INSTRUCTIONAL BOARD OR ELECTRONIC MEDIA GAME

Abstract

A method and a system for playing a political game include distributing a number of PROPs to the players and establishing a first campaign for votes in voting districts. A general election is held where a country leader is determined by a majority of electoral votes won, a first legislative leader is determined by a majority of voting districts won and a minority of electoral votes won determines a second legislative leader. A judicial court is established. Money is distributed from a central bank. Voting district campaigning is engaged in where one player opposes a second player in a voting district. Legislative bills are submitted to the second legislative leader, the first legislative leader and to the country leader for approval. A subsequent general election is held and a winner of the political game is determined where the winner is the player that achieves a mandate.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present Utility patent application claims priority benefit of the U.S. provisional application for patent Ser. No. 60/930,700 filed May 18, 2007 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) and entitled “Instructional Board or Electronic Media Game”. The contents of this related provisional application are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to games. More particularly, the invention relates to a political board game using cards, video, and/or other electronic media that deals with various divisions of democratic governments and their interplay, for example, without limitation, the United States government.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many political games simulating the democratic government of the United States and other democratic systems have been developed. These political games typically include a game board, dice, game cards and other playing pieces or electronic representations of these items. The game boards or electronic counterparts have different structures and shapes such as, but not limited to, country maps or other maps, checkerboard type structures, or paths to simulate and depict the game play. A plurality of dice or an electronic chance generator may be used for means of chance. Suitable indicia are imprinted on the game board, game cards, or electronic media for providing sufficient information to play the game. In addition to using dice or an electronic random generator as a means of chance, some games also require strategy, general knowledge of political issues of the past and analytical skills.

Currently, there exist games simulating presidential electoral campaigns. One such game includes a game board comprising special paths serving for the movement of the players' tokens, which is realized by means of three “special” dice. Another political campaign game, which is particularly adapted to simulate the conditions of an actual presidential campaign, includes a game board having playing zones. The playing zones include a first group of popular vote obtaining zones and a second group of political occurrence zones. Yet another game simulates the United States' presidential election system. The play of this game involves contesting and contriving to win Electoral College votes from three groups of states, namely, the locked states, the swing states, and the lost states. An objective of the game is to be the first to win at least two hundred and seventy Electoral College votes.

Another current political game has a board showing a House of Representatives voting area, a Senate voting area, a Vice-President's voting booths and a President's voting booth. Three sets of game cards, namely, Legislation cards, Election cards, and Politics cards are part of the game with marked spaces on the game board. Two regular dice and one eight-sided changeable colored die are used for means of chance. A player wins the game by making all other players bankrupt. However, the overall scope, aspects, and game play are different from that of the present invention.

Another current political game is adapted to simulate the procedural steps, namely, legislative consideration, executive action of legislative bills passed by the legislature, and action taken by the legislature to override any executive veto, in enacting public laws. Each player has a playing piece that includes means disposed thereon for designating either a House or a Senate bill being processed by a specific player. Dice or a spinner determines the particular path and extent of movement of each playing piece. However, the game play of the present invention includes additional aspects and has a different structure.

None of these games disclosed involve the use of electronic media. Also, none of these games include all aspects of campaigning, elections and legislating together.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a political game for the purpose of teaching the mechanics of the division of power in the United States government or other democratic governments and their interplay that incorporates electronic media. There is also a need for a political game that accurately portrays the political structure of the United States government.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is best illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an exemplary playing interface of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A illustrates the interface with a district map shown, FIG. 1B illustrates the interface with the district map not shown;

FIG. 2 illustrate exemplary state cards from a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;.

FIG. 3 illustrates sample party cards used in a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary PROP cards used in a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary Impeachment PROP cards used in a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the overall logic of an exemplary political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps to prepare a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps taken during a first campaign of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps taken during a General Election process of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps taken to determine if a player has won a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps of an individual campaign, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps in determining if an individual player's campaign is over, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps of the legislation process of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps in determining when individual campaigning has ended, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the forgoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, an instructional board or electronic media game is presented.

In one embodiment, a method for playing a political game by a plurality of players is presented. The method includes steps of distributing a first predetermined number of PROPs to the players and establishing a first campaign for votes in voting districts where each of the voting districts includes a number of electoral votes and each of the players are associated with political parties and purchase potential votes by paying a central bank. A general election is held where the player with a majority of potential votes in a voting district wins the voting district and all of the electoral votes for the voting district, a country leader is determined by a majority of electoral votes won, a first legislative leader is determined by a majority of voting districts won and a second legislative leader is determined by a minority of electoral votes won. A judicial court is established where the players make appointments starting with the country leader making an appointment to the judicial court. Money is distributed from the central bank where the money is a multiple of electoral votes won. Voting district campaigning is engaged in where a first one the players opposes a second one of the players in a selected voting district, an outcome of the voting district campaigning determined by chance. The method also includes submitting a legislative bill to the second legislative leader for approval, the legislative bill including a second predetermined number of PROPs, submitting the legislative bill to the first legislative leader upon approval of the second legislative leader and submitting the legislative bill to the country leader upon approval of the first legislative leader. The legislative bill is implemented upon approval of the country leader. A subsequent general election is held and a winner of the political game is determined where the winner is the player that achieves a mandate.

In another embodiment, a method for playing a political game by a plurality of players is presented. The method includes steps for distributing a first predetermined number of PROPs to the players, steps for establishing a first campaign, steps for holding a general election, steps for establishing a judicial court, steps for distributing money and PROPs to the players, steps for engaging in voting district campaigning, steps for submitting a legislative bill, steps for implementing the legislative bill, steps for holding a subsequent general election and steps for determining a winner of the political game.

In another embodiment, a system for playing a political game by a plurality of players is presented. The system includes means for distributing a first predetermined number of PROPs to the players, means for establishing a first campaign, means for holding a general election, means for establishing a judicial court, means for distributing money and PROPs to the players, means for engaging in voting district campaigning, means for submitting a legislative bill, means for implementing the legislative bill, means for holding a subsequent general election and means for determining a winner of the political game.

Other features, advantages, and object of the present invention will become more apparent and be more readily understood from the following detailed description, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is best understood by reference to the detailed figures and description set forth herein.

Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to the Figures. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments.

Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to the Figures. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments. For example, without limitation, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art will, in light of the teachings of the present invention, recognize a multiplicity of alternate and suitable approaches, depending on the needs of the particular application, to implement the functionality of any given detail described herein, beyond the particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown. That is, there are numerous modifications and variations of the invention that are too numerous to be listed but that all fit within the scope of the invention. Also, singular words should be read as plural and vice versa and masculine as feminine and vice versa, where appropriate, and alternative embodiments do not necessarily imply that the two are mutually exclusive.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a board or equivalent electronic media with a central map of the United States depicting all fifty states with their respective Electoral Votes indicated on each state. Embodiments of the present embodiment emulate diverse forms of governments including but not limited to the following: the United States system of Government, as shown by way of example in FIG. 1A, any other democratic system in the world, hypothetical systems of government, or non-governmental structures with similar processes.

Below are some items that highlight some differences of the present invention and the prior art, some of which may not apply to some applications or situations. The present game invention comprises impeachment proceedings, which is a novel aspect that dynamically shows how all branches of government come together to create policy and how that policy is determined by who is in power. The present invention further comprises State Cards, which are a novel means to keep track of votes during elections. The present game invention also comprises Campaign AIDEs, which are a novel means of keeping track of votes while campaigning for a State. The present game invention comprises another novel aspect wherein the House Minority leader is not the player with the most Electoral votes, but the player with the least electoral votes.

In the preferred embodiment, the game comprises a deck of PROP cards, state cards, dice, party cards, vote chips, official chips, money, and a multiplication sheet. The multiplication sheet provided is a reference sheet with all possible multiplications needed in calculating the cost of buying permitted amounts of Potential Votes before campaigning for a State. In one aspect it is a substitute for a calculator used to compute how much money a player needs to pay for any given amount of Potential votes. During a typical game, players go through a series of cycles of campaigning, legislating and election. The game starts with a campaigning process where each player acquires a party card, vote chips, and official chips. Then, by means of chance, all players decide which player goes first and place a vote chip on each State per turn until all States are complete in electoral votes. General Elections are called at this point, and the player with the most States wins the Senate Majority post and places his official chip accordingly. Then, the player with the most electoral votes wins the Presidency, and the player with the least electoral votes wins the House Majority post. The newly elected President then places a Supreme Court Justice chip followed by the next player, repeating the cycle until all of the slots in the Supreme Court are taken. At this point each player collects in money a multiple of his earned electoral votes and a set of new PROP cards from the deck. Campaigning starts all over again; however, for this round, players campaign against opponents by buying potential votes, and chance determines which player earns a campaigned State. At the end of each player's turn, he submits at will a new bill, which incumbent House and Senate majority leaders may block for nominal fees, otherwise going to the President for signing, or to the Supreme Court for a vote on an Impeachment PROP. The President can reject the bill for a nominal fee, otherwise, the bill becomes law and all of the PROPs of the bill are implemented immediately by reading each PROP instruction. This step is termed the legislative process. After all players run out of money, Elections are called again and the cycle starts all over again. The game is won after a General Election where a player owns more than two thirds of the States or more than two thirds of Electoral Votes or more than two thirds of the Supreme Court.

Embodiments of the present invention may be used in situations such as, but not limited to, the following: in a classroom setting to teach an appreciation for a democratic system, in a home as a means of recreation between members of the family and/or friends, on the Internet playing against other Internet surfers, in a video arcade playing individually against a machine, in a casino playing for money against the house, or in other applications. Various embodiments of the game may be played by different numbers of players. For example, without limitation, in an electronic embodiment, the game can be played by a single opponent, for example, without limitation, in a video game playing against the computer. In another embodiment, the game may be played by several hundred opponents playing against each other over the Internet. Typically, in a board game there would be from two to four players or opponents. However, in alternate embodiments a smaller or larger number of players may be able to play.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an exemplary playing interface 101 of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A illustrates interface 101 with a district map shown, FIG. 1B illustrates interface 101 with the district map not shown. The term interface is used herein to describe the central element of the game and includes various media types such as, but not limited to, physical game boards, three-dimensional structures, electronic media, video game media, internet websites, and other types of media. In the present embodiment, the district map used on interface 101 is that of the United States divided into states 112. The number of Electoral College votes 108 corresponding with each state is shown on the map. Alternate embodiments may use various other maps or images for the central element of the political game such as, but not limited to, maps of other countries, maps of imaginary countries, abstract figures, or a path. Also, these various maps or images may be divided into various alternate districts, such as, but not limited to, states, counties or other districts. For example, without limitation, other embodiments of the game may include maps of European electoral districts or any other form of government.

In the present embodiment, interface 101 comprises a slot for each of the incumbent elected officials. Being the relevant to the United States, the official slots in the present embodiment refer to the US Governmental power structures elements. The official slots include without limitation, a President slot 103, a House Majority Leader slot 102, a Senate Majority Leader slot 104, and nine Judges of the Supreme Court slots 105. An alternate embodiment of the game may represent a system for example, without limitation, with a Prime Minister instead of a President, a House of Commons Leader or a Cabinet Leader instead of a House Majority Leader, or a House of Lords Leader instead of a Senate Majority Leader. Depending on the variations of the game, the number of justices comprising the Supreme Court could vary as well, but typically the Supreme Court would comprise nine justices. In Supreme Court slots 105 there is an in slot 110 and an out slot 111. In slot 110 and out slot 111 indicate the order in which the Supreme Court Judges have been appointed and will be removed from the Court. Interface 101 also has slots for the current law comprising a pre-specified number of law slots 107, several campaign aides 106, and in the case of a physical board, PROPS slots 109 for a new and a used deck of PROPS cards. PROP cards represent embodiments or pieces of legislation. The present embodiment comprises four law slots 107 for PROPs; however, in alternate embodiments any number of pre-specified pieces of legislation or PROPs may be used. Campaign aides 106 are provided to aide in keeping track of votes while campaigning a state.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary state cards 201 from a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. State cards 201 are used as aides for ease in counting votes earned by each of player after campaigning during a General Elections process. State cards 201 have the name of the state 204 printed on the face along with an electoral vote number 202 corresponding to the number of Electoral College votes that the particular state has. State cards 201 are handed to each player that currently is holding majority in that district or state. After all state cards 201 have been distributed, it is easy to count all votes and the number of state cards 201 and electoral votes each player has earned. The number of votes ultimately is used to determine who won each of the official spots. State cards 201 are also used as a visual aide to quickly find the state or district on the map because a state silhouette 203 is shown on the face of the card in the geographic location of the particular state within the country. In an electronic version of the game, State Cards may not be needed since vote counting can be done electronically; however, to add realism to the electronic version, a form of electronic State Cards may be employed. In the present embodiment, state cards 201 illustrate the states of the United States; however, in alternate embodiments, state cards may illustrate different types of voting districts depending on the government on which the game is based.

