Apparatus for board game

A board game apparatus includes a pair of dice, each of the dice having a first, second and third indicia marked on the faces thereof. A board is divided into a plurality of object spaces, each of the object spaces having indicia marked thereon corresponding to the indicia marked on the faces of the dice. The ratio between the number of object spaces of each indicia on the board is the same as the ratio of the number of faces of each die having the same indicia. The game apparatus also includes a plurality of marker pieces, the marker pieces being adapted for selective placement on the board so as to surround each object space.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a novel game and apparatus for playing the game, 
and more particularly relates to apparatus for playing a board game in 
which the players selectively place pieces on the board so as to encircle 
certain portions of the board to earn points associated with those 
portions of the board. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a game and apparatus 
for playing the game that is both novel and interesting. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for 
playing a board game that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture and that 
can be used and enjoyed by persons of all ages. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the principles and objects of the present invention a 
board game and apparatus for playing the game is provided including in 
combination a board and a pair of dice. Each of the dice have a first, 
second and third indicia marked on the faces thereof. The board is divided 
into a plurality of object spaces, each of the object spaces having 
indicia marked thereon corresponding to the indicia marked on the faces of 
the dice. The ratio between the number of object spaces of each indicia on 
the board is the same as the ratio of the number of faces of each die 
having the same indicia. The game apparatus also includes a plurality of 
marker pieces, the marker pieces being adapted for selective placement on 
the board so as to surround each object space on the board. 
In a further embodiment of the invention, a plurality of point indicating 
pieces are provided, the point indicating pieces being adapted for 
selective placement on the object spaces of the board at the beginning of 
the game and being removed selectively therefrom by players as they 
surround the object spaces of the board in accordance with the rules of 
the game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The Equipment: 
Referring now to FIG. 1, a square board 10 suitable for playing the game of 
the present invention is divided into thirty-six (36) equal area square 
object spaces arranged in a six (6) by six (6) array on the board. Each of 
the squares is spaced from the adjacent squares by a distance smaller than 
the width of the squares to provide playing locations. The squares which 
lie on the outer perimeter of the board are spaced from the edge of the 
board by the same distance as the spacing between the adjacent squares 
thereby providing additional playing locations. The squares are divided 
into three groups, the squares of each group being marked with an indicia 
to identify the squares with their group. In the preferred embodiment, the 
marking is by color such that the squares 12a of the first group are 
colored blue, the squares 12b of the second group are colored red and the 
squares 12c of the third group are colored white. Out of the thirty-six 
(36) squares on the board, six (6) are colored blue, twelve (12) are 
colored red and eighteen (18) are colored white. 
The game apparatus includes a pair of identical dice. One of the dice is 
pictured in FIG. 2. The die 14 has a first face 14a thereof colored blue, 
a second and third face 14b and 14c respectively colored red and a fourth, 
fifth and sixth face 14d, 14e and 14f respectively colored white. This can 
best be seen in the development of the die 14 onto a flat surface shown in 
FIG. 3. The second die, not pictured, is identical to the die 14. The 
faces of the die 14 are colored in the same ratio as the coloring of the 
squares on the board 10, the ratio of blue to red to white squares being 
1:2:3. 
The remaining equipment, which comprises the preferred embodiment of the 
game apparatus of the present invention, includes a plurality of 
rectangular marker pieces 16, one of which is shown in FIG. 4, having a 
width equal to or slightly larger than the spacing between adjacent 
squares on the board and a length approximately equal to the length of the 
squares on the board. The number of marker pieces required is equal to the 
number of spaces between adjacent squares plus the number of spaces on the 
outer perimeter of the board adjacent the squares arranged around the edge 
of the board. In the case of the board pictured in FIG. 1 having 
thirty-six (36) squares in a six (6) by six (6) array, a total of 
eighty-four (84) marker pieces are needed. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a point indicator piece 18 which is similar to a poker 
chip and has a numeral thereon indicating a point value. The point 
indicator pieces 18 are colored to correspond to the coloring of the 
squares on the board so that there are a total of thirty-six (36) point 
indicator pieces, six (6) blue, twelve (12) red and eighteen (18) white. 
Object of the Game: 
The object of the game is to score points by "capturing" the object spaces 
on the board. The spaces are captured by surrounding the space with the 
rectangular marker pieces. The player who places the final marker piece 
necessary to surround the space "captures" that space and is awarded the 
points associated with that space. Markers are placed on the board in 
accordance with the rules of the game as set forth below. 
The winner of the game may be declared as the player having the most points 
after all the marker pieces have been placed on the board or alternatively 
it may be the player who first scores a number of points sufficient to 
make it impossible for any other player to capture enough remaining spaces 
to obtain a higher point total. 
The Play: 
The following description applies to the game when played by two players 
and it will be appreciated that the rules will vary if more players are to 
play. To start the game each player throws the dice to determine which 
player will make the first play of the game. The player throwing the 
highest combination on the dice makes the first play. The combinations are 
arranged in priority in accordance with the odds of throwing the 
combination. The highest ranking combination is a blue-blue, the second 
highest is red-red followed by blue-red, blue-white, white-white, and 
white-red. When the starting player has been determined, he makes the 
first play and the play progresses clockwise thereafter. 
The first player, identified as player A for purposes of this description, 
throws the dice and observes the color combination which he has thrown. 
Player A can then place a marker on the board in any playing location that 
lies between squares matching the color combination thrown. For example, 
if a blue-white is thrown with the dice, a marker can be placed on the 
board between any two adjacent white and blue squares. After player A has 
placed his marker, the second player, player B, throws the dice and places 
a marker on the board in accordance with the color combination that he has 
thrown. In order for a player to place a marker on any of the playing 
locations lying on the outer perimeter of the board the player must throw 
a double color combination, for example, a red-red, blue-blue or 
white-white corresponding to the adjacent square. If a color combination 
is thrown for which no corresponding space is available on the board the 
player may place a marker piece on any available space of his choosing. 
