GAME DEVICE

Abstract: A game device comprises a transparent housing 1 having a plurality of partition plates 11 which are spaced apart to divide the interior of the housing into a plurality of compartments 12, each partition plate having a through-hole 112 therein to intercommunicate two adjacent compartments, first game pieces each of which is freely movable and confined in each compartment, each game piece 2 being capable of blocking the through-holes of the partition plates by which the first game piece is confined, and a plurality of second game pieces 3 freely movable under gravity from one of the compartments to the other through the through-holes, wherein, during playing, the housing is held by hand and moved, tilted or shock so as to move selectively a desired number of the second game pieces from at least one of the compartments to adjacent through-holes and then fall down into one of the lower compartments, the movement of the housing being controlled to prevent the first game piece from blocking the through-holes while causing the second game pieces to fall down.

Description: This invention relates to a game device and particularly to a game device having a transparent housing which is divided into a plurality of compartments by partition panels each having a through-hole to intercommunicate two adjacent compartments and which has a plurality of first game pieces movable from one of the compartments to the other through the through-holes and second game pieces capable of blocking the through-holes. Game devices that cannot only serve as entertainment but can also develop logical thinking and observation have existed in various forms. Examples of them are puzzles, mazes, etc. There is one particular maze which includes an enclosed transparent flat box with partitions forming a maze and beads to be moved, by shaking the box, in the maze until they reach a target. The present invention is more or less based on the principle of this kind of game. US-A-3211457 describes a game device comprising a transparent housing having a plurality of partition plates which are spaced to divide the interior of the housing into a plurality of compartments, each of said partition plates having a through-hole therein to intercommunicate two adjacent compartments, and a plurality of game pieces freely movable from one compartment to another through the through-holes. The present invention provides a game device wherein some of game pieces are provided to be moved selectively to a target and some of game pieces are provided to interrupt moving paths. According to the present invention a game device comprises a game device comprising a transparent housing having a plurality of partition plates which are spaced apart to divide the interior of the housing into a plurality of compartments, each of said partition plates having a through-hole therein to intercommunicate two adjacent said compartments, and a plurality of first game pieces freely movable under gravity from one of said compartments to the others through said through-holes, characterised in that the same device further comprises a plurality of second game pieces one of which is freely movable and confined in each of said compartments, each of said second game pieces being capable of locking said through-holes of said partition plates by which each of said second game pieces is confined. During playing, the housing is held by hand and moved, tilted or shaken so as to selectively move a desired number of first game pieces from at least one of the compartments to adjacent through-holes and to let them fall down into one of the other lower compartments. The movement of the housing must be carefully controlled to prevent the second game piece from blocking the through-holes while letting the first game pieces fall down. The exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention can be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1, 2 and 3 show elevation views of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 shows an elevation view of another embodiment; and Figure 5 shows an elevation view of still another embodiment. Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, a preferred embodiment of puzzle game device is shown, including a transparent elongated closed box 1 in which are mounted three partition panels 11 which are spaced one above the other to divide the interior of box 1 into five compartments 12 in a single row. Each partition panel 11 is provided with a through-hole 112 to communicate two adjacent compartments. The through-hole 112 in each panel 11 is staggered with the through-hole of the other panels. In each compartment 12 is provided a single game ball 2 whose diameter is greater than that of the through-hole 112 of each partition panel and a plurality of game balls 3 whose diameter is smaller than that of the through-hole 112 of each partition panel. All the balls 3 can pass through the through-holes of the partition panels which confines them. The balls 2 and 3 can be divided into a plurality of groups; in this embodiment, they are divided into 4 groups, each having 5 balls 3 and a ball 2. Each group can be arranged to be of the same color. At the beginning of playing operation, all balls 3 are put into one of the compartments 12, preferably in the topmost compartment 12, by shaking the box to let the game balls 3 of each compartment 12 to fall into one of the lower compartments one after the other through the through-holes 112 of the plates 11. The game can be played in two modes: one is to put an equal quantity of game balls 3 left in each compartment by controlling the quantity of the balls 3 passing through the through-holes 112; and the other is to selectively move the balls to the through-hole 112 and let them fall down so that balls of identical color are left in each compartment 12. The housing 1 of the puzzle game device can be constructed in various three dimensional configurations Figure 4 shows a game device whose housing is elongated and includes two rows of compartments 12 which are adjacent to each other. Figure 5 shows another puzzle game device whose housing has a substantially H-shape and includes two rows of compartments 12. The rows are spaced apart from one another and intercommunicated by a transverse row of compartments 12.

Claims: 1. A game device comprising a transparent housing (1) having a plurality of partition plates (11) which are spaced apart to divide the interior of the housing into a plurality of compartments (12), each of said partition plates having a through-hole (112) therein to intercommunicate two adjacent said compartments, and a plurality of first game pieces (3) freely movable under gravity from one of said compartments (12) to the others through said through-holes, characterised in that the same device further comprises a plurality of second game pieces (2) one of which is freely movable and confined in each of said compartments (12), each of said second game pieces (2) being capable of blocking said through-holes (112) of said partition plates (11) by which each of said second game pieces is confined. 2. A game device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said housing (1) is narrow and elongated, and all of said compartments (12) are arranged in a single row and adjacent side by side to each other. 3. A game device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said housing (1) is elongated and said compartments (12) are arranged in two rows and are adjacent to each other. 4. A game device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said housing (1) is substantially in an H-shape, and said compartments (12) are arranged in a configuration having two spaced apart rows and a transverse row interconnecting said spaced apart rows. 5. A game device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said first game pieces (3) are divided into groups, each of said groups having said first game pieces of identical color. 6. A game device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said through-hole (112) of each of said partition plates (11) is staggered with said through-holes (112) of the other partition plates (11).

Inventors: HWANG, SHENG-LEE
Applicants: HWANG, SHENG-LEE
Application year: 1988
Main classification: A63F7
IPC codes: A63F7