US2756053A - Game board and playing pieces - Google Patents

Description

July 24, 1956 cs. F. WALES 2,755,@53

GAME BOARD AND PLAYING PIECES Filed Oct. 21, 1952 IN V EN TOR.

2,756,053 Patented July 24, 1956 GAME BOARD AND PLAYING PIECES George F. Wales, Kenmore, N. Y.

Application October 21, 1952, Serial No. 315,973

9 Claims. (Cl. 273-131) The present invention relates to games and more particularly to a game that may be played by two or more players on a rulde gameboard by movement of gamepieces from one space to another of the board.

The basic purpose of the present invention is to provide a game that eliminates chance entirely and instead calls Another object of the invention is to provide a game in which each player uses two sets of gamepieces'and in which the gamepieces of the two sets have diiferent moves. A further object of the invention is to provide a game of the character described in which the object is to move both sets of gamepieces from starting positions at one side of a gameboard to a goal area at the opposite side of the gameboard and in which the paths of travel of the gamepieces of one player, from starting point to goal, meet and/or traverse the paths of travel of the gamepieces of the players opponents.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a game of the character described in which the gamepieces may be moved on the board either from one space to any adjacent space, or by jumping, as opportunity and the judgment of the player dictate.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a game tinged with a western flavor in that the gamepieces represent cowboys and cattle.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the description, when read in conjunction with the drawing, and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a plan view of a gameboard constructed according to one embodiment of the invention; and

Figs. 2 and 3 are, respectively, perspective views on an enlarged scale of two garnepieces from, respectively, the two difierent sets of gamepieces used by a player.

My novel game is played on a board designated gen erally at 20. In the embodiment shown this game board is provided with a playing surface consisting of an open range area 22 and of four combined starting and home zones 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d, respectively.

The open range area is disposed centrally of the gameboard and in overall shape is a square six circles wide and six circles deep and comprising a total of thirty-six circles. The circles forming this open range area are denoted at 26.

Each of the starting zones 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d comprises a total of eighteen circles 28. Each starting zone is divided into two sections, a cowboy section 30, and a cattle section 31. Each such section comprises nine circles numbered consecutively l to 9 inclusive.

7 Each player is provided with nine gamepieces nnmbered consecutively from 1 to 9 inclusive, and such as shown at 35 in Fig. 2. Each player is also provided with a second set of nine gamepieces also numbered consecutively from 1 to 9 inclusive and such as shown at 37 in Fig. 3. The gamepieces 35 bear difierent indicia from the gamepieces 37. In the embodiment of the invention shown, the gamepieces 35 represent cowboys, and the gamepieces 37 represent cattle. The gamepieces of the difierent players are difierently colored to distinguish the pieces of oneplayer from the pieces of all the other players. The nine pieces 35 of one player are, however, the same color as the nine pieces 37 of that player. In Figs. 2 and 32. No. l cowboy gamepiece and a No. l cattle gamepiece of the player, who is playing the green pieces, are shown.

In setting up the gameboard, each player places his nine cowboy pieces 35 in proper numerical order on the circles numbered 1 to 9 in the cowboy section of his starting zone, matching the number of each cowboy gamepiece to the number on the circle 28 of section 30. That is, each player puts his No. 1 cowboy gamepiece on the N0. 1 circle ofhis cowboy section 30, his No. 2 gamepiece 35 on the No. 2 circle of his section 30, etc. Likewise each player puts his nine steer gamepieces 37 in proper numerical order on the circles numbered 1 ,to 9

e in the cattle section 31 othis starting zone, his ,No. 1

steer piece 37 going on the No. l circle of his cattle section 31, his No. 2 steer piece 37 going on the No. 2 circle of his cattle section 31, etc. 7

The object of the game is for a player to move his gamepieces, both cowboy pieces 35 and steer pieces 37, from their respective sections in his starting zone across the range area 22 to the cowboy and cattle sections, respectively, of the directly opposite starting zone of an opponent which thus becomes the first-named players home zone. Thus the player starting from zone 24a aims to move his pieces, both cowboys and steers, to the cowboy and cattle sections, respectively, of the opposite zone 24c, and, vice versa, the player starting from zone 24c aims to move his pieces to the cowboy and cattle sections of. the opposite zone 24a. in similar manner the player starting from zone 24b seeks to get his. pieces to the proper sections of zone 24d, and, vice versa, the. player starting from zone 24d seeks to get his pieces to their proper sections in zone 24b. The player, who first gets all his cowboy and cattle pieces onto their proper circles 28 in the home sections 39 and 31 of his home zone, wins. The cowboy pieces 35 must be on the proper circles in the cowboy section 30 of the players home zone; and the steer pieces 37 must be on the proper circles in cattle section 31 of the home zone; and each piece must be on its own proper circle, that is, the No. 1 cowboy piece 35 must be on the No. 1 circle in the cowboy home section 30, etc. Since the cowboy and cattle sections 30 and 31 in the home zone of each player are, respectively, diagonally disposed with reference to the cowboy and cattle sections 30 and 31 of the players starting zone, as will be clear from Fig. 1, the gamepieces, both cowboy and cattle, must move diagonally across the range area in order to reach the home zone.

