Patent Publication Number: US-2011049807-A1

Title: Methods and apparatus for an interactive word game of skill

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to word games. More particularly, the present invention provides methods and apparatus for playing and providing interactive word games of skill. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Numerous word games are commercially available that challenge the knowledge and aptitude of players. More recently, online word games have become popular social networking vehicles that allow competitive play between geographically diverse players. Such games are challenging, enjoyable, and concurrently, have educational value because these games require the player to apply language skills, utilizing and expanding their lexical knowledge. 
     Currently, one of the more common online word building games is SCRABBLE™ which is based upon the board game of the same name. In this game, tiles bearing letters are placed on a board to form overlapping words in a crossword puzzle-type arrangement. The scoring of this game depends partially on arbitrary values given to the letters themselves and partially upon the location at which the tiles are placed on the board. A rule in SCRABBLE™ requires that a player form words from his personal set of randomly drawn tiles and one or more letters already on the board. Thus, luck is a significant factor in this game since a player&#39;s score is affected by the random letters with which he has to work. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,410 describes a word forming game, in which players construct words using randomly distributed letter tiles. Letter tiles contained either in previously formed words or exposed tiles within the tile pool can be used with the randomly distributed letters to create new words. During play it is possible to steal a word previously formed by an opponent. In order to steal a previously formed word, a player must rearrange the letter tiles of the word to be stolen, with the addition of at least one of his randomly distributed letter tiles, such that a new word is created. Upon formation of a new word, a player places the letter tiles forming the word in front of his or her position. The scoring of this game is based upon the number of letter tiles that have been formed into words, which a player has in front of himself, in addition to bonus points, if any, as indicated on the letter tiles. As with SCRABBLE™, this game can depend largely upon a player&#39;s luck. 
     What is needed therefore is a competitive word game of skill that is not prone to depend largely on luck. This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In certain embodiments of the invention, a game is provided that includes a plurality of playing pieces arranged in fixed locations, the playing pieces each including a plurality of game indicia; a control for selecting game indicia from among the plurality of game indicia on one or more of the playing pieces; and a visual cue for indicating capture of one or more playing pieces. 
     In some embodiments of the invention, an online computer game system is provided that includes a host computer coupled to a network; one or more player devices coupled to the network; and an interface operative to run on the player devices. The interface is operative to present a player with a plurality of virtual multi-sided playing pieces arranged in fixed locations, each virtual multi-sided playing piece including a plurality of game indicia with one game indicia per side of the virtual multi-sided playing pieces, a graphical user interface (GUI) control for selecting a side of the playing pieces, and a visual cue for indicating capture of the playing pieces. 
     In yet other embodiments of the invention, a method of providing a game includes presenting a plurality of playing pieces arranged in fixed locations, the playing pieces each including a plurality of game indicia; receiving at least one selection of game indicia on one or more of the playing pieces; determining if the received selected game indicia collectively match a stored pattern of game indicia; and displaying a visual cue indicating capture of one or more playing pieces if the received selected game indicia collectively match a stored pattern of game indicia. 
     Other features and aspects of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an example system according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an example system software architecture according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 3 to 6  depict an example of a virtual game board illustrating a sequence of player moves according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is an example physical game board according to embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention include turn based multi-player word games for 1, 2, 3, 4 or more players. In some embodiments, game play involves players creating interlocking (i.e., overlapping) words using letters displayed on a vertical or horizontal line of adjacent playing pieces, for example, six-sided cube shapes. In other words, players take turns finding words by rotating the playing pieces and selecting sequences of letters on adjacent pieces. By using a letter in a word, the playing piece upon which the letter appears is captured by the player who formed the word. An objective of the game may be to capture as many playing pieces as possible, including those previously captured by the player&#39;s opponents. Once a playing piece has been captured, the selected letter may not be changed (e.g., the playing piece may not be rotated again). In some embodiments, capturing a piece previously captured by another player may earn more points than the initial capture of a piece. In some embodiments, the game may be played on a board that includes a 12 by 12 grid of playing pieces. Other arrangements (e.g., circular layouts, irregular layouts, rectangular layouts, etc.) and other numbers of playing pieces may be used. 
     More generally, each playing piece may include a game indicia, for example a letter, on each side of the playing piece. Thus, for a word game example embodiment using a 12 by 12 grid of cube-shaped playing pieces, there would be 144 cubes with six sides each, with each side displaying a letter, for a total of 864 letters. In another example, in a pattern sequence game embodiment using dodecahedron-shaped playing pieces arranged in a 5 by 10 grid, there would be 50 dodecahedrons with 12 sides each, with each side displaying a symbol for a total of 600 symbols. In yet another example, in a numeric sequence game embodiment using 50 twenty-sided polyhedron-shaped playing pieces arranged in an irregular pattern, there would be a total of 1000 numbers displayed. 
