Abstract:
A method for tracking multiple durations in a game without the need for any accounting is provided. The invention readily scales from tracking just a few durations to tracking many durations without slowing the game down. Furthermore, the method provides an opportunity for all players to verify the results, making it suitable for a competitive environment. The method can be applied to any kind of game in which there is a need to track durations over several rounds of play.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/512,112, filed on Oct. 17, 2003, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1) Field of Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to miniature games, board games, card games, and role-playing games.  
         [0004]     2) Discussion of Related Art  
         [0005]     Almost all games employ rounds of players taking turns: each player among two or more players has the opportunity to do something, such as move a game piece or play a card. When all players have taken a turn, a new round begins and each player has a chance to act as the cycle repeats.  
         [0006]     Trouble can occur when something in the game, some temporary effect, is supposed to last for set number of rounds and then end—in other words, if that effect has a duration within the game. For example, consider a character in a game that is poisoned by a snake. We wouldn&#39;t expect the character to drop dead immediately after being attacked, but rather that the character can continue to act for a couple of rounds before expiring. Different games have different approaches to simulating such a situation; some games, such as a typical role-playing game, require the player to keep track of each such effect through some means of accounting, such as writing down how many rounds the effect should last on a piece of paper and then decreasing that number by one each round until the time is up. This method can be tedious for a player and can slow the game down considerably when several effects are being tracked. There is also room for players to make an accounting error and in a competitive environment to accuse each other of making such an error. Other games, notably card games, sacrifice the realism of such a simple situation and instead only have effects that last forever, last 1 round, or happen instantly and then end. Such a drastically simplified approach, besides being unrealistic, also causes game balancing problems. For example, it isn&#39;t possible to give a player a powerful effect for only a short period of time to balance that power. Consider for example a magic wand. A character that acquires a magic wand that lets that character put opponents to sleep, for example, may have gone from very weak character in the beginning of the game to a very powerful one for the rest of the game, upsetting game balance severely. If the duration of such an item could be limited, then its impact on the game could also be limited, allowing players to enjoy the powerful effect while limiting its impact on the game. In many games this is not possible because, again, of the inability to easily track durations. There is a clear need for a method of tracking game effects with a duration of more than a round but less than forever without the need for any accounting procedures, without slowing the game down when many such effects are active, and without introducing opportunities for players to make tracking errors.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A method for tracking multiple durations in a game without the need for any accounting is provided. The invention readily scales from tracking just a few durations to tracking many durations without slowing the game down. Furthermore, the method provides an opportunity for all players to verify the results, making it suitable for a competitive environment. The method can be applied to any kind of game in which there is a need to track durations over several rounds of play.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The invention is further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a isometric view of the preferred embodiment of the invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the cards used to describe the creatures in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the cards associated with the creatures in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a table of values showing the odds of a game component lasting a given number of rounds as a function of the numerical interval used as a percentage of the total values available on a die used to generate random numbers.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  shows two otherwise identical game components with different numerical intervals. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention. Game  1  is comprised of a plurality of miniatures, including minaiature  4  and miniature  6 . The miniatures are distinguished from one another and are associated with a set of statistics preferrably by the apparatus described in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/435,424, which is incorporated by reference herein. The color of base  10  of miniature  4  matches the color of card holder  12 , thereby associating cards  18   a ,  18   b ,  18   c , and  18   d  with miniature  4 . Similarly, the color of base  8  of miniature  6  matches the color of card holder  14 , thereby associating cards  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c , and  16   d  with miniature  6 . Furthermore, cardholder  12  and cardholder  14  are of distinctly different colors to distinguish them and the miniatures being associated. The game also includes instructions  20 , map  2  ruled with grid  22 , 20-sided die  24 , card decks  26  and  28 , and card hands  27  and  29 . Deck  26 , card hand  27 , cards  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c , and  16   d , and miniature  6  all belong to and are played by player  1 , while Deck  28 , card hand  29 , cards  18   a ,  18   b ,  18   c , and  18   d , and miniature  8  belong to and are played by player  2 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows the details of cards  16   a  and  18   a.    