The game pieces can be moved across range area 22 and sections 30 and 31 horizontally, vertically, or diagonally either forward or backward along lines 40, 41, 42 and 43, respectively. A gamepiece may be moved from one circle to the adjacent circle, or it may be jumped over one or more gamepieces. There is a difference, however, in the kind of jump which the cowboy pieces 35 can make from those that can be made by the steer pieces 37. In jumping, the steers 37 may only vault over a gamepiece, whether their own or an opponents, if there is an unoccupied space next adjacent to and beyond the gamepiece,

or an opponents, providing there is a vacant space beyond each garnepiecejumped. Thecowboy'picces 35in addition to being able tojump in the sameway as the steers,

may also jump over any number ofan opponents'pieces or combination of several opponents pieces in a straight line without there being spaces between said pieces, pro-' vidin g there is in the line no gamepiece of the same color as the jiimping garnepiece. All pieces jumped byeither a steer or a cowboy gamepiece are left on the board; they ltay d t efr t The players take turns moving, each beingentitled to move a gamepiece on a play, either from one circle to an" adjacent' circle, or as far as he can jump thegamepiece under the rule peculiar to that gamepiece, whether cowboy to steer; I p a As alreadystated, the player who first gets all his pieces on their proper spots in the proper sections of his home 7615s wins the game. He scores the sum of the numbers of the pieces of his opponents which are not on their proper home zone spots.

If the ageof the participants is such that the registration of the, identifying number indiciaon the several game pieces with the correspondingly numbered home spaces is a, difficult undertak ng, a simple version of the game can be playedb'y disregarding the number indicia and merely moving any cowboy or steer gamepiece to any available space in its proper section of its home zone. This, of course, is a faster game which is more easily played by those to whom the necessity for getting numbered game pieces incorrespondingly numbered locations would prove tedious or difiicult. It should be obvious that this can be facilitated if the identifying numbers are left off the game pieces and off the spaces in the home zones. All that is required, then, so far as the gameboard is concerned, is tha t the cowboy and cattle sections of the starting (home) zones have separate identifying designations.

The game may be played by two or four players.

Obviously the gamepieces may be used to represent other entities than cowboys and steers, and the gameboard an area other than a range; and various games may be based upon the principles of the present invention. While the invention has been described in connection with a specific embodiment thereof, then, it-will be understood that it is capable of further moditication, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within Known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features he'reinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

I 1, A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having a central area representing a range area, and a plurality of said arc'as, said range area being generally square in shape and said side areas being disposed along the sides of said range area, both said side and said range areas having a plurality of spaces, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces representing, respectively, cowboys and cattle, there being as many sets of each as there are side areas, each player having a set of each, said gamepieces being movable on the spaces of the range and side areas both forward and backward horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, the cowboypieces and the cattle pieces being movable from one space of the gameboard to an empty adjacent space, the cattle pieces being able to vault over another single gamepiece providing there is an empty space beyond that gamepiece, and the cowboy pieces being able to vault like the cattle pieces and being also able to vault over a plurality of adjoining pieces providing all of said adjoining pieces are an opponents gamepieces and there is a vacant space beyond said adjoining gamepieces; each of the side areas of the gameboard being divided into two sections, one section of each side area being for cattle pieces and having the same number of spaces as there are cattle pieces in a set, and the other section of each side area being for cowboy pieces and having the same number of spaces as there are cowboy pieces in a set, and the section at one side of the range area which is adapted to receive cattle pieces being disposed opposite the section at the opposite side of the range area which is adapted to receive cowboy pieces, whereby both the cattle pieces and the cowboy pieces must be moved diagonally across the range area to move from-their respective sections in one side area to their respective sections in the opposite side area.

