US3866915A

US3866915A - Player pieces for vibratory game apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3866915A
Application number: US340119A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henryk Rzepczyk
Original assignee: Coleco Industries Inc
Current assignee: Coleco Industries Inc; American Toy and Furniture Co Inc
Priority date: 1973-03-12
Filing date: 1973-03-12
Publication date: 1975-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-18

Abstract

A player piece for game apparatus having a vibrating playing surface upon which the player piece is movable by vibratory action has a base with a sidewall and a cavity-defining portion providing an upwardly opening cavity of circular cross section in the upper surface thereof. The base has a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from the bottom surface thereof and extending below the level of the lower edge of the sidewall to support the player piece upon the playing surface and provide for movement of the player piece thereupon in a predetermined direction in response to the vibratory action. Pivotably seated in the cavity is a cap having a generally cylindrical sidewall and a top wall supporting a player figure, and a collar of magnetically susceptible material extends around the sidewall of the base for magnetic engagement with a magnetic element on the playing board surface. The cap may be rotated relative to the base so as to change the orientation of the player figure without changing the orientation of the leg elements and hence concealing the predetermined direction of travel assumed by the player piece across the playing surface under the influence of vibratory action.

Description

1 Feb. 18, 1975 1 PLAYER PIECES FOR VIBRATORY GAME APPARATUS [75] Inventor: Henryk Rzepczyk,Lachine,Quebec,'

Canada [73] Assignee: Coleco Industries, Inc., Hartford,

Conn.

[22] Filed: Mar. 12, 1973 21 App]. No.: 340,119

[52] US. Cl 273/85 R, 273/1 M, 273/85 F,

273/94 R [51] Int. Cl. A63i 9/14 [58] Field of Search 46/1 C; 273/85 R, 85 F,

273/86 E, 94 R, 94 F, 85 B, 94 B, 137 R, JJEZ 77 51311377613. A

731,048 5/1932 France 273/137 AB Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Harry G. S trappello [57] ABSTRACT A player piece for game apparatus having a vibrating playing surface upon which the player piece is movable by vibratory action has a base with a sidewall and a cavity-defining portion providing an upwardly opening cavity of circular cross section in the upper surface thereof. The base has a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from the bottom surface thereof and extending below the level of the lower edge of the sidewall to support the player piece upon the playing surface and provide for movement of the player piece thereupon ina predetermined direction in response .to the vibratory action. Pivotably seated in the cavity. is a cap having a generally cylindrical sidewall and a top wall supporting a player figure, and a collar of magnetically susceptible material extends around the sidewall of the base for magnetic engagement with a magnetic element on the playing board surface. The cap may be rotated relative to the base so as to change the orientation of the player fig ure without changing the orientation of the leg elements and hence concealing the predetermined direction of travel assumed by the player pieceacross the playing surface under the influence of vibratory actlOIl.

17 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PLAYER PIECES FOR VIBRATORY GAME APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Vibratory game boards have been used for many years to propel the playing pieces along the playing surface and simulate the action of aparticular type of game such as football and soccer. The pla ing pieces usually have a base upon which is mounted a imulation of a player in a specific fixed orientation relative to the base. The base is usually formed with a multiplicity of depending resilient elements upon which the player piece is actually supported on the playing surface and the player piece glides along the surface in a direction which is controlled by the angular orientation of the resilient elements.

It has been known that the angle of movement of the player piece may be varied by bending the depending elements at various angles to the vertical axis and those using the games have used this technique to provide a predetermined path of movement of the player pieces which might differ from the direction in which the simulated player was facing. However, such action has required that the several depending elements each be bent into the desired direction; the disposition of the depending elements adjacent the periphery of the base in many such player pieces has made the resultant angular orientation apparent to the other player and removed the element of surprise from such strategy.

Recently player pieces have been proposed in which there have been mounted in the base pivoted elements from which the depending elements projected so that the pivoted elements with the depending elements thereon could be pivoted as a unit. Although such player pieces have expedited the reorientation of movement, they have tended to provide limited angular control or to be difficult to assemble and maintain, or to undesirably expose to view the angular orientation of the depending elements. In an effort to provide greater strategy to the game than is permitted by simple vibratory action, there is disclosed in US. application Ser. No- 166,188, filed July 26, 1971 now US. Pat. No. 3,782,726granted Jan. 1, 1974, a vibratory game apparatus in which magnetic control rods disposed below the playing surface may be used to move player pieces along the playing board surface by magnetic coupling with certain pieces provided with magnetically susceptible elements in the base thereof. Such action has provided desirable user control over at least key; players.

