Abstract:
A trading game and a method to play a trading game is provided. The game comprises of a game board that is adjustable according to the number of players participating the game and a deck of trading cards for each player. According to one embodiment the cards are of five different types and some card types can move on the game board according to the specific features described on the cards. The moveable cards can participate in battles against the cards of other players on the game board and the result of the battle is based on the features the battling cards.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to board games, and more particularly to trading games.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     There are several board games that include trading features. In such games players usually pursue wealth and the players are able to move tokens on the game board. On the other hand there are several games that consist of cards with specific features that the players can trade. Known are also trading games that solely consist of cards with imaginary features fighting against another. However, there is so far no game that would allow the trading cards to move on a game board and fight on the board.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The game according to the current disclosure is a trading game that combines a game board and trading cards. The trading cards have various features and certain cards can be moved on the game board based on the specification given in these cards and other cards that the player is playing.  
         [0004]     An object of the current invention accordingly is to provide a game that combines trading cards and a game board.  
         [0005]     Another object of the current invention is to provide a game, where the players combine a strategic board game with trading cards.  
         [0006]     An even further object of the present invention is to provide a game, where the player may amend the features of the cards he is playing with another cards he has in the play.  
         [0007]     An even further object of the invention is to provide a board game combined with collectible cards. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a Battle Field with nine Battle Squares.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates a Player&#39;s Filed with two Battle Squares, one Creature Square, one Commander square and two Structure Squares.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates the game board with one battle field and four player fields.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates a set of three battle fields each adjacent to two player&#39;s field.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates the layout of a Creature Card  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  illustrates the layout of a Structure Card.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates the layout of a Spell Card.  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  illustrates the layout of a Resource Mine Card  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  illustrates the layout of an Artifact Card. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     According to the present invention the game comprises a game board  1 . The game board further comprises at least one Battle Field  2 . The Battle Field consists of at least nine Battle Squares  3 . The game board further comprises at least two Player&#39;s Fields  4 . A Player&#39;s Field consists of six squares as follows: two Battle Squares  3 , two Structure Squares  5 , one Creature Square  6  and one Commander Square  7 . The number of Player&#39;s Fields can be increased based on how many players participate the game.  FIG. 1  specifically shows the Battle Field  2  with nine Battle Squares  3 .  FIG. 2  specifically shows a Player&#39;s Field  4  with six squares. One preferred embodiment of the game board is shown in  FIG. 3  where the Battle Field  2  is surrounded by four Player&#39;s Fields  4 .  FIG. 4  shows another preferred embodiment where three Battle Fields  2  are arranged in line and each Battle Field  2  is adjacent to two Player&#39;s Fields  4 . With this configuration two teams each having three players can play against each other.  
