Abstract:
A game for forming words of fixed lengths within a fixed time period with a board having thereon a plurality of concentric rings around a common center, a first group of radii which extend from the common center to the outer most concentric ring which divides the concentric rings into quadrants of equal size, and a second group of radii which extend from the common center to the outer most concentric ring which divides each concentric ring of each quadrant into a group of blocks where the number of blocks in each ring of each quadrant are equal. A first distinctive mark is located in the blocks on one side of each radii of the first group of radii, and a second distinctive mark is located in similar positioned blocks of each quadrant where a different number is located in each block of a quadrant and similarly located blocks of each quadrant have similar numbers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to a board game where two to four players simultaneously create their own word having a fixed number of letters where each letter has a designated value or a range of values and the number of letters in the word is determined by a roll of a die that has on at least one of its faces a symbol which has a range of values. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Word games are known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2005/0263961 A1 to Cavallo discloses a board game wherein players construct words of a particular number of letters, which correspond to numbers appearing on the game board. Each player has a colored moving game piece, and starts with 6 letters. Upon making a word of a number of letters shown on the board (shown to the other players), the player is allowed to move the piece diagonally or horizontally to the number on the board. Each of the 4 possible players begins with the game piece at the colored “start” side of the board, and the object is to move the player piece inward, toward the center of the board, to achieve victory. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,994 to O&#39;Connor discloses a game having a pack of cards, each having printed thereon a respective pictogram. The pictogram carries two letters and two blank markers indicating wild letters. The pictogram is repeated four times on the card, one on each side of the rectangular card. The players form words according to the pictogram. The apparatus also includes a number spinner, for indicating the number of letters in the words the players have to form. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,106 to White discloses a word-forming game having a playing board printed thereon a track divided into a plurality of playing squares, on each of which there is printed a number or letter. A token is moved along the track in response to the roll of one or more dice. The character appearing in the square onto which the token is moved indicates either the starting letter of a word to be formed by the player or the number of letters in such a word. In the former case, the number of letters in the word can be determined by the existing indication of the dice, by a second roll of the dice or by a number printed on the top card of a deck of cards having numbers. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,439 to Krouse discloses a card game in which two decks of cards are assigned to two opposing teams. Each card has a letter of the alphabet printed thereon. The cards are applied to a game board which has boxes outlined in a rectangular pattern so that words can be spelled out lengthwise and crosswise of the board. A numbered spinner is used to indicate the number of letters in words which the opposing teams must spell out on the game board by using their own lettered cards. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a game for forming words of fixed lengths within a fixed time period with a board, which may be in hard copy format or in electronic format, having thereon a plurality of concentric rings around a common center, a first group of radii which extend from the common center to the outer most concentric ring divides the concentric rings into quadrants of equal size, and a second group of radii which extend from the common center to the outer most concentric ring divides each concentric ring of each quadrant into a group of blocks where the number of blocks in each ring of each quadrant are equal. A first distinctive mark such as a red circle is located in the blocks along one side of each radii of the first group of radii, and a second distinctive mark such as a black circle is located in similar positioned blocks of each quadrant where a different number is located in each block of a quadrant and similarly located blocks of each quadrant have similar numbers. A die that is rolled by a player has six faces where five of the faces have dots which mark the number of letters that are to be in the word formed by each player during that round and one of the faces has a symbol which allows the roller to select the number of letters that are to be in the word that is to be formed. The game has three decks of cards, a playing deck and two separate information decks. The playing deck has lettered cards which are used by players to form words where each lettered card has a designated numerical value or range of values which is used to determine the value of the word formed by a player. The second deck has instruction cards which are selected by the player that lands on the block with the first distinctive mark where the instructions on the cards of the second deck are beneficial to the player. The third deck of instruction cards are selected by the player that lands on the block with the second distinctive mark wherein the instructions on the cards of the third deck may or may not be beneficial to the player. 
         [0009]    The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow. 
