Lottery ticket play action game

Abstract

A lottery ticket comprising a first play area containing jig-saw type puzzle pieces which are to be matched with jig-saw type puzzle pieces set forth in a second play area wherein a minimum number of matches results in a prize being won.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] A lottery ticket having a play area containing a plurality of first puzzle pieces which are in the form of a jig-saw type pieces and a second play area which may contain corresponding jig-saw type pieces wherein when a preselected number of jig-saw type pieces from the first play area find correspondence in the second play area, a prize may be won.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Scratch-off lottery tickets are common in the lottery industry. Game data in the form of play symbols is covered by a scratch-off layer and when the scratch-off layer is removed, the game data is exposed. Once the scratch-off layer is removed, if the play symbols provide a certain pattern the player may win a prize. Thus, the typical scratch-off tickets require the player to remove the scratch-off layer and immediately determine if and what type of prize has been won.

[0003] There is a growing need in the lottery industry to add diversity to the games that are played on a lottery ticket in addition to providing the opportunity to win a prize. It is known to employ play symbols in the form of letters, numbers, and objects such as fruit, automobiles and the like in order for the player to distinguish between prize winning symbols and non-prize winning symbols.

[0004] Jig-saw puzzles are a well known form of entertainment in which the user attempts to properly align jig-saw puzzle pieces with each other to form a picture. Such puzzles are sold in kits comprising separated jig-saw puzzle pieces which are die cut in preselected patterns, typically in the form of eccentric shapes.

[0005] It would be a significant advance in the lottery ticket industry to provide a lottery ticket which brings a jig-saw type of format to a lottery ticket as a form of amusement and as a means of winning a prize.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention is generally directed to a lottery ticket in which there is provided at least one first play area containing jig-saw type of puzzle pieces hereinafter referred to as “first jig-saw type puzzle pieces”. A second play area, which may also contain multiple play regions, contains pictures, shapes, illustrations or patterns (i.e. puzzles) of jig-saw type puzzle pieces (hereinafter referred to as “second jig-saw type puzzle pieces”) which may or may not form a pattern. If a preselected number of first jig-saw type puzzle pieces in the first play area find correspondence with second jig-saw type puzzle pieces in the second play area a prize may be won.

[0007] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lottery ticket comprising:

[0008] a) a first play area comprising a plurality of first jig-saw type puzzle pieces, each first jig-saw type puzzle piece being in the form of a jig-saw type piece having at least one first piece mating surface adapted to mate to a complimentary mating surface of at least one other first jig-saw type puzzle piece, said first jig-saw type puzzle pieces being covered by a removable scratch-off layer;

[0009] b) a second play area comprising at least one second play region, each second play region containing at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces which may be of the same shape as one or more first jig-saw type puzzle pieces located in the first play area, wherein if at least two first jig-saw type puzzle pieces located in the first play area find correspondence with at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces in a second play region, a prize may be won.

[0010] The lottery games played in accordance with the present invention encompass both games of chance and probability games.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The following drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts are illustrative of embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention as described in the application herein.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of the lottery ticket of the present invention with the scratch-off layers present in the first and second play areas;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a is a top view of the lottery ticket shown in FIG. 1 with the scratch-off layers in the first and second play areas removed;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a top view of another embodiment of a lottery ticket of the present invention with a separate play region containing bonus jig-saw type puzzle pieces; and

[0015] FIG. 4 is a top view of a still further embodiment of the invention showing an instant win feature.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a lottery ticket as an embodiment of the present invention in the form of a game of chance as more fully described hereinafter. The lottery ticket 2 has a top face 4 which includes at least one first play area 6 (one play area 6 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) comprised of a plurality of rows 8 and columns 10 which together define a plurality of individual of individual play spaces 12 containing a first jig-saw type puzzle piece 14 as shown best in FIG. 2.

[0017] Each of the jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 has at least one mating surface 16. The mating surface 16 of the first jig-saw type puzzle piece may be constructed to mate with a corresponding mating surface of another first jig-saw type puzzle piece which is more fully described in connection with the second play area described hereinafter.

