by the roll of the dice for each team or player.

In any embodiment where trump and joker cards are included in the deck, the team or player that chooses or is dealt the trump or joker cards may keep those cards for their exclusive use.

The number of transactions included in any game may be limited to a specific number or alternatively, may be controlled by a time limit for dealing or choosing from the card deck.

Each player or team will have a set of one or more worksheets that they can use to produce financial records from their transactions. For less advanced players, the worksheets for the game may be more detailed and begin at a more basic level of record-keeping. For example, the worksheets for a novice may include transaction listings representing a general journal. A portion of an exemplary general journal worksheet 800 is illustrated in Figure 8. The general journal worksheet 800 assists teams or players in recording the transactions that will contribute to their accounts.

The general journal worksheet may match each transaction card in the deck to an entry in the worksheet. In figure 8, the identifier for each transaction card 180 may be listed in one column of the worksheet as shown at 810. Column 820 provides a brief explanation of the type of transaction represented by the cards that correspond to the identifier entries in column 810. Column 830 provides a space in which the player or team can enter the value of the transaction for any identifier shown in 810 that corresponds to a transaction card that is dealt or chosen in the game and that applies to their trading entity.

By way of example, on row 805 of the general journal worksheet 800, the transaction identifier "8" is shown in column 810. This means that if transaction card number "8" is drawn in the game, then the player will need to complete the details in rows 805 and 806 of the worksheet 800. Transactions card "8" can be located in figure 3 at lOOf. The identifier "J8" in the bottom right hand corner of card lOOf at 180f allows the match to be made. If card "J8" is drawn in a game and a team or player rolls a "0", then the team or player can keep track of the transaction by entering $80 in column 830 of their journal worksheet 800 on row 805. 989646-1 547694 The journal may also include a record of debits and credits for the transaction. For novice games, a guide to debits and credits is provided on the transaction cards. For example, for card "J8", debits are shown at 160f and credits shown at 170f. The debits and credits printed on the card are preferably colour coded. So, for example the debit shown at 160f as "Dr Returns Inward" may be printed in red while the credit shown at 170f as "Cr Mr Young" may be shown in blue.

The entities for which the transaction of card "J8" creates debits and credits are also shown at column 840 of journal worksheet 800 in rows 805 and 806. Debits and credits for the transaction can be recorded in columns 850 and 860 next to the appropriate name, as identified from card "J8". The correct place to enter the debits and credits may be indicated with colour coding also. So for example, if the debits 160f for transaction card "J8" are indicated in red and the credits 170f in blue, then the cell in row 805, column 850 may be coloured red, to indicate that the debits should be recorded there, while the cell in row 806, column 860 may be coloured blue to indicate that the credits should be entered there.

Figure 800 illustrates only a portion of a journal worksheet for the first 8 transaction cards in the deck. However, the general journal worksheet may include a transaction listing for recording transaction values and debits and credits for every transaction represented by a card in the deck.

It is envisaged that a neutral game supervisor, for example a teacher or a student who is not part of a team of players, will also record the transaction cards dealt or selected in the game and the values for each transaction for each player or team. The game supervisor is referred to as the "Market Price Manager" throughout this specification. The Market Price Manager will maintain a journal record such as that shown in Figure 9 at 900. This record will enable the accuracy of the accounts of each team or player to be quickly checked when the game ends.

In a similar way to the journal worksheet 800 of the individual players or teams in the game, the market price manager's journal record will provide a listing of all transactions represented by cards in the deck. The correct row to record each transaction is indicated by the identifiers in column 910 and a brief explanation of the transaction is shown in column 920. The four 989646-1 547694 -13 - columns indicated at 930 provide a space where transaction values can be entered for each player or team in the game. At column 940, the market price manager can also record any trump cards that affect the particular transactions of the players in the game.

