US20070075485A1 - Interchangeable game pieces and method of game play - Google Patents

Interchangeable game pieces and method of game play Download PDF

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Publication number
US20070075485A1
US20070075485A1 US11/532,298 US53229806A US2007075485A1 US 20070075485 A1 US20070075485 A1 US 20070075485A1 US 53229806 A US53229806 A US 53229806A US 2007075485 A1 US2007075485 A1 US 2007075485A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
character
game
movement
portions
indicia
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US11/532,298
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English (en)
Inventor
Scott Derman
Erich Weidetz
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mattel Inc
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to US11/532,298 priority Critical patent/US20070075485A1/en
Priority to PCT/US2006/036335 priority patent/WO2007035663A2/fr
Assigned to MATTEL, INC. reassignment MATTEL, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: DERMAN, SCOTT, WEIDETZ, ERICH
Publication of US20070075485A1 publication Critical patent/US20070075485A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F7/00—Indoor games using small moving playing bodies, e.g. balls, discs or blocks
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63D—BOWLING GAMES, e.g. SKITTLES, BOCCE OR BOWLS; INSTALLATIONS THEREFOR; BAGATELLE OR SIMILAR GAMES; BILLIARDS
    • A63D3/00—Table bowling games; Miniature bowling-alleys; Bowling games
    • A63D3/02—Arrangement of devices for propelling or projecting the balls, e.g. spring, string, sling drive, roll-off devices