         [0010]    Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
         [0011]    As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0012]    The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals. 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of a game board that has a bull&#39;s eye configuration which is divided into four quadrants of different colors where each quadrant has nine concentric rings and each ring is divided into ten blocks to provide a total of 90 separate blocks in each quadrant which are numbered from 1 to 90; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of a digital aural timer which marks the time that the players have to form a word having a fixed number of letters; 
           [0016]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are perspective views of different faces of the same die where at least one face of the die has a symbol which has a range of values; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of the instructions on the face of each of the sixteen cards of the black deck of cards; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of the instructions on the face of each of the sixteen cards of the red deck of cards; 
           [0019]      FIGS. 6A ,  6 B and  6 C shows three charts of the letter distribution of the deck of playing cards where 97 cards of 136 cards in the deck are different.  FIG. 6A  is for letters A through G;  FIG. 6B  is for letters H through Q; and  FIG. 6C  is for the letters R through Z plus blank cards and Bull&#39;s eye cards; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is provided to explain how scoring is done for two different four letter words during a game. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is disclosed a plan view of the game board that has a bull&#39;s eye configuration of concentric circles. The board  10  is divided into four quadrants  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  of different colors such as purple, orange, blue and yellow. Each quadrant has nine concentric rings  20  which are bisected by radii to have ten individual blocks  22  in each ring of each quadrant. Thus, each quadrant has nine concentric rings where each ring has ten individual blocks which totals ninety individual blocks in each quadrant. The individual blocks of each quadrant are numbered from one to ninety. Located at the center of the board and surrounded by the innermost ring is a bull&#39;s eye  24 . 
         [0022]    Except for color, the layouts of the four quadrants are identical. Referring to quadrant  12  at the top of the board, the outermost or first ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from one to ten in a counterclockwise direction where the number ten is located in a red circle. 
         [0023]    The second ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from eleven to twenty in a counterclockwise direction where the number twenty is located in a red circle and the number twelve is located in a black circle. 
         [0024]    The third ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from twenty one to thirty in a counterclockwise direction where the number thirty is located in a red circle and the number twenty three is located in a black circle. It is understood that these targets can be positioned anywhere on the board. In this particular embodiment they happen to be at these described numbers. 
         [0025]    The fourth ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from thirty one to forty in a counterclockwise direction where the number forty is located in a red circle and the number thirty four is located in a black circle. 
         [0026]    The fifth ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from forty one to fifty in a counterclockwise direction where the number fifty is located in a red circle and the number forty five is located in a black circle. 
         [0027]    The sixth ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from fifty one to sixty in a counterclockwise direction where the number sixty is located in a red circle and the number fifty six is located in a black circle. 
         [0028]    The seventh ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from sixth one to seventy in a counterclockwise direction where the number seventy is located in a red circle and the number sixty seven is located in a black circle. 
         [0029]    The eighth ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from seventy one to eighty in a counterclockwise direction where the number eighty is located in a red circle and the number seventy eight is located in a black circle. 
         [0030]    The ninth ring includes ten blocks which are numbered consecutively from eighty one to ninety in a counterclockwise direction where the number ninety is located in a green circle. 
         [0031]    Located between the block ninety and the red bull&#39;s eye  24  at the very center of the board is a dart-shaped symbol  26  matching the player&#39;s quadrant color with the number one hundred located in a circle. 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a front elevational view of a timer which marks the time that each player has to form a word with a fixed number of letters. A typical timer that can be used to mark the time that the players have to form a word can be a digital type of timer shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , there are shown perspective views of different faces of the same die where at least one face of the die has a symbol such as a bull&#39;s eye which denotes range of values. Referring now to  FIG. 3A , there is shown three different faces of the same die which have colored recesses that represent, on two of the faces, the numbers two and three, and on one of the three faces the symbol of a bull&#39;s eye. The die  30  shown in  FIG. 3B  shows three of the six faces that have colored recesses that represent the numbers four, five and six. The numbers on the die determine the number of letters that are to be in the word that is to be formed by the players in a particular round. In this embodiment the face of the die that normally has one recess has the symbol of a bull&#39;s eye which has a variable numerical value of one to six where the actual numerical value on the bull&#39;s eye symbol is determined by the person who rolled the die. For example, if the bull&#39;s eye faces upward after a roll, the player who made the roll has the authority to select any number of letters between one and six that are to be in the word that is to be formed during that round. Alternately, the die can have a different symbol on a second face of the die where the different symbol can have a numerical value that is equal to or different than the numerical value of the bull&#39;s eye. 
