Abstract:
The present invention is a system and method of playing word games wherein any letter of the alphabet can be switched to another by simple 180-degrees rotation. This unique feature fundamentally changes the usual manner by which word games are played. The resultant increase in available choices enhances user experience by providing more chances for beginners and more challenges for advanced players. In the embodiment described herein, elements of word games and solitaire are combined to provide a product that has both entertainment and educational values.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/544,240 filed on Nov. 1, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The invention disclosed herein generally relates to a game. More particularly, the invention relates to a word card game. 
         [0005]    A wide variety of games have been invented and introduced to the public over time, including those that involve forming or finding words. One challenge regarding word games is that while they can be too difficult and frustrating for children or beginners, the same can be too simple and boring for adults or advanced players. This suboptimal result is attributable, at least in part, to the inherent limitation of letter choices available to players at any given point during the game. Such word games typically have rules that disallow capitalized words but, ironically, use the majuscule or uppercase letters of the alphabet as their components. 
         [0006]    Solitaire is a ubiquitous pastime played for centuries with actual cards as a tabletop game and, in recent decades, also with virtual cards as an electronic game. While games are expected to have entertainment value, they ideally can also have an educational impact. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The system and method of playing word games described herein utilize specially designed characters, each of which represents not only one minuscule but also, when rotated 180-degrees, a second minuscule. Thus, only 13 characters are needed to represent all 26 minuscule or lowercase letters of the alphabet. This unique feature, whereby any letter can be instantly switched to another just by rotating the card, provides more choices for players. This invention enhances user experience by optimizing the chances for beginners and the challenges for advanced players. 
         [0008]    In the embodiment described herein, elements of word games and solitaire are combined to provide a product that has both entertainment and educational values. The games can be played with actual or virtual cards in tabletop or electronic formats, respectively. The objective is to use up all the provided cards to form words. Challenge or achievement levels are determined by the number of words formed, with the highest score being attained by forming the lowest possible number of words with all of the given cards. In the current application, the ultimate goal is to use all of the 50 cards to form 10 words. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  shows the cards with the 13 specially designed characters that represent the complete set of 26 minuscule or lower case letters of the alphabet. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  shows the distribution of cards in the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows the algorithm applied in the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows a typical initial setup of cards in the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  shows a typical play on a card in the initial setup of the solitaire word game embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  shows a typical subsequent play on the cards in the solitaire word game embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  shows a typical subsequent setup of cards in the solitaire word game embodiment following the play shown in  FIG. 6 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  shows a typical subsequent play on the cards in the solitaire word game embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    The system and method of playing word games described herein utilize 13 specially designed characters that collectively represent all the 26 minuscule or lowercase letters of the English alphabet as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0018]    The central unique feature of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 1 , wherein the letter “a”  101  can be instantly switched to the letter “e”  105 , and vice versa, by a simple 180-degrees rotation of the card. In the same manner, the letter “b”  102  can be switched to the letter “q”  117 , the letter “c”  103  can be switched to the letter “o”  115 , the letter “d”  104  can be switched to the letter “p”  116 , the letter “f”  106  can be switched to the letter “t”  120 , the letter “g”  107  can be switched to the letter “k”  111 , the letter “h”  108  can be switched to the letter “y”  125 , the letter “i”  109  can be switched to the letter “l”  112 , the letter “j”  110  can be switched to the letter “r”  118 , the letter “m”  113  can be switched to the letter “w”  123 , the letter “n”  114  can be switched to the letter “u”  121 , the letter “s”  119  can be switched to the letter “v”  122 , and the letter “x”  124  can be switched to the letter “z”  126 . 
         [0019]    Mathematically, the aforementioned versatility of each card provides the player more choices when attempting to find or form words by significantly magnifying the permutation involved in arranging such cards. In an ordinary word card game, for example, a hand of 5 cards, each of which represents only one letter, can maximally be arranged in 5×4×3×2×1=120 ways. In the novel system and method of playing word card games described herein, a hand of 5 cards, each of which represents either one of two letters, can maximally be arranged in 10×8×6×4×2=3,840 ways. 
         [0020]    The distribution of 50 cards in the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention is based in part on the relative frequency of the letters as they appear in databases of English words and is shown in  FIG. 2  as follows: “a” or “e”—10 cards, “i” or “l”—6 cards, “o” or “c”—6 cards, “u” or “n”—5 cards, “t” or “f”—5 cards, “d” or “p”—4 cards, “h” or “y”—3 cards, “s” or “v”—3 cards, “m” or “w”—2 cards, “g” or “k”—2 cards, “j” or “r”—2 cards, “q” or “b”—1 card, “z” or “x”—1 card. 
         [0021]    Among the 50 cards in the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention, the vowel letters “a”  101 , “e”  105 , “i”  109 , “o”  115 , “u”  121 , and “y”  125  are depicted in 30 cards. The consonant letters “b”  102 , “c”  103 , “d”  104 , “f”  106 , “g”  107 , “h”  108 , “j”  110 , “k”  111 , “l”  112 , “m”  113 , “n”  114 , “p”  116 , “q”  117 , “r”  118 , “s”  119 , “t”  120 , “v”  122 , “w”  123 , “x”  124 , “y”  125 , and “z”  126  are depicted in 40 cards. Of note, the letter “y”  125  can be used in a word as either a vowel or a consonant. 