The vote counting method of the present embodiment uses state cards 201 as means of tracking and counting votes. When General Elections start, there is a need to find out which player won which state based on that state's electoral vote distribution. A state typically has votes from multiple players. The player with the most votes wins the state. There is a state card 201 per state or district in the game. State cards 201 are distributed to all players, giving a card to the player that won that state. In this fashion, there is no need to keep track of which states have been counted and which have not. Furthermore, the process to determine which player has won the House Majority post, the Senate Majority post, and the Presidency are different from one another. State cards 201 have each indicated on them their corresponding number of electoral votes 202. When all existing state cards 201 have being distributed, the player with the most electoral votes is the winner of the Presidency. The player with the least earned electoral votes 202 becomes the House Majority Leader. With state cards 201 it is easy to determine the winners of these posts, since players only have to count the electoral votes 202 on the state cards 201 in their hand. Finally, the Senate Majority Leader belongs to the player with the most States in which they have majority. To determine this, players only need to count their state cards 201. In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, the House Majority post is won by the second player having majority of electoral votes or by the first player holding majority of electoral votes.

FIG. 3 illustrates sample party cards 301 used in a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, party cards 301 are used to identify to which party each player belongs. Party cards 301 are also used to keep track of which players are still campaigning before the next General Election takes place. The present embodiment shows cards corresponding to the Republican Party, Democratic Party, Green Party, and Independent Party; however, in alternate embodiments other parties may be represented depending on the government on which the game is based. For example, without limitation, in a game based on the government of the United Kingdom parties such as, but not limited to, the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democratic Party may be represented. Electronic versions may have indicators that inform each player of the party to which he belongs.

Over the course of the game, a set of rules determines when campaigning has ended and when General Elections begin. It is hard for players to keep track on whether it is time for General Elections or not. Party cards 301 considerably simplify the process. When a player's party card 301 is right side up, he is said to be in campaign mode, meaning that he is still campaigning. A player looses his ability to campaign prior to the next General Election when he does not campaign at least once on his turn. When no player is allowed to campaign any further, campaigning ceases and General Elections are called immediately. The process may be confusing especially when players have to keep track of complex strategies during the game. Also, players may lie on their turn to continue campaigning, forcing opponents to keep track of each player's campaigning mode. Party cards 301 simplify the system by forcing each player to turn his party card 301 upside down when he is no longer campaigning on his turn, regardless of the reason. Since all players have their party cards 301 on display, all players can quickly see who has not campaigned yet and who has, making it easier to determine if it is time for General Elections. Additionally, a player's strategies are dependent on whether others are allowed to further campaign during the present cycle of campaigning. In the electronic embodiments of the game, party cards are controlled by the logic of the software generating the game.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary PROP cards 401 used in a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, PROP cards 401 represent pieces of legislation that are part of a bill or legislation packet. Each PROP card 401 has a description that tells what to do should the bill or legislation packet containing the PROP becomes law. There are no rules as to what a PROP description can say. Electronic versions of the game preferably have PROP card representations. When a prop card becomes law it is placed on a law slot 107, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary Impeachment PROP cards 501 used in a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Impeachment PROP cards 501 are similar to PROP cards 401 shown by way of example in FIG. 4 except that Impeachment PROP cards 501 display information about the impeachment of a seated official, how to succeed at impeachment and what to do if the seated official is impeached. Impeachment PROP cards also exists in electronic versions. Impeachment props can become law like regular props. In the present embodiment, a BILL is a set of PROP cards submitted in unison. The only difference is that submitting a BILL with an Impeachment PROP follows a different set of rules stated within the Impeachment PROP. After the BILL becomes LAW all of its PROPs are implemented just like in a regular BILL.

Other elements that may be used in a political game according to embodiments of the present invention include, without limitation, vote chips, official chips and a Federal Reserve. In the preferred embodiment, vote chips are used for each player to keep track of his state votes or representation. Vote chips are of different colors, one for each political party in the game. The color of the vote chip indicates the party to which the vote belongs; for example, without limitation, vote chips for the Democratic Party may be blue. Vote chips may also have different values representing the number of electoral votes the chip represents. Electronic version of the game may have pixel representations of vote chips. Official chips are given to each player so to keep track of his official slots. When a player wins an official post, he places an official chip in the corresponding slot on the game board. For example, without limitation, if a player won the Presidency, he places one official chip on President slot 103, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Official chips also come in different colors, one for each party. Electronic versions of the game may have pixel representations of official chips.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bank is referred to as the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is where neutral game currency is kept during play, where payments are made when a bill is passed requiring a player to pay an amount of currency, and from where players draw currency after a General Election has taken place. In alternate embodiments, the Federal Reserve may have different names such as, but not limited to, the bank, the treasury, or the vault. In the preferred embodiment, all currency exchanges in the game happen between a player and the Federal Reserve rather than between players. In other words, no player pays anything to any other players during the course of the game. Running out of money is an indicator that a General Election is due. Money is used to campaign. Players get money back from the Federal Reserve after General Elections according the number of Electoral Votes they won in the prior General Election.

