US20070235931A1

US20070235931A1 - Board game and method of playing the same

Info

Publication number: US20070235931A1
Application number: US11/279,133
Authority: US
Inventors: Johnnie Simmons
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-04-10
Filing date: 2006-04-10
Publication date: 2007-10-11

Abstract

An improved board game and a method for playing the same is provided. The method has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten or a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These cubes may be referred to as “blocks.” The game may allow two to six players taking turns biding, making connections, challenging and/or blocking other players from acquiring property. The player with the most city blocks at the end of the game is declared the winner. The game requires a mixture of skill and chance to win.

Description

This application claims the priority benefit of provisional patent application 60/678,696 filed on May 9, 2005 by Johnnie Simmons.
An improved board game and a method for playing the same is provided. The method has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten or a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These cubes may be referred to as “blocks.” The game may allow two to six players taking turns biding, making connections, challenging and/or blocking other players from acquiring property. The player with the most city blocks at the end of the game is declared the winner. The game requires a mixture of skill and chance to win.
Games of poker and property acquirement have been played by millions of people over the years. These games are extremely popular with family and friends. Even further, the recent rise in poker popularity has brought card games to many previously unfamiliar with the game. In addition, games of property acquirement, such as Monopoly® or Risk® have long been among the best selling board games in the United States. Even further, these games have recently become available to play over the Internet.
However, known board games are often too complicated, last too long and/or are not exciting for many people. Therefore, the present invention provides a novel board game which incorporates features not before incorporated into a board game. The present game incorporates skill and luck to allow a player to acquire as much of a “city” as possible. The player acquiring the largest percentage of the “city” at the end of the game is declared the winner.
A need, therefore, exists for an improved board game and a method for playing the same which overcomes deficiencies of known board and/or card games. Additionally, a need exists for an improved board game which is easy to play and exciting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to an improved board game and a method for playing the same. The game has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten or a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These cubes may be referred to as “blocks.”
The game may have fifty-six cubes, each representing a city block.
For a more complete understanding of the game, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and to the accompanying drawings. Further, additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the detailed description of the preferred embodiments and from the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the game of the present invention having cubes and a playing surface.
FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the game of the present invention having cubs and illustrating a move in the game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention generally relates to an improved board game and a method for playing the same. The method has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. It should be understood that the game may have more or less than fifty-six total cubes. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten and a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These suits may be referred to as “blocks.”
The method specified by the rules below is best described by the referring to the figures. Referring now to FIG. 1, the game may have a playing surface 1 and blocks 2. the playing surface 1 may be a board made from, for example, cardboard, or the playing surface 1 may simply be, for example, a table. To start the game, the blocks 2 may be placed face down, in a pile 3, on the playing surface 1 and shuffled. (Two blocks 2 of FIG. 1F are not shown face down for illustrative purposes). More specifically, the blocks 2 may have a top side 30, a bottom side 31, a first side 32, a second side 33, a third side 34 and a fourth side 35 (not visible). The bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 may have indicia 36 such as, for example, the numbers one through ten, a King 40, a Queen 76, a Jack 77, or a Wild. Further, the bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 may have a color such as gold or black. The top side 30, the first side 32, the second side 33, the third side 34 and the fourth side 35 of the block 2 may lack indicia 36. More specifically, the top side 30, the first side 32, the second side 33, the third side 34 and the fourth side 35 of the block 2 may simply have, for example, a pattern common to all the blocks 2. While the bottom side 31 of the block 2 is face down on the playing surface 1, the players 4 may not be able to tell what indicia 36 is on the bottom side 31 of the block 2.
To begin the game, the player 4 may select four blocks 2 from the pile 3 to establish his/her starting “capital” 11. The “capital” 11 may be a temporary area in which a player 4 may store his or her blocks 2 and for which the player 4 may use those blocks 2 during his or her turn. Typically, the blocks 2 are placed with the bottom side 31 face down on the playing surface 1 when the four blocks 2 are selected to start the game. As a result, the players 4 are unaware of what indicia 36 is on the bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 each player 4 is selecting. The remaining blocks 2 are then placed in a row 5. Generally, the rows 5 have approximately seven of the remaining blocks each. The more players 4 in a game, the fewer blocks 2 will remain to be played from a “city” 10 (as is discussed below).
The rows 5 are then flipped up so as to be visible to the players. More specifically, the blocks 2 are flipped over so that the bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 are now facing upward, and visible to all the players 4. The blocks 2 remaining after each player 4 selects the initial four blocks 2 (the “capital” 11) are placed in the rows 5 to form what is called “the city” 10. More specifically, the “city” 10 may be the term used to describe the remaining blocks 2 not used in all the players 4 “capital” 11. The players 4 may then bid for the right to make the first move of the game and/or to choose the direction of turns by revealing a block 2 from each of their players 4 “capital” 11. After a player 4 has depleted all of his or her “capital” 11, the “capital” 11 is restocked with blocks 2 from that player's 4 “holdings” 20 (as described below). If a player 4 has no blocks 2 left in his or her “capital” 11 and no blocks 2 in his or her “holdings” 20, then the player 4 may be out of the game. The “holdings” 20 of a player 4 may be similar to a bank in which the player 4 attempts to accumulate blocks 2. The “holdings” 20 of a player 4 may differ from the “capital” 11 of a player 4 in that the blocks 2 in a player's 4 “holdings” 20 may not be immediately available for play. Blocks 2 may be required to move from the “holdings” 20 to the “capital” 11 prior to play.
The bidding process begins by each player 4 selecting a single block 2 from his or her initial four blocks 2 (the “capital” 11). The single block 2 is selected so that the remaining players 4 cannot see the bottom side 31 of the selected block 2 before all the bidding takes place. After each player 4 selects his or her block 2, the players 4 reveal the bottom side 31 of his or her selected block 2 to the other players 4.