     In some embodiments, the invention may include a game system that facilitates play of the game. The game system of the present invention may initially randomly select the letters, or other game indicia, for each side of each playing piece. In other embodiments, some letters (or symbols/numbers) may be selected by the system more frequently to make the potential for formation of words (or scoring sequences of game indicia) more likely. Likewise, the relative position of letters (or symbols/numbers) may be selected by the system so as to make the potential for formation of words (or scoring sequences of game indicia) more likely. For example, playing pieces with consonants may be positioned adjacent playing pieces with vowels, and letters that occur more frequently in word, such as “R”, “S”, “T”, “N”, “L” and vowels, may be selected to appear more frequently than other letters. 
     In some embodiments, the game system of the present invention may make the playing pieces visible to and accessible by all players concurrently. In other words, all players can continuously and concurrently rotate the playing pieces to view all the sides of each playing piece in search of words or other scoring sequences of game indicia. In online embodiments, players can manipulate the same playing pieces concurrently without other players seeing what pieces are being manipulated or what words are being sought. In some embodiments, the playing pieces can be rotated by the players using graphical user interface controls such as directional arrow buttons. In other embodiments the playing pieces may be rotated by a dragging motion using a computer mouse. In yet other embodiments, keyboard arrows may be used. In some embodiments, the playing pieces may be set to rotate continuously until a user selects the playing piece to freeze it at a desired position (e.g., displaying a desired letter). Any practicable combination of these embodiments may be used. 
     Turning to  FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of an embodiment of example system  100  of the present invention is provided. The example system  100  may include one or more servers  102 ,  104  coupled together and to the Internet  106  via any practicable communications media (e.g., Ethernet) and operative to function as a web site server and a web services server. Depending on the intended load capacity (e.g., the number of players  108  using the system  100 ), in some embodiments both functions may be provided using a single server and in others, many servers may provide these functions. In some embodiments, the servers  102 ,  104  may include a database stored within one or more of the servers  102 ,  104  and in other embodiments, an additional database server  110  may be employed. In such embodiments as shown in  FIG. 1 , both the web site server  102  and the web services server  104  may further be coupled to the database server  110  so as to allow either server  102 ,  104  direct access to the database. As used herein, the term “host” may refer to the servers  102 ,  104 ,  110  and/or their functions collectively. 
     The system  100  also includes a plurality of player devices  112 - 126  and may also include a plurality of bot devices  128 - 132 . Each of these devices  112 - 132  may access the servers  102 ,  104  via the Internet  106  (e.g., via wireless access points, local area networks, routers, modems, etc. that each couple to the Internet  106 ) or, in some embodiments, the devices  112 - 132  may access the servers  102 ,  104  directly. In some embodiments, the system  100  may operate as a peer-to-peer system and the functions of the servers  102 ,  104 ,  110 , may be provided by the devices  112 - 132  themselves. The player devices  112 - 126  may include many different player platforms including mobile devices such as cell phones  112 , smart phones  126 , handheld computing devices  122 , laptop computers  114 , portable game systems  124 , and the like, as well as personal computers  116 , terminals  118 , and gamming consoles  120  (e.g., Sony® PlayStation®, Microsoft® Xbox®, Nintendo® Wii®, and the like). The bot devices  128 - 132  may also include any number of different platforms but may be most economically implemented using servers or personal computers. 
     In operation, the player devices  112 - 126  provide one or more users  108  with an interface to the system  100  and access to the game of the present invention. Upon accessing a website hosted by the website server  102  via the player devices  112 - 126 , one or more players  108  may be presented with a virtual game board (as will be described below with respect to  FIGS. 3 to 6 ). Play may commence immediately or players  108  may configure a number of different aspects of the game including language, dictionary, game rules, difficulty levels, time limits, and other various features of the game. In some embodiments, players  108  may opt to play against the system  100  instead of against other players  108 . In such embodiments, the bot devices  128 - 132  may be employed to function as players. In some embodiments, bot devices  128 - 132  may serve as players simply to add extra players to a game and/or to replace players who have dropped out of a game. 
     Turning to  FIG. 2 , a schematic diagram of an example embodiment of a system software architecture  200  is provided. The system software architecture  200  includes a game service  202  that, in addition to providing general web services to devices  112 - 132  ( FIG. 1 ), also interacts with game platforms  204  running on devices  112 - 132  ( FIG. 1 ). The game service  202  provides game data to the game platforms  204  in a format that corresponds with the particular game format  206 - 210  running on a given game platform  204 . The game service  202  is also operative to access the database  212  where information about valid words (or scoring patterns) are stored in a plurality of language datasets  214 - 222  or dictionaries. 