[0018] In a preferred form of the invention, the mating surface 16 is comprised of a projection 18 and/or a cavity 20 having a shape for receiving a projection 18. it will be understood that the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 may have multiple mating surfaces wherein each mating surface, in a preferred form of the invention, has one or more projections 18 and/or cavities 20.

[0019] The first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 will typically comprise a variety of shapes, pictures, graphic designs and the like which can include rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, other polygons (e.g. pentagon) and eccentric shapes such as shown in the top row, right hand column identified as numeral 22 as shown in FIG. 2. First jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 may also be differentiated from each other by color.

[0020] Each of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 may be provided with indicia 25 (e.g. numbers, letters, icons, symbols, pictures, illustrations, graphic designs and combinations thereof) for assisting the player in identifying those first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 from the first play area 6 which match corresponding second jig-saw type puzzle pieces identified in the second play area 24 as described below.

[0021] The lottery ticket 2 also includes a second play area 24 which is employed by the player to match first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 in the first play area 6 with second jig-saw type puzzle pieces appearing in the second play area 24. If a preselected minimum number of matches are made, a prize may be won.

[0022] The second play area 24 comprises at least one game region 26 (four game regions identified by the words Puzzle A, B, C, and D are shown in the specific embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2). Each of the game regions 26 includes at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 which may be, but are not required to be mated through the mating surfaces 16. In a preferred form of the invention, the second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 are mated to form a shape (e.g. triangle) or other identifiable relationship between pieces (e.g. a picture, illustration, pattern, graphic design, object or the like). The first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 from the first play area 6 may or may not find correspondence with second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 in the second play area 24. Each of the second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 may be identified by the same indicia 25 described above for the first jig-saw puzzle pieces 14 appearing in the first play area 6. The second game regions 26 may contain the same or different number of second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28, and may include identical puzzle pieces.

[0023] A lottery ticket lottery game in accordance with the present invention may be played as a game of chance by removing the scratch-off layer from the entire first play area 6 to reveal the various first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 appearing therein. It will be noted that the arrangement of jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 in the first play area 6 is shown in a series of rows and columns. However, any arrangement of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 may be employed in the present invention including circles, letters, symbols and the like.

[0024] Once all of the jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 are revealed in the first play area 6, the player looks to each of the game regions 26 to determine if there are any matches between the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 and the second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 appearing in the game regions 26. By way of example, puzzle A has four second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 (identified by the indicia 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A). The player reviews the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 contained within the play area 6 and notes that first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 (1A and 2A) find correspondence in puzzle A by the appearance of jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 identified by the same indicia 1A and 2A. If two matches in puzzle A meet the minimum criteria for winning a prize for that particular game region, then a prize will be won. If not, (e.g. if at least three puzzle pieces must be matched), then the lottery ticket is not a winner for puzzle A. The player repeats the procedure described above for the remaining game regions 26 (i.e. puzzles B-D) to determine if a prize has been won. The player may win a prize if one played game region meets the minimum matching requirements, or a larger or multiple prizes may be won if the minimum matching requirement is met in two or more game regions. Furthermore, one or more of the game regions 26 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be designated as a bonus game region in which a different prize may be won than the prizes associated with the other game regions.

[0025] The lottery ticket shown in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 has been described in connection with a game of chance in which the winning or losing of the game is entirely controlled by the lottery ticket and not by the player. This is accomplished by requiring the player to play all of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces.

[0026] However, the present invention may be played as a probability game by requiring the player to play less than all of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces. Referring to FIG. 1, the first play area 6 contains a total of 30 play spaces 12 each containing a single first jig-saw type puzzle piece 14. In accordance with one example of a probability game format, the player would be instructed to remove the scratch-off layer from less than all of the individual play spaces 12 (e.g. remove the scratch-off layer from only 20 of the 30 individual spaces) so that the outcome of the game is in part dependent on which individual spaces are selected by the player.

[0027] In a further embodiment of the invention, the lottery ticket may be provided with a bonus puzzle piece section enabling the player to play one or more additional first jig-saw type puzzle pieces which do not appear