GAME SYSTEM INCLUDING MULTIPLE DECKS OF THEMATIC PLAYING CARDS

Abstract

A system of educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements for delivering relevant, current information regarding elected or appointed officials, government, parliamentary procedures, constitutional law and/or regulatory affairs, along with historical facts. In one embodiment, a game includes thematic playing cards, a playing mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonly known suits and ranks allowing for traditional card games to be played with these cards.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/559,443, filed Nov. 14, 2011, entitled “Game System Including Multiple Decks Of Thematic Playing Cards.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various educational games are known in the art. Generally, these games allow players to compete against one another while learning various concepts including, for example, how the government works, history, geography, and English language, industry specific acronyms. Many of these games, by design, are directed to specific age ranges of players and, therefore, a game designed for young children is not challenging for older children or adults and one directed to older players is too hard for younger players.

A game that is both educational, across a number of different topics, and interesting to a broad range of players is needed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system of educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements. The system of games delivers relevant, current information regarding elected or appointed officials, government, parliamentary procedures, constitutional law and/or regulatory affairs, along with historical facts. In one embodiment a game may include thematic playing cards, a playing mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonly known suits (clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds) and rank (Ace, 2-10, Jack, Queen, King and Jokers). As a result, known “traditional” card games can also be played with these cards. Several of the games can be played by individuals or in teams to promote family play and interaction. Advantageously, these games, by design, are directed to engage, entertain and inform a wide range of players and, therefore, such games have variations and components to provide for audiences both young and old, novices and experts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof and from the claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a representation of a first type of playing card in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a representation of a second type of playing card in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a representation of a third type of playing card in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a fourth type of playing card in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a representation of a fifth type of playing card in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are representations of the two sides of a sixth type of playing card in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a representation of a playing board in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A-8D are representations of a set of dice in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a representation of a board game in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/559,443, filed Nov. 14, 2011, entitled “Game System Including Multiple Decks Of Thematic Playing Cards,” the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

Generally, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system of educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements. In one embodiment a game may include thematic playing cards, a playing mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonly known suits (clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds) and rank (Ace, 2-10, Jack, Queen, King and Jokers). As a result, known “traditional” card games can also be played with these cards. Several of the games can be played by individuals or in teams to promote family play and interaction.

Further, a game system is described that is both educational and humorous while providing definitions and pronunciations for acronyms readily used to refer to many government agencies, departments, programs, committees, commissions, Acts, and other aspects of U.S. and Foreign Governments.

Each deck of playing cards includes 54 playing cards made up of the 52 “valued” cards and the two Joker cards. Each deck has a different theme that is incorporated into a corresponding game that can be played using the cards and the theme represented thereon.

Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention incorporate information and elements of parliamentary procedures such as the Electoral College, elections, legislative processes and real political, historical, elected officials and figures, into a game system including a game board and components of games which, in some cases utilize elements of traditional playing cards.

Two or more decks of question cards corresponding to each deck of themed cards are also provided. Each of the question cards includes a question relating to a theme of the cards in the corresponding themed deck. One deck of question cards includes questions that are, generally, relatively more difficult than the questions on the other deck of question cards. As a result, player differentiation may be available in that, for example, younger players would use the “easier” question deck and older players may use the “harder” question deck. Advantageously, therefore, players of different levels may play together without one being at a disadvantage (or advantage).

As the present game system is meant to provide an educational and fun experience, the themed cards may be directed to, for example, and not intended to be limiting: United States Presidents and Founding Fathers; U.S. Senators (Past and/or Present); and U.S. Governors (Past and/or Present). This list is not intended to be exhaustive and the choice of subject matter is not limited to the United States and could be any country's historical and/or government structure.

Presidents & Founding Fathers Embodiment

In one embodiment, a traditional playing deck of cards includes 44, as of the filing date, U.S. Presidents and eight Founding Fathers, plus two original and proprietary Jokers, to make a 54 card playing deck in a standard size. As above, traditional games can be played with this deck of cards. In one non-limiting example, The Founding Fathers chosen may be: James Wilson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Gouverneur Morris, John Witherspoon, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. In this example, the eight Founding Fathers, who were not presidents, were selected by surveying past or current professors of political science from leading US Universities.

