US3799551A

US3799551A - Travel board game apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3799551A
Application number: US00243693A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Erickson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-04-13
Filing date: 1972-04-13
Publication date: 1974-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 1991-03-26

Abstract

A competitive travel game including a playing board depicting a map with interconnecting sets of linear continuums, hereafter referred to as ''''lines'''', each set of lines being a readily distinguishable entity; including ownership cards, each of the latter being in a one-to-one correspondence with a prespective set of lines, and each said ownership card imprinted with a reduced-scale configuration identical to its corresponding set of lines on the playing board; including a move selection device exemplified by a distinctive destination spinner which randomly selects specifically identified points on the lines and points of intersection of the lines on the playing board, said points of intersection hereafter referred to as cities, in accordance with predetermined odds that any particular point will be selected; and including a pay-off chart listing the various reimbursements to players for ''''traveling'''' between any two of the said cities or specifically identified points.

Description

United States Patent [191 Erickson Mar. 26, 1974 TRAVEL BOARD GAME APPARATUS [76] Inventor: Robert s. Erickson, 2207 N. [57] ABSTRACT Victoria, Santa Ana, Calif, 92706 A competitive travel game including a playing board depicting a map with interconnecting sets of linear [22] Flled' 1972 continuums, hereafter referred to as lines, each set [21] Appl. No: 243,693 of lines being a readily distinguishable entity; including ownership cards, each of the latter being in a one to-one correspondence with a prespective set of lines, [52] 3.5. CI 273/134 AC, 2734;4l0R and each said Ownership Card imprinted with a CI. t 4 duced scale configuration identical to its correspond- Field of Search S of nes n t oa i clud ng a mo e selection device exemplified by a distinctive destina- [5 6] References Cited tion spinner which randomly selects specifically identi- UNITED STATES PATENTS fied points on the lines and points of intersection of 707,469 8/1902 Wayts 273/134 AC the lines on the playing board, said points of intersec- L J 1920 ag e t 273/ 134 ES tion hereafter referred to as cities, in accordance with 3368316 2/1968 et 273/134 AC predetermined odds that any particular point will be Schmm selected; and including a pay-off chart listing the vari- 2:473:675 6/1949 Boreszewski 273/141 R Ous relmbursemems to players for traveling Primary Examiner-Delbert B. Lowe Attorney, Agent, or Firm.lones, Thomas & Askew tween any two of the said cities or specifically identified points.

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Butte Tam a 13 4510 Washin to 4 e5 5 BOSTON 8 MAINE Porllund Albany Baslun x GULF MOBILE k aonlo Mobile TRAVEL BOARD GAME APPARATUS This invention relates in general to games and in particular to an educational game in association with a playing board depicting a number of freight carrier routes which allow each player to act both as a freight agent and as an entrepreneur, by moving tokens in association with the playing board. The express goal of each player consists of being the first player to amass a given amount of playing money, by using the above devices and by playing according to the following rules of play, and of returning to the specifically identified point of the playing board from which he began.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved game apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide game apparatus utilizing a novel arrangement of playing board and associated apparatus.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a game which enables the players to simulate movement along a plurality of distinguishable paths.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved game including a playing board which enables players to simulate movement along paths corresponding to actual routes of travel.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an educational game which provides the players with a working knowledge of the relative sizes and locations of cities, distances between cities, existing commercial means of travel between cities, and some of the competitive factors involved in the operation of a service to move goods between cities.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from consideration of the following disclosed embodiment thereof, including the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. I shows a plan view of a playing board according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of an enlarged portion of the playing board shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the arrangement of a move selection device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 show two examples of ownership cards according to the disclosed embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows exemplary portions ofa payoff chart according to the disclosed embodiment; and

FIG. 7 shows portions of a price chart according to the disclosed embodiment.