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates generally to table top board games having resilient barriers and movable game pieces. Games incorporating such components are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 742,250, 800,741, 1,051,613, 1,599,188, 1,980,105, 2,990,180, 3,174,752, 3,206,210, 3,219,349, 3,403,911, 3,762,711, 3,907,294, 3,929,336, 4,017,078, 4,502,686, 5,011,147, 5,362,045, 5,516,102, 5,733,213, 5,755,439, 5,893,791, 5,976,042, 6,357,745, 6,435,929, D285,943, D370,699, D472,584, and D476,697, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • the present disclosure relates generally to a board game that incorporates a board having resilient barriers and movable game pieces. More specifically, it relates to a game in which players may select game piece components and maneuver their game pieces between regions of the board.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary game including a game board with barriers and movable player pieces.
  • FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another exemplary game including a game board and movable player pieces.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary movable game piece in which a character portion is coupled to a movement portion using a press-fit configuration.
  • FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a press fit configuration suitable for use with the game piece of FIG. 3 .
  • FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another press fit configuration suitable for use with the game piece of FIG. 3 .
  • FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary movable game piece in which a character portion is coupled to a movement portion via protrusions.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary movable game piece in which a character portion slides relative to a movement portion to couple the character and movement portions together.
  • FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary movable game piece in which a character portion is coupled to a movement portion using a hook-and-loop connection.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a game 10 that includes a game board or table 12 and player pieces 14 .
  • the game may be played by one or more players by maneuvering the player pieces relative to board 12 to score points.
  • the game components may be used in table games, such as hockey, tennis, shuffle board, and the like, or with traditional board games.
  • Board 12 and player pieces 14 may be fabricated from any suitable material, or combination of materials, such as plastic, foamed plastic, wood, cardboard, pressed paper, metal, or the like.
  • a suitable material may be selected to provide a desirable combination of weight, strength, durability, cost, manufacturability, appearance, safety, and the like.
  • Suitable plastics may include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), or the like.
  • Suitable foamed plastics may include expanded or extruded polystyrene, expanded or extruded polypropylene, EVA foam, or the like.
  • board 12 may include a playing surface 16 .
  • Surface 16 may be made of, or coated with, a material having a suitable coefficient of friction to produce a desired amount of movement of player pieces 14 .
  • the playing surface may be formed from a variety of materials having different coefficients of friction, depending on the intended uses of the game components.
  • playing surface 16 may at least partially be bounded by barriers 18 .
  • Barriers 18 may be formed from a substantially rigid material, a substantially soft material to dampen motion of player pieces 14 , a resilient material to provide a rebound effect when a player piece 14 contacts the barrier, or a combination thereof. Barriers 18 may therefore be configured to affect movement options of the player pieces.
  • Board 12 may be marked with a variety of board indicia 20 or may include a washable surface so that a user may apply his or her own indicia.
  • board indicia 20 may indicate a start position 22 , upon or behind which players must place their player pieces 14 before maneuvering the player pieces along surface 16 .
  • Indicia 20 may indicate an end position or point region 24 to which players attempt to maneuver their player piece in order to attain points.
  • the indicia imprinted on the board in point region 24 may include numbers that directly display point values, pictures that indirectly correspond to point values, or a combination thereof. In configurations in which the indicia are pictures, the pictures may be related to point values in a particular way, such as provided in a look-up chart.
  • players may begin the game by assigning point values to each picture, either randomly, such as through a dice roll, or by agreement.
  • the indicia may provide instructions regarding calculating a point value, such as through a combination of dice rolls.
  • Board 12 may include one or more depressed regions 26 at the end of either or both halves of the board.
  • a depressed region may be provided on the right side (or starting in exemplary board 12 ) of the board to provide a storage region for player pieces 14 .
  • a depressed region may be provided on the left side (or exemplary finish side) of the board in place of a barrier. In such a configuration, a player piece with too much momentum will slide off point region 24 into depressed region 26 .
  • Board 12 may include score counters 28 , as shown in FIG. 1 .
  • each player or team may record the corresponding score by moving a counter along a side of the board.
  • Score indicia 30 such as text or pictures, may be imprinted or formed on the edges of the board adjacent the counters.
  • the score indicia may be affixed in a point region by any suitable means, such as printing directly on the board, removable and interchangeable sheets, or variations in the surface structure of the board, such as raised segments or ribs.
  • the sides of board 12 may include lines, against which a player may align counter 28 .
  • Score indicia 30 may take any suitable form including, but not limited to, ridges, text, graphics, or a combination thereof.
  • player pieces 14 may include a character portion 32 and a movement portion 34 .
  • Character portion 32 may be selectively coupled to movement portion 34 by a fastening mechanism 36 .
  • the character portions may therefore be interchangeable.
  • players may share movement portions 34 by passing that portion of the player piece to the next player once a turn is completed. Only a limited number of movement portions may therefore be needed to play the game since character portion 32 may be used to keep track of which player's turn it is.
  • One or more dice 38 may be included in game 10 , depending on the rules of the game.
  • the die may be used to determine whose turn it is, what character portion to use, what point value to assign to indicia 24 , or a combination thereof.
  • Character indicia 40 may be associated with character portions 32 to denote a character associated with each character portion. Character indicia 40 may be marked on the character portions with a variety of methods. The character indicia may be permanently imprinted or sculpted on character portion 32 so that the character portions have permanent character indicia. The character portions may include a character figure extending from an upper surface of the character portion. In some versions of the game, character portion 32 may be provided with a washable surface so that players may create their own character indicia 40 , such as with markers, crayons, or other removable items, such as stickers.
  • Movement portion 34 may include a housing 42 and a rotatable component 44 , such as a roller or ball mounted within the housing.
  • Housing 42 may be formed from any suitable material to provide a desired rebound effect with barriers 18 and/or frictional resistance with playing surface 16 .
