Abstract:
A deck of cards for use in a multi purpose card game. The deck of cards generally comprise a plurality of playing cards for displaying visual indicia, the deck of cards adapted to be dealt facedown or faceup among a plurality of players; and a plurality of predetermined visual indicia on said plurality of playing cards. About forty-eight of the playing cards visual indicia comprises a combination of an object, a number and a color and at least one of the playing cards visual indicia is a specified pre-identified card with a combination of an object and lettering.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    NONE 
       FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of card games. More specifically, the present invention relates to a deck of cards and system for a multi-purpose card game. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Playing cards are used as a form of entertainment. In addition to providing entertainment, playing cards have been used as an educational tool. Many playing card games in the prior art teach children the alphabet, numbers, colors and even matching of elements with identical elements on the cards. While there are many fun “matching” type card games, there exists a need for a deck of cards and system of play that can be used to play a variety of card games that can be played for entertainment while concurrently teaching and reinforcing comparison of numbers, objects and colors. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    It is the object of the present invention to provide a single deck of cards that can be used to play a variety of card games that teach and reinforce the comparison of numbers, objects and colors. In one embodiment, the present invention is a deck of cards for use in a multi purpose card game. The deck of cards generally comprise a plurality of playing cards for displaying visual indicia, the deck of cards adapted to be dealt facedown or faceup among a plurality of players; and a plurality of predetermined visual indicia on said plurality of playing cards. About forty-eight of the playing cards visual indicia comprises a combination of an object, a number and a color and at least one of the playing cards visual indicia is a specified pre-identified card with a combination of an object and lettering. 
         [0005]    In another embodiment, the present invention is a system for playing a plurality of card games with the same deck of cards, the deck of cards as described above wherein the plurality of card games are “Go Fish”, “Memory”, “Old Maid” and “War.” 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is an example of a card from the deck disclosed herein displaying an object, a number and a color. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is an example of a card from the deck disclosed herein displaying an object and lettering that is the selected pre-identified card. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]    Forty-eight of the playing cards&#39; visual indicia of objects comprise animals, as is shown in the form of a Monkey in  FIG. 1 . Additionally, these forty-eight cards have visual indicia of a number. Finally, these forty-eight cards have a visual indicia of a color. In the preferred embodiment, as at least twelve different animals are used, resulting in at least twelve sets of four cards have matching visual indicia of animals (i.e. there are four cards with a “Monkey” on it in the deck). In the example, the color is the gray shading but in the preferred embodiment, at least four different colors are used resulting in at least four matching groupings of twelve cards. In the preferred embodiment, as at least twelve different numbers are used, resulting in at least twelve sets of four cards have matching visual indicia of numbers (i.e. there are four cards with a “1” on it in the deck). One way to use the deck in a card game is to collect the most sets of four cards having matching visual indicia of animals using rules from the game “Go Fish” as described below. Another way to use the deck in a card game is to collect the most sets of four cards having matching visual indicia of numbers using rules from the game “Go Fish” as described below. 
         [0009]    For example, a dealer is chosen. The dealer will remove the card indicated as “Old Maid” then shuffle the deck thoroughly and deal six cards, facedown, to each of the plurality of players. Then, the dealer will place the rest of the deck facedown, creating a single draw pile within easy reach of all players. Players can look at and arrange the cards in their hand but must not show them to other players. 
         [0010]    The player to the left of the dealer begins the game and asks any other player for a specific card. The asking player must be holding at least one of the requested card already. (Example: “Kendra, do you have a nine?”) By asking others for specific cards, players collect sets of four cards with the same number and animal. (Card color does not matter). If the player who was asked does have one or more of the requested card, they must give all of those cards to the asking player. The asking player then gets another turn and can either continue asking players for the same card or ask for a different card. If the player who was asked does not have the requested card, they say, “Safari.” The asking player then draws a single card from the top of the draw pile. If they happen to draw the requested card, they get another turn. If the drawn card is not the requested card, the turn passes to the player on their left. 
         [0011]    As soon as a player collects a set of four matching cards, they must place those cards faceup in front of them. (These sets of faceup cards cannot be taken by other players.) If at any point during the game a player is without cards, they must immediately take a single card from the top of the draw pile and, if it is their turn, ask other players for that specific card. If there are no cards left in the draw pile, they can no longer ask other players for cards. The game ends when all sets of cards have been matched. The player with the most sets of four matching cards wins. 
         [0012]    The animal visual indicia may also be broken down into twenty-four sets of two cards have matching visual indicia of animals. (i.e. while there are four cards with a “Monkey” on it in the deck, that makes two sets of two cards with a “Monkey” on it in the deck). One way to use the deck in a card game is to collect the most sets of two cards having matching visual indicia of animals using rules from the game “Memory”. 