Stated in general terms, the present invention provides a representation of an extant transportation network comprised of two or more possible alternative routes of travel between predetermined locations. The locations may be representative of actual cities, and the transportation network may be representative of actual transportation carriers such as railroads and/or airlines either as currently existing or as existent at a time in the past. The depicted transportation network may be divided into segments which are representative of geographical regions. Each player of the game moves along the transportation network on a route randomly determined by a move selection device and obtains the right to purchase unowned segments of the transportation route, or incurs the obligation of paying rent to another player who happens to own the transportation network segment traveled on.

Stated more particularly with respect to the Figures, there is shown an embodiment of the present invention including a playing board shown generally at 10 and having a base configuration including a map 11 of selected trunk line railroads of the United States of America circa 1950, each separate railroad preferably having its set of lines displayed in a unique fashion on an actual playing board through the use of different colors and different patterns of linear continuums. This distinctively delineated railroad map llll also includes printed identification of the sets of lines or railroads; of the specifically identified points or cities; and of a number of regional areas, such as northeast, southeast, and the like. The particular regional areas, seven in number in the disclosed embodiment of the invention, are delineated on the map lll by distinctive lines 12.

A more detailed view of the map ll 1, as shown in FIG. 2, depicts an enlarged view of the upper right-hand portion of FIG. 1 showing segments of the north central, northeast, southeast, and south central regions delineated by the lines 12. It can be additionally seen from FIG. 2 that the map 11 includes a number of distinctive lines representing particular railroads connecting various ones of actual cities depicted on the map. For example, distinctive railroad line 13 representing the 8&0" railroad is shown interconnecting cities such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Washington. Another distinctive railroad line 14 represents the NYC or New York Central line and extends between cities such as New York, Albany, Buffalo and the like.

Although the disclosed embodiment of the present invention attempts to lend realism to this game by depicting actual historically existing; railroad lines more or less along the actual routes of such lines, it will be understood that these actual representations can be substituted by fictitious railroad lines extending along the same or other routes. Moreover, it will be apparent that the present game is not limited to depiction of railroad lines, and can include other modes of transportation, such as air and sea, either separately or in combinations of transportation types.

A set of ownership cards is provided corresponding with each of the railroads depicted on the playing board 10. Each of these ownership cards, as shown in the examples depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, contains a reduced-scaled representation of the route which a railroad contains on the map 1 l, as well as the name of the railroad and the assigned price of the railroad in playing money. The ownership cards may be selected to have a number of distinct sizes. For example, a relatively small size ownership card, as shown by the card 14 in FIG. 4, can be used for railroads having relatively short lines; similarly, a relatively large card as shown at 15 in FIG. 5 may be used to depict railroads having relatively long lines. Although only two sizes of ownership cards are depicted, it will be appreciated that a third size or additional sizes can be designated for other arbitrarily defined classes of railroad sizes, such as middle-sized railroads and the like. In the present example, twenty-nine separate railroads are depicted on the map 11 of the playing board and so twenty-nine separate ownership cards are provided. according to the invention.

A move selection device such as the destination spinner 19, illustrated in FIG. 3, includes a surface 20 upon which are inscribed a plurality of concentric bands of different colors and corresponding in number to the number of geographical regions defined on the map 11. The bands are disposed around an innermost circle 21, and each of said concentric bands represent corresponding ones of the geographical regions on the playing board and include coloring or other distinctive indicia as to be obviously associated with the corresponding specific geographic region on the playing board map 11. For example, the northeast region on the playing board map 11 may be colored blue, and the band 22 representing the northeast" region on the destination spinner can be correspondingly colored blue. The bands are divided into sectors bounded by straight boundary lines as at 23 running from the outer side of the band to its inner edge, so that if all of the boundary lines between the sectors were extrapolated toward the center of the spinner they would meet at a point in the center of the central circle 21. Obviously, each sector of a band thus spans a fraction of the total 360 defined by that concentric band, if one considers the hypothetical angle at the center of the spinner created by extrapolating the boundary lines of the sectors toward the center. Furthermore, each said sector may be identified by name within its confines.