To simulate actual play, vibratory games generally employ a ball which is formed of magnetic material and which may be carried down the field by a player piece when placed upon a ferrous plate provided upon the upper surface of the player piece base. In recent years, players with articulated limbs have been provided to kick and pass the ball and there have been various efforts to simulate the catching of the ball with varying degrees of success.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and rugged player piece for vibratory games in which the angular path of travel of the player piece may be readily varied independently of the apparent path of travel indicated by the position of the simulated figure on the base thereof.

It is also an object to provide such a player piece in which the player piece may be moved readily by action of a magnetic control rod disposed below the playing board surface.

Another object is to provide such a player piece which will catch or magnetically couple with a magnetic ball element which has been kicked, passed or fumbled and which will also carry the ball down the simulated playing field.

A further object is to provide such a player piece which may be simply and economically fabricated and which is rugged in construction .and which is simple to use in several different modes of game action.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been discovered that the foregoing and related objects may be readily attained in a player piece for game apparatus having a vibratory playing board surface upon which the player piece is movable by vibratory action comprising a base, a cap and a player figure. The base has a sidewall and a cavity-defining portion providing an upwardly opening cavity of circular cross section in the upper surface thereof, and also has a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from the bottom surface thereof and extending below the level of the lower edge of the base sidewall to support the player piece upon the playing board surface. The cap has a generally cylindrical sidewall and a top wall, the cap sidewall being cooperatively dimensioned to rotatably seat within the base cavity. A player figure is mounted on the cap top wall for rotation therewith, whereby the cap and player figure may be rotated relative to the base while the leg elements retain their original orientation. Generally the base has a top wall and the base cavity-defining portion comprises a depending portion of circular cross section formed centrally of .the top wall and providing the upwardly opening cavity, with the leg elements depending from the bottom surface of thedepending portion.

Preferably the exterior surfaceof the cap sidewall has an outwardlyprojecting circumferential rib and the cooperating interior surface of the base cavity-defining portion has a circumferential groove, the rib and groove being dimensioned and configured to provide a snap-fit engagement. Thus the cap and base snugly slidably engage one another to preclude inadvertent relative rotation and to permit relative rotation through 360 when one is gripped to preclude rotation thereof.

The base sidewall is a flexible skirt of substantially cylindrical configuration spaced outwardly from the cavity-defining portion, and the leg elements and skirt are cooperatively dimensioned to conceal substantially the leg elements when the base is supported by the playing board surface. Thejbase cavity-defining portion and the cap are also cooperatively dimensioned to seat substantially the entire height of the cap sidewall.

In one embodiment a wall portion depending from the bottom of the cavity-defining portion and spaced inwardly from the base sidewall provides a compartment therebetween for receiving an element of magnetically susceptible material. At least two leg elements are disposed to opposite sides of the depending wall portionbetween the depending wall portion and the base sidewall to partially define the compartment. The player piece may additionally include an element of magnetically susceptible material received in the base compartment, whereby the element and hence the player piece may be moved along the playing board surface by corresponding movement of a magnet disposed closely adjacent the bottom thereof. The element is dimensioned to be snugly seated in the compartment bounded by the depending wall portion, the base sidewall and the leg elements.

In a preferred embodiment'there is additionally provided a collar of magnetically susceptible material having a portion extending about the base sidewall for magnetic engagement with a magnetic element on the playing board surface. More particularly, the collar has a body portion disposed about the base sidewall and an inwardly-extending lip portion at the upper end thereof extending inwardly on the upper surface of the base. Where the base is of generally circular cross section, the collar is generally cylindrical an of a length to overlie substantially the full height of the base sidewall.