In one embodiment, referring now to FIG. 1, each Founding Father card 100, including those who were also Presidents, are specially marked within each deck. In one non-limiting example, each Founding Father card 100 bears the symbol equivalent to “fortissimo,” in music—ff, or two lowercase f letters 104. Presidents who were also Founding Fathers are marked with the equivalent of a fortissimo sign within a star 108. These designations appear on a card below the number and suit of the individual card.

Each President or Founding Father card features a photograph or drawing of the individual 112, their name 114, their party affiliation 115, and the years 116 they took and left office, along with the consecutive number 120 of their presidency, within the succession of leaders. Each deck also includes two Jokers which are proprietary in design. All of the cards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 124.

Two decks (beginner and advanced), of “Q” or Question Cards 200, accompany each deck of President and Founding Father playing cards, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2. These question cards 200 contain one or more questions 204 related to U.S. Presidents and Founding Fathers along with the corresponding answer or answers 208. Question cards hold both the question and answer to a particular query.

United States Senators (Congressional Edition) Embodiment

In another embodiment of playing cards according to the present invention, two decks of traditionally-marked playing cards are provided. Each deck includes 50 of the 100 senators in past, current or future Congresses, with the corresponding past, current or future Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate (the Vice-President of the United States), to make up 52 cards in each deck. Thus, two senators from each of 25 states are in the first deck and two senators from the other 25 states are in the second deck. The separation of the senators between two decks of cards in the deck set is an element of game play for one or more of the games that can be played with the U.S. Senators game and card decks. Two original and proprietary “Jokers” are added to make each playing deck 54 in base size, and provide for the playing of both a set of original and proprietary games with official rules, as well as any traditional card game.

Each individual card 300, referring to FIG. 3, within the Senate deck, features a photograph or drawing 304 of the corresponding senator, their full name 308, their party affiliation 312, the year 316 they took office and the year 320 the seat will next become open, the name of their state 324 and the two letter abbreviation 328 for their state. The cards featuring the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate will include similar information. Each card shows either an exact or true to life representation of an elected official. Advantageously, a player can learn to recognize an elected official in an historical rather than political context, void of caricatures or otherwise politically charged biases. All of the cards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 332.

Two decks (beginner and advanced), of Senator Question Cards, accompany each set of two Senators decks. These cards 400, referring to FIG. 4, contain one or more questions 404 related to the legislative process and the corresponding answers 408. Question cards hold both the question and answer to a particular query.

U.S. Governors Embodiment

In another embodiment of playing cards according to the present invention, a traditionally-marked deck of playing cards includes 50 cards corresponding to the 50 current or most recent Governors of the 50 states of the United States. Two additional cards feature the U.S. President and Vice President to make a 52 card playing deck. Two Joker cards are provided to make each playing deck 54 in base size, and provide for the playing of both a set of original and proprietary games with official rules, as well as any traditional card game.

Individual cards 500 within the U.S. Governors deck feature a photograph or drawing 504 of the corresponding governor or the emblem or symbol for the state governed by a particular governor, their party affiliation 508, the year they took office 512 and the year 516 the office will next become open, the full name of the Governor 520 and the name of the State 524, and the two letter abbreviation 528 for their state. Each of the cards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 532.

Two decks (beginner and advanced), of Question Cards, accompany each deck of Governors playing cards. These cards contain questions related to the U.S. States, states' rights and U.S. constitutional law. Question cards hold both the question and answer to a particular query. The U.S. Governors deck and Question Card decks may be provided separately or may be combined together, as components to a Game Set, which also includes a playing board and four sets of 50 plastic chips, in four different colors, custom dice, original game playing rules and instructions. Accessories for all games include a soft playing mat and a carrying case. The carrying case includes a section designed to hold game collateral, for example, brochures or itineraries, for those touring educational or historic sites related to the game set.

Government Agencies, English Language and Industry Specific Acronyms Embodiment

A game system according to another embodiment of the present invention does not require a traditional deck of playing cards. Rather, a set of 75 bookmark-sized cards (approximately 1.5×6″) is provided. Each card 600 features, on a first side 604 of the card, as presented in FIG. 6A, an acronym 608 for a government, or quasi-government agency, department or program within the U.S. Federal Government, or specific to a particular industry. A phonetic pronunciation and spelling 612, with, on a second or “reverse” side 616, as shown in FIG. 6B, the proper full spelling of the name 620 of the program, agency, or acronym. Of course, the size and number of the playing cards can vary.