Once all transactions have been entered into the general ledger workbook, the players or teams can enter these into one or more further worksheets representing ledger accounts (also known as "T" accounts), where debits and credits are generally stored until balance day. More advanced players may be able to begin their record-keeping with the ledger account worksheet rather than beginning with the general ledger workbook. There are five categories of accounts that are usually identified. These are asset accounts, liabilities accounts, proprietorship accounts, revenue accounts, and expense accounts.

The invention preferably includes one or more worksheets for completing ledger accounts based on the transaction data, which may have been initially recorded in the general ledger workbook. Figures 10 to 12 illustrate some portions of exemplary ledger account workbooks.

Each player or team may be provided with an opening balance sheet 1300 as illustrated in Figure 13. Typically opening balance sheets will be pre-populated and provided to each player or team. All opening balance sheets may be the same, or alternatively, there may be different opening balance sheets with each team or player being allocated a different opening balance sheet based on luck, for example on the roll of a dice or the flip of a coin. In a further alternative, the values that are included in a team's opening balance may be determined by rolling dice to generate values as described above for transaction values.

The opening balance sheets will preferably be colour coded for novice players, with different colours indicating different categories for each balance according to established accounting principles. For example, the accounts receivables indicated at 1310 may be coloured pink, to indicate "assets" and the accounts payable indicated at 1320 may be coloured purple, for example, to indicate "liabilities".

To complete the ledger accounts, the opening balances from opening balance sheet 1300 are first entered into the relevant ledger accounts. The players or teams will then proceed to complete their ledger account worksheets. 989646-1 547694 Figure 10 illustrates a portion of an exemplary asset or liability account worksheet 1010, in this case for Mr. Young who represents an asset account. It is envisaged that separate tables would be provided on the worksheet for each account. The identifiers for transaction cards in the deck which involve Mr. Young are listed as shown at 1020. One such transaction identifier is J8 for card lOOf. Any debits and credits relating to the transactions listed for Mr. Young can be easily entered into this ledger account worksheet. Any balance carried down can then be entered in row 1030 and any balance brought down can be entered in row 1040.

It is envisaged that the identifier "Mr Young" at 1050 may be colour-coded with a colour that indicates an asset account, for example pink, whereas identifiers for entities that represent liability accounts may be colour coded with a different colour, for example purple, so that entries from the ledger accounts may be more easily transferred to trial balance and financial statements later on if needed, as described below.

The invention may be implemented without colour-coding without departing from the scope of the invention. Likewise different colours from those indicated in this specification may be used without departing from the scope of the invention.

Figure 11 illustrates example "cash on hand" 1100 and "bank" 1105 ledger account worksheets for the educational game. These are formatted similarly to the asset and liability ledger account worksheet and would preferably also be colour-coded to indicate that they are essentially asset accounts, for example, by being coloured pink.

Figure 12 illustrates an exemplary portion of an income ledger account worksheet 1200, in this case for sales. Income account ledger worksheets are also formatted in a similar manner to the ledger accounts illustrated in Figures 10 and 11. Other tables that may be included in the income ledger account worksheet include discounts received and returns outward. It is envisaged that identifiers of income ledger accounts would be colour-coded with a colour different from that used to identify asset and liability ledger accounts. This might be, for example, orange. 989646-! 547694 Figure 12 also illustrates an exemplary portion of an expenditure ledger account worksheet 1205, in this case for purchases. Typically expenditure ledger accounts will also be colour-coded to a distinct colour, for example, yellow. Other tables that may be included in the expenditure ledger accounts include advertising expenses, cleaning fees, electricity, interest expenses, salaries, wages, sundries, insurance, stationery, motor vehicle expenses, rent, telephone, discounts allowed, and returns inward.

Once the ledger accounts are completed, the ledger accounts should be balanced and the balances carried down.