         [0018]     In the beginning of the game each of the players has a pre-made card deck. Each deck has at least 30 cards and may generally not have more than two copies of the same card in it. Exceptionally a player may have as many Resource Mine Cards of the same type in the deck as she/he wishes. At the beginning of the game the card decks are hold upside down in front of each player outside of the game board. Each player then draws seven cards from his/her deck. At no time a player may have more than seven cards in his/her hand. If a player has more than seven cards in hand at the end of his/her turn, the player must discard the extra cards selected by him/her self into a junkyard pile, which consists of the cards that cannot be played anymore.  
         [0019]     According to one preferred embodiment there are five basic types of cards in the game. Now specifically referring to  FIGS. 5-9  the cards of the game are Creature Cards, Structure Cards, Spell Cards, Resource Mine Cards and Artifact Cards.  
         [0020]     Each one of the cards has special features that are described in the card. Importantly, the Creature Cards can move on the game board horizontally and vertically from a square to another. Creature Cards can move in Battle Squares, Creature Square and Structure Squares. The Creature Cards may not move diagonally. The Creature Cards can only be played on creature and structure squares and they may not move on to a square that is already occupied by another Card. If all the Creature and Structure Squares on the Player&#39;s Fields are occupied the player cannot play any Creature Cards on his turn.  
         [0021]     Now referring to Creature Card shown in  FIG. 5 : in addition to the figure and name of the Creature the card comprises a Speed Definition  7  for the Creature. The Speed Definition defines how the Creature Card can move on the game board. According to one preferred embodiment Speed Definition ‘walking’ means that the Creature Card can move one square at a time. Speed Definition ‘mounted’ means the Creature Card can move two squares at a time and Speed Definition “flying” means the creature can move three squares at a time.  
         [0022]     The Creature Cards also define an Alignment  8  and an Element  9  of the Creature. The Alignment Features affect the playing costs of the creature. The Element Feature affects the damage occurring when the creature is attacked or when it attacks. According to a preferred embodiment the Elements are ‘Fire’, ‘Air’, ‘Water’ and ‘Earth’. Fire and Water are opposite elements to each other and so are Air and Earth. In a battle with a creature of opposite element the damage defined by the attack ability of the attacker is doubled in every successful attack. Similarly, in a battle with a creature having the same element the damage defined by the attack ability of the attacker is halved.  
         [0023]     Before a player can play a Creature Card he/she has to first pay the playing costs of the creature (defined in the card) with resources the player has in form of the Resource Mine Cards. If the player does not have enough resources to pay the playing costs of a card that card may not enter the game board. Each Creature Card also defines the creature&#39;s attack abilities, defense abilities and special abilities assigned to the creature. Each attack ability has a using cost (how much it costs to attack), a damage value it does when the attack is successful, and a range (how far away a creature it can attack). Each defense ability has a using cost, and a chance defense (the chance the creature has to successfully stop an attack).  
         [0024]     The game begins by each player having a Commander in the Commander Square. The Commander is not defined by a card, but it is defined by the Commander Field Square.  
         [0025]     Table 1 shows the features of Commander. In addition to these basic features the Commander may also get certain bonus abilities that can be activated by using element specific resources Table 2 shows the bonus abilities.  
                             TABLE 1                       Commander Card features                                    Health   100           Attach Ability   Sword           Attack Cost   1 gold           Damage   10           Range   1           Defense Ability   Block           Chance Defense   1           Defense Cost   1 gold                      
 