In one non-limiting example, the deck of cards is divided into three subsets of 25, in this case, representing “Tourist” (beginner), “Bureaucrat” (advanced), and “Show-off!” (expert), acronyms as questions. One subset may be printed in red with a white background, the second subset may be printed in white with a red background, and the third subset may be printed in white with a blue background. Of course, a different number of subsets may be chosen as well as any color scheme that will serve to distinguish one group from another. In one embodiment, a font is chosen that is similar to the one used on eye charts. On each card, below each acronym is a pronunciation guide, e.g., DNDO (dee•en•dee•oh) or OSHA (oh•shah).

Playing Board and Mat

A playing board and/or mat 700, as shown in FIG. 7, of original design and made of, for example, vinyl, is included in one or more embodiments of the game system in accordance with the present invention. The mat 700 may include unique marks and information required to play some, but not necessarily all, games in the present system. The mat may include a political/geographical map 704 of the United States, including the District of Columbia. Each state may be marked with or without its name 708, with a star 712, or other identifier, locating the respective capital with or without the city name, and the respective number of Electoral Votes 716, in accordance with the Electoral College, assigned to each State. A playing mat 700 may also include a key or legend 720 to some of the marks found on particular decks of Cards described above.

Custom Dice

A set of two dice 804, 808, as shown in FIGS. 8A-8D, is included with each complete game set. The first die 804 is marked with a magenta symbol 812 on three sides and a green symbol 816 on the other three sides. The second die 808 is marked with, for example, the numbers 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30, one number on each side. During game play of some of the games described herein, a throw of both dice together indicates, from the first die 804, a level of question a player must draw, for example, beginner or advanced, and from the second die 808, a number of points that will be awarded for correctly answering that question.

Of course, it should be realized that the choice of colors and/or symbol on the first die, as well as point values indicated on the second die, as described herein, are chosen simply for explanatory purposes. The choices of color, symbol and values are not limited to those described above.

Games

Potus

This game is based upon the 538 Electoral College points allocated across the 50 U.S. States, plus Washington, D.C. A minimum of 270 Electoral Votes are needed to win the game, similar to the Electoral College requirements to win the presidential election. The game may be played with any of the playing decks, and the corresponding Question card deck, described above and is played like Rummy. In accordance with the present invention, points earned by a player are spent on, or converted into, at that player's discretion, Electoral Votes, and players can only continue their turn after a Question card has been correctly answered. Cards are scored 5 points for numbers, 10 points for tens, and 15 points for Aces and face cards. Additionally, points for correctly answered questions are awarded as dictated by a roll of a set of dice where the class of question, e.g., beginner or advanced, is on the faces of one die, three faces of each, and a number of points, e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, are on the faces of the second die. Electoral votes are purchased at 10 points each. After correctly answering a Question card and then during the course of that player's turn, a state can be purchased with the adequate number of points required for the particular state or Washington, D.C. A player may “win” a particular state or Washington, D.C., only when a number of points equal to or greater than that necessary to purchase a state's electoral votes are acquired. Points may be tallied on specially designed score sheets included in each game, or otherwise recorded. A chip may be placed on a state or Washington, D.C. on the mat to indicate it has been won by a particular player or team and that is player deducts from his bank of overall points, and may show the number on a POTUS (President of the United States) tally scoreboard or sheet.

Lobby

The object of this game is to be the first player to rid her hand of all cards and/or have the highest number of points, and thereby watch the “Bills” (anti-money or other pool of prize), pass to you. This game can be played with any of the decks of cards described above, and the corresponding question cards. It is played like “Rummy” except that a question card must be drawn by an opponent and answered correctly by the player before any card or series of cards can be pulled from the play deck to advance. If the player answers a question correctly, that player can both draw from the play deck or from the discarded cards and continue to draw from the question cards and continue play in the same manner, until an incorrect answer is given. In this game, cards that are placed in “books” count 5 points for numbers, 10 points for tens, and 15 points for face cards, but also, 5 points are awarded for each beginner question correctly answered, and 10 points are given for each advanced question answered. Players keep the cards from questions correctly answered in order to tally the score at the end of play. When the first player has gone out of playing cards, should the player still holding cards have a higher score, that player is then the winner and the successful “Lobbyist.” Points are deducted from a player's score for cards still held after another player goes out.

Filibuster

Played like “War” with one or more of the decks of playing cards described above, except that, a Republican and a Democrat from any state, presidency or governorship, also triggers a battle, as do cards bearing the same mark which distinguish founding fathers or past presidents who were also founding fathers. Object: To gather and hold all of the cards, to win after a long and long-winded war!