Each sector is assigned a city name and is awarded a fraction of its associated bands total circumference in accordance with the importance of the city which said segment represents. Similarly the innermost circle 21 is subdivided into sectors, seven in number, by straight lines running from the circumference of the circle to its center. Each sector of this innermost circle 21 represents a geographical area rather than a city, and thus also represents one of the outer concentric bands; each said innermost sector is printed within its confines with the name of the geographical area it represents and is also provided with that geographical areas assigned color or other distinctive indicia. Also, the said innermost sectors are awarded fractions of the total 360 of the circle according to the assigned importance of the geographical areas which the sectors represent. Upon the center of the innermost circle is affixed a freely rotating pointer or spinner 24 which pivots centrally upon the board or plate. Thus, according to predetermined odds based upon the arcs assigned to the various sectors of the aforementioned concentric bands and innermost circle, a player may randomly select any city on the playing board. Although the spinner 24 is depicted in FIG. 3 as an arm extending radially from the center, it will be understood that the spinner will include an appropriate portion extending a distance beyond the center to balance the spinner.

To select a city, the player spins the spinner 24 and observes only the innermost circle 21 with the sector upon which the spinner comes to rest being the geographical area specified. The player then spins the spinner 21 a second time, and observes only the concentric band associated with the innermost sector previously specified, with the sector within such band upon which the spinner comes to rest being the city selected.

Also coordinated with the playing board is the pay-off chart 30, as illustrated in FIG. 6, which includes a fragmentary showing of a matrix of numbers bordered on any two perpendicular sides by a column 31 and a row 32 of all the printed names of the cities on the playing board, said cities being preferably arranged in alphabetical order, with the total number of cities listed in a one-to-one correspondence with both the number of columns and the number of rows in the matrix of numbers. The aforementioned matrix of numbers is derived like a standard mileage chart, with a number situated in the intersecting space where the straight lines from each side of the name of one city in the vertical column of cities and the straight lines from each side of the name of one city in the horizontal column of cities intersect to form right angles. Said number in the intersecting space is a measure of the shortest distance along the lines on the map 11 between the two cities listed on the perpendicular borders which intersect at said intersecting space. The actual numbers on the pay-off chart can represent cash payments for completing movement between the various listed cities.

The game employs a plurality of mutually distinguishable playing counters or tokens, not shown, one for each player; the tokens may be of any shape desired so long as the shape suits the intended purpose of occupying one point on the lines of the playing board. In addition to a playing token, each player is furnished with a price card 35 as depicted fragmentarily in FIG. 7 and listing each separate railroad and its assigned cost in playing money. A pair of conventional dice, also not shown, is provided, with each die having six sides marked with a dot or dots from one to six, inclusive, in number. Finally, a part of the game is the previouslymentioned playing money in appropriate denominations such as bills of $500; $1,000; $5,000; $10,000; and $20,000.

THE PLAYING RULES Preparation For Play Each player is a hypothetical freight agent, moving imagined consignments of goods over the railroads on the playing board 10 for a fee. The game requires three special services: someone functions as the banker; someone operates the destination spinner 24; and someone reads the pay-off chart. Before play commences, the banker gives each player a railroad price card 35 and his initial stake of $10,000, which may consist of one $5,000 bill, four $1,000 bills, and two $500 bills. Each player rolls the dice and the highest thrower goes first, with subsequent turns passing to players in a clockwise direction around the board. The first player selects a playing token and places it on one of the sixty-six cities represented on the playing board 10. This city is thereafter designated as this players Home Port City, and another player cannot select it as his own Home Port City.

The Play Of the Game The destination spinner operator gives the first player his first Intermediate Destination. He does this by spinning the destination spinner 24 twice as explained above. It is the interim goal of the player to move his token along the lines on the board from his Home Port City to the first assigned Intermediate Destination City. He moves by throwing the dice and by moving the same number of spaces as the number of dots appearing face up on the dice, along the route of his choice. He cannot skip a turn, but must roll the dice and move the total amount shown (if applicable as explained below). Initially, all railroads are bank-owned. Movement on one or more of the bank-owned railroads during one turn costs the player a total of $1,000. Although he pays the bank, it is the responsibility of all other players to insure that he pays.