         [0022]    It is thus highly remarkable that while 30 out of 50 (60%) cards in the present invention can be used as vowels  134 , 40 out of 50 (80%) of the same set of cards can be used as consonants  135 . This distinctive effect on the probability of any card being available as a vowel and/or a consonant, in addition to the previously mentioned enhanced permutation involved in arranging cards, fundamentally changes the usual manner by which word games are played. 
         [0023]      FIG. 3  shows the algorithm applied to the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention. To start a new game  127 , the 50 cards shown in  FIG. 2  are randomly distributed into an array of 5 columns, each of which is comprised of 10 overlapping cards as shown in  FIG. 4 . As illustrated in this typical initial setup, all the cards are placed face down, except for the ones at the bottom of each column. Only the cards that face up, at the bottom of each column, are available for play. 
         [0024]    The player must form a valid word using at least two of the cards available for play  128 . To accomplish this step, one or more letters may have to be switched to another. The player can make such a switch by manually rotating the actual card in the tabletop version, or by tapping or clicking the virtual card in the electronic version of the games. As an example, the letter “m”  113  in  FIG. 4  is switched to the letter “w”  123  in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0025]    A word can be formed by manually assembling the actual cards in the tabletop version or by dragging and dropping the virtual cards into designated slots in the electronic version of the games. As an example, the letters “w”  123 , “d”  104 , “r”  118 , and “o”  115  in  FIG. 5  can be rearranged and assembled in the proper sequence to form “w-o-r-d” as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0026]    The word is determined to be valid if it is comprised of two or more letters, if it is listed in a dictionary or similar reference that exists in either printed or electronic form, and if it is not disqualified due to restrictions as follows. Abbreviations and words that require an apostrophe, hyphen or capitalization are not allowed  128 . 
         [0027]    All the cards used to form a valid word are removed from the array and set aside. The cards that are consequently uncovered by this step are then turned over to make them face up and, therefore, available for play  129  as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0028]    The player must form a valid word again using at least two of the cards available for play as shown in  FIG. 8 . In this example, the card with the letter “v”  122  in  FIG. 7  is rotated to switch it to the letter “s”  119  in  FIG. 8 . The letters “l”  112 , “s”  119 , “y”  125 , “p”  116 , and “a”  101  are then rearranged and assembled in the proper sequence to form “p-l-a-y-s” as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0029]    The cycle as described and as illustrated in  FIG. 3  continues until the player can no longer form a valid word, in which case the game ends  130 . 
         [0030]    If all the 50 cards are used up in forming words at the end of the game  131 , the player wins  133 . Otherwise, the player loses  132 . 
         [0031]    When the player wins, the challenge or achievement level  133  is determined based on its inverse relationship with the number of words formed. In the solitaire word game embodiment described herein, the ultimate goal is to use all the 50 cards to form 10 words. 
         [0032]    In the tabletop version of the game, the player counts the total number of words formed with 50 cards to determine the attained challenge or achievement level. An example range of levels based on the total number of words formed with 50 cards are as follows: 10 words—Extreme Level, 11 to 12 words—Epic Level, 13 to 14 words—Elite Level, 15 or more words—Easy Level. 
         [0033]    In the electronic version of the game, a scoring system can be employed such that longer words are assigned higher point values. An example range of point values based on the length of formed words are as follows: 5 letter word—25 points, 4 letter word—16 points, 3 letter word—9 points, 2 letter word—4 points. The final score is calculated as the sum of the point values of the words formed with 50 cards. Thus, the perfect or highest attainable score in such a scoring system is 250 points. 
         [0034]    An alternative scoring system for more advanced players entails the assignment of a numerical point value for each letter, based in part on the relative frequency of their appearance in databases of English words, as in the following example: “a”—1 point, “b”—5 points, “c”—3 points, “d”—2 points, “e”—1 point, “f”—3 points, “g”—4 points, “h”—2 points, “i”—1 point, “j”—8 points, “k”—5 points, “l”—2 points, “m”—3 points, “n”—1 point, “o”—1 point, “p”—3 points, “q”—10 points, “r”—2 points, “s”—1 point, “t”—1 point, “u”—3 points, “v”—5 points, “w”—4 points, “x”—8 points, “y”—4 points, and “z”—10 points. Thus, “w-o-r-d” in  FIGS. 6, 7, 8  is worth 9 points and “p-l-a-y-s” in  FIG. 8  is worth 11 points. The final score is calculated as the sum of the point values of all the letters used in forming words with 50 cards. 
         [0035]    Comparative analysis of the present vis-à-vis the past achievement scores of the same player and/or other players can enhance the heuristic experience and promote the educational and entertainment values of the solitaire word game embodiment of the present invention.