         [0034]    The board game is played with three separate decks of cards which are designated as the black deck, the red deck and the playing deck. 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a plan view of the faces of the sixteen cards  31 - 46  of the black deck with their specific instructions. Referring to the cards in their order of occurrence, each card has the following instructions.
       Card  31  shows the instruction “All players but you move back five points right now. No additional card picking as a result”;   Card  32  shows the instruction “Move the leader on the board back seven points right now. (Leaders in the event of a tie.) No additional card picking as a result”;   Card  33  shows the instruction “Return to your previous score. (Where you were before you landed here.) Turn Ends!”   Card  34  shows the instruction “Lose your turn in the next round”;   Card  35  shows the instruction “Pick an extra letter card in the next round. (You will have eight cards instead of seven.)”;   Card  36  shows the instruction “Move to the next highest red Bull&#39;s eye! Turn ends”;   Card  37  shows the instruction “Swap scores with the player to your left”;   Card  38  shows the instruction “Lose your turn in the next round”;   Card  39  shows the instruction “Roll the die now and deduct that number from your score. (Bull&#39;s eye=6) Turn Ends”;   Card  40  shows the instruction “Advance your score by the total points of the word you made in this round”;   Card  41  shows the instruction “Add ten points to your score”;   Card  42  shows the instruction “Swap scores with the player to your right”;   Card  43  shows the instruction “Move to the closest red Bull&#39;s eye—forward or backward! (In case you&#39;re on space  45 , move forward) Turn Ends”;   Card  44  shows the instruction “All other players each roll the die now and deduct the rolled number from their scores (Bull&#39;s-eye=6) No additional card picking as a result”;   Card  45  shows the instruction “IMMUNITY (Use at any one time in the game to offset any penalty. Return to the pile after using)”;   Card  46  shows the instruction “Make one word, of any length, in the next round! (Disregard the die)”;       
 
         [0052]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a plan view of the faces of the sixteen cards  47 - 62  of the red deck with their specific instructions. 
         [0053]    Referring to the cards in their order of occurrence, each card has the following instructions.
       Card  47  shows the instruction “All players but you move back five points right now. No additional card—picking as a result of this move”;   Card  48  shows the instruction “Make any number of words, of any lengths, in the next round! You may be able to use all of your cards! (Discard the die)”;   Card  49  shows the instruction “Add seven points to your score”;   Card  50  shows the instruction “All players but you move back five points right now. No additional card-picking as a result of this move”;   Card  51  shows the instruction “Advance your score by the total points of the word you made in this round”;   Card  52  shows the instruction “Make any number of words, of any lengths, in the next round! You may be able to use all of your cards! (Disregard the die)”;   Card  53  shows the instruction “Add five points to your score”;   Card  54  shows the instruction “Move to the next highest red Bull&#39;s-eye! (Move to 90 if you&#39;re currently on 80). Turn ends”;   Card  55  shows the instruction “Make one word of any length in the next round! (Disregard the die)”;   Card  56  shows the instruction “IMMUNITY! (Use at any one time in the game to offset any penalty. Return to the pile after using)”;   Card  57  shows the instruction “IMMUNITY! (Use at any one time in the game to offset any penalty. Return to the pile after using)”;   Card  58  shows the instruction “Add six points to your score”;   Card  59  shows the instruction “Roll the die now and add that number to your score! (Bull&#39;s-eye=1-6, it&#39;s your choice)”;   Card  60  shows the instruction “In the next round you can make any one of your seven cards WILD! (It can be any letter but the card value remains the same)”;   Card  61  shows the instruction “Play a bonus round by yourself. You roll the die. Seven cards and one minute only. The Immunity card cannot be used to join in this round. (Previous playing order resumes afterward)”;   Card  62  shows the instruction “Move to the next highest red Bull&#39;s-eye! (Move to 90 if you&#39;re currently on 80) Turn Ends”;       
 
         [0070]    Referring to  FIGS. 6A ,  6 B and  6 C, there is shown three charts of the letter distribution of the deck of playing cards where 97 cards of the 136 cards in the deck are different.  FIG. 6A  is for letters A through G;  FIG. 6B  is for letters H through Q; and  FIG. 6C  is for the letters R through Z plus blank cards and Bull&#39;s eye cards. 