  • Rotatable component 44 may be similar to those used in bearings to control or reduce friction between housing 42 and playing surface 16 .
  • the movement portion may raise the character portion to a height greater than that of barriers 18 .
  • the movement portion may raise the character portion sufficiently to restrict contact between the character portion and the barriers.
  • the shape of the perimeter of the movement portion and character portions may be any suitable combination of shapes depending on which of the movement and character portions may contact the barriers.
  • the movement portion may be cylindrical so as to not impede rebounding of the game piece, whereas the character portion may not contact the barriers and may be any other shape, such as rectangular, trapezoidal, or square.
  • the game pieces may be configured to have varied surfaces to produce unpredictable effects upon contact with the barriers.
  • Fastening mechanism 36 may take a variety of forms, as depicted in FIGS. 3-8 to removably couple character portion 32 to movement portion 34 .
  • the fastening mechanism may be configured to press, slip, or friction fit a character portion to a movement portion.
  • the character portion may have a lip 46 with an engagement edge 48 that extends over at least some of the housing of the movement portion.
  • the interior of the character portion may include a telescoping ledge 50 configured to seat against the top of the movement portion.
  • the telescoping ledge may be located approximately one quarter of an inch from the engagement edge of the character portion.
  • the ledge may be configured to prevent the character portion from pressing against rotatable component 44 , such as by suspending a region of the character portion away from the movement portion such that the character portion does not contact the rotatable component.
  • the fastening mechanism may include an angled region on at least one of the character portion and the movement portion, as shown in FIG. 4 .
  • the fastening mechanism may include a plurality of ledges, as shown in FIG. 5 , that may fit one or more sizes of movement portions.
  • the fastening mechanism includes one or more protrusions 52 extending from one of the character portion and the movement portion and adapted to insert into one or more apertures 54 in the other of the character portion and the movement portion.
  • the fastening mechanism may include protrusions, such as posts or rails, that engage with apertures, such as holes, gaps, or slits.
  • the protrusions and apertures may have corresponding geometry so that the protrusions are held in place by friction between the protrusions and apertures.
  • the protrusions and apertures may include flexible extensions that expand to retain the protrusions within the apertures.
  • the protrusions may engage the apertures in any direction relative to the direction the movement portion will slide along the playing surface.
  • the protrusions may engage the apertures perpendicular to the direction that the movement portion will slide along the playing surface.
  • the protrusions may engage the apertures in a direction parallel to movement of the player piece, such as by forming a track along a surface of the movement portion, in which an extension of the character portion may engage, as shown in FIG. 7 .
  • Any suitable configuration, quantity, and shape of protrusions and apertures may be used.
  • the character portion may be joined to the movement portion with a reusable material, such as a hook-and-loop material 56 .
  • a reusable material such as a hook-and-loop material 56 .
  • the character portion may twist into or around a region of the movement portion much like a screw.
  • Other materials may be used such as tapes, glues or putty having low bond strength, magnets, and the like.
  • One method of playing a table game using the above described components includes providing a game board having a playing surface imprinted with board indicia; providing a plurality of movement portions and character portions adapted to be coupled together; coupling a character portion to a movement portion to form a game piece; urging the game piece along the playing surface from an initial position towards a final position; and tallying points as indicated by the board indicia associated with the final position of the game piece.
  • the method may further include selecting a character portion based on character indicia on the character portion. The points may be tallied as determined by a combination of the board indicia and character indicia. A subset of character indicia, from which one of the character portions is selected, may be determined by a prior point tally. A greater quantity of character portions than movement portions may be provided.
  • player pieces 14 are pushed from one region of the board in an attempt to reach another region of the board.
  • a player may push his or her player piece from the start region in an attempt to bounce the player piece off of barriers 18 to move the player piece from the right-hand side of the board to the left-hand side of the board.
  • a player pushes a game piece from one end of the board to the other.
  • the player's score may be determined by where player piece 14 comes to rest along point region indicia 24 .
  • the game is played by two to four players, typically over the age of six.
  • the object of the game is to be the first player to defeat four bad guys in a row.
  • the game includes a rebound board, eight movement portions, and eight character portions. Various creatures may be printed on the board in the point region.
  • Point counters are initially set to zero. The youngest player is typically allowed to go first. That player chooses one of his or her assembled player pieces and slides it along the board. Players alternate turns until all of the player pieces have been used.
  • players check to see if any of their player pieces landed on any of the creatures imprinted on the board. If so, then a power level associated with the player piece is compared to that of the corresponding creature. If the player piece has a higher power level than the creature, then that creature has been defeated and the creature's power level is added to that player's score. If the player piece has a lower value than the creature then that player may receive zero points or be penalized, such as by having points deducted from his or her total score. The first player to reach a predetermined score is the winner.
  • the character indicia represent weapons or abilities.
  • the board is imprinted with indicia that match a variety of villains to a weapon or ability needed to successfully defeat the villain.
  • Players earn points by maneuvering a player piece onto the corresponding indicia. For example, a player with the player piece labeled “Intellect” will need to maneuver the player piece onto the board space labeled “Lex Luthor—defeat with intellect.”
  • various combinations of the board indicia with indicia on the player pieces may determine the resulting score. For example, a player may obtain points if the player piece indicia matches the underlying board indicia or if the player piece indicia is a higher value than the board indicia. For example, if the player piece depicting a genie lands on the board space depicting a genie, then the player may be awarded points as indicated by the board indicia, the player piece indicia, or a dice roll. Points may also be awarded if the player piece imprinted with a value, such as one hundred-fifty, lands on a board indicia associated with a value of one hundred. The player or team with the highest point total after a given number of rounds, or the first to reach a predetermined point total, is the winner.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Toys (AREA)
  • Pinball Game Machines (AREA)
US11/532,298 2005-09-16 2006-09-15 Interchangeable game pieces and method of game play Abandoned US20070075485A1 (en)