In the preferred embodiment, the goal of the game is to be the first to achieve mandate. Achieving mandate in the preferred embodiment is described as holding more than a specified ratio (typically two thirds) of any of the following: states or districts where the player has majority, Electoral Votes in districts where the player has majority, or Judges in the Supreme Court. Typically, a game has one winner and no losers, since the goal is to finish first for the race to a mandate. However, in an alternate embodiment of the game, the winner may leave the game to play against a more advanced group. This embodiment works particularly well in an Internet variation. When the winner moves to a more advanced group, this leaves an empty spot for another outside player that would like to join the group.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the overall logic of an exemplary political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, after the game starts, the players begin with the preparation of the game, step C-2 followed by the first campaigning process, step C-3. General Elections, step C-4, are called after the first campaigning has ended. Then, a decision is made in step C-5 to determine if any player has won the game. If a player has won, the game ends. If no player has won, the game continues to step C-6. For the most part, it is very difficult for any player to win after the first campaign, so the game typically continues to step C-6 with each player campaigning on his turn. A player campaigns until he is no longer allowed to campaign or would like to stop campaigning. The decision to continue campaigning is shown as step C-7. If the player can and desires to continue campaigning the game returns to step C-6. If the player is finished campaigning, the game continues to step C-8. At this point, the player submits a bill or legislative package and the legislative process begins. When legislation is finished, the player's turn is over, and the players determine if there are more players to campaign in step C-9. If there are more players, the next player begins campaigning, step C-6, followed by legislating, step C-8. The process is repeated over and over until no more players are allowed to campaign in step C-9. At this point, the game returns to step C-4 and General Elections are called again. After General Elections, a decision on whether anybody won at that point is made again in step C-5. If no player has won, the cycle is repeated until a player wins the game. The steps C-2 through C-9 will now be described in more detail in reference to FIG. 7 through FIG. 14.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps to prepare a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The following steps are a non-limiting example of step C-2, shown by way of example in FIG. 6. To begin the game, the players begin at step C-201 with the preparation of the game. The steps shown by way of example in the figure shows steps to prepare a board game embodiment. Electronic embodiments may require no preparation or very little preparation, for example without limitation, entering the names of the players. In the present embodiment the players prepare the game in step C-201 by opening or displaying the game board. The players then shuffle all regular PROP and Impeachment PROP cards together and place the deck on one of the PROP slots 109 on the game board, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

Then the game is initiated in step C-202. These steps may not be required in electronic embodiments of the game. First, each player chooses a party card and gathers the vote chips and official chips that correspond to their chosen party. Players display their party cards so the other players can see. The players then draw a pre-determined number of PROP cards from the PROP deck. Players keep these cards face down to their opponents. The number of PROP cards taken by each player may vary depending on the version of the game being played. Then, in step C-203, the players determine the order of playing. This step may also not be required in electronic version of the game. To determine the playing order in the present embodiment, each player rolls a die, and the player with the highest number plays first. From then on, play goes to the player to the left of the player who just finished a turn. In alternate embodiments, various other methods of determining playing order may be used. For example, without limitation, the player with the lowest roll may play first, or play may go to the right of the previous player instead of the left. The play then goes to step C-3, shown in detail by way of example in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps taken during a first campaign of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The first campaign is shown by way of example in FIG. 6 as step C-3. In the present embodiment, the first campaigning process differs from the other processes of the game in several aspects. In a first aspect, there are no electoral votes on the board yet. In a second aspect, players don't campaign by means of chance, but rather by means of turn by placing one electoral chip of any wished amount at a time per player per turn on any state of choice. The steps shown in FIG. 8 may be used to conduct a first campaign in either a board game embodiment or an electronic embodiment of the game. To conduct a first campaign, step C-301, the players take turns placing vote chips on the board, in the order determined previously in step C-203. Players are allowed to enter any vote amount they choose as long as they only enter a single vote chip per turn. The vote chips come in different amounts/values. The reason for the values is two fold; one is to prevent vote chip crowding on the board. The other is to force players during the first campaign to make choices on where what chip amounts to place. For example, on a players turn, the player sees a state with capacity for 8 more votes, and another state with capacity for 13 more votes, but the player can only place one vote chips during his turn (by way of example, and not limitation, if only three value vote chips exist on the game, namely: 1, V, or X). The player must make a decision on whether to put a V vote chip on a more advantageous state or an X vote chip on a less strategically advantageous state but gaining more votes. The number of votes placed on a state may not exceed the number of electoral votes possessed by that state. In this step players may share states, meaning that players may place votes where other players already have votes. In step C-302 it is determined if all states are complete, meaning that there is no room for additional votes. If all states are not complete, play returns to step C-301 and more vote chips are placed on the remaining states. If all states are complete, play continues to step C-4, shown in detail by way of example in FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps taken during a General Election process of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the General Election process begins by holding the state cards in step C-401. In Step C-402 then, state card by state card players ask if there is a tie for majority of electoral votes on the each of the states. If so, the game proceeds to step C-403, and otherwise, they go to step C-404. The state card goes to the player who has the majority of votes in that state in step C-404. If there is a tie, the state remains neutral and no one gets that state card in step C-403. Players then determine if there are more state cards in step C-405. If more state cards remain, play returns to step C-402 to determine which player has control of that state. If no more state cards remain, play continues to step C-406 to begin the Senate Majority leader election.

In step C-406 each player counts the number of state cards he has earned. Then the players determine if there is a tie for the most number of state cards in step C-407. If there is a tie for the most number of state cards play goes to step C-408 and the next president becomes the Senate Majority Leader and places an official chip in the Senate Majority slot on the game board, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B. When this occurs the president is still president as well as the senate majority leader. That is, when there is a tie, the player that ultimately wins the presidency also gets the senate. If there is not a tie, play goes to step C-409 where the player with the most state cards wins the Senate Majority and places an official chip in the Senate Majority slot on the game board.

In the present embodiment, the presidential election is the next process in the general election. The presidential election begins at step C-410 where each player counts the total number of electoral votes that they have earned. In step C-411 the players determine if there is a tie in the number of electoral votes earned. If there is a tie, play goes to step C-412 and the Senate Majority Leader becomes President and, in step C-413, places an official chip on the President slot on the game board, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B. When this occurs the senate majority leader is still the senate majority leader as well as the president. That is, due to the distribution of votes, it is impossible for a tie to exist in both the President slot and the Senate slot. Having said that, if a tie exists for the Senate, then the new President becomes Senate Majority and if a tie exists for the Presidency, the new Senate Majority also becomes the President. If there is not a tie, the player with the most electoral votes wins the Presidency and places an official chip on the President slot on the game board in step C-413.

In the present embodiment, the House Majority Leader is determined next. This begins at step C-414 where the players determine if there is a tie for the least amount of votes earned. If there is a tie, play goes to step C-415 where the player with the least number of state cards becomes House Majority Leader, and, in step C-416, this player places an official chip on the House Majority slot on the game board, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B. If there is not a tie in step C-414, the player with the least votes earned becomes the House Majority Leader and places an official chip on the House Majority slot on the game board in step C-416.

