Abstract:
A game includes a gameboard having a top surface, a plurality of nodes extending below the top surface and being accessible from the top surface and defining a plurality of channels extending below the top surface and connecting the nodes. A plurality of tokens each of which includes a configuration that is positionable in each respective node and movable along each respective channels. Each node includes one of a magnet and a metal element. Each token includes the other of a magnet and metal element such that a token may be magnetically held in place over a selected node. The gameboard may be foldable between deployed and storage configurations. A token may be moved along the channels between nodes, the tokens being configured for movement in the channels but not for removal. Once positioned at a node, the token may be held magnetically until moved or removed therefrom.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This application relates generally to toys and games and, more particularly, to a game for two players in which each player attempts to possess more nodes on a gameboard than the other player. 
         [0002]    Games have in the past and continue to be popular sources of entertainment amongst families and friends. The best games seem to have an element of competition, strategy, and chance while enabling players who are skillful, clever, or observant to excel and win. In addition, popular games often have an element of simulated control over a defined territory or over opposing players. 
         [0003]    Various games have been proposed in the art having tokens movable between nodes on a gameboard with a player having the goal of positioning three tokens on adjacent nodes and thus controlling sections of the gameboard relative to an opponent. Although assembly effective for their entertainment purposes, the existing games do not provide a structure for enabling tokens to be easily moved between nodes while still effectively retaining the tokens even if the gameboard is accidentally bumped or disturbed. Further, the existing games do not provide electronic or computer software embodiments. 
         [0004]    Therefore, it would be desirable to have a game in which players may move and position a plurality of tokens between and upon predetermined nodes on a gameboard in an attempt to position them in adjacent groups of three while also preventing an opponent from doing the same. Further, it would be desirable to have a game in which achieving desired linear groups of three tokens prevents another player from controlling nodes on the gameboard. In addition, it would be desirable to have a game in which tokens are easily movable between nodes of a gameboard yet that securely retains the position of said tokens if the gameboard is inadvertently disturbed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Therefore, a game according to the present invention includes a gameboard having a top surface, a plurality of nodes extending below the top surface and being accessible from the top surface and defining a plurality of channels extending below the top surface and connecting the nodes. The game also includes a plurality of tokens in which each respective token includes a configuration that is positionable in each respective node from adjacent the top surface and that is movable along each respective channel. 
         [0006]    Each node includes one of a magnet and a metal element. Each token includes the other of a magnet and metal element such that a token may be magnetically held in place when positioned over a desired node. The gameboard may also be foldable between deployed and storage configurations. Accordingly, a token may be moved along the channels between nodes, the channels and tokens being configured to allow movement yet not allowing the token to be removed therefrom. Once positioned at a node, the token may be held there magnetically until proactively moved or removed therefrom. 
         [0007]    A method of game play is also provided as will be further described in detail later. The game may be embodied in several forms, including a traditional gameboard, a travel version, and various electronic forms. 
         [0008]    Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a game for two players in which each player attempts to control selected nodes in linear groups of three nodes and thus eliminating possible nodes able to be controlled by the other player. 
         [0009]    Another object of this invention is to provide a game, as aforesaid, that promotes strategy and competition. 
         [0010]    Still another object of this invention is to provide a game, as aforesaid, having a plurality of tokens that are individually movable along channels of a gameboard between spaced apart nodes. 
         [0011]    Yet another object of this invention is to provide a game, as aforesaid, in which a player may eliminate another player&#39;s tokens by aligning his own tokens on nodes in linear succession of three nodes. 
         [0012]    A further object of this invention is to provide a game, as aforesaid, that may be moved between deployed and storage configurations. 
         [0013]    A still further object of this invention is to provide a game, as aforesaid, that may be embodied in an electronic form. 
