WO2005046817A1

WO2005046817A1 - Apparatus and method for playing a game

Info

Publication number: WO2005046817A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/001558
Authority: WO
Inventors: Edward Roy Iwanowski
Original assignee: Edward Roy Iwanowski
Priority date: 2003-11-14
Filing date: 2004-11-12
Publication date: 2005-05-26

Abstract

There is an apparatus for playing game which includes a playing board having a pathway composed of marked spaces (1) along which games pieces (9) can be moved according to the throw of a die (11). The marked spaces (1) and game pieces (9) are identified with respective teams of a sporting league. There are packs of cards (4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) having questions relating to the teams or sporting league which are placed face down on the playing board for quizzing game players in accordance with the identity of the marked spaces (1) upon which the game pieces (9) are landed.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PLAYING A GAME

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to games. More particularly it discloses an apparatus and method for playing a board game. BACKGROUND AND OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a novel apparatus and method for playing a board game which appeals in particular to enthusiasts of rugby, football, baseball, cricket, soccer or any other sport normally played in an organised league with identifiable teams. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one broad form this invention discloses an apparatus for playing a game which includes a playing board having represented thereon at least one pathway composed of marked spaces along which a plurality of game pieces or tokens can be moved according to the throw of a die or operation of other device of chance, at least some of said game pieces and marked spaces being indentified with respective teams of a sporting league and one or more cards having questions on said teams or sporting league for quizzing players in accordance with the identity of said spaces upon which the game pieces are landed.

In another aspect this invention also discloses a method of playing a game using the aforementioned apparatus, said method having the steps of:- - allocating to two or more players team game pieces and correspondingly marked spaces on said playing board, - providing each player with turns which include moving said corresponding game piece a distance along said pathway in accordance with a throw of said die or operation of other device of chance to land on one of said marked spaces, presenting a question to said player which relates to a team or sporting league indentified by said one of the marked spaces and recording a score for each player in accordance with whether said question is answered correctly.

Preferably there are a plurality of packs of question cards which are placed face down on said playing board adjacent the marked spaces to which the questions relate.

It is further preferred that the pathway for the game pieces is closed and has straight sides meeting at marked corner spaces.

It is further preferred that the marked corner spaces are identified with said sporting league.

It is further preferred that in the event that a player answers a question incorrectly said question is asked of the next player and a score is recorded for said other player in accordance with whether the question is answered correctly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The currently preferred embodiment of this invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings in whic :- figure 1 is a plan view of one form of playing board for Australian rugby league, figure 2 shows an example of a score pad for use with the board of figure 1. figures 3 and 4 show examples of the question cards for use with the board of figure 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to figure 1 the board may be generally rectangular with a closed pathway around the edges defined by spaces 1 which are each marked with the name of a different sporting team in said league. With this embodiment there are fifteen such spaces which are marked with the logos of the various teams making up the annual Australian National Rugby League (NRL) competition (hereinafter called "team spaces") and four corner spaces 2 which are marked "NRL", "STATE OF ORIGIN", "TESTS & TOURS" and "WHO AM I?" which relate more to rugby league events or personalities, the players and officials generally. For decorative purposes the centre area 3 of the board may also have printed thereon the layout of a rugby league playing f eld. There are five packs of question cards 4, 5, 6. 7 and 8 which are placed front face down on the playing board. Packs 4, 5, 6 and 7 are located adjacent the respective rugby team spaces to which they relate and pack 8 is located at the centre of the board for those question cards specifically relating to the corner spaces. As shown in figures 3 and 4 the back faces of these cards with the current embodiment may for example be identified with the following rugby team names or league items: - Pack 4 - "EAGLES, WARRIERS, RABBITOHS, COWBOYS" Pack 5 - "STORM, ROOSTERS, TIGERS, EELS" Pack 6 - "KNIGHTS, PANTHERS, BULLDOGS, BRONCOS" Pack 7 - "RAIDERS, DRAGONS, SHARKS" Pack 8 - "NRL, ORIGINS, TESTS & TOURS, WHO AM I" The front faces of the cards are printed with a sets of questions 8A relating to these teams or league items. Each card has a different set of questions.

There are game pieces or tokens 9 corresponding to the team spaces which appear around the board. For purposes of illustration in figure 1 each game piece is shown adjacent to its corresponding team space. With this embodiment the game pieces preferably carry the identical team logo and colours as the corresponding team spaces.

The remaining parts of the apparatus with this embodiment comprise a set of black question markers 10 sufficient in number to cover each team and corner space on the board, a die 11 and score pad (see figure 2) .

The object of the game is for each player's selected team to win the game by scoring the most points to win the Premiership. The game may be played over any nominated number of rounds. An average game may include four players and extend over fifteen rounds.