The appointment of the Supreme Court Judges occurs next in the present embodiment. The players first determine if there are open positions in the Supreme Court in step C-417. If there are open positions, players, beginning with the newly elected President, place official chips on the Supreme Court slots on the game board, shown by way of example in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The President places the first chip on the out slot and the other players take turns filling in the slots moving toward the in slot in step C-418. A variation of the game maybe one where the President starts filling in the in slot followed by the next player and the next till the supreme court is complete). If there are no open positions in the Supreme Court in step C-417, play moves to step C-419. In step C-419, the Judge in the out slot is removed, and the remaining Judges move up one slot. Then the new President appoints a Judge by placing an official chip in the in slot of the Supreme Court.

At this point, the General Election process is finished. In step C-420, each player collects party funds by counting the total number of electoral votes earned, and all players turn their party card right side up in step C-421. In the present embodiment, players earn funds in the amount of a pre-specified multiple of the number of electoral votes they earned. In alternate embodiments various alternate means for determining the amount of funds players earn may be used. For example, without limitation, in one embodiment players may earn funds in pre-set amounts for coming in first, second, third, etc. in the number of electoral votes.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps taken to determine if a player has won a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. This process is shown by way of example in FIG. 6 as step C-5. In the present embodiment, the process of determining if there is a winner takes place after each General Election. First the players determine if any player has more than two-thirds of the state cards in step C-501. If so, that player wins, and the game ends. If not, the players determine if any player has more than two-thirds of the electoral votes in step C-502. If so, that player wins, and the game ends. If not, the players determine if any of the players has more than two-thirds of the Supreme Court. If so, that player wins, and the game ends. If not, the game continues to step C-6, individual campaigning, shown by way of example in FIG. 6. In alternate embodiments, a player may not need two-thirds of the states, electoral votes or Supreme Court members in order to achieve mandate and win the game. These embodiments may set mandate at a pre-specified ratio other than two thirds, and this ratio may be more or less than two thirds depending on the embodiment. In another variation, there could be multiple winners where each one wins based on one of the criteria specified above. Or the order stated above to find a winner, may be different. For example, the player achieves majority in the Supreme Court may win first, and so forth.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps of an individual campaign, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. First, in step C-60 1, the players determine if anyone has campaigned during this campaign cycle. If so, the next player, as determined in step C-203, campaigns in step C-603. If no player has campaigned, it is determined in step C-602, which player campaigns first in this campaign cycle. In the present embodiment, the player to campaign first is the player who had the least amount of electoral votes in the General Election. In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, the game maybe one where the player with the most electoral votes starts campaigning, or it maybe one where players take turns to start campaigning on each election according to the order determined in step C-203. The game then moves on to step C-7 to determine if the player is still eligible to campaign. If so the individual campaigning continues in step C-604 where the player chooses a state in which to campaign. Then in step C-605 it is determined if the player has representation in that state. The player has representation in that state if he has at least one vote in that state. If the player does not have representation in that state, he must pay an initial campaigning fee to the Federal Reserve in step C-606. This campaigning fee is typically a multiple of the number of electoral votes in the state; however, in alternate embodiments, the campaigning fee may be a set amount for all of the states. After paying the campaigning fee or having representation in the state, the player may begin buying votes in step C-607 by paying an amount of money to the Federal Reserve that is a multiple of the number of electoral votes the player is buying, where the price per vote is directly proportional to the state's electoral votes 108 indicated. In the present embodiment a maximum number of votes that may be bought is printed on the state on the game board 108. In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, there is no limit.

Then, in step C-608, the player may use campaign aides. Due to difficulty in keeping track of votes during campaigning for a state, campaign aides 106 simplify the process by separating votes already in the state from votes that are potential votes CPV. State votes in turn, for ease, are separated between those of the opponent DSV and those of the campaigner CSV. Campaign aides make it easy for campaigners to know at what point continuing campaigning could lead to further loses in the state making it oblivious to do so. The player then chooses an opponent that has votes in the state at issue in step C-609. Then, in step C-610, the player and the opponent he has chosen roll the dice. In the present embodiment, the players role one die per electoral vote at stake. In step C-611, the players compare rolls and determine if the campaigning player rolled higher in step C-612. Several other variations could exist to determine the winner of a roll. The player with the least total may win, or the campaigner rolls an extra one or more dices against the opponent and all of the campaigner's highest rolls are compared one by one to all the opponent's rolls, and any tie would make the campaigner loose. Another variation is one where the totals of each are compared, not just one dice by one dice. Comparing dice for dice, if the campaigning player rolled higher, the opponent looses a vote and the campaigning player gains that vote. To represent this, the opponent removes a vote from DSV and the campaigning player moves a potential vote from CPV into a campaign state vote slot CSV as represented by step C-613. If the campaigning player did not win the roll, it is determined if there is a tie or campaigner rolled less than opponent in step C-612. If there was a tie or campaigner rolled less than opponent the campaigning player looses the vote and removes a potential vote or state vote when no potential votes remain in step C-614.

In step C-615, it is determined if the campaigning player has remaining votes. If the campaigning player has more votes, the campaigning player decides if he wishes to continue in step C-616. If the campaigning player wishes to continue, the game returns to step C-609 where the campaigning player chooses an opponent. Then the rolling process is performed again to determine the winner of votes. If the campaigning player has no remaining votes in step C-615 or decides not to continue campaigning in step C-616, the game proceeds to step C-617. In step C-617 all potential votes and state votes are returned to the state from the campaign aides.

In step C-618, it is determined if the final vote count of that state exceeds the number of electoral votes in that state. If there are excess votes, the campaigning player removes the excess votes from that state in step C-620. If there are not excess votes, it is determined if there are missing votes in step C-619. If there are missing votes, or less votes than the number of electoral votes for that state, the defending player of the state adds votes to the state to replace the missing votes in step C-621. If there are no missing votes or once the number of votes has been corrected, the game continues to step C-7, where it is determined if an individual may continue to campaign.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps in determining if an individual player's campaign is over, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Determining if an individual player may continue campaigning is shown by way of example as step C-7 in FIG. 6. After an individual player has completed one round of campaigning, step C-6, it is determined if the player's party card is right side up in step C-701. If the player's party card is not right side up, the game moves on to step C-8, legislation. If the player's party card is right side up, it is then determined if the state to be campaigned is the first one on this turn in step C-702. If this is the first state, the player may determine if he has enough money and wishes to campaign again in step C-703. If the player does not have enough money to campaign or does not wish to campaign, he turns his party card face down in step C-704 and the game proceeds to step C-8, legislation. If the player has enough money and wises to campaign in step C-703, he may proceed to step C-6 and campaign the state.

