Patent Publication Number: US-2010109243-A1

Title: Three-dimensional game

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/109,755, filed Oct. 30, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, including but not limited to those portions that specifically appear hereinafter, the incorporation by reference being made with the following exception: In the event that any portion of the above-referenced application is inconsistent with this application, this application supercedes said above-referenced application. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. The Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates generally to a games, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to games played in three-dimensions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from a consideration of the subsequent detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  depicts a three-dimensional game according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a “stack” of the three-dimensional game depicted in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a “face” of the three-dimensional game depicted in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a “slice” of the three-dimensional game depicted in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 11  illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure claimed. 
     It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In describing and claiming the present disclosure, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set out below. As used herein, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” “characterized by,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. 
     Applicant has discovered a three-dimensional game as will now be described. Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is depicted a game layout for providing a three-dimensional Sudoku game. The game layout comprises nine two-dimensional Sudoku puzzles, labeled A-I, laid out individually. Also shown is a three dimensional representation of the Sudoku puzzles, A-I, in a stacked configuration. The stacked configuration of the Sudoku puzzles, A-I, assists a player in conceptualizing the three-dimensional nature of the game played with the Sudoku puzzles, A-I. 
     Each of the Sudoku puzzles, A-I, may be a traditional Sudoku puzzle and may comprise nine rows, nine columns, and nine quadrants. As with traditional Sudoku, the objective the game is to fill all the blank squares of each puzzle, A-I, with the correct entries. The entries may include any symbol, including letters, numbers, or a combination of both. As in traditional Sudoku, there are three simple constraints to follow, assuming that the entries are numbers. First, every row of a puzzle, A-I, must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Second, every column of a puzzle, A-I, must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Third, every three by three quadrant of a puzzle, A-I, must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. In addition, a player also has to solve the Sudoku puzzles, A-I, in a vertical direction as well. 
     In order to facilitate the understanding of the reader, the following terminology will be used. As observed in  FIG. 2 , the term “layer” or “stack” refers to each of the Sudoku puzzles, A-I. As observed in  FIG. 3 , the term “face” refers to a vertical cross-section of the stack of Sudoku puzzles, A-I, that faces a player. Each face is disposed behind one another like file folders from front to back. As observed in  FIG. 4 , the term “slice” refers to a vertical cross-section of the stack of Sudoku puzzles, A-I, that is orthogonal to the face cross sections. That is, each slice of the Sudoku puzzles, A-I, is disposed beside one another like books on a shelf from left to right. 
     To build a “face” puzzle, one simply puts the rows from each layer one under the other to thereby create a grid as observed in  FIG. 5 . To build a “slice” puzzle, one simply transposes the columns from each layer into a row and places them one under the other to thereby create a grid as observed in  FIG. 6 . As seen in  FIG. 7 , each layer, face and slice comprises nine quadrants that also must contain exactly once the numbers 1-9. Thus, it will be appreciated that the present disclosure may comprise nine Sudoku puzzles stacked one on top of another. There are nine layers (each being a regular Sudoku puzzle), nine faces (each being a regular Sudoku puzzle), and nine slices (each being a regular Sudoku puzzle). Further, each layer, face, and slice comprises nine quadrants. 
     To solve the stacked arrangement of Sudoku puzzles as shown and described in relation to  FIGS. 1-7 , each layer must be solved as a “traditional” Sudoku puzzle. In addition, the resulting nine slices and nine faces must also be solved as a “traditional” Sudoku puzzle. For example, as observed in  FIG. 8 , if a “1” is placed into the first square of the “A” layer, a “1” could not be placed anywhere in the same row, column, or quadrant of the “A” layer. Also, as seen in  FIG. 9 , for each layer, A-I, a “1” could not be placed anywhere in any of the highlight squares. As seen in  FIG. 10 , a “1” also could not be placed anywhere in the same row, column, or quadrant of the corresponding “face” Sudoku puzzle or the corresponding “slice” Sudoku puzzle. These same concepts are followed to find correct solutions for each of the entries in the layers, slices and faces. It will be noted that the present disclosure may be implemented in a computing environment on an electronic device. Further,  FIGS. 1-10  may be implemented on a game board. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 11 , there is depicted an embodiment of a three-dimensional version of Sudoku. This particular version builds off of the stacked Sudoku puzzles, A-I, described above. In particular, a plurality of “cubes,” each comprising a plurality of stacked Sudoku puzzles, are arranged such that the cubes overlap at their corners as shown in  FIG. 11 . The square in the overlapping regions will contain the same entry in both of the overlapping cubes. 
     It will be appreciated that a three-dimensional version of the popular Sudoku game is disclosed which may include a game board having a plurality of two-dimensional matrices disposed thereon. Each of the two-dimensional matrices may have a plurality of positions for entering solutions. The game board may further specify an ordered layering for the plurality of the two-dimensional matrices such that the plurality of two-dimensional matrices may be conceptualized as a three-dimensional structure. Correct solutions for the positions of the two-dimensional matrices must be satisfied in three-dimensions in accordance with the three-dimensional structure. 
     In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features of the present disclosure are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description of the Disclosure by this reference, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present disclosure. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present disclosure has been shown in the drawings and described above with particularity and detail, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.