2. A game apparatus comprising a game board having a square central area divided into a plurality of spaces, and two rectangular side areas disposed, respectively, at opposite sides of said central area, each side area being divided into two sections, each of which contains a plurality of spaces, the two sections of each side area having different identifying indicia, and the identifying indicia of the two sections of one side area being, respectively, the same as the identifying indicia of the two sections of the other side area but the sections of the two side areas that are opposite one another bearing different identifying indicia, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, each player having two sets, the different sets of gamepieces of each player bearing identifying indicia corresponding, respectively, to the identifying indicia of the two sections of a side areaof the gameboard, but all the gamepieces of a player bearing also characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of one player differing from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other players, and the number of gamepieces in a set being equal to the number of spaces in a section of a side area of the gameboard, whereby the two sets of gamepieces of each pair are adapted to be moved, respectively, from one section of one side area of the gameboard to the diagonally opposite section at the opposite side of the gameboard.

3. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having an equilateral central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, a side area disposed along each lateral side of said central area and adjoining said central area, each side area being divided into a plurality of sections, each section having a plurality of spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, each player having as many sets of garnepiecesas there are sections in a side area, the difierent sets of gamepieces of each player bearing, respectively, different distinguishing indicia, but all the gamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of one player differing from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other players, the different sections of a side area being adapted to receive, respectively, different sets of gamepieces of a player and the number of gamepieces in each different set of a player equaling, respectively, the number of spaces in the particular section of a side area which is adapted to receive that particular set of gamepieces, and the sections of different side areas being disposed in reverse order whereby the gamepieces of a player have to be moved in crosswise fashion across the central area in order to be moved from their respective sections of a side area, which constitutes a starting area for the gamepieces of the player, to their respective sections on another side area which constitutes the home area of that player.

4. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having an equilateral central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, a side area disposed. along each lateral side of said central area and adjoining said central area, each side area being divided into a plurality of sections, each section having a plurality, of spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, the number of spaces in each section of each side area being equal to the number of spaces in every other section of that side area and of every other side area, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, each player having as many sets of gamepieces as there are sections in a side area, the different sets of gamepieces of each player bearing, respectively, different distinguishing indicia, but all the gamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of one player difiering from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other players, the different sections of a side area being adapted to receive, respectively, difierent sets of gamepieces of a player and the number of gamepieces in each different set of a player equaling, respectively, the number of spaces in a section of a side area, and the sections of difierent side areas being disposed in reverse order whereby the gamepieces of a player have to be moved in crosswise fashion across the central area in order to be moved from their respective sections of a side area, which constitutes a starting area for the gamepieces of the player, to their respective sections of another side area Which constitutes the home area of that player.

5. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having a square central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, and two side areas disposed, respectively, at opposite sides of and adjoining said central area, each of the two side areas being divided into two sections, each section having a plurality of spaces adapted to receive gamepieces and on which gamepieces may be moved, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, there being twice as many sets of gamepieces as there are side areas, each player having two sets of gamepieces, the two sets of gamepieces for each player bearing, respectively, different distinguishing indicia, but all of the gamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of one player differing from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other player, the number of gamepieces in the two sets of a player equaling, respectively, the number of spaces in the two sections in one side area of the gameboard, and the section in one side area of the gameboard which is adapted to receive one set of gamepieces of a player at the start of a game being opposite that section of the other side area which is adapted to receive the other set of gamepieces of the player at the end of the game whereby the two sets of gamepieces of a player have to move diagonally across the central area of the gameboard to move from their starting sections to their home sections.

6. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having a square central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, and two side areas disposed, respectively, at opposite sides of and adjoining said central area, each of the two side areas being divided into two sections, each section having a plurality of spaces adapted to receive gamepieces and on which gamepieces may be moved, all sections having the same number of spaces, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, there being twice as many sets of gamepieces as there are side areas, each player having two sets of gamepieces, the two sets of gamepieces for each player bearing, respectively, diiferent distinguishing indicia, but all of the gamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of one player differing from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other player, the number of gamepieces in each set of a player equaling the number of spaces in each section of a side area, and the section in one side area of the gameboard which is adapted to receive one set of gamepieces of a player at the start of a game being opposite that section of the other side area which is adapted to receive the other set of gamepieces of the player at the end of the game whereby the two sets of gamepiecs of a player have to move diagonally across the central area of the gameboard to move from their starting sections to their home sections.

7. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having a square central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be rnoved,and two rectangular side areas disposed, respectively, at opposite sides of and adjoining said central area, each of the side areas being divided into two sections, each section having a plurality of spaces that are consecutively numbered and that are adapted to receive gamepieces and on which gamepieces may be moved, all sections having the same number of spaces, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, there being twice as many sets of gamepieces as there are side areas, each player having two sets of gamepieces, the number of gamepieces in each set being equal and being equal to the number of spaces in a section of the gameboard, and the gamepieces of each set being consecutively numbered in correspondence to the numbering of the spaces of each section of the gameboard, the two sets of game-' pieces for each player bearing, respectively, difierent distinguishing indicia, but all of the gamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of one player differing from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other player, the diiferent sections of each side area having, respectively, different indicia corresponding, respectively, to the different indicia of the two sets of gamepieces of a player, and the section of one side area of the gameboard which is adapted to receive one set of gamepieces of a player at the start of a game being opposite that section of the other side area which is adapted to receive the other set of gamepieces of the player at the end of the game, whereby the two sets of gamepieces of a player have to move diagonally across the central area of the gameboard to move from their starting sections to their home sections.

8. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having a square central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, and two rectangular side areas disposed, respectively, at opposite sides of and adjoining said central area, each of the side areas being divided into two sections, each section having a plurality of spaces that are consecutively numbered and that are adapted to receive gamepieces and on which gamepieces may be moved, all sections having the same number of spaces, and a plurality of sets of gamepieces, there being twice as many sets of gamepieces as there are side areas, each player having two sets of gamepieces, the number of gamepieces in each set being equal and being equal to the number of spaces in a section of the gameboard, and the gamepieces of each set being consecutively numbered in correspondence to the numbering of the spaces of each section of the gameboard, the two sets of gamepieces for each player bearing, respectively, different distinguishing indicia, but all of the gamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of one player dilfering from the characterizing indicia of the gamepieces of the other player, the different sections of each side area having, respectively, different indicia corresponding, respectively, to the difierent indicia of the two sets of gamepieces of a player, and the section of one side area of the gameboard which is adapted to receive one set of gamepieces of a player at the start of a game being opposite that section of the other side area which is adapted to receive the other set of gamepieces of the player at the end of the game, whereby the two sets of gamepieces of a player have to move diagonally across the central area of the gameboard to move from their starting sections to their home sections, and the total number of spaces in the two side areas equaling the number of spaces in the central area.

9. A game apparatus comprising a gameboard having a square central area divided into spaces on which gamepieces may be moved, and two rectangular side areas disposed respectively, at'epiiosite sides ota'ttd adjoining said central area, each of the side areas being di vided i tifb two sections each; section having a plurality of spaces that are consectttiv'ely numbered and that" are adapted to reoeive' garnepieces and on Whichgamepi'eces may be moved,- all sectionshaving thesame number o'fispaces, and a pl'uraiity of sets of gamep'ie'ces; there being twice as ritany sets of gamepieces as there are side areas, each player having two sets of gamepieces; the number ofi gamepiecesin' each set being equal and beingequal to the mother of spaces in a section of the gameboard, and the gamepieces of each setl being consecutively numbered in correspondence to the numbering of the spaces: of each section of= the gameboard, the two" sets ofi gamepieces for each: player bearing, respectively, different distingiiishingindicia, but all of thegamepieces of each player bearing also the same characterizing indicia, the charaeterizing indicia of the gamepieces of one player difiering; from the characterizingindicia of the gamepieces of the other player, the different sections of each side area having; respectively, different indici'a corresponding, respectively, to the difierent indicia of the two sets of gamepieces of a player, and the section of one side areaof the gameboard' which is adapted toreceive one set of game pieces of a player at the start of a game being opposite that-section of" the other side area? which is adapted to receive: the other set: of gam'epieces of the player" at: the

ertd of the game, whereby the fwd sets" of gamepieces" of a player have tomovediagonally across the central area of the gameboard to move from their starting sections to References Cited in the file of this patent UNI-TED STATES PATENTS" D; 125,195 Clute Feb. 18, 1941 D. 1142,860 I Iagloch Nov. 13, 1945 509,316 Lapham Nov. 21, 1893 534,080 Preston Feb. 12, 1895 1,131,603 Dueberg Mar. 9', 1915 1,134,922 Smith Apr. 6, 1915 1,159,854 Malmsjo Nov. 9, 1915 2,181,808 Parker Jan. 23, 1940 2,610,854 Card Sept. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,101 Great Britain 1895

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