In step C-702 if this is not the first state in which the player campaigns, it is determined if the player has finished campaigning in four states in step C-705. If the player has campaigned in four states, the game proceeds to step C-8, legislation. If the player has not campaigned in four states the game proceeds to step C-706. In step C-706, it is determined if the player has campaigned in three states and won majority in all three where he did not have majority previously. If not, the player determines if he has enough money and wishes to continue campaigning in step C-708. If so, the player may exchange PROP cards with the deck if he so desires in step C-707. He returns PROP cards he doesn't want to the deck and pick new ones from the deck. If the player exchanges cards the game proceeds to step C-9 to determine if there are more players to campaign as shown by way of example in FIG. 6. If the player does not exchange cards, the player determines if he wishes to continue campaigning and has enough money to do so in step C-708. If not, the game proceeds to step C-8, legislation. If so, the game returns to step C-6 for more individual campaigning. In alternate embodiments a player may be allowed to campaign in fewer or more states during his turn.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps of the legislation process of a political game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The legislation process is shown by way of example in FIG. 6 as step C-8. In the present embodiment, this process begins when a player submits a bill to the current House Majority Leader in step C-801. A bill is a set of PROP cards. In step C-802 it is determined if a campaigner submitted a bill to the House. If not, the game proceeds to step C-9 to determine if an individual's campaign has ended. If a campaigner did submit a bill to the House in step C-802, the campaigner takes new PROP cards from the deck to replace the PROP cards submitted in the bill in step C-803. In step C-804 it is determined if there are any special instructions on how to handle the bill on any of the PROP cards. If there are special instructions, those instructions are followed in step C-805 and the game continues to step C-806. If there are no special instructions, the game proceeds directly to step C-806. In step C-806, the House Majority Leader decides if he wants to exchange any of the PROP cards in the bill. If the House Majority Leader wants to exchange PROP cards, he may pay a PROP exchange fee and replace the card or cards with a card or cards from the BILL. He then returns to the deck those cards removed from the BILL and takes new replacement cards from the deck to ensure he ends up with the original number of PROPs in hand in step C-807. The House Majority Leader then submits the bill to the Senate Majority Leader in step C-808. If the House Majority Leader does not want to exchange any of the PROP cards in the bill in step C-806, the game proceeds directly to step C-808 at that point.

By enabling the House Majority Leader to exchange a maximum set number of PROP cards, typically one, but more in some embodiments, from the bill, the game enables the House Majority Leader to pass PROPs during others' turns while removing others PROPs recently submitted from the bill. The method to calculate the fees to be paid may vary, but a general system is a set fee per PROP. This power does not allow the House Majority Leader to reject the whole bill. Limits and exceptions of this power are printed on some of the submitted PROP cards and these rules take precedence over any pre-stated game rule. Another aspect of the House Power is that if a player submitting a bill happens to be the House Majority Leader, he has a second opportunity to change the bill he just submitted.

Then, in step C-809 of the present embodiment, it is determined if there are any special instructions on the PROP card in the bill. If there are special instructions, those instructions are followed in step C-810, and the game proceeds to step C-811. If there are no special instructions on the PROP cards, the game goes directly to step C-811 where the Senate Majority Leader can decide to exchange any PROP cards in the bill. If the Senate Majority Leader wants to exchange PROP cards, he may pay a PROP exchange fee and removes the desired PROP card from the BILL, returning it to the deck, adding his own PROP to the BILL and taking new PROPs to himself from the deck to end up with the original number of PROPs he started with C-812. After step C-812, or if the Senate Majority Leader does not want to exchange any PROP cards, the game proceeds to step C-813.

The Senate Majority Leader has similar powers as the House Majority Leader with the added difference that the Senate Majority Leader can exchange PROP cards submitted by the House Majority Leader, but the House Majority Leader may not exchange PROP cards submitted by the Senate Majority Leader. This is due to the chronology in submitting a bill that goes from the campaigner to the House Majority Leader to the Senate Majority Leader to the President or the Supreme Court. Furthermore, a bill may contain restrictions on where the bill goes after the Senate Majority Leader finishes exchanging PROP cards. Should the bill contain a PROP that calls for impeachment of the President, the bill is sent to the Supreme Court instead of the President in step C-814.

Several forms of Impeachment exist, namely President, House Majority, Senate Majority, and Judge. The rules for impeachment of each of these forms are explained in their corresponding Impeachment PROP cards. Neither the House Majority Leader nor the Senate Majority Leader can exchange a Presidential Impeachment PROP cards from a bill. A bill containing a PROP calling for Impeachment of the President must be sent to the Supreme Court instead of the President. Once in the Supreme Court, a vote is cast for or against the bill. The President must silence a pre-specified number of his judges before casting a vote. Every one casts a vote per judge he has in the Supreme Court, except that the President can only cast the number of votes judges he has) minus the number of judges to silence. For example, if the President has 6 Judges, and the rest of players have the remaining 3, then if the President has to silence X number of judges (say in this case is 2), then he can only cast 4 votes against 3 of the opponents. So he wouldn't be impeached, unless he wants to be impeached for strategy. Should the bill become law, by a majority of Judges voting in favor of passing the BILL, all PROPs in the bill are implemented immediately including the Impeachment PROP.

In step C-813 of the legislation process, it is determined if there are any special instructions on any of the PROP cards in the bill. If there are special instructions, these instructions are followed in step C-814. If there are no special instructions on any of the PROP cards in step C-813, the Senate Majority Leader skips step C-814 and submits the bill to the President in step C-815. The President then decides if he wants to sign the bill into law in step C-816. If the President does not want to sign the bill into law, the President pays a bill rejection fee and the bill is thrown out to the deck in step C-817. If the President wants to sign the bill into law, the bill is read and all of the PROPs are implemented immediately in step C-818. After step C-817 and C-818, the game proceeds to step C-9 to determine if there are more campaigners. When the President receives a bill, he can only reject it in its entirety or let it pass in its entirety.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps in determining when campaigning has ended, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. This step is illustrated by way of example as step C-9 in FIG. 6. After the legislation process, step C-8 in FIG. 6, it is determined in step C-901 if all of the players have turned their party cards face down. If so, the game proceeds to step C-4 for a General Election. If not, the game returns to step C-6 for more individual campaigning. Various alternate embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in order to increase or decrease the difficulty of the game. For example, without limitation, requiring a larger ratio to achieve a mandate would increase the difficulty and lowering this ratio would decrease the difficulty. Also, creating a hypothetical government with fewer districts in which to campaign would also decrease difficulty. Other alternate embodiments may use different playing pieces to represent items such as, but not limited to, votes. For example, without limitation, one alternate embodiment may use vote cards instead of vote chips. Another alternate embodiment may use pegs to mark official posts in the official slots instead of chips.