Balances of debits and credits entered into the ledger accounts may be entered into a trial balance worksheet 1305, as illustrated in figure 13 for balancing. To assist novice users, the trial balance worksheet may also be colour coded. For example liability accounts indicated at 1330 may be coloured purple, asset accounts indicated at 1340 may be coloured pink, expense accounts indicated at 1350 may be coloured yellow, and income accounts may be coloured orange. This colour coding makes it easier for the players to accurately transfer the data from the ledger accounts into the trial balance worksheet 1305. Once the trial balance is entered, the players can check that total debits equals total credits to determine whether any errors have been made.

Each player or team may then produce closing financial statements from a worksheet such as that shown in Figure 14. Preferably relevant portions of the balance sheet will also be colour-coded appropriately to accord with the colour-codings used in the other worksheets provided with the game.

Once the closing financial statements for each team have been prepared, the accuracy of the final accounts will be checked by a teacher or by the market price manager. This may be done from the market price manager's journal recordrand may be done manually. Alternatively, the game may provide a computer program comprising computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium such as a CD-ROM that when executed on a computer enables the market price manager to enter the transaction data from the market price manager journal record via a user interface and then produces a set of completed financial statements 989646-1 547694 that can be used to directly check the accuracy of the financial statements produced by each team or player.

In some embodiments, other parts of the methodology of the educational game may also be implemented on a computer through the execution of computer-executable instructions. For example, the worksheets for each team may be completed electronically via a user interface. Even the allocation of transactions and values for transactions for each team (otherwise performed using physical cards and dice) may be implemented on a computer if preferred, for example, through the use of a random number generator and virtual cards and dice represented on a user interface.

The game may include counting apparatus such as a calculator or abacus, particularly where the players will not be completing any part of the game using a computer.

Figure 15 shows a flow diagram illustrating the steps involved in a typical game in accordance with the invention. The game begins at 1501 and then one or more playing cards are picked or dealt from the pack at 1501. If the card is a trump or joker card (that is, not a transaction card as determined at 1502), then the card is kept by the team or player that picked or was dealt the card for use against existing or future transactions as shown at 1504.

On the other hand, if the card is a transaction card then typically, the value of the transaction must be instantiated and this will be done by rolling one or more dice as shown at 1505. Each transaction is then usually entered into a general ledger journal 800 as shown at 1506.

If an appropriate or maximum number of cards has not yet been picked or dealt for the game as determined at 1507, then the dealing/picking of cards continues at 1501. Otherwise, the process of completing financial records continues at 1508 and the players or teams complete ledger accounts as illustrated in figures 10 to 12.

The players or teams will then usually complete a trial balance 1305 as shown at 1509 and then use the trial balance 1305 and an opening balance sheet 1300 to produce complete financial statements 1400 as shown at 1510. Then the game terminates at 1511 and the winner is the team with accurate accounts and either the highest net profit or the capital balance. If 989646-! 547694 -17- one team has the highest capital balance while another has the highest net profit, then the winner may be chosen by a throw of the dice with the team that rolls the highest number being the winner.

Some of the steps illustrated in figure 15 may be omitted or performed in a slightly different sequence without departing from the scope of the invention. The minimum steps required to complete a game in accordance with the invention will generally be steps 1501, 1507, and at least one of 1506, 1508, 1509, and 1510. However, although in particularly preferred embodiments of the invention cards are dealt to or picked by players "in turns" (that is by repeating steps 1501 and 1507 for each player a certain number of times), it is also possible to play the game of the invention by dealing a certain number of cards to each player or team at the same time. This step then replaces steps 1501 and 1507.

The foregoing describes the invention including preferred forms thereof. Modifications and improvements as would be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated into the scope herein, as defined by the accompanying claims. 989646-1

Claims (28)

547694 -18- What we claim is:

1. An educational game comprising: at least one pack of playing cards comprising transaction cards, each transaction card representing a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity, the transaction cards including respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transaction; and one or more worksheets for preparing financial records of the transactions specified on the transaction cards, the worksheets including one or more general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general ledger(s) debit and credit data from the transaction cards; wherein at least one player receives at least one card from the pack, for each transaction card received, at least one value is received for the transaction represented on the card, the value determined, at least in part, on the result of rolling one or more dice; and the at least one player prepares financial records that include the transaction represented on the card according to the value received.