The player 4 with the highest ranking block 2 gets to go first and/or choose the direction of turns of the remaining players 4. If two or more players 4 have identical bids (based on the ranking of the blocks 2), the players 4 with identical bids only then re-bid until there is a winner. If a player 4 exhausts all of his or her “capital” 11 during the initial bidding process, the entire game may be started over.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a player 4 may collect blocks 2 from the “city” 10 by matching blocks 2 from the “city” 10 with blocks 2 from the players 4 “capital” 11. More specifically, during a player's 4 turn, the player 4 may select a block 2 from his or her “capital” 11 to match with a block 2 in the “city” 10. (FIG. 2 illustrates the player 4 selecting a block 2 with a # 7) When a player 4 collects a block 2 from the “city” 10, the collected block 2 is placed next to the player's 4 matching “capital” 11 block 2. The player 4 may then take back his or her initial block 2 (again, block #7) and the corresponding matching block 2 in “the city” 10. As a result, the player 4 has gained one additional block 2 and “the city” 10 has lost one block 2. The blocks 2 may be matched by number 12, suit 13 and/or letter 14. If the player's 4 selected block 2 can be matched with more than one of the blocks 2 in the “city” 10, the player 4 may take the additional matching blocks 2. For example, FIG. 2 b illustrates the player 4 selecting a block 2 (a block 2 with a #8 is selected) and matching the block 2 with a corresponding # 8 block 2 in the city and a block 2 having a “Queen” 76 designation (which can be done if the Queen 76 and player's 4 #8 block are of the same suit 13). The removed blocks 2 in FIG. 2 a and FIG. 2 b are then placed into the player's 4 “holdings” 20.
In order for a player 4 to collect a block(s) 2 from the “city” 10, the top side 30 of the player's 4 block 2 (from his or her “capital” 11) may be required to match with all top sides 30 of the blocks 2 in the “city” 10. More specifically, a player 4 may collect blocks 2 by matching, for example, blocks 2 in his or her possession with blocks 2 in the “city” 10 by numbers 12, suits 13, and/or letter 14 (such as King 40, Queen 76 or Jack 77)
Some of the blocks 2 may be gold blocks 15. The gold blocks 15 may be of a higher rank than the remaining blocks 2. The gold blocks 15 may be connected with lesser-ranked blocks 2 of any suit 13. However, the gold blocks 15 may not be connected with blocks 2 with numbers 12 of a different suit 13.
A player 4 may make a single, double or triple connection. More specifically, a single connection is when a player 4 may remove a single block 2 from the “city” 10 and place the single block 2 into his or her player's 4 “holdings” 20. A double connection is when a player 4 may remove two blocks 2 from the “city” 10 and a triple connection is when a player 4 may remove three blocks 2 form the “city” 10 (the removed blocks 2 are placed in his or her player's 4 “holdings” 20).
A player's 4 “capital” 11 block 2 must be able to connect with all blocks 2 of the “city” 10 in which the player's 4 “capital” 11 block 2 is in contact with. If no connection may be made by a player 4, the play is said to be “locked.” More specifically, a “locked” play is when no connection can be made and the player 4 is forced to lose his or her turn.
All “capital” 11 and “city” 10 blocks 2 connected during a player's 4 turn are collected and placed aside to establish a player's “holding” 20. Once a player 4 has depleted all his/her “capital” 11, four more blocks 2 are selected from that player's 4 “holding” 20 to establish new “capital” 11. If all of a player's 4 “capital” 11 and “holdings” 20 are depleted, the player 4 is out of the game. The player 4 may elect which block(s) 2 to move from his or her “holdings” 20 to his or her “capital” 11.
In addition to connecting to collect blocks 2, a player 4 may, in turn build onto the “city” 10 by adding matching city blocks 2 from his/her “capital” 11 onto the “city” 10. Therefore, a player 4 could prolong the game, cause another player to become “locked” and/or set up a future connection.
A player 4 may negotiate to buy, sell, trade and/or loan a “city” 11 block 2 to other players 4. All players 4 should be aware of negotiations made to buy, sell, trade and/or loan blocks 2. A player 4 may only collect on a loan during their turn. Further, a player 4 may not refuse to pay a collecting player 4, even if the amount to be paid would deplete the borrowing player's 4 “capital” 11 and/or “holdings” 20. All proceeds from the buying, selling, trading and/or loaning are placed in the creditor player's 4 “holding” 20.
Instead of taking a block 2 from the “city” 10, a player 4 may elect to take a block 2 from one of his/her opponents. Taking a block 2 from an opponent is accomplished by placing a block 2 from his/her “capital” 11 on the playing surface 1 to reveal the suit 13, number 12 and/or letter 14 of the block 2 and then challenging the opponent. The challenged player 4 must respond by placing his/her own block 2, from the same suit 13, next to the challenging player's 4 block 2. The challenged player 4 may only use a block 2 from his/her “capital” 11. The player 4 with the highest block 2 of that suit 13 is the winner of all the blocks 2 involved in the challenge.
The challenged player 4 may elect to sacrifice a less desired “capital” 11 block 2 of another suit 13 then risk loosing a desired block 2 of the suit 13 in the challenge. During a challenge, a gold block 15 of a higher rank may overtake a gold block 15 of a lesser rank, regardless of suit 13. However, gold blocks 15 of a different suit 13 may not overtake a block 2 in the challenged suit 13. All proceeds from challenges are placed in the winning player's 4 “holdings” 20.
When gold blocks 15 are being played, a player's 4 challenge may be blocked by other players 4. More specifically, if the challenged player 4 is able to respond with a gold block 15 of equal value, the challenging player 4 is said to be blocked. Gold blocks 15 of higher numbered 12 or lettered 14 value may be blocked by combinations of gold blocks 15 of a lesser number 12 or letter 14. For example, it would take two Queens 76 to block a player who challenged with a King 40 (a blocking scale is provided below). All of the blocks 2 involved in a challenge are set aside to establish a “pot” 50. The challenging player 4 and any challenged player(s) 4 that are able to respond to block the challenge will then bid for the “pot” 50 with a block 2 from his/her “capital” 11. If a tie occurs during the bid for the “pot” 50, all players 4 involved in the tie will re-bid for the “pot” 50 until a winner is determined. All proceed from the “pot” 50 biding is placed in the winning player's 4 “holding” 20.
A player 4 may play a gold block 15 during the bidding process or during a turn. A single gold block 15 may equal two Kings 40, three Queens 76 or four Jacks 77. A single King 40 may equal two Queens 76 or three Jacks 77. A single Queen 76 may equal two Jacks 77. A gold block 15 may be required to be of the same suit 13 in order to overtake and connect with numbered 12 blocks 2 of different suits 13.
The wild cube 60 has no specific value. Instead, the wild cube 60 may be played as any number 12, suit 13 or letter 14. During connections, the wild cube 60 can simultaneously take on the value of all blocks 2 it is in contact with. During challenges, the player 4 playing a wild cube 60 must announce the value of the wild cube 60 before the wild cube 60 is played. The value of the wild cube 60 is then fixed for the remainder of the game, unless the wild cube 60 is properly moved to another player's 4 “holding” 20.
The game is over when the “city” 10 is depleted or when one player 4 has depleted the “capital” 11 and “holdings” 20 of all other players 4. The player 4 that owns the most blocks 2 in the “city” 10 is then declared the winner.
A player 4 who arrives after the game has started or has been shut out of the game may enter the game if he/she can negotiate for “capital” 11.
Blocking Scale