         [0016]      FIG. 3  shows the details of cards  16   b ,  16   c , and  31  and cards  18   b ,  18   c , and  18   d.    
         [0017]     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, game components are assigned number ranges. These number ranges are a numerical interval, a set of integer values that is a subset of the possible values that can be rolled with a particular die. The die is rolled each round and compared against the number ranges for multiple components simultaneously. If the die roll falls within the range specified by any particular game component, the state of that game component is altered according to the rules of the game. Since the probability that the roll of the die falls within the number range of a particular game component is proportional to the size of the number range, the likelihood that a game component will have its state altered can be greatly influenced by adjusting the numerical interval to be large or small in comparison to the range of possible die values. For example, on a 20 sided die, each value represents a 5% chance per round that a game component will have its state altered. If the numerical interval on a game component is 11-20, that means that there is a 50% chance each round that the game component will have its state altered. Over the course of several rounds, the chance of the game component having its state altered is:  
         [0018]     (100%—chance per round){circumflex over ( )}number of rounds  
         [0019]     The size of the die alters the resolution available to the game designer for tailoring how long an effect lasts. A 100-sided die, or its equivalent, gives a large resolution to work with, as can be seen in  FIG. 4 , which lists the chance of a game component having its state altered as a function of the round (listed down the left) and the numerical interval size assigned to the game component (listed along the top). Values in boldface type fall within the interval of 77-83%, which we can arbitrarily define as the border of “pretty good odds” that a game component will not have its state altered in the corresponding round. Therefore, we can see from  FIG. 4  that a 1% interval (i.e., 50-50) would result in pretty good odds that the game component would not experience a state change until after the 26th round of the game, quite a long time. Using a 2% interval (i.e., 30-31) would result in pretty good odds that the game component would not experience a state change until after the 12th round of the game, quite a while but less than half the time of the 1% interval. With a 7% interval (i.e., 93-99), would result in pretty good odds of no state change lasting until after just the 3rd round of the game.  
         [0020]     Although the invention described herein may be used in conjunction with a wide range of games, a game called FANTASY WARS will be used to provide an example of how the invention is used.  
         [0021]     FANTASY WARS is a fantasy game using collectable miniatures  4  and  6  and collectable cards  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d  and  18   b ,  18   c , and  18   d . The miniatures and cards are called collectable because they are collected by a player from a larger set of all miniatures and cards available for the game.  
         [0022]     Each miniature  4  and  6  are also called creature  4  and creature  6 , respectively, because each represents a creature in the game. The battlefield for the creatures is represented by map  2 , which is ruled with a grid  22 . In this example, the game makes use of the invention described in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/435,424. Base  10  of miniature  4  associates it with cards  18   a ,  18   b ,  18   c , and  18   d , since they are resting on card holder  12  and card holder  12  has the same color as base  10 . Similarly, base  8  of miniature  6  associate it with cards  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c , and  16   d , since they are resting on card holder  14  and base  14  has the same color as base  8 . The creature represented by miniature  4  has the numerical statistics: attack statistic  42 , defense statistic  44 , life statistic  46 , and points statistic  48  printed on card  18   a , which is associated with miniature  4  through the same colors of card holder  12  and base  10 . Similarly, the creature represented by miniature  6  has a name  30  and the numerical statistics: attack statistic  32 , defense statistic  34 , life statistic  36 , and points statistic  38  printed on card  16   a , which is associated with miniature  6  through the same colors of card holder  14  and base  8 .  
         [0023]     The object of FANTASY WARS is to have the last surviving creature. A creature is destroyed whenever its life is 0 or less, removing it from the game.  
         [0024]     Before the game starts, each player purchases creatures for his or her team. The points statistic of all the creatures on a players team must add up to less than or equal to 50. In this example, miniature  4  and miniature  6  each have a points statistic of 50 points.  
         [0025]     The game proceeds in rounds. Two things happen during a round: first, one duration check is made; next, players take their turns.  