     In operation, a game platform  204  specific to a device  112 - 132  ( FIG. 1 ) or, for example, a web browser running on a device  112 - 132  ( FIG. 1 ), presents the players  108  with a virtual game board defined by the game format  206 - 210 . For example, the game format  1   206  may be a twelve by twelve grid of six-sided cubes each with game indicia (e.g., letters) on each side of the cubes. Game format  2   208  may be a six by six grid of four-sided pyramids each with a game indicia (e.g., a number) on each side of the pyramids. Any number of additional game formats  210  may be provided. The game service  202  is operative to provide game data (e.g., suitable game indicia to populate the sides of the playing pieces) based on the particular game format  206 - 210  in use on a given game platform  204 . Further, game service  202  is operative to search the database  212  to determine if a given sequence of selected game indicia received from a game platform  204  is a valid word (or a scoring pattern) so that the game platform  204  may indicate to the player that the selected game indicia have been captured. Game service  202  is also operative to select the initial game data for a given game platform  204  based on various configuration options including player specified parameters such as, for example, a dictionary choice. In other words, the game service  202  can receive a player dictionary choice via a game platform  204  and select game indicia appropriate for and/or adapted to the dictionary choice by using a corresponding language dataset  214  in the database  212  as the basis for the selection. More specifically for example, a particular alphabet may be used for selecting the letters to appear on playing pieces by the game service  202  because that alphabet is the alphabet of the language selected by the player. Further, the frequency with which a particular letter is selected to appear on the playing pieces as determined by the game service  202  may also be based on the language selected by the player. Numerous other aspects of the operation of the game may be based on information stored in the database  212  and retrieved by the game service  202 . 
     Turning to  FIGS. 3 through 6 , an example embodiment of a virtual game board is depicted after each of the first turns of four players. With reference to  FIG. 3 , a virtual game board  300  may include an arrangement of playing pieces  302  with each playing piece  302  including a game indicia (e.g., P, U, L, etc.) on each side of each piece. As indicated above, any number of different shapes of playing pieces, types of game indicia, arrangement of playing pieces, and other variations may be used. The particular example virtual game board  300  depicted in  FIG. 3  includes 144 six-sided playing pieces  302  arranged in a twelve by twelve grid. 
     Players each see the virtual game board  300  and in some embodiments, can all concurrently and immediately begin looking for words among the playing pieces  302 . The players rotate the individual pieces to see if they can form a word with adjacent pieces either horizontally or vertically on the virtual game board  300 . In some embodiments, players may be permitted or may not be permitted to form words diagonally and/or in reverse order. Rotating the playing pieces may be done by selecting the desired piece and then dragging a mouse cursor in the direction of desired rotation. As indicated above, many alternative methods of selecting and rotating playing pieces may be employed and any practicable combination of controls may be provided. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , Player  1 , as indicated by the diagonal hatching, has captured five playing pieces by spelling the word “GREEN”. Once Player  1  indicates that he is satisfied with his word (e.g., by clicking a “play” button) the system  100  may check the validity of the word by performing a database  212  look-up to determine if the word exists in the selected language dataset  214  (e.g., a TWL dictionary, a SOWPODS dictionary, a French language dictionary, a children&#39;s dictionary, etc.). If the word is valid, the player&#39;s turn ends and he may be awarded points. Otherwise, the player&#39;s turn continues and he continues to look for a valid word. In some embodiments, the turns may be limited by time and if a player has not found a valid word within the time limit, his turn may end without being awarded any points. 
     In some embodiments, the player may be awarded a number of points based upon the length of the word formed, the particular letters used, the time it took to find the word, the position of the word on the virtual game board, the number of letters that were part of another player&#39;s previously formed word (not applicable in this instance), etc. In some embodiments, one or more playing pieces may be identified as being required to be used in the first word formed by the first player. For example, the rules may require that the first player must use one of the four center playing pieces in the first word formed. 