1. 2. 3. 4.

Golden 1 KING QUEEN JACK

KING QUEEN JACK -------

QUEEN JACK ------- -------

JACK ------- ------- -------
The player 4 that owns the most blocks 2 at the end of the game may be the winner. A player 4 which fails to keep his or her “capital” 11 separate from his or her “holding” 20 may said to cause a foul. If a foul occurs, the player 4 may be required to pay other players 4, in the direction of game play, one of his or her blocks 2. After the player 4 which causes a fouls has paid the other players 4, the fouling player 4 may take two blocks 2 from his or her “capital” 11, but he or she may lose his or her next turn. Any paid blocks 2 to any receiving players 4 may be placed in the receiving players 4 “holding” 20 area. If a fouling player 4 has no remaining blocks 2 in his or her “capital” 11 and “holding” 20, then the fouling player 4 may be out of the game.
Although embodiments of the present invention are shown and described therein, it should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is, therefore, intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A board game comprising:

a plurality of cubes having indicia;

a playing surface wherein at least one cube is placed on the playing surface;

a city area having at least one cube;

a capital area having no more than four cubes; and

a holding area wherein any cube located in the holding area may not be directly moved to the city area.

2. The board game of claim 1 wherein the same indicia is located on a plurality of cubes.

3. A method of playing a board game comprising the steps of:

providing a playing surface;

providing a plurality of cubes located within the playing surface;

providing at least two players wherein each player selects up to four cubes from the playing surface;

placing the cubes selected from the playing surface into a capital area; and

collecting cubes from the playing surface and wherein the collected cubes are placed into a holding area.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of providing indicia on the cubes.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of matching indicia on a cube in the playing surface with indicia on a cube in the capital area.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the cubes selected from the playing surface are selected at random.