         [0026]     Duration check:  
         [0027]     One player rolls 20-sided die  24 . If the 20-sided die  24 &#39;s result falls within the numerical range printed on the top right corner of cards in play  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ,  18   b ,  18   c , or  18   d , the players discard the matching cards, ending their effects. The cards in card decks  26  and  28  or card hands  27  and  29  are not included in this process because they are not in play.  
         [0028]     Turns:  
         [0029]     During a turn, a player first draws a card from his or her deck  26  if he or she is playing miniature  6 . After that, the player can give one action to each of his or her creatures, which in this case is only the creature represented by miniature  6 . There are 3 action types: move, attack, and play a card.  
         [0030]     Move:  
         [0031]     When a player gives a creature a move action, he or she can move the miniature representing that creature up to 3 spaces on map  2  (a “space” being a square formed by grid  22 ).  
         [0032]     Attack:  
         [0033]     A player can only give a creature an attack action when it is next to another creature, called the defender. The player rolls 20-sided die  24  and adds the attack statistic for the creature; if the result is greater than or equal to the defense statistic of the defender, the player subtracts the creature&#39;s attack statistic from the life statistic of the target.  
         [0034]     Play a card:  
         [0035]     To play a card with a creature, the player simply follows the instructions on a card from his hand. If the card has a target, the player associates the card with that target. If the card has an instant duration, it is discarded immediately after its effect is applied. Otherwise, the card is ‘in play’ and is discarded when a duration check is made.  
         [0036]     In the example game shown in  FIG. 1 , the creature  6  has the cards  16   b ,  16   c , and  16   d  associated with it. As seen in  FIG. 3 , card  16   b  prevents creature  6  from moving using the move action, while  16   c  tells us that creature  6  will be destroyed, removing it from the game, if the card is discarded because of a duration check, which would occur if the number rolled on 20-sided die  24  during the duration check fell within number range  52 , namely 12-16. Meanwhile, creature  4  has the cards  18   b  and  18   c  associated with it. Card  18   b  prevents additional cards from being played on creature  4 , since it says that it can no longer be a target. We assume that cards  18   c  and  18   d  were played before card  18   b  because of this. Card  18   c  increases creature  4 &#39;s attack statistic, which is listed as  5  on card  18   a  as shown in  FIG. 2 . Therefore, creature  4 &#39;s new attack statistic is 15. Card  31  is in the card hand of player  1 , while card  33  is in the card hand of player  2 . Therefore, cards  31  and  33  are not in play.  
         [0037]     During the next round of the example game shown in  FIG. 1 , assume that the duration check rolled using 20-sided die  24  results in a 4. Looking at the cards in play shown in  FIG. 2 , it is clear that 4 falls within the number ranges of cards  18   b  and  18   c . Therefore, the players discard these two cards immediately, resulting in creature  4 &#39;s attack statistic dropping back to 5. Creature  4  can also be a target again, since card  18   b  has been discarded.  
         [0038]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , it is possible to have multiple cards of the same type using different numerical ranges. For example, card  16   b  has a numerical range  50  of 11-15, while card  17  has a numerical range of 1-5. This prevents all cards of the same type from altering state at the same time and is preferred when multiple game components of the same type are created.  
         [0039]     While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive of the current invention, and that this invention is not restricted to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described since modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.  
         [0040]     For example, although a miniatures game was described, the invention could be applied to a card game, a board game, or any other game in which tracking durations would be useful. Although only one die was used in the preferred embodiment, it is also possible to roll several dice and total their results to obtain a different distribution values, for example a bell curve. Although numerical intervals were used to define the set of numbers that result in a state change, it would be possible simply to list the numbers in the set. For example, card  16   b  has a numerical interval of 11-15. This could likewise be listed as 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Because the odds of each number coming up on a standard die is the same, arbitrary values could be chosen as well, such as 1, 10, 11, 16, 20, so long as the quantity of values remains the same. Similarly, the invention works with other designations as well, such as with symbols or colors instead of numbers. In the case of symbols, for example, each face of the die could have a symbol on it and each game component could list several symbols that result in a state change. Likewise, each face of the die could have a color on it and each game component could show several colors that result in a state change.