         [0014]    Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a gameboard for a game according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2A  is top view of the gameboard as in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2B  is a sectional view taken along line  2 B- 2 B of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2C  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from  FIG. 2C ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3A  is another perspective view of the gameboard according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3B  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from  FIG. 3A ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4A  is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of a token as in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4B  is a perspective view from a lower elevation angle of a token as in  FIG. 4   a;    
           [0023]      FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of a game according to another embodiment of the present invention shown in a deployed configuration; 
           [0024]      FIG. 5B  is another perspective view of the game as in  FIG. 5   a  shown in a storage configuration; 
           [0025]      FIG. 6A  is an exploded view from another angle of the game as in  FIG. 5   a;    
           [0026]      FIG. 6B  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from  FIG. 6A ; 
           [0027]      FIG. 6C  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from  FIG. 6A ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 7A  is a front view of a game implemented electronically according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 7B  is an illustration of the electronic embodiment implemented with a personal computer; and 
           [0030]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  illustrate graphic representations of gameboards according to the embodiment of  FIGS. 7A and 7B . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0031]    A game  100  according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 1 through 4B  of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, a game  100  according to the current invention includes a gameboard  110  and a plurality of tokens  130 . 
         [0032]    The gameboard  110  has a top surface  112 , a plurality of nodes  114  extending below the top surface  112 , and a plurality of channels  116  extending below the top surface and connecting the nodes  114 . The nodes  114  are accessible from the top surface  112 , and all of the nodes  114  may have a generally constant diameter. In other words, each node diameter may be generally equal to each other node diameter. 
         [0033]    The channels  116  may be flared beneath the gameboard top surface  112 . More particularly, as shown in  FIGS. 2C ,  6 B, and  6 C, each channel  116  may have an upper portion  116   a  and a lower portion  116   b , where the upper portion  116   a  is between the lower portion  116   b  and the gameboard top surface  112 . A diameter of each channel upper portion  116   a  may be less than a diameter of each channel lower portion  116   b . The diameter of each channel upper portion  116   a  may be generally equal to the diameter of each other channel upper portion  116   a , or in other words, all of the channel upper portions  116   a  may have a generally constant diameter. The diameter of each channel lower portion  116   b  may be generally equal to the diameter of each other channel lower portion  116   b , or in other words, all of the channel lower portions  116   b  may have a generally constant diameter. 
         [0034]    The diameter of each channel lower portion  116   b  may be generally equal to the diameter of each of the nodes  114 . As shown in  FIG. 6   c , each channel upper portion  116   a  has a depth d 1 , and each channel lower portion  116   b  has a depth d 2 . The depth of each channel upper portion  116   a  may be generally equal to the depth of each other channel upper portion  116   a , and the depth of each channel lower portion  116   b  may be generally equal to the depth of each other channel lower portion  116   b.    
         [0035]    Each token  130  has a configuration  130   a  that is positionable in each respective node  114  from adjacent the top surface  112  and that is movable along each respective channel  116 , as shown in  FIG. 3   b . As shown in  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b , each token  130  includes a lower end  131  that may be flared so that the tokens  130  are slidable along the channels  116  and only removable from the channels  116  at the nodes  114 . More particularly, each token  130  may include adjacent first and second portions  132 ,  134 . To correspond to the gameboard  110 , each token first portion  132  may have a height h 1  that is less than the depth d 2  of the channel lower portion  116   b , and each token second portion  134  may have a height h 2  that, when combined with the height h 1  of the token first portion  132 , is greater than the depth d 2  of the channel lower portion  116   b  combined with the depth d 1  of the channel upper portion  116   a . In other words, the height h 2  of each token second portion  134  may be sufficient to extend past the top surface  112  of the gameboard  110  when the respective token first portion  132  is positioned in a respective node  114  or channel  116 . Each token first portion  132  may have a diameter that is greater than the diameter of the channel upper portion  116   a  and that is less than the diameter of the channel lower portion  116   b  so that the tokens  130  are slidable along the respective channels  116  to the nodes  114 . 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b , each token  130  may have a third portion  136  that is adjacent the respective second portion  134  and that extends away from the respective first portion  132 . Each third portion  136  may have a diameter that is greater than the diameter of the channel upper portion  116   a  to sandwich the gameboard  110  between the respective first and third token portions  132 ,  136  when the tokens  130  are positioned in respective channels  116 . Each token  130  may additionally or alternately have an indicia portion  138  operatively coupled to the respective token second portion  134  and extending away from the respective first portion  132 . The indicia portions  138  may include, for example, color or symbol indicia, and a first lot of the tokens  130  may include first indicia while a second lot of the tokens  130  may include second indicia. The first indicia may be different from the second indicia. For example, the first lot of the tokens  130  may have one color or symbol while the second lot of the tokens  130  may have another color or symbol. As shown in  FIGS. 2C and 4B , each node  114  may include a magnet  119  and each token  130  may include a metal element  139  (or each node  114  may include a metal element  139  while each token may include a magnet  119 ) to selectively couple the tokens  130  to the nodes  114 . 