In another preferred embodiment, the player piece comprises a base having a sidewall, a top wall and a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from the bottom surface thereof and extending below the level of the lower edge of the sidewall to support-the player pieceupon a playing board surface. A player figure is mounted on the base; and a collar of magnetically susceptible material has a body portion extending about the base sidewall and an inwardly extending lip portion at the upper end thereof extending over the base top wall. Thus a simulated football or like element of magnetic material may be engaged magnetically with the body portion of the collar upon passage of the player piece in close proximity thereto or with the lip portion of the collar by placement thereon to permit movement thereby along the playing, board surface. The base is of generally circular cross section and the collar body portion is generally cylindrical to snugly fit thereover.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of football game assembly utilizing player pieces embodying the present invention which are only diagrammatically illustrated and with portions of the control rods and power supply cord broken away;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale of a player piece embodying the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view to a greatly enlarged scale of the game apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view to a still, further enlarged scale of the player piece of FIG. 3 with a magnetic ball element engaged on the top surface thereof;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 4 with the-magnetic ball element'engaged with the sidewall thereof;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bottom of the base of the player piece and to a scale enlarged from that in FIGS. 2 and 3; and 7 FIG. 7 is a fragmentary exploded view of the base, cap and collar members of the player piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to the appended drawing and specifically to FIG. 1 thereof, a vibratory football game assembly includes a game board generally designated by the numeral 10, player pieces embodying the present invention and generally designated by the numeral 12 and magnetic control rods generally designated by the numeral 14.

The game board 10 is intended to simulate a football stadium and includes a rectangular frame 16 in which is supported the planar playing board 18 bearing markings thereon to simulate a football playing field. Adjacent the ends of the board 18 are goal posts 20, and along one side of the game board is a simulated grandstand 22 having a score board 24 thereon.'A vibrator (not shown) is disposed beneath the playing board 18 and is' supplied with power through the electrical cord 26 and it may be actuated by the switch 28 so as to provide vibratory motion to the playing board 18 to effect vibratory movement of the player pieces 12 along the surface thereof.

The control rods 14 are slidably and pivotably mounted in the sidewalls of the frame 16 by means of the guide fixtures 30. Handles 32 permit convenient manipulation of the elongated bars 34 which have at their inner ends, as best seen in FIG. 3, magnetic mounting members 36 which contain magnets 38. The aforementioned copending U.S. application Ser. No. 166,188 describes in detail these magnetic control rods 14 and their manner of use to effect movement in a controlled manner of one or more of the player pieces 12. As discussed, the player pieces to be controlled have disposed in the base thereof a cooperating element 40 of magnetically susceptible material (generally a magnet with its poles oriented so as to provide maximum magnetic coupling through the thickness of the playing board 18).

Referring now in detail to FIGS. 2-7, the player piece 12 is' comprised of a base generally designated by the numeral 60, a cap generally designated by the numeral 62 and rotatably seated in the base 60, a simulated player figure generally designated by the numeral 64 and mounted upon the cap 62, and a collar generally designated by the numeral 66 and mounted on the base 60.

The base 60 has a generally cylindrical sidewall 70 having an outwardly-extending peripheral lip 72 at the bottom thereof and a top wall 74 formed with a central'ly depending portion 78 of circular cross section spaced from the sidewall 70. The depending portion 78 is provided with a peripheral groove82 in its inner surface at about the midpoint of the depth of the'cavity for a purpose to be described more fully hereinafter.

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 6, the bottom of the depending portion 78 is spaced above the bottom edge of the sidewall 70 and depending therefrom are four spaced, resiliently deformable leg elements inclined at a common angle to the vertical and arranged in a generally rectangular pattern. The leg elements 90 are of a length to extend below the level of the bottom edge of the sidewall 70 so as to provide the support for the player piece 12 upon the playing board 18. As is known in the art, these angularly disposed resilient leg elements 90 will result in movement of the player piece 12 along the playing board 18 in a direction opposite to the direction in which they are downwardly angled.

'Inwardly from a pair of the leg elements 80, the bottom surface of the depending portion 78 is provided with a depending wall portion or tab 92which terminates at a point spaced above the bottom edge of the sidewall 7 0. The tab 92 is located within the imaginary rectangle defined by the four leg elements 90 and is equidistant from the sidesthereof but closer to one end than the other. Together with the adjacent pair of leg elements 90 and the arcuate portion of the sidewall 70 therebetween, the tab 92 defines a compartment for receiving and retaining the magnetic coupling element 40 as is best seen in FIG. 4.

The cap 62 has a top wall 42 having a pair of spaced apertures 44 therein and a generally cylindrical sidewall 46 with a circumferential rib 48 thereon which snap fits into the groove 82 of the base 60. The cap 62 is dimensioned relative to the cavity 80 so as to slidably seat therein with its top wall 42 substantially coplanar with the top wall 74 of the base 60.