The next player proceeds in a similar fashion--picking a token and a Home Port City, obtaining his first 1ntermediate Destination, rolling the dice, moving his token, and paying the bank $1,000. At any time during the game that a player rolls double sixes, he rolls one die again and moves his token 12 spaces plus the number shown. Should his Destination be less than 12 spaces away when he rolls double sixes, the player moves his token to the Intermediate Destination along the route of his choice, and after completing necessary transactions, he throws one die and moves that number of spaces in the same turn in any desired direction. Once a player removes his hand from his token, the move may not be taken back. Also, a token may not double back on its own path during any one turn. (Exception: if double sixes are rolled the player may leave his destination by the same path on which he entered in the same turn.)

Play continues until a player reaches his assigned first Intermediate Destination. Unless he has rolled double sixes the player forfeits the unused portion of his roll. The player informs the pay-off chart reader that he has traveled from city A to city 8" and he receives a payment from the bank as specified by the pay-off chart 30.

After having thus reached a destination, the player has the option of buying a railroad. Naturally, to buy a railroad a player must have sufficient funds and the railroad cannot be owned by another player. If he does buy a railroad he pays the bank the price of that railroad as posted on both the railroad price chart 35 and on the ownership card in question. The buyer receives in return the ownership card. On his next turn, the player requests a new intermediate Destination and proceeds there in a similar fashion. Should the first spin by the destination spinner 24 operator land on the geographical area in which the requesting player is already situated, the requesting player may choose any geographical area for his next intermediate Destination. The destination spinner operator then spins a second time to indicate the specific city to which the player must next journey.

The owner of a railroad is entitled to two things: free passage on that road and a rent if another player uses any part of that road. That is, when a player moves between two or more points on the board connected by a railroad owned by another player, he owes that player a rent. Initially, this rent is $5,000. However, this rent is payable only upon request. The owner must ask for this rent; the trespasser need not volunteer the fee; and other players may not point out or even hint that an owner is apparently failing to collect. Two rolls of the dice after movement ofa token, rents owed by that token may no longer be collected. Futhermore, a player need not call out the identities of lines he travels upon (although he must physically touch his token to each point along his route), so that when plural parallel routes exist on the map 11 and the specific parallel line utilized is in question, it is the responsibility of the owner to ask the traveler which line he used.

No matter how may foreign-owned railroads a person moves upon in a single turn, the rent is paid only once if these foreign-owned railroads are all owned by the same opponent. But if railroads owned by two or more different players are utilized during a single turn, each owner receives the total rent. Also, the bank is entitled to its rent of $1,000 if an unowned line (or lines) is used in conjunction with an owned line (or lines). Thus, one $5,000 rent is payable whether a player uses one link in one foreign railroad or many links in many foreign railroads, all owned by one opponent; yet two $5,000 rents are owed if a player uses railroads owned by two opponents in one turn.

Obviously, as the game progresses and more and more railroads are bought, the importance of owning a well-balanced and strategic system of lines increases, so that a minimum number of rents are paid to opponents and a maximum number of rents are collected. The merit of well planned purchases is further displayed if the game shifts into its high-stakes stage, for when all railroads on the map 111 have been purchased, the basic rent for travel on an opponents line(s) doubles to $10,000.

After a turn, a token is considered to be established on all railroads that touch the exact point upon which the token rests. When a railroad which an established token is situated upon is bought by an opponent, the established player owes the new owner a rent of $1,000, rather than $5,000 and rather than $1,000 to the bank, should the established player use that railroad during the next turn. If the last railroad is bought after a player becomes established on a specific railroad, when he moves the player owes $5,000 instead of the normal $10,000 to the owner. The established rates remain in effect as long as the token remains on the established line. But if a token at any time leaves the links of the line it is established upon, that token loses its status and it reverts to paying normal rents when it returns to the formerly established line.