         [0071]      FIG. 6A  has three columns where the first column identifies the letter card, the second column identifies the value which is assigned to that card, and the third column shows how many cards have that letter and the indicated value are in the deck. For example, in the first row, there are two letter A cards with a value of zero in the playing deck. In another example, in the eighth row, there is one letter A card with a value that can be zero, one, two, or three in the playing deck. Similar to FIG. A, the columns of  FIGS. 6B and 6C  each have three columns where the first column identifies the letter card, the second column identifies the value which is assigned to that card, and the third column shows how many cards with that letter and that value are in the deck.  FIG. 6B  is the letter distribution for the letter cards H through Q; and  FIG. 6C  is the letter distribution for the letter cards R through Z plus the blank and Bull&#39;s eye cards. 
         [0072]    With the word board game disclosed, words are created from letters cards with specific and/or variable values, where a player is trying to create a total word score that will advance his/her playing token by either the greatest, or a predetermined amount. This can be achieved by either creating a high-scoring word or by strategically forming a word that will advance his/her playing token to land on predetermined target values—some that have a guaranteed reward, and some that risk a chance of a reward or penalty. The die of  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B is used to determine how many letters are to be in a created word. The die has a symbol such as a Bull&#39;s eye on at least one face that allows the player who rolls the die to select any number of letters between one and six that are to be in the word that is to be formed when the symbol is face up after a roll. 
         [0073]    The word game is played with three decks of cards, a playing deck of cards that has one hundred thirty six cards of which ninety seven cards are not duplicate cards. It is understood that the game is not limited to a playing deck of 136 cards where 97 are not duplicate, but any number of cards may be used. A second deck of sixteen red cards which are reward cards; and a third deck of sixteen black cards which are reward and penalty cards. Unlike other word games where the players try to create words from letters consecutively, not simultaneously, all players in this game create their word at the same time. There is no waiting for one player to finish before the next player can play. 
         [0074]    At the beginning, each player chooses a colored playing token which matches his/her quadrant and places it in the start circle in his/her quadrant of the board. The players choose a person to shuffle the cards. The shuffler shuffles the red deck and the black deck of cards and places them in the two designated spaces on the board outside of the colored playing quadrants. 
         [0075]    The shuffler now shuffles the playing cards, the deck of one hundred thirty six cards, and roughly arranges them into stacks equal to the number of players. For example, when there are four players the cards are arranged into four stacks. The stacks do not have to be exactly even. If needed later on, cards can be shared among stacks to make another round possible. The shuffler gives a stack of playing cards to each player. 
         [0076]    Each player deals himself/herself seven cards off the top of his/her stack and leaves the cards face down in front of himself/herself and off of the board. If desired, a player may hold the cards provided there is no peeking. The cards should be arranged so that the logos are all right side up. This way the letters of the alphabet on the cards will be right side up when the player starts to play. 
         [0077]    The game now begins. A player such as, for example, the youngest player is chosen to go first and rolls the die. The rolled number represents the number of letters in the word that each player will be trying to form from his/her seven cards for that round. For example, if a “4” is rolled, each player must make a 4-letter word during that round. Each player can make only one word each round (with the rare exception that if a player picks a red or black card that says otherwise). If a Bull&#39;s eye symbol is rolled on the die, the roller, without looking at his/her cards, gets to choose the length of the word for that round—from one to six letters. The players can decide ahead of time what words will be considered acceptable. 
         [0078]    A designated player starts a one minute timer and all players turn their cards over and try to make an acceptable word with the proper length. 
         [0079]    Note that there are red and black targets on the board where a red target is indicated by a red circle in a block and a black target is indicated by a black circle is a block. When a player lands on one of the target blocks, the player must pick a red or black card and follow its instructions. The instructions on the cards of the red deck are always beneficial and a player should aim for these. The cards of the black deck may or may not be beneficial and a player takes his/her chances. As a player makes his/her word, he/she should keep these targets in mind. Making good use of targets is a key to doing well in this game. It is not always the best move to make the highest scoring word in any one hand. A player may prefer to choose a lesser score in order to hit a target. 