2. The game as claimed in claim 1 wherein the financial records include a general journal.

3. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the financial records include ledger accounts.

4. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the financial records include trial balances.

5. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the financial records include a final statement of financial position.

6. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the financial records include a final statement of financial performance.

7. The game as claimed in claim 6 wherein the final statement of financial position and the final statement of financial performance are based on both the transactions represented on 989646-5 intellectual property office of >v> / 1 9 MAR 2QU9 R F T (- i w £ D - 19- cards received according to the values received and a set of opening balances that are provided to the at least one player.

8. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein, there are two or more players, the opening balances for each player are different and are allocated based on the roll of a dice.

9. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the worksheets use colour codes to distinguish between debits and credits.

10. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the worksheets for producing ledger accounts and trial balances use colour codes to distinguish between assets, liabilities, income and expenses.

11. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pack of play ing cards further includes one or more trump cards that may be used by the at least one player to increase or decrease the value of one or more transactions to be included in the financial records of a player.

12. The game as claimed in claim 11 wherein the pack of playing cards further includes one or more joker cards that may be used to reverse the effect of at least one trump card.

13. The game as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein there are at least two players, the winner of the game is the player who produces accurate financial records that indicate one of: a net profit higher than any other player, or a capital value higher than that of any other player.

14. Apparatus for playing an educational game comprising: a pack of playing cards, the pack of playing cards comprising transaction cards, each transaction card representing a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity, the transaction cards including respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transaction; and 989646-5 intellectual property office of N Z 1 9 MAR 2009 RECEIVED 547694 -20- one or more dice for determining a value for respective financial transactions represented on respective transaction cards; and one or more worksheets for preparing financial records of the transactions specified on the transaction cards, the worksheets including one or more general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general iedger(s) debit and credit data from the transaction cards.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein each transaction card includes a statement of debits and credits for the transaction.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15 wherein each transaction card includes a unique identifier.

17. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 16 wherein each transaction card includes at least one digit of a value for the transaction represented.

18. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 17 wherein the pack of playing cards further comprises one or more trump cards specifying an increase or decrease in the value for specified types of transaction.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18 wherein the pack of playing cards further comprises one or more joker cards representing the ability to reverse the effect of a trump card on the value of a transaction.

20. A method of playing an educational game comprising: retrieving at least one card from a pack of playing cards, the pack of playing cards including transaction cards, each transaction card representing a type of financial transaction typically entered into by a trading entity, the transaction cards including respective pairs of debit and credit data arising from the financial transaction; determining a transaction value for each transaction card retrieved from the pack of playing cards at least partly on the result of rolling one or more dice; and preparing financial records that include the transactions) represented on the card(s) according to the determined transaction value(s), the financial records including one or more intellectual property 989646-5 OFFICE OF r\j.2 1 9 MAR 2009 547694 -21 - general ledgers adapted to have entered in the general ledger(s) debit and credit data from the transaction cards.

21. The method of playing a game as claimed in claim 20 wherein preparing financial records includes entering the transaction value(s) in a general journal.

22. The method of playing a game as claimed in claim 20 or claim 21 wherein preparing financial records includes entering the transaction value(s) in one or more ledger accounts.

23. The method of playing a game as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 22 wherein preparing financial records includes preparing one or more trial balances.

24. The method of playing a game as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 23 wherein preparing financial records includes preparing a final statement of financial position.

25. The method of playing a game as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 24 wherein preparing financial statements includes preparing a final statement of financial performance.

26. An educational game, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying figures.

27. Apparatus for playing an educational game, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying figures.

28. A method of playing an educational game, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying figures.