In a variation of the game performed electronically or over the Internet, everyone could campaign at the same time any state they wish to during their turn. In such scenario, there wouldn't be any particular preset order of campaigning other than that specified by who jumps into a state first. In doing so a lock would be created in that state where no other players could campaign that state till the current campaigner finished. In this scenario, the first campaigning process could take on different valid forms: one where players could compete against one another to place the most votes possible in the most state in sort of race against time. Another possibility would be one where the electronic/internet program assigned initial votes at random for each player. Yet another possibility would be one where players list/choose/check the states they did like to place votes in and the computer electronically assigned each players votes following a pre-specified algorithmic order.

In another variation of the game, players may decide for simplicity to skip over the Legislative process where they simply don't use PROP cards but just try to campaign and change the power structure. In such scenario, a player is allowed to campaign on his turn a maximum of a pre-specified set of states and his turn ends. No difference would exist whether the player stops campaigning on the third state or fourth.

In a basic implementation of the present invention, the game starts by setting the board/electronic equivalent/other and having each player take his corresponding game pieces. Any possible variation could exist to insert each player's votes onto each state/district during the first campaigning process, including but not limited to the examples specified in other sections of this embodiment or players could be allowed to place on the board larger than one vote chip at a time on their turn or the process could be determined at random electronically/other. When the board is complete and no more room for votes exist, General Elections are called immediately. State/District Cards are earned on the basis of who owns majority in each of the States/Districts cards. The total number of Votes earned by each player will be used in any number of pre-specified ways including but not limited to the ways described in this embodiment above to determine whom the next President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other will be. The total number of votes earned will also be used in any number of pre-specified ways including but not limited to the ways described in this embodiment above to determine who the next House Majority/House of Commons/Cabinet Member/Second Official/Other leader would be. Finally, the Senate Majority/House of Lords/Third Official/Other post would be determined by the number of states/districts cards owned in any number of pre-specified ways including but not limited to the ways described in this embodiment above. (Note: No specifics were provided on how each counts above for each of the official slots would be used to determine who the elected official would have being, to allow for different variations of the game). The Supreme Court/High Court/Other slots would be filled depending on whether it is incomplete or not. If the Supreme Court/High Court/Other were complete, the newly elected President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other would be entitled to appoint any pre-specified number of Judges, retiring any same pre-specified number of current judges from the Supreme Court/High Court/Other to make room for the new ones. Which judge/judges would be retired could be determined in any number of ways including but not limited to Judges closer to the in slot or the out slot or President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other indicated judges, etc. Upon completion of the General Election process, each player would receive from the Bank/Federal Reserve/Other a specific sum of money computed mathematically in any number of pre-specified ways based on how well he/she performed in the general elections, be it based on the total number of votes or states/districts/other cards or official slots he gained/regained or all or any combination of the above. The currency earned by each player would be used to campaign for different districts/states by allowing players to buy potential votes on their turn before campaigning for a given state/district. After General Elections players would campaign following a pre-specified order determined in any number of ways including but not limited to the ways described above on this embodiment. Each player before campaigning a State/District would need to decide who in that state he/she would campaign against as well as how much money he/she would be willing to invest in Potential votes at a pre-specified cost per vote calculated using a pre-specified system. Upon paying the pre-specified mathematically calculated fees for any number of potential votes for that state/district not exceeding a pre-specified limit for the state calculated in any number of ways, he/she would take those potential votes and put them on the side ready for campaigning. Then using any means of chance not limited to the ones described in this embodiment above, a fight for those existing state votes would begin where the looser would take out existing state votes and the winner would add new votes to the state to make up for the difference. The campaigner in this case would be limited to adding votes to the state from his previously bought potential votes. Were he run out of potential votes the opponent will make up for the difference. A set of rules that include but are not limited to the ones described above in this embodiment would determine if the campaigner could continue campaigning for a second, or third or more states/districts after campaigning the last state/district. Should the campaigner be allowed, according to those pre-specified rules to further campaign, he would do so at his discretion, otherwise, he would have to Legislate if he wished to. Legislating meant that a player could or not submit a BILL/Law Proposal/Other for approval to the existing official slot members. A BILL/Law Proposal/Other consists of a pre-specified number PROP cards he and all the rest of the players is entitled to acquire from a deck of PROPs at the beginning or sometime during the game following any pre-specified logic not limited to the ones described above in this embodiment. A pre-specified logic is also provided that is not limited to the one above described in this embodiment where a player is allowed to return to the deck PROP cards he doesn't wish to keep or submit in exchange for new ones instead of submitting them as a BILL to the Official. Should the player exchange PROPs with the deck his turn would end and the next player would be given a chance to campaign in a pre-specified sequential playing order. In a simultaneous campaigning type of game he would continue campaigning other states. If the player submits a BILL for approval, the BILL would first make a stop at the House Majority/House Of Commons/Cabinet Member/Second Official/Other post. Here, the current official would be given a chance to exchange a pre-specified or unspecified number of PROPs from the BILL with the same number of his own, returning removed PROPs to the deck and taking new ones from the deck to complete his hand in some scenarios or keeping removed PROPs to himself in another by paying a mathematically pre-specified fee per exchanged PROP in either case. The BILL would at this point be sent to Senate Majority/House of Lords/Third Official/Other for the same or similar type of transaction. Once the Senate Majority/House of Lords/Third Official/Other finishes with the BILL, he/she would send it to either the Supreme Court/High Court/Other if an impeachment PROP (a PROP on the BILL calling for impeachment of the President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other or other officials) exists on the BILL, or otherwise to the President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other for approval. Impeaching BILL against the President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other would become LAW depending on how existing judges in the Supreme Court/High Court/Other decide to vote. To tip the balance against the current President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other limits could be set on how he can cast his/her own votes. Those limits could but would not be limited to the ones described in this embodiment above. Should the Supreme Court/High Court/Other vote to turn the Impeaching BILL into LAW, all its PROPs would be immediately implemented including the Impeachment PROP. Who would become the new President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other could be determine in any number of ways described on the Impeaching PROP. Should the BILL not contain any Impeaching PROP it would be sent to the President/Prime Minister/First Official/Other whom would have a chance at rejecting the BILL for a pre-specified nominal fee computed in any number of ways including but not limited to the ways described in this embodiment above. Should the BILL get rejected it would be next campaigner's turn. If the BILL isn't rejected all its PROPs would be implemented immediately. Typically, PROPs contain clauses that drain opponents monetarily as well as Impeachment Clauses. At this point it would be next player's turn. If a player didn't successfully campaigned at least one state on his turn (success here in described in different ways such as but not limited to the ways described above in the embodiment) he is no longer allowed to campaign further until after the next general elections in a sequential type of game. Once all players are in a state where they are not allowed to campaign General Elections is called again. In a non-sequential type of game General Elections would be called immediately when all players run out of money. Right after General Elections and before campaigning an arbitrary method is used to determine who won the game if any that could be but is not limited to the one described above in this embodiment. If no one won the game the cycle starts all over again.

Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that any of the foregoing steps and/or system modules may be suitably replaced, reordered, removed and additional steps and/or system modules may be inserted depending upon the needs of the particular application, and that the systems of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented using any of a wide variety of suitable processes and system modules, and is not limited to any particular computer hardware, software, middleware, firmware, microcode and the like.

It will be further apparent to those skilled in the art that at least a portion of the novel method steps and/or system components of the present invention may be practiced and/or located in location(s) possibly outside the jurisdiction of the United States of America (USA), whereby it will be accordingly readily recognized that at least a subset of the novel method steps and/or system components in the foregoing embodiments must be practiced within the jurisdiction of the USA for the benefit of an entity therein or to achieve an object of the present invention. Thus, some alternate embodiments of the present invention may be configured to comprise a smaller subset of the foregoing novel means for and/or steps described that the applications designer will selectively decide, depending upon the practical considerations of the particular implementation, to carry out and/or locate within the jurisdiction of the USA. For any claims construction of the following claims that are construed under 35 USC § 112 (6) it is intended that the corresponding means for and/or steps for carrying out the claimed function also include those embodiments, and equivalents, as contemplated above that implement at least some novel aspects and objects of the present invention in the jurisdiction of the USA.

Having fully described at least one embodiment of the present invention, other equivalent or alternative means for implementing a political game according to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, without limitation, many of the steps in the game process may be taken in different orders, such as, but not limited to, the steps of a General Election, and some steps may be omitted in some embodiments. Also, some embodiments may combine the aspects of a physical game with aspects of an electronic game. For example, without limitation, a game with an interactive electronic game board that sits on a surface like a conventional game board with the same features as a physical game board such as, but not limited to, maps and slots, that performs electronic functions such as, but not limited to keeping track of votes and which players holds the official posts. All such alternative embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention. The invention has been described above by way of illustration, and the specific embodiments disclosed are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed. The invention is thus to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for playing a political game by a plurality of players, the method comprising steps of:

distributing a first predetermined number of PROPs to the players;

establishing a first campaign for votes in voting districts where each of said voting districts comprises a number of electoral votes and each of the players are associated with political parties and purchase potential votes by paying a central bank;

holding a general election where the player with a majority of potential votes in a voting district wins said voting district and all of said electoral votes for said voting district, a country leader is determined by a majority of electoral votes won, a first legislative leader is determined by a majority of voting districts won and a second legislative leader is determined by a minority of electoral votes won;

establishing a judicial court where the players make appointments starting with said country leader making an appointment to said judicial court;

distributing money from said central bank, said money being a multiple of electoral votes won;

engaging in voting district campaigning where a first one the players opposes a second one of the players in a selected voting district, an outcome of said voting district campaigning determined by chance;

submitting a legislative bill to said second legislative leader for approval, said legislative bill comprising a second predetermined number of PROPs;

submitting said legislative bill to said first legislative leader upon approval of said second legislative leader;

submitting said legislative bill to said country leader upon approval of said first legislative leader;

implementing said legislative bill upon approval of said country leader;

holding a subsequent general election; and

determining a winner of the political game where said winner is the player that achieves a mandate.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of establishing a first campaign further comprises ending when all of said electoral votes are associated with said potential votes.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of holding a general election further comprises distributing to the players voting district cards indicating the amount of electoral votes won by the player, said voting district cards being used in the determining of said country leader, first legislative leader and second legislative leader.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of initiating an impeachment process when an impeachment PROP is submitted in a bill.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein said impeachment PROP is a country leader impeachment and said bill is voted on by said judicial court.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of engaging in voting district campaigning further comprises using campaign aides to track potential votes.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the step of engaging in voting district campaigning further comprises equalizing said potential votes such that a number of said potential votes equals a number of said electoral votes for said voting district.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of submitting a legislative bill to said second legislative leader further comprises said second legislative leader blocking said bill by paying a fee to said central bank.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of submitting a legislative bill to said second legislative leader further comprises said second legislative leader exchanging an undesired PROP for a desired PROP by paying a fee to said central bank.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of submitting a legislative bill to said first legislative leader further comprises said first legislative leader blocking said bill by paying a fee to said central bank.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of submitting a legislative bill to said first legislative leader further comprises said first legislative leader exchanging an undesired PROP for a desired PROP by paying a fee to said central bank.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of submitting said legislative bill to said country leader further comprises said country leader blocking said bill by paying a fee to said central bank.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying a party card when the player is campaigning.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of preparing the political game for play.

15. A method for playing a political game by a plurality of players, the method comprising:

steps for distributing a first predetermined number of PROPs to the players;

steps for establishing a first campaign;

steps for holding a general election;

steps for establishing a judicial court;

steps for distributing money and PROPs to the players;

steps for engaging in voting district campaigning;

steps for submitting a legislative bill;

steps for implementing said legislative bill;

steps for holding a subsequent general election; and

steps for determining a winner of the political game.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising steps for initiating an impeachment process.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising steps for displaying a party card when the player is campaigning.

18. A system for playing a political game by a plurality of players, the system comprising:

means for distributing a first predetermined number of PROPs to the players;

means for establishing a first campaign;

means for holding a general election;

means for establishing a judicial court;

means for distributing money and PROPs to the players;

means for engaging in voting district campaigning;

means for submitting a legislative bill;

means for implementing said legislative bill;

means for holding a subsequent general election; and

means for determining a winner of the political game.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, further comprising means for initiating an impeachment process.

20. The system as recited in claim 18, further comprising means for displaying a party card when the player is campaigning.