         [0037]    While the gameboard  110  may have different configurations in accordance with the current invention, in one currently preferred configuration the channels  116  define and connect concentric rectangles  140 . More particularly, the channels  116  define three concentric rectangles  140  and connect the nodes  114  to form twenty linear segments  142 , with each linear segment  142  (including each respective rectangle side) having three nodes  114  ( FIG. 2A ). As such, eight nodes  114  are spaced along each rectangle  140 , and twenty-four nodes  114  appear on the gameboard  110 . 
         [0038]    In use, the gameboard  110  and the tokens  130  described above (including the first lot having first indicia and the second lot having second indicia) may be provided. A first player may place a respective token  130  having first indicia inside a respective node  114 , a second player may place another respective token  130  having second indicia inside another respective node  114 , and the players may alternate until all of the tokens  130  are inside the nodes  114 . The first player may then move a respective token  130  having first indicia from one node  114  to another node  114  by sliding the token  130  along the channel  116 , the second player may move a respective token  130  having second indicia from one node  114  to another node  114  by sliding the token  130  along the channel  116 , and the players may alternate moving tokens  130  in this fashion. In moving the tokens  130 , the first player may try to position three of the tokens  130  having first indicia in all three nodes  114  of any of the twenty linear segments  142 , and the second player may also try to position three of the tokens  130  having second indicia in all three nodes  114  of any of the twenty linear segments  142 . When a player positions three of his tokens in a linear segment as described above, he declares “Weblock” and is entitled to take an action as described below. 
         [0039]    The first player may remove a respective token  130  having second indicia from the gameboard  110  when the first player positions three of the tokens  130  having first indicia in all three nodes  114  of any of the twenty linear segments  142 , (i.e. establishes a “weblock”) and the second player may remove a respective token  130  having first indicia from the gameboard  110  when the second player positions three of the tokens  130  having second indicia in all three nodes  114  of any of the twenty linear segments  142 . Once a player removes a predetermined amount of the tokens  130  from the gameboard  110 , he may be determined to have won. 
         [0040]    A gameboard  210  according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 5A through 6   c  and includes a construction substantially similar to the construction previously described except as specifically noted below. More particularly, the gameboard  210  is foldable between deployed ( FIG. 5A ) and storage ( FIG. 5B ) configurations, and the gameboard  210  includes a holding area  215  ( FIG. 6A ) for selectively storing the plurality of tokens  130 . In this embodiment, the method of use is substantially similar to that set forth above, except the method further comprises the step of unfolding the gameboard  110  from the storage configuration ( FIG. 5B ) to the deployed configuration ( FIG. 5A ) before any of the tokens  130  are placed inside any of the nodes  114 . 
         [0041]    A game  300  according to yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 7A through 8B  and includes a construction substantially similar to the construction previously described except as specifically noted below. More particularly, the game  300  is electronic, and the method of use set forth above is performed electronically (i.e., on a cellular phone  302  as shown in  FIG. 7A  or a personal computer  304  as shown in  FIG. 7B ). As such, a gameboard  310  does not include nodes  114  or channels  116  that have actual depth or portions as described above, and the tokens similarly do not include actual height or portions as described above. However, the gameboard  110  and the tokens  130  described above may be graphically represented. 
         [0042]    It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.