Seated in the apertures 44 of the cap 62 are the arrow-head projections 50 on the feet of the simulated player figure 64, and these projections 50 are pressed through the apertures 44 of the resiliently deformable top wall 42 and lock therebehind. Thus, the player figare 64 has a fixed orientation relative to the cap 62, but

that orientation relative to the base 60 may be varied by rotation of the cap 62 within the base 60.-

The collar 66 is formed of magnetically susceptible material and mounted on the base 69 with its generally cylindrical sidewall portion 52 covering the surface of the base sidewall 70 above the peripheral lip 72 an an annular transverse top wall portion 54 covering the surface of the base top wall 76 and providing a central aperture over the cap 62 through which the projections 50 on the player figure 64 extend. The outer surface of the sidewall portion 122 is substantially coplanar with the outer surface of the peripheral lip 72 and its lower end is thus spaced close to the bottom of the base 60 as defined by the leg elements and therefore the playing board 18. In this manner magnetic coupling may be effected readily with a magnetic ball element 56 on the vibratory playing board 18 as shown in FIG. 5 when the player piece 12 is moved closely adjacent thereto. The top wall portion 54 is of sufficient width to enable efficient magnetic coupling therewith of the magnetic ball element 56 placed thereon as shown in FIG. 4 when the player piece is selected as the ball carrier.

A complete set-up for a football game is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. ll wherein the opposing teams of player pieces 12 are arranged upon the upper surface of the vibratory playing board 18 with the player figures 64 of each team facing each other. To enable the player piece 12 of the two teams to be distinguished, the player figures 64 and/or the collars 66 should be differently colored for each team. The lower ends of the depending leg elements 90 and the magnetic coupling element 40 are substantially concealed when the player piece 12 is properly seated on the planar playing board 18 due to the elevation of the frame 18 above the plan of the board surface 18 and due to the disposition of the leg elements 90 inwardly of the periphery of the base 60. Except for the player figure 64, the exposed portions of the player piece 112 are of regular configuration, in this case circular, to insure that no clue is available to the opponent as to the orientation of the leg elements 90 within the base 60.

When the vibratory mechanism is actuated by switch 28 to vibrate the planar playing board 18, the various player pieces 12 will travel along paths thereon determined primarily by the orientation of the leg elements 90 of the base 80. Selected ones of the player pieces 12 may, however, be provided with magnetic coupling elements 40 to render them movable by magnetic coupling with the magnets 38 of the control rods 14 and hence independently of the orientation of the leg elements 90. The coupling elements 40 may be interchanged among the various player pieces 12 of a team to add an element of manual control to the strategy of play in addition to the element of the normal direction of the player figure 64. The football game is generally 5 played by allowing free movement of the majority of the pieces over the vibrating playing board 18 with each opponent controlling with his control rod 14 the movement of one or more key players on his team. Thus the participant on offense might control movement of the ball carrier (i.e., the playerpiece 12 upon which the magnetic ball element 56 is placed as in FIG. 4), a receiver and/or a blocker; the participant on defense might control the movement of one or more specific tacklers, with touching of the ball carrier by any defensive player piece 12 being considered a tackle. When the ball element 56 is kicked or passed by one it if a player piece 12 approaches closely enough so that the ball element 56 will magnetically couple with the sidewall portion 52 of the collar 66. This specific mode of play is not critical to the concept of the present invention and should be considered to impose no limitation on the scope thereof, and obviously the player pieces of the present invention may be used in games which do not have magnetic control rods.

The improved player pieces of the present invention permit each member of the team to be individually programmed for movement under the influence of the vibratory action without any indication of direction being given to the other side until the movement has actually commenced. Theprogramming is made possible by asnap-fit or other snug engagement of the cap within a cavity or recess in the base. This engagement should be sufficiently tight to preclude inadvertent relative rotation of the members relative to one anotherbut should also permit rotation of the members relative to one another through 360 when a substantial rotating force is applied to the player figures and the base is held tightly; the cap and playing figure will rotate as a unit relative to the base and its depending leg elements.

The illustrated embodiment of the player piece is readily assembled from its constituent parts as a result of the inherently resiliently deformable nature of the several components. The cap is inserted into the cavity and force is applied until its rib snaps into the cavity groove. The collar. is then pressed upon the base and slid into position until its top wall abuts against the top wall of the base. Lastly the projections on the feet of the player figure are pressed into apertures in the top wall of the cap. When so desired a magnetic coupling element may be readily introduced or removed from the compartment defined between the tab, resilient leg elements and arcuate portion of the sidewall of the base member.