         [0026]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Bonus abilities of Commander Card 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Ruby 
                 Use three rubies to increase Commander&#39;s 
               
               
                   
                   
                 damage by 10 
               
               
                   
                 Sapphire 
                 Use three sapphires to increase 
               
               
                   
                   
                 commander&#39;s range by 1 
               
               
                   
                 Emerald 
                 Use three emeralds to increase 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Commander&#39;s chance defense by 1 
               
               
                   
                 Topaz 
                 Use three topaz to increase the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Commander&#39;s health by 10 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0027]     Artifact Cards are specific kind of cards that can be attached to a Creature Card. An Artifact Card layout is shown in  FIG. 9 . The Artifact Card defines the Attack Abilities  10  and Defense Abilities  11  of the Creature it is attached to. The Artifact Card may also define Special Abilities  12 . Artifact cards may also change the rules of the game while the artifact card is on the field (like some structure cards). The player may use the Attack Abilities only during his or her turn. The player may use Defense Abilities similarly only on the turn of the opponent player when the opponent player attacks the Creature Card with his/her Creature Card. The Attack Ability of a Creature Card may be used as many times as the player chooses as long as the player pays the costs defined in the Card for the Attack Ability to be used. When a Creature Card moves on the game board the Artifact Card attached to it moves along with it. The player is free to choose which artifacts she/he wants to attach to which creature. There are no restrictions unless the card says otherwise.  
         [0028]     Structure Cards are specific kind of cards that can only be played in the Structure Squares of the Payer&#39;s field. According to a preferred embodiment the Structure Cards give bonuses to player&#39;s creatures or change the basic game rules for the time the structure stands. When a structure is destroyed its effect ceases to exist. Structures may requite costs of Gold or other Recourses to be played. Structures can be destroyed by an opponent player by use of Area Effect Damage, which is a specific feature that some Creature Cards or some Spell Cards do have. The structure to be destroyed by Area Effect Damage has to locate adjacent to the card that has the Area Effect Damage.  FIG. 6  shows a basic layout of a Structure Card.  
         [0029]     Spell Cards are specific kind of cards that have specific effects lasting only one turn.  
         [0030]     Once the Spell Card is used it goes into the junkyard pile and cannot be used again. Each Spell Card belongs to a specific element type and either does damage of that element type, or performs an action. In order to use a Spell Card the player has to pay the cost of the spell defined in the card. The cost is to be paid with an amount of resources of the element type the Spell Card belongs to. In order to play a Spell Card the card has to be attached to a source Creature Card. A Spell Card may be played with any creature as the source but the source Creature Card has to be a creature controlled by the player playing the spell. The player of a Creature Card can use the effect shown in the Spell Card against one of the opponents that is on the game board in a Square horizontally or vertically adjacent to the Creature Card of the player. Spell Cards may also target adjacent Artifact and Structure Cards and they do not have to target opponent&#39;s cards only but may also target cards controlled by the player playing the Spell Card.  FIG. 7  shows the basic layout of a Spell Card.  
         [0031]     There are five basic types of Resource Mine Cards, each containing one resource. According to one preferred embodiment the resources are Gold, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Topaz. The Resources are used to pay costs of Creatures (defined in the Creature Card), costs of Structures (defined in Structure Card), Cost of Spells (defined in Spells Card) and cost of artifacts (defined in Artifact card). Each of the resource can be used for specific type of cost. According to one preferred embodiment Gold is used to pay costs not oriented with elements, Ruby for fire element costs, Sapphire for air element costs, Emerald for water element costs, and Topaz for earth element costs.  
         [0032]     The Resource Mine Cards do never enter the game board. The player can use a Resource Mine Card and add the resource described in it to player&#39;s resource pool when the Resource Mine Card is turned face up in front of the player outside of the game board. After using the resources defined in the Resource Mine Card the player has to turn the card face down. Even if the player did not use all the Resource Mine Cards he/she had face up during his turn he/she loose them when the turn is over At the beginning of the next turn the player may turn the used or lost (face down) Resource Mines Face up again.  FIG. 8  shows a basic layout of a Resource Mine Card. If a player has hoarding resources (such an ability may achieved e.g. with some structure cards that allow hording) he/she may store resources for later use.  
         [0033]     When a player begins his/her turn, the player carries out a draw step where he/she may perform three actions of his/her choice. First, if the player used Resource Mine Cards in the previous turn, he/she may turn them face up again. These Resource Mine Cards can be used again during this turn. Second, the player may draw two cards from his/her deck or alternatively the player may shuffle all of the cards from his hand into the deck and take a number of new cards that is one more than the number he shuffled into the deck. Finally, the player may put up to two Resource Mine Cards from his hand face up in front of him/her to be used at any time during the game.  