Veto

A Presidential version of poker. The Most Recent President alone, takes any hand, two senators from the same state beat four of a kind, a handful of Representatives, Governors or Presidents, all of the same party, is higher than a Royal Flush.

Quorum

Played like “memory” or “concentration” where all cards from the Senators deck described above are placed face down in any pattern. Each player, upon their turn, turns one card over and then turns a second card over in an attempt to match two Senators from the same state to make a “book” and take the state. If a match is made, that player goes again, until they are unsuccessful at making a match. Of course, the other players are attempting to remember where an unmatched senator is located in case the other one comes up during their respective turn at play. Using the play mat or board, a chip is placed on each state taken by a player or team. The winner is the player or team with the greatest number of states once all cards are matched.

Speak DC:

Cards in the “acronym” deck are either organized according to degree of difficulty or shuffled to mix cards of varied difficulty, then pulled in consecutive order. The individual pulling the first card faces the acronym side of the card to their opponent. The other player must pronounce the acronym and then identify the government agency or program it represents. Points are tallied according to correct answers provided by each player, and scored according to the value of a particular correct answer: Red (Tourist)=5 Pts., White (Bureaucrat)=10 Pts., and Blue (Show-off!)=15 Pts. The player or team with the greatest number of points after any agreed upon length of play, wins.

In a variation of any of the foregoing examples, cards bearing the current President, Vice President, Speaker of the House or President of the Senate, holds special powers, as do “Jokers.” In the Presidents & Founding Fathers deck, cards representing Founding Fathers who were also President, hold special powers.

Funny Laws/Ridiculous Regulations Game

As is well known, either from the lore of urban myths, or from actual experience, there are laws and regulations, at the local, state and federal levels, that are so silly and/or obscure as to make one wonder “what were they thinking?,” e.g., by city ordinance, in New York City, it is illegal for a restaurant to call a sandwich a “corned beef sandwich” if it is made with white bread and mayonnaise. Some of these laws and regulations are current while others have been is removed or are no longer enforced. These “funny” laws are at the center of a game in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

A board game combines movement of a game piece along a path on a board, based on a throw of the dice, with the drawing of cards that contain a “funny” law or regulation based on the spot on the path at which a player lands. Depending upon the card drawn, a player may have to, for example, pay money, lose a turn, get money, move forward or move backward.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a board 902 contains a plurality of trails 904 with each trail having a starting point 906-n and a respective end point 910-n. The trails 904 could be named as if each was a tour of the United States, for example, the Muir trail, Route 66, the Appalachian trail, or bear names of historical relevance such as that of, for example, early explorers or pioneers, etc. Each player would have a game piece or “pawn” that could be in the shape of a, for example, horse, train, bus, car, motorcycle, bicycle, hiker, roller skates or something similar to suggest mobility. The trails 904 could be superimposed on a map of the United States with, for example, famous icons, landmarks, terrain, etc., also presented. Each trail 904 is marked in such a way, for example, color, size, shape, etc., to differentiate it from the other trails. The trails 904 intersect with one another at one or more locations. Each trail consists of sections or boxes or spots to count a number of steps, as will be described in more detail below.

In addition to the board 902, the game includes a set of regulations or “laws” cards. The cards are separated into different groups of laws and identified by a respective color, for example, Green: EPA regulations, Blue: IRS regulations, Red: Federal Criminal Laws, Yellow: Local or State Crime Laws, Green: Traffic Laws, etc. There may be many colors and regulatory decks of violations or laws. Each card contains a funny regulation or law according to the corresponding group and an action that a player must take.

Each player is given a same amount of play money and chooses a trail by placing their pawn at the start of the trail. The goal of the game is to be the first player to reach the other end of that trail. In play, the player rolls the dice and moves that number of spots along the trail. The player may land on a spot on the trail that is either a “rest” spot where the player takes no action; a “temp” job spot where the player may draw a card from a “temp job” stack of cards and possibly earn additional money; or a spot where the player is instructed to take a card from a specific group of silly laws cards and follow the instructions. Of course, there may be other actions indicated on a spot such as, for example, losing a turn, paying a next player money, is paying a fine, etc. Where the paths intersect, a player may change paths and continue on but may or may not have to complete the original path on which she started.

In one embodiment, each spot represents a “day” and the winner is the player that reaches the end of the path in the fewest number of days. In the event of a tie, the player with the most money is the winner.