         [0013]    For example, the dealer will remove the card indicated as “Old Maid” deck is shuffled the deck thoroughly and spread all the cards out, facedown, until they fill the playing area such that no cards touch or overlap. (The spread cards can be in any shape, but rectangles and squares tend to make memorizing easier than circles or random scatters.) 
         [0014]    Anyone can go first, but customarily the youngest player starts. The player turns over two cards. If the cards are a matching pair, the player removes them from the playing area and places the cards facedown in a pile in front of them. (Younger children may find it easier to match by animal rather than number.) A player&#39;s turn continues until the two turned-over cards do not match. In this case, the two cards are turned back over (in the same spots), and the turn passes to the next player on the left. Play continues until all cards are removed, and the player who has the most matching pairs at the end of the game wins. 
         [0015]    The number visual indicia may also be broken down into twenty-four sets of two cards have matching visual indicia of numbers. (i.e. while there are four cards with a “1” on it in the deck, that makes two sets of two cards with a “1” on it in the deck). One way to use the deck in a card game is to collect the most sets of two cards having matching visual indicia of animals using rules from the game “Memory” as described above. A variation on the game may be played wherein twenty four sets of two cards have matching visual indicia of both colors and numbers (i.e. the matches must be the correct number and color). 
         [0016]    Forty-eight of the playing cards&#39; visual indicia of objects comprise numbers, as is shown in the form of a number “1” in  FIG. 1 . Twelve sets of four cards have matching visual indicia of numbers (i.e. there are four cards with a “1” on it in the deck). One of the playing card&#39;s visual indicia is an object and lettering as shown in  FIG. 2 . In the preferred embodiment, the lettering indicates the term “Old Maid.” One way to use the deck in a card game is to collect matching sets of two cards having matching visual indicia of numbers using rules from the game “Old Maid.” 
         [0017]    For example, a dealer is chosen. The dealer shuffles the deck thoroughly and deals all cards, facedown, as equally as possible between all players until cards are gone. (It does not matter if players do not have the same number of cards.) Players can look at and arrange the cards in their hands but must not show them to other players. 
         [0018]    Players remove all pairs (two 2s, two 3s, etc.) from their hands and place them facedown in front of them. (If a player has three of a kind, they still only remove a pair. Card color does not matter in Old Maid.) Starting with the dealer, and continuing in turn, players offer their cards to the player to the left, being careful not to show the faces of their cards. The player being offered cards then draws one card from the offering, and if this card makes a pair for that player, they may place it facedown in front of them. (These facedown cards cannot be taken by other players.) Play then passes to the next player on the left. Play continues until all cards have been paired. By the end of the game, only the Old Maid will be left, and the player holding this card loses. All other players win. Alternatively, the player left holding the Old Maid card wins. 
         [0019]    Forty-eight of the playing cards&#39; visual indicia of objects comprise numbers, as is shown in the form of a number “1” in  FIG. 1 . Twelve sets of four cards have matching visual indicia of numbers (i.e. there are four cards with a “1” on it in the deck). One of the playing card&#39;s visual indicia is an object and lettering as shown in  FIG. 2 . In the preferred embodiment, the lettering indicates the term “Old Maid.” One way to use the deck in a card game is to collect all the cards using rules from the game of “War.” 
         [0020]    For example, a dealer is chosen. The dealer will remove the Old Maid card and shuffle the deck thoroughly and deal all cards, facedown, as equally as possible between all players until cards are gone. Players do not look at their cards. All players turn over the top card of their piles at the same time. The player with the highest numbered card wins the battle, captures all opponents&#39; played cards, and adds these captured cards, facedown, to the bottom of their pile. Play continues in this way. 
         [0021]    If the revealed cards are the same number, it is war. Both players place two additional cards from their piles, faceup, in front of them. The numbers on these two cards are then added together, and the player with the highest total captures all of the faceup cards. (Example: Player one has a 6 and 12, which equal 18 when added together; player two has a 2 and 5, which equal 7 when added together. Player one wins with 18 because it is the higher number.) If these new faceup cards equal the same amount, war ensues again. The game ends when one player has captured all of the cards. For more challenging games, the numbered cards may be used in subtraction, multiplication, or division to determine which player wins the hand. 
         [0022]    For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference has been made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language has been used to describe these embodiments. However, this specific language intends no limitation of the scope of the invention, and the invention should be construed to encompass all embodiments that would normally occur to one of ordinary skill in the art. The particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative examples of the invention and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the invention in any way. For the sake of brevity, conventional aspects of the method (and components of the individual operating components of the method) may not be described in detail. Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectors shown in the various figures presented are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical or logical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships, physical connections or logical connections might be present in a practical device. Moreover, no item or component is essential to the practice of the invention unless the element is specifically described as “essential” or “critical”. Numerous modifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.