As will be appreciated, the base may have a variety of configurations so long as it provides a cavity of circular cross section to receive the cap and leg elements which depend therefrom. The generally circular configuration of the illustrated embodiment has proven highly advantageous from the standpoint of ease of fabrication and desirable appearance although a rectangular configuration may also be employed albeit with some greater problems in fabrication and mounting of the collar. By fabricating the base member with an annular spacing between the depending portion providing the cavity and the sidewall, the amount of material reteam or fumbled, a player piece can catch it or recover quired is reduced and some degree of resilience to the depending portion is provided to facilitate assembly.

As will be readily apparent, the base, cap and player figures of the player pieces are desirably fabricated from synthetic resins although non-ferrous metals and ceramics may also be employed. The game board frame may be made of metal or of synthetic resin and may have a wide variety of configurations so long as it provides firm support for the planar member providing the playing surface. The planar playing board is desirably,

fabricated from a synthetic resinor a fibrous material coated to provide a smooth surface in order to avoid any undue reduction of magnetic flux when magnetic control rods are employed and in order to minimize frictional resistance to movement of the player pieces along the surface thereof.

The collar is desirably formed of thin gauge ferrous metal sheet stock which may or may not be magnetized depending upon the degree of magnetic coupling that is desired. The magnetic coupling members disposed in the base of the player pieces are generally permanent magnets although ferrous metal blocks may also be employed when the strength of the magnets in the control rods is sufficient to effect strong magnetic coupling.

Thus it can be seen that the novel player piece of the present invention permits fascile control of the direction of movement of the player piece along the vibratory game board surface with the direction controlling means being substantially concealed from the opposing player. The resilient deformable leg elements are stationary within the base on which they are formed so as to minimize the likelihood untoward deformation and damage. The player pieces are provided with a collar for magneticallyengaging a magnetic ball element light upon the playing field as the player figure moves thereby and for also carrying the magnetic ball element passed upon the base thereof. The player pieces are simple and economical to manufacture and may be readily assembled to provide a durable and highly attractive structure.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A player piece for game apparatus having a vibratory playing board surface upon which the player piece wall, said sidewall of said cap being cooperatively dimensioned to rotatably seat within said cavity of said base;

a player figure mounted on said top wall of said cap for rotation therewith, whereby said cap and player figure may be rotated relative to said base while said leg elements retain their original orientation; and

a collar of magnetically susceptible material having a portion extending about said sidewall of said base, said collar being adapted for magnetic engagement with an associated magnetic ball-like element on the playing board surface when brought into proximity therewith.

2. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said base has a top wall and said cavity-defining portion comprises a depending portion of circular cross section formed centrally of said top wall and providing said upwardly opening cavity, and wherein said leg elements depend from the bottom surface of said depending portion.

3. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said cap and said cavity-defining portion have cooperating rib and recess formations providing snapfit engagement thereof.

4. The player piece of claim 3 wherein the exterior surface of said sidewall of said cap has an outwardly projecting circumferential rib and the cooperating interior surface of said cavity-defining portion has a circumferential groove, said rib and said groove being dimensioned and configured to provide said snap-fit engagement.

' 5. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said cavitydefining portion of said base and said cap are cooperatively dimensioned to seat substantially the entire height of said sidewall of said cap.

6. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said cap and said base snugly slidably engage one another to preclude inadvertent relative rotation and to permit relative rotation through 360 when one is gripped to preclude rotation thereof.

7. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said sidewall of said base is a flexible skirt of substantially cylindrical configuration spaced outwardly from said cavitydefining portion and said leg elements and skirt are cooperatively dimensioned to conceal substantially said leg elements when said base is supported by the playing board surface.

8. The player piece of claim 1 further including a wall portion depending from the bottom of said cavitydefining portion and spaced inwardly from said sidewall of said base to provide a compartment therebetween adapted to receive an associated player piece moving element of magnetically susceptible material.

9. The player piece of claim 8 wherein at least two leg elements are disposed to opposite sides of said depending wall portion between said depending wall portion and said base sidewall to partially define said compartment.

10. The player piece of claim 8 additionally including a player piece moving element of magnetically susceptible material received in said compartment of said base whereby said element and hence said player piece may be moved along the playing board surface when an associated magnetic control member is disposed closely adjacent the bottom thereof and moved along the playing board surface.