Railroads may be traded at any time, and may be auctioned off if the owner has less than $150,000 of playing money. Should a player have insufficient funds to pay off a debt, he must sell one or more of his railroads. (If he has none to sell, he is declared to be bankrupt and is eliminated from the game). When a player announces that a certain railroad is up for auction, he must sell that railroad to the highest bidder. The minimum bid is k purchase price. If no one bids, the bank buys the railroad back for V2 purchase price. if $10,000 rents are in effect, they will revert to $5,000 until the railroad is again bought from the bank.

The Rover Period The game shifts into its final phase when a player decides he is capable of achieving his objective: to reach his Home Port City with at least $200,000 cash. He must declare that he is going for home at the start of his turn after having reached an Intermediate Destination on his previous turn. Should the unlikely situation occur that the declarers last Intermediate Destination just happened to be his Home Port City also, he qualifies as winner immediately and the game is over. Otherwise the destination spinner operator gives the declarer an Alternate Destination, although the declarer attempts to go to his Home Port City.

The declarer becomes vulnerable to a special rover play when he starts for home, thereby necessitating a provision for the Alternate Destination. For once he starts for home, the declarer must pay an opponent $50,000 if the opponents token should land on or pass over the point occupied by the declarer. One declarer may collect from another (if there are two or more at the same time). But each declarer may be hit only once before he reaches his Home Port City (or Alternate Destination). If the declarer is hit by a rover and abandons his plan to go to his Home Port City (for a lack of funds), he can immediately proceed to the previously announced Alternate Destination (no long vulnerable to rovers). Upon arrival at his Alternate Destination, the declarer is paid by the bank according to the Pay-Off Chart for a run from his last Intermediate Destination to the Alternate Destination. On his next turn be may choose either to declare for his Home Port City again and again become vulnerable to all rovers, or to revert to normal playing status and go to another Intermediate Destination. A player, by collecting sufficient money either through rents or by being a rover, may not proceed directly to his Home Port City to win the game, but must reach his assigned Intermediate Destination and on his next turn declare that he is going for home.

The first declarer to reach his Home Port City with at least $200,000 wins. Obviously, it is of paramount importance to prospective rovers that they know when another players cash-on-hand is approaching $200,000. So that each player need not keep his own running record of every other players cash level, a player may ask another player at any time if he has $150,000 or more. If the answer is yes, the questioned player must tell everyone exactly how much money he has; if the answer is no, he does not.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates only to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Travel game apparatus comprising:

a playing board defining an overall geographical area;

a first set of indicia on said playing board defining a plurality of distinct regions of said overall geographical area;

a second set of indicia on said playing board defining a plurality of predetermined destination locations on said geographical area;

a third set of indicia on said playing board defining predetermined paths interconnecting said predetermined destination locations defined by said second set of indicia;

said predetermined paths extending across at least some of said first set of indicia defining said distinct regions;

destination selection means having a plurality of first locations each of which is defined by indicia uniquely corresponding to a particular one of said distinct regions and to particular predetermined destination locations in said distinct regions;

said destination selection means comprising indicia defining a plurality of second locations corresponding to said distinct regions, said second locations corresponding in number to said plurality of first locations on said destination selection means and providing a said second location uniquely corresponding to each of said first locations; and

said destination selection means additionally comprising means selectively operative to select in a random manner any of said second locations and additionally selectively operative to select in a random manner any of said predetermined destination locations in said first locations.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein:

each of said first locations on said destination selection means is divided into a number of sublocations each of which corresponds to a certain destination location defined on said playing board by said second set of indicia;

said sublocations including said indicia corresponding to at least some of said predetermined destination locations defined by said second set of indicia in the particular distinct region to which the corresponding first location on said destination selection means corresponds.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein:

said means to randomly select comprises a spinner mounted for rotation on a spinner surface; and

said first locations are defined by indicia on said spinner surface defining a plurality of concentric regions disposed around the rotational mounting of said spinner;