         [0034]     After the draw step has been carried out, the player begins the main step of the turn where he/she may play Creature Cards, Structure Cards, Artifact Cards or Spell Cards by paying the appropriate costs defined in each card. When paying a cost, the required amount of resources is extracted from the Resource Mines by turning the used Recourse Mine Cards face down. Spell Cards may be played anytime during the game, including the turn of the opponent. Also some Artifact Abilities may also be activated anytime during the game including the turn of the opponent.  
         [0035]     A player may use Attack Abilities of the creatures only on his/her own turn. Player may only use Defense Abilities during opponent&#39;s turn when the creature controlled by the player is attacked by a creature of the opponent. When a creature attacks another creature, a battle between the creatures follows.  
         [0036]     At the beginning of the battle, the attacking player must choose an Attack Ability of the creature attacking and pay the attacking cost of the ability being used. A battle between creatures can happen in any two squares where there are creatures. The distance a creature can attack is defined by the range given in its attack ability; i.e. if the range of the attack ability being used is 1, the creature can use that ability to attack a creature directly adjacent to it (1 square away); if the range of the attack ability is 2, the creature can use its attack ability to attack a creature  2  squares away. If the player does not have resources enough to attack she/he cannot attack. If the player controlling the creature being attacked chooses not to defend, the attacked creature takes damage from that attack. The amount of the damage done when a creature attacks is defined by the damage value given in each attack ability. If the creatures in battle are of the opposite element, this damage value is doubled. If the creatures in battle are of the same element, this damage value is halved. If the creatures in battle are neither of the opposite nor the same element, the damage done in battle is the given value on the attack ability. If the player controlling the creature being attacked chooses to defend, he/she must choose defense ability and pay the defending costs. Again if the player does not have resources to pay the defending costs he/she cannot defend.  
         [0037]     In order to decide if the attack is successful or not the players shall roll a dice. If the attacking player rolls a number larger than or equal to the number the defending player rolls, the attack is successful and the defending creature takes the damage. If the number the attacking player rolls is less than the number of defending players; the attack is unsuccessful and the defending creatures does not take any damage.  
         [0038]     Some Creature Cards and Spell Cards are capable of doing Area Effect Damage. When a payer uses an Area Effect Damage he/she has two choices: either the player may use it to direct damage to all Creature Cards in field squares adjacent to the Creature card having the effect, or the player may target a Structure Card adjacent to the Creature card having the effect and destroy the Structure. If the area effect is an attack ability of the creature and the player chooses to do damage to all adjacent creatures of the opponent player, each of the defending creatures have to defend or take the damage.  
         [0039]     Some Creature Cards have Attack Abilities that are spells. Using such attack ability is equivalent to playing a spell through that Creature Card and the damage caused is considered to be spell damage and may not be blocked by defense.  
         [0040]     Some card effects require the player to flip a coin when used. When such an effect is used during a battle, rolling of dice does not take place. If the attacking Creature is using the coin flip ability, the attacking player flips the coin and calls it. If the flip is called right, the attack is successful. If the defending Creatures use a coin flip effect, the defending player flips a coin and calls it. If the flip is called right the attack is unsuccessful. If the attacking player and defending player both use coin flip effect, then one of the players flips the coin and calls it. If it was the attacking player flips and calls right, the attack is successful while if the defending player flips and calls right the attack is unsuccessful.  
         [0041]     Once a card is destroyed by the opponent the card remains on the field until the turn ends. The destroyed cards on the field thereby limit the moving of the cards that are still alive as a creature card may not enter a square occupied by another creature even if destroyed. All destroyed cards and played Spell Cards go to the junkyard once the turn during which the cards were destroyed or played ends.  
         [0042]     Once the player has drawn his/her cards, and decided what cards he is going to play, what creatures to move on the board, and whether to attack the player may choose to end his/her turn. After the player ends the current turn, the next player performs the draw step, main step and ends his/her turn. This order is repeated by each player until one of the players or teams win the game.  
         [0043]     There are three ways to win the game. A player is declared the winner when he/she has successfully defeated all the opponent&#39;s commanders. According to a preferred embodiment the winner winning in this way will become an Arch-Knight. Another way to win is to gain 20 of each resource (gold, topaz, sapphire, emerald, and topaz). This type of victory designates the victor as a Master Merchant. The final form of victory is becoming an Arch-Mage. To become an Arch-Mage, the player must have no cards remaining neither in his/her hand nor in the deck.  
         [0044]     The description above is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. It is clear to one skilled in the art that the game and the method to play according to this disclosure can be realized in various ways, not limited to traditional board game materials but also applicable for example to be played as a computer or internet game.