11. The player piece of claim 9 wherein there is included a player piece moving element of magnetically susceptible material in said compartment, and wherein said element is dimensioned to be snugly seated in the compartment bounded by said depending wall portion, said sidewall of said base and said leg elements.

12. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said collar has a body portion disposed about said sidewall of said base and an inwardly-extending lip portion at the upper end thereof extending inwardly on the upper surface of said base.

13. The player piece of claim 12 wherein said base is of generally circular cross section and said collar is generally cylindrical and of a length to overlie substantially the full height of said sidewall of said base.

14. A player piece for game apparatus havinga vibratory board surface upon which the player piece is movable by vibratory action comprising:

a base having a sidewall and a top wall with a depending portion of generally circular cross section providing an upwardly opening cavity of circular cross section, said base having a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from said depending portion to below the level of the lower edge of said sidewall to support the player piece upon the playing board surface;

a cap having a generally cylindrical sidewall and a top wall, said sidewall of said cap being cooperatively dimensioned to rotatably seat within said cavity; and

a player figure mounted on said top wall of said cap for rotation therewith, whereby said cap and player figure may be rotated relative to said base while said leg elements retain their original orientation.

15. The player piece of claim 14 wherein said cap and said cavity-defining portion have cooperating rib and recess formations providing snap-fit engagement thereof.

16. The player piece of claim 15 wherein the exterior surface of said sidewall of said cap has an outwardly projecting circumferential rib and the cooperating interior surface of said cavity-defining portion has a circumferential groove, said rib and said groove being dimensioned and configured to provide said snap-fit engagement.

17. The player piece of claim 14 wherein said cap and said base snugly slidably engage one another to preclude inadvertent relative rotation and to permit relative rotation through 360 when one is gripped to preclude rotation thereof.

Claims

1. A player piece for game apparatus having a vibratory playing board surface upon which the player piece is movable by vibratory action comprising: a base having a sidewall and a cavity-defining portion providing an upwardly opening cavity of circular cross section in the upper surface thereof, said base having a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from the bottom surface thereof and extending below the level of the lower edge of said sidewall to support the player piece upon the playing board surface; a cap having a generally cylindrical sidewall and a top wall, said sidewall of said cap being cooperatively dimensioned to rotatably seat within said cavity of said base; a player figure mounted on said top wall of said cap for rotation therewith, whereby said cap and player figure may be rotated relative to said base while said leg elements retain their original orientation; and a collar of magnetically susceptible material having a portion extending about said sidewall of said base, said collar being adapted for magnetic engagement with an associated magnetic ball-like element on the playing board surface when brought into proximity therewith.

3. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said cap and said cavity-defining portion have cooperating rib and recess formations providing snap-fit engagement thereof.

5. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said cavity-defining portion of said base and said cap are cooperatively dimensioned to seat substantially the entire height of said sidewall of said cap.

6. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said cap and said base snugly slidably engage one another to preclude inadvertent relative rotation and to permit relative rotation through 360* when one is gripped to preclude rotation thereof.

7. The player piece of claim 1 wherein said sidewall of said base is a flexible skirt of substantially cylindrical configuration spaced outwardly from said cavity-defining portion and said leg elements and skirt are cooperatively dimensioned to conceal substantially said leg elements when said base is supported by the playing board surface.

8. The player piece of claim 1 further including a wall portion depending from the bottom of said cavity-defining portion and spaced inwardly from said sidewall of said base to provide a compartment therebetween adapted to receive an associated player piece moving element of magnetically susceptible material.

14. A player piece for game apparatus having a vibratory board surface upon which the player piece is movable by vibratory action comprising: a base having a sidewall and a top wall with a depending portion of generally circular cross section providing an upwardly opening cavity of circular cross section, said base having a multiplicity of resiliently deformable leg elements depending from said depending portion to below the level of the lower edge of said sidewall to support the player piece upon the playing board surface; a cap having a generally cylindrical sidewall and a top wall, said sidewall of said cap being cooperatively dimensioned to rotatably seat within said cavity; and a player figure mounted on said top wall of said cap for rotation therewith, whereby said cap and player figure may be rotated relative to said base while said leg elements retain their original orientation.

17. The player piece of claim 14 wherein said cap and said base snugly slidably engage one another to preclude inadvertent relative rotation and to permit relative rotation through 360* when one is gripped to preclude rotation thereof.