Whenever any player throws a double blue, or double red combination, that 
player earns another turn subject to the limitation described below. Play 
progresses from player to player until a marker piece placed along side a 
square completes the capture of a square, that is, until marker pieces 
have been placed upon all four sides of the square. The player placing the 
final marker that surrounds the square captures that square and earns a 
certain number of points corresponding to that square. For example, in the 
preferred embodiment of the game, the white squares are worth five points, 
there being more white squares than any other color, the red squares are 
worth 10 points and the blue squares are worth 25 points, there being 
fewer blue squares on the board than any other color. 
When a player captures a square, besides earning the points for that 
corresponding square, the player also earns another turn. However, only 
one extra turn is given for any one play. Therefore, even if the square 
was captured by throwing a double color combination, which would 
ordinarily have already earned the player an extra turn, only one extra 
turn is given rather than two extra turns. The same is true for the 
situation in which a player captures two squares by the placement of a 
single marker piece, only one extra turn is awarded. 
Play ends when all the squares on the board are surrounded or captured or 
when the point total of any one player exceeds the possible point total of 
any of the other players including all of the uncaptured squares remaining 
on the board. If desired, points may be accumulated over a series of 
several games to determine an over-all winner. 
In the simplest form of the game, the players can keep track of the squares 
captured by each player by marking that fact on a score pad or sheet of 
paper. In the preferred embodiment of the game, the point value chips are 
placed on the squares prior to the beginning of the game and as each 
square is captured, the player capturing the square removes the chip from 
the square and places it in a pile before him. Then at the end of the game 
the point values of the chips gathered by each player can be easily 
totaled to determine the winner of the game. In a variation of the game, 
the point value markers, rather than being placed on their corresponding 
squares, for example, the red markers on the red squares, the white 
markers on the white squares and the blue markers on the blue squares, can 
be distributed randomly on the board thereby changing the strategy of the 
game since it may not always be true that the colored squares that are 
fewest in number have the highest point value since in this variation a 
blue 25-point chip could be placed on a white square. 
While a preferred set of rules to play the game in accordance with the 
present invention and a preferred embodiment of the equipment to play the 
game according to those rules has been described and illustrated it will 
be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and others that several 
modifications can be made to the equipment while remaining within the 
scope of the present invention. The critical features of the invention are 
that the number of differently marked squares on the board have the same 
proportion to one another as the marked faces on the dice. In the 
illustrated embodiment, the ratio of blue squares to red squares to white 
squares is 1:2:3 which is the identical ratio that the blue face of each 
die has to the red faces of the die and to the white faces of the die, 
that is, 1:2:3. 
Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the placement of the various 
squares on the board is arranged so that the eighty-four (84) possible 
playing locations in which a marker can be placed are arranged 
substantially in correspondence to the probability of throwing the color 
combination that allows the player to place a marker in that playing 
location out of eighty-four (84) possible throws (84 being the total 
number of playing locations available on the board) that is,: 
M.sub.i =P.sub.i .times.M where 
i=1,2, . . . N; N=total number of color combinations available 
M=total number of playing locations 
M.sub.i =number of playing locations corresponding to a particular color 
combination 
P.sub.i =probability of throwing a particular color combination 
For example, the probability of throwing a blue-blue combination on the 
dice is one out of thirty-six (1/36). Given a total number of eighty-four 
(84) throws, the probable number of blue-blue combinations which would 
show up mathematically comes out to be two and one-third 
(1/36.times.84=21/3). The squares are arranged so that the actual number 
of blue-blue spaces on the playing board is two. As another example, the 
mathematical probability of throwing a blue-red or red-red combination is 
one out of nine (1/9) and the probable number of times a blue-red or 
red-red combination will come up out of eighty-four (84) throws is nine 
and one-third (1/9.times.84=91/3). The squares are arranged on the board 
so that the actual number of blue-red spaces is eight (8) and the actual 
number of red-red spaces is ten (10). The same relationship is true of the 
white-blue, white-white and white-red spaces on the board. Since the 
probable numbers are not always integers, that is, there are fractional 
amounts, it is necessary to make some adjustments in the numbers of actual 
spaces of any color on the board since fractional spaces are not possible. 
However, an attempt is made to match as closely as possible the probable 
and actual numbers of spaces by arranging the squares as illustrated. It 
has been found that the actual number of playing locations corresponding 
to a particular color combination can always be made to be equal to the 
probable number of playing locations as described above plus or minus two, 
that is, 
EQU M.sub.i =(P.sub.i .times.M).+-.2 
It would be possible to arrange the squares in other than the arrangement 
illustrated in FIG. 1 and still maintain the approximate correlation 
between actual and probable playing locations out of eighty-four (84) as 
described above. However, in order to make the game more appealing to the 
eye the squares on the illustrated board have been arranged to achieve 
point symmetry about the center of the gameboard. 
While the illustrated game board has thirty-six (36) squares arranged in a 
six (6) by six (6) array, it would be possible to use any number of 
squares so long as the ratios between the differently marked squares and 
the marked faces on the dice was maintained. Further, although in the 
preferred embodiment the object spaces are marked by the colors red, white 
and blue, it is possible to use any desired means of marking the spaces 
such as other colors or legends relating to geographic locations or 
historical events, etc. While in the illustrated board the object spaces 
are spaced from one another, the game could be played on a board having 
the spaces directly adjacent one another with no intervening gaps, much 
like a checkerboard. The playing locations would then be the lines formed 
by the adjoining sides of the object spaces.