Particular versions of the game may be customized to use only a specific state's laws or regulations or, perhaps, a specific city's, if there are enough of them. In the event of game customization, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the names of the paths and the icons shown on the board, as well as the choice of pawns, would be customized to coordinate with the particular area.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the present invention described herein have been described using non-limiting detailed descriptions of embodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. It should be understood that features and/or steps described with respect to one embodiment may be used with other embodiments, and that not all embodiments of the present application have all of the features and/or steps shown in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the embodiments.

Claims

1. A game system comprising:

a first deck of playing cards, wherein each card comprises a representation of a respective entity and a respective playing card value and wherein a plurality of the entities on the cards in the first deck have a first theme in common with one another; and

a second deck of cards, wherein each card in the second deck comprises at least one question related to the first theme.

2. The game system of claim 1, wherein:

the second deck of cards comprises first and second pluralities of cards having questions with first and second levels of difficulty, respectively,

wherein the second level of difficulty is relatively more difficult than the first level of difficulty.

3. The game system of claim 1, wherein the entities represented in the first deck of playing cards are chosen from one or more of:

a group comprising presidents and former presidents of the United States;

a group comprising vice-presidents and former vice-presidents of the United States;

a group comprising governors and former governors of the states in the United States;

a group comprising individuals considered to be founding fathers of the United States;

a group comprising senators and former senators who served in the United States Senate;

a group comprising the past or current Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States; and

a group comprising the past or current President of the U.S. Senate who also held or holds the office of Vice President of the United States.

4. The game system of claim 3, wherein a playing card representing an entity that is in the founding father group and in one or more of another group further comprises an indication thereof.

5. The game system of claim 1, wherein:

each entity represented on each playing card is an historical figure.

6. The game system of claim 1, wherein the playing card values comprise traditional playing card values comprising a suit and a rank.

7. The game system of claim 1, wherein no two playing cards in the first deck have either a same entity represented thereon or a same playing card value.

8. A deck of playing cards, wherein each playing card comprises:

an acronym and a corresponding phonetic pronunciation on a first side of each card; and

on a second side of each card, a name of an entity corresponding to the acronym on the first side of the same card.

9. The deck of cards of claim 8, wherein the entity is chosen from the group consisting of:

a government agency, a quasi-government agency, a government department, a government program or a specific industry such as sports, medicine, law, acts of Congress, internet technology or the English language.

10. The deck of cards of claim 8, wherein the deck comprises:

a first plurality of cards; and

a second plurality of cards,

wherein the acronyms on the cards in the first plurality are in a first category and the acronyms on the cards in the second plurality are in a second category different from the first category.

11. The deck of cards of claim 10, wherein the first category acronyms are more difficult to discern than the second category of acronyms.

12. A game system comprising:

a first deck of playing cards, wherein each card comprises a representation of a respective entity and a respective playing card value and wherein a plurality of the entities on the cards in the first deck have a first theme in common with one another;

a second deck of cards, wherein each card in the second deck comprises at least one question related to the first theme;

a playing board comprising a plurality of unique marks and information; and

a pair of multi-sided dice, wherein a first die has a first plurality of sides with a same first marking and a second plurality of sides with a same second marking different from the first marking and each side of the second die has a different value imprinted thereon.

13. The game system of claim 12, wherein the unique marks and information on the playing board comprises:

a map of the United States;

an identifier marking a location of the capital of each state; and

a value representing the respective number of Electoral Votes assigned to each State.

14. The game system of claim 12, wherein:

the first marking indicates that a player is to be asked a question of a first level of difficulty; and

the second marking indicates that the player is to be asked a question of a second a level of difficulty different from the first level of difficulty.

15. The game system of claim 12, wherein the unique marks and information on the playing board comprises:

a map of the United States; and

a plurality of trails, with each trail having a starting point and a respective end point, superimposed on the map of the United States,

wherein each trail is identified with a name having historical relevance to the United States.

16. The game system of claim 15, further comprising:

a game piece in a shape that suggests mobility,

wherein the game piece is configured for placement on one of the trails during game play.

17. The game system of claim 16, wherein each trail further comprises:

a plurality of marked sections to facilitate counting a number of moves of a game piece during game play.

18. The game system of claim 17, wherein each trail 904 is distinctly marked to differentiate it from any other trail.

19. The game system of claim 17, wherein at least two trails intersect one another at one or more locations.