each of said concentric regions being defined by indicia uniquely corresponding to a certain one of said distinct regions of said playing board;

a plurality of second locations defined by indicia disposed on said spinner surface to be randomly selectable in response to the angular position of said spinner;

said second locations defined by indicia on said spinner surface corresponding to said indicia defining said concentric regions and corresponding in number to said plurality of concentric regions to provide a unique one of said randomly selectable second locations corresponding to each one of said concentric regions;

additional indicia disposed on said spinner surface to divide each of said concentric regions into a plurality of subregions; and

each of said subregions bearing indicia corresponding to a certain one of said predetermined destination locations defined on said playing board by said second set of indicia.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, wherein:

each of said subregions of said spinner surface bears indicia corresponding to a certain one of said predetermined destination locations defined by said second set of indicia on said playing board in the certain distinct region to which said concentric region containing said subregion corresponds.

5. Apparatus as in claim 3, further comprising:

each said predetermined path on said playing board contains indicia dividing the path into plural spaces;

a plurality of mutually distinguishable playing tokens representing players of the game and selectively positionable on any of said spaces of a said prede termined path; and

chance number means operable to provide a numerical indication of the number of said spaces to be moved along a said predetermined path by one of said playing tokens.

* 4 a a n:

Claims

1. Travel game apparatus comprising: a playing board defining an overall geographical area; a first set of indicia on said playing board defining a plurality of distinct regions of said overall geographical area; a second set of indicia on said playing board defining a plurality of predetermined destination locations on said geographical area; a third set of indicia on said playing board defining predetermined paths interconnecting said predetermined destination locations defined by said second set of indicia; said predetermined paths extending across at least some of said first set of indicia defining said distinct regions; destination selection means having a plurality of first locations each of which is defined by indicia uniquely corresponding to a particular one of said distinct regions and to particular predetermined destination locations in said distinct regions; said destination selection means comprising indicia defining a plurality of second locations corresponding to said distinct regions, said second locations corresponding in number to said plurality of first locations on said destination selection means and providing a said second location uniquely corresponding to each of said first locations; and said destination selection means additionally comprising means selectively operative to select in a random manner any of said second locations and additionally selectively operative to select in a random manner any of said predetermined destination locations in said first locations.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein: each of said first locations on said destination selection means is divided into a number of sublocations each of which corresponds to a certain destination location defined on said playing board by said second set of indicia; said sublocations including said indicia corresponding to at least some of said predetermined destination locations defined by said second set of indicia in the particular distinct region to which the corresponding first location on said destination selection means corresponds.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein: said means to randomly select comprises a spinner mounted for rotation on a spinner surface; and said first locations are defined by indicia on said spinner surface defining a plurality of concentric regions disposed around the rotational mounting of said spinner; each of said concentric regions being defined by indicia uniquely corresponding to a certain one of said distinct regions of said playing board; a plurality of second locations defined by indicia disposed on said spinner surface to be randomly selectable in response to the angular position of said spinner; said second locations defined by indicia on said spinner surface corresponding to said indicia defining said concentric regions and corresponding in number to said plurality of concentric regions to provide a unique one of said randomly selectable second locations corresponding to each one of said concentric regions; additional indicia disposed on said spinner surface to divide each of said concentric regions into a plurality of subregions; and each of said subregions bearing indicia corresponding to a certain one of said predetermined destination locations defined on said pLaying board by said second set of indicia.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, wherein: each of said subregions of said spinner surface bears indicia corresponding to a certain one of said predetermined destination locations defined by said second set of indicia on said playing board in the certain distinct region to which said concentric region containing said subregion corresponds.

5. Apparatus as in claim 3, further comprising: each said predetermined path on said playing board contains indicia dividing the path into plural spaces; a plurality of mutually distinguishable playing tokens representing players of the game and selectively positionable on any of said spaces of a said predetermined path; and chance number means operable to provide a numerical indication of the number of said spaces to be moved along a said predetermined path by one of said playing tokens.