In preparation for playing, the five packs of question cards are individually shuffled and placed face down on the designated spaces as described earlier and each player is allocated or selects a rugby team of choice. The players then place their game pieces or tokens on the corresponding team space and the playing order is decided by any suitable means such as agreement or the highest dice throw. Preferably the team entries are written on the score pad in column 12 and player seating are arranged to follow the playing order which is preferably clockwise around the game board.

Play commences when the first player throws the dice and moves the appropriate number of spaces along the pathway to land on another team space or corner space. The player is then quizzed using a question from the top card in the pack on a subject relating to that team space or corner space. If a non-playing referee is not available preferably the person on the player's right may act as the game referee at this time and read the question from the card. If the player answers the question correctly two points are scored for that players team on the score pad in columns 13. If however the player answers incorrectly the next player (other than the referee) in playing order is offered a chance at the question for one point. If this player fails the question then goes to the third player (if any) for one point and so forth until it returns to the first player who then has one last chance to answer correctly - but this time for only one point. The second player then throws the dice and the same format is repeated until there is an entry for each player's team across columns 13 from left to right.

The "Premiership Rounds" portion of the board game is finished when the final player has completed the nominated number of rounds and columns 13 on the score card are filled in from left to right for each player. The score pad is then totalled up in column 14 and each player's team position is entered in column 15. The two players' teams with the most points preferably now play in a sudden death "Grand Final". With this preferred embodiment of the game the dice is not used in the "Grand Final". A sudden death playoff procedure is followed which is preferably but not essentially presided over by a non-playing referee. The first to play (which can be the player with the most points from the preceeding Premiership Rounds) elects whether to select or receive the first question. A black marker token is then placed over the team or corner space from which the question is picked to block it as a source of further questions. The quizzed player then has only one chance to answer the question correctly. In the event of a neutral non-playing referee an incorrectly answered question may be subsequently presented to the other player in the "Grand Final". Otherwise a new question must be picked. The winner of the "Grand Final" is determined when one of the players fails to answer a question correctly provided that both players have had the opportunity to answer the same number of questions. If play proceeds to the point where questions from all board spaces have been asked without a winner then the black markers are retrieved and the "Grand Final" continues until a result is finally obtained.

It will thus be appreciated that this invention at least in the form of the example disclosed provides a novel and entertaining game for both rugby league fanatics and those with only a passing interest in the game. Clearly however the example described is only the currently preferred form of the invention and a wide variety of modifications may be made which would be apparent to a person skilled in the art. For example the shape and configuration of the board and score pad, the number and placement of the question cards and the layout of the team spaces may be changed according to design preference, the number of teams included in the game and the type of sporting league to which the game relates.

Claims

The claims:-

1. An apparatus for playing a game which includes a playing board having represented thereon at least one pathway composed of marked spaces along which a plurality of game pieces can be moved according to the throw of a die or operation of other device of chance, at least some of said game pieces being identified with respective teams of a sporting league and a source prepared questions relating to said teams or sporting league for quizzing game players in accordance with the identity of said spaces upon which the game pieces are landed.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least some of said marked spaces are identified with respective teams of said sporting league.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said source of prepared questions are packs of question cards which in use are placed on said playing board adjacent some of said marked spaces.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pathway is closed and at least some of said marked spaces are identified with respective teams of said sporting league.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein some of said marked spaces relate to events or personalities of said sporting league.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said source of prepared questions are packs of question cards which relate respectively to certain ones of said teams and said packs in use are placed face down on said playing board adjacent said certain ones of said teams.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said game board is generally rectangular with said closed pathway being located along or adjacent the edges thereof and at least some of said marked spaces relating to events or personalities of said sporting league and are located at the corners of said game board.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said apparatus further includes marker tokens for placement over those marked spaces in accordance with which a game player has previously been quizzed.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said game board has graphics printed thereon to represent a playing field.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sporting league relates to rugby, football, baseball. cricket, soccer or any other sport normally played in an organised league with identifiable teams.

11. A method of playing a game using the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said method including the steps of:- - allocating to two or more of said game players respective ones of said team game pieces and corresponding marked spaces on said playing board, - providing said game players with turns which include moving allocated game pieces a distance along said pathway in accordance with said throw of a die or operation of other device of chance to land on others of said marked spaces, - presenting questions to said players which relates to a teams or the sporting league as identified by said others of the marked spaces and recording a scores for said game players in accordance with whether said questions^' are answered correctly.

12. The method of claim 11 and including the further step, where there are more than two players of said game, of playing a further deciding game between the two highest scoring players of said game, said further deciding game being on a sudden death format whereby when one of said two highest scoring players fails to answer a question correctly the other of said two highest scoring players immediately wins said further deciding game provided that both of said highest scoring players have been presented with the same number of questions.