         [0080]    When the one minute timer sounds aurally the play ends and scoring begins for that round. Scoring begins with the player who rolled the die. The player declares his/her score and moves his/her playing token accordingly. Scoring moves clockwise, one player at a time, until each player has had a chance to score. Note that some cards have no value, some have a fixed value, and some have a variable value—these are the most valuable because a player can get to choose their value from a range of values. When scoring, no word equals no points. An invalid word does not incur a penalty—except that a player can&#39;t play in the possible extension round explained below. 
         [0081]    When scoring, assume that a “4” has been rolled and one player makes the word “LOVE” and another player makes the word “WELL”. Referring to  FIG. 7 , “LOVE” is worth 8 points because L is worth 1 point, O is worth zero points, V is worth 5 points and E is worth 2 points. Looking now at the word “WELL”, this word can be worth either 6, 7 or 8 points. This is so because “E” can be worth either “0”, “1” or “2” points. 
         [0082]    There are two special cards in the playing deck. One is a blank. It can be any letter that the player wants, but it has no value. The other special card is the card with the symbol of a Bull&#39;s eye. This card can be any letter and it has a variable value from “0” to “6” points. 
         [0083]    During a players scoring turn, events may be triggered by landing on a target. Some secondary events may even be triggered for other players during a players scoring turn. For example, a black card that is picked by a player may cause an opponent to move and land on a target. Unless the card says otherwise, the player&#39;s opponent would then pick a card during the player&#39;s scoring turn. 
         [0084]    If no acceptable words are created during a round, those players who didn&#39;t make a word draw two additional cards facedown and play an extension round. The timekeeper starts the timer for one more minute and players try once again to make an acceptable word with their nine cards (original 7 plus 2 new). A scoring round follows if a word or words are made. If no acceptable word is made the round ends, there is no scoring and play proceeds clockwise. 
         [0085]    Once every player has had a chance to score, that round ends. All letter cards from that round are placed in a discard pile (face-up near the dealer) and each player draws seven new cards. Play moves clockwise for the next roll of the die and a new round begins. All cards are reshuffled when there are not enough new cards to begin a new round. 
         [0086]    The first player to reach 100 is the winner. To be eligible to try for the winning target ( 100 ) a player must first hit the 90-point target exactly. Once on 90 a player becomes eligible for a special carry-over privilege. This privilege allows a player to carry any or all letter cards used in an acceptable word that didn&#39;t equal 10 points, thus winning the game, into the following round if so desired. He/She would still begin the following round with a total of 7 cards, but may gain an advantage of having some known letters of known values. If a player should make a word that scores more than 90, he/she doesn&#39;t move from his/her current score. Once a player reaches 90 an opponent may manage to move that player backward off  90 . In this event the player must once again get back to exactly 90 before trying to win the game. 
         [0087]    In the event of a tie, the tied players play rounds against each other until one player makes a higher-valued word than the other. 
         [0088]    Another embodiment of the game is where the die is removed from play and is passed each round to indicate whose turn it is to score first. The normal rules apply except a player can make any number of words of any lengths from his/her cards. 
         [0089]    In another embodiment, eliminate the black targets and keep; the red targets just the way they are, or leave a fixed reward for landing on a red target, i.e., advance token  5  spaces. 
         [0090]    In another embodiment, eliminate the black targets and make players hit all the red targets on the board before advancing beyond any of them. The red target spacing would not have to be every ten spaces as it is now—they can be spaced any desired distance apart. 
         [0091]    In another embodiment, eliminate the black targets. From the deck of playing cards overturn any fixed number of cards, or a number of cards generated by a die or similar method of generation. From these cards all players would have the opportunity to create a word or words of their choice and then advancer their tokens based on the word they each chose to make. In this way no player could claim that he/she was dealt bad cards. This method of using one set of cards for players to work from at the same time could be employed in the initial version of the game. 
         [0092]    While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.