     In some embodiments, each open or “uncaptured” playing piece that is captured by a player for the first time may result in a fixed point award (e.g., six points). If a player captures an opponent&#39;s playing pieces while making a word, then for each playing piece captured, the player may receive a larger fixed point award (e.g., 12 points). In some embodiments, if a player creates words using more that a fixed number of playing pieces (e.g., more than six playing pieces), bonus points may be awarded. In some embodiments, many bonus points (e.g., 25 points) may be awarded for capturing more than a fixed number (e.g., more than six) of an opponent&#39;s playing pieces. Note that bonus points may be awarded for simply extending a previously formed word. For example, a five letter word formed by Player  1  may be extended to a bonus length word (and captured) by Player  2  if Player  2  merely appends an “S” to Player  1 &#39;s word. In some embodiments, the points awarded to a player who goes first may be increased (e.g., doubled) to compensate for going first and thus, not having an opportunity to capture an opponent&#39;s playing pieces. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , and the virtual game board  400  depicted after Player  2 &#39;s turn, as indicated by the dotted hatching, Player  2  has found the word “BEANS”. In some embodiments, players may be required to form words that overlap playing pieces previously captured by other players. In some embodiments, overlapping may not be required. As depicted in  FIG. 4 , Player  2  has captured five pieces including a playing piece (“E”) that was previously captured by Player  1 . In some embodiments, Player  1  may lose points as a result of his piece being captured. In some embodiments, Player  2  may receive extra or more points for forming a word with a playing piece that was previously captured by Player  1 . Referring to both  FIGS. 3 and 4 , note that Player  2  rotated playing pieces positioned above and below Player  1 &#39;s captured playing pieces but was not permitted to rotate (i.e., change) the playing pieces that Player  1  had captured. 
     However, in some embodiments, players may be permitted to rotate previously captured pieces if the new letter displayed results in a valid word both for the new word and for the previously captured word. For example, if Player  1  spelled “CAT” horizontally and Player  2  finds he can spell “BOY” vertically if he rotates the first piece in Player  1 &#39;s word to change the “C” in “CAT” to a “B”, in some embodiments, this may be permitted since “BAT”, the word formed by Player  2  horizontally as he forms “BOY” vertically, is itself a valid word. In such embodiments, the game may award Player  2  all of the playing pieces that make up the word “BAT” instead of just the “B”, “O” and “Y” pieces. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , Player  3  (as indicated by the diagonal cross hatching) has captured the diagonal cross hatched playing pieces with the five letter word “SONGS”. In doing so, he has recaptured the diagonal cross hatched playing piece with the letter “N” from Player  1 . Note that as a player captures playing pieces the pieces are marked to indicate ownership of the pieces. In some embodiments, colors and/or shading may be used in place of or in addition to hatching marks as a visual cue associated with a player to indicate capture/ownership of a playing piece. In some embodiment, players may be permitted to form words that have previously been formed. In other embodiments, repeated words may not be permitted. 
     Turning to  FIG. 6 , as shown in the virtual game board  600  which reflects game play after Player  4 &#39;s turn, Player  4  (as indicated by the grid cross hatching) has captured the grid cross hatched playing pieces with the four letter word “BOOM”. Note that in doing so, Player  4  has recaptured the “E” from Player  1 , the “B” from Player  2 , and the “O” from Player  3 . Note also that in addition to forming the word “BOOM”, Player  4  has also formed the two letter word “OE”. In some embodiments, pieces used to form words which are adjacent to existing words (i.e., previously captured pieces), as in the depicted example, are required to form words with the previously captured pieces. In other words, if “OE” was not a valid word, Player  4  would not have been permitted to form the word “BOOM”. As with crossword puzzles, words formed in the game of the present invention may be required to be interlocking. Play next proceeds to Player  1 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , an example embodiment of a physical board game  700  according to the present invention is depicted. As with the virtual game boards described above, many possible configurations for a physical board game  700  are possible. In some embodiments, playing pieces  702  are in the form of balls that can be rotated within sockets  704  disposed within a frame  706  of the physical board game  700 . Game indicia  708  (e.g., letters) are displayed on several places on the playing pieces  702  so that only a single game indicia  708  is indicated (e.g., face up) at a time. At the start of the game, the playing pieces  702  may be randomly distributed among the sockets  704 . Players may take turns finding words and capturing pieces  702 . In some embodiments, a marker or visual cue (not shown) may be used to indicate the capture of a playing piece  702 . 
     In some embodiments, the playing pieces  702  may be electronic displays that are touch sensitive and allow players to change game indicia  708  with a finger swipe. Such touch screen displays may be coupled to and under the control of a controller (not shown) within the frame  706  of the physical board game  700 . Such a controller may provide all the game functions described above with respect to the virtual game boards and the system  100  of the present invention. Such an embodiment would be a dedicated game system that could be played without any connections to other devices or networks. In some embodiments, such a dedicated game system may connect to other devices or networks to facilitate online play. 
     The foregoing description discloses only exemplary embodiments of the invention. Modifications of the above disclosed apparatus and methods which fall within the scope of the invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For instance, in another exemplary embodiment, the system of the present invention may be entirely contained in a single mobile device, e.g., an iPhone® by Apple Computer, and play would involve passing the mobile device between players for each turn. 
     Accordingly, while the present invention has been disclosed in connection with exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood that other embodiments may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.