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US11/532,298 US20070075485A1 (en) 2005-09-16 2006-09-15 Interchangeable game pieces and method of game play
PCT/US2006/036335 WO2007035663A2 (fr) 2005-09-16 2006-09-18 Pions interchangeables et methode de jeu

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US71816105P 2005-09-16 2005-09-16
US11/532,298 US20070075485A1 (en) 2005-09-16 2006-09-15 Interchangeable game pieces and method of game play

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WO (1) WO2007035663A2 (fr)

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070075486A1 (en) * 2005-10-03 2007-04-05 Silva Jose J Game table and method of making the same
US20090033031A1 (en) * 2007-08-02 2009-02-05 Mark Lany Disc game apparatus and method of playing the same
US20090036219A1 (en) * 2007-08-01 2009-02-05 Paknak, Llc Interactive, thematically-related entertainment system including universally-interchangeable, attachable, design-bearing ornaments
US20100301553A1 (en) * 2009-05-26 2010-12-02 Ellis Thomas M Game board apparatus
US20110207542A1 (en) * 2010-02-23 2011-08-25 Boessling Leon L Recreational amusement
US8011660B1 (en) * 2009-05-12 2011-09-06 Butler Matthew J Lawn game using rolling disks
US20120248695A1 (en) * 2009-05-12 2012-10-04 Butler Matthew J Lawn game using rolling disks and rings

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US742250A (en) * 1902-05-22 1903-10-27 Lilly G Spencer Toy.
US800741A (en) * 1904-10-28 1905-10-03 Frederick Howard Toy.
US1209920A (en) * 1916-01-04 1916-12-26 Charles N Morgan Toy.
US3206210A (en) * 1964-05-28 1965-09-14 Bard George Cylinder enclosed ball sliding game piece
US3762711A (en) * 1971-06-01 1973-10-02 Ideal Toy Corp Portable shuffleboard game
USD279996S (en) * 1982-09-20 1985-08-06 Survance Michael W Puck
US5893791A (en) * 1997-06-02 1999-04-13 Wilkinson; William T. Remote controlled rolling toy
US5976042A (en) * 1997-11-19 1999-11-02 Lamarche; Paul Hockey puck with centrally disposed spherical element
US20050040598A1 (en) * 2003-08-19 2005-02-24 Wilk Brian M. Action figure game piece and method of playing action figure game

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3602514A (en) * 1969-10-14 1971-08-31 Peebles David M Checker game piece
US5120068A (en) * 1990-08-22 1992-06-09 Antonio Tablan Domino with folding portions to change indicia

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US742250A (en) * 1902-05-22 1903-10-27 Lilly G Spencer Toy.
US800741A (en) * 1904-10-28 1905-10-03 Frederick Howard Toy.
US1209920A (en) * 1916-01-04 1916-12-26 Charles N Morgan Toy.
US3206210A (en) * 1964-05-28 1965-09-14 Bard George Cylinder enclosed ball sliding game piece
US3762711A (en) * 1971-06-01 1973-10-02 Ideal Toy Corp Portable shuffleboard game
USD279996S (en) * 1982-09-20 1985-08-06 Survance Michael W Puck
US5893791A (en) * 1997-06-02 1999-04-13 Wilkinson; William T. Remote controlled rolling toy
US5976042A (en) * 1997-11-19 1999-11-02 Lamarche; Paul Hockey puck with centrally disposed spherical element
US20050040598A1 (en) * 2003-08-19 2005-02-24 Wilk Brian M. Action figure game piece and method of playing action figure game

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070075486A1 (en) * 2005-10-03 2007-04-05 Silva Jose J Game table and method of making the same
US8052534B2 (en) * 2007-08-01 2011-11-08 Pak Nak, LLC Interactive, thematically-related entertainment system including universally-interchangeable, attachable, design-bearing ornaments
US20090036219A1 (en) * 2007-08-01 2009-02-05 Paknak, Llc Interactive, thematically-related entertainment system including universally-interchangeable, attachable, design-bearing ornaments
US20090033031A1 (en) * 2007-08-02 2009-02-05 Mark Lany Disc game apparatus and method of playing the same
US7621530B2 (en) 2007-08-02 2009-11-24 Mark Lany Disc game apparatus and method of playing the same
WO2009016494A3 (fr) * 2007-08-02 2010-10-28 Mark Lany Appareil de jeu à disque et procédé permettant d'y jouer
US20120068405A1 (en) * 2009-05-12 2012-03-22 Butler Matthew J Lawn game method using rolling disks
US8011660B1 (en) * 2009-05-12 2011-09-06 Butler Matthew J Lawn game using rolling disks
US20120248695A1 (en) * 2009-05-12 2012-10-04 Butler Matthew J Lawn game using rolling disks and rings
US8434763B2 (en) * 2009-05-12 2013-05-07 Matthew J. Butler Lawn game using rolling disks and rings
US20100301553A1 (en) * 2009-05-26 2010-12-02 Ellis Thomas M Game board apparatus
US20110207542A1 (en) * 2010-02-23 2011-08-25 Boessling Leon L Recreational amusement
US8435127B2 (en) 2010-02-23 2013-05-07 Leon L. Boessling Recreational amusement

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Publication number Publication date
WO2007035663A2 (fr) 2007-03-29
WO2007035663A3 (fr) 2007-06-28

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Owner name: MATTEL, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:DERMAN, SCOTT;WEIDETZ, ERICH;REEL/FRAME:018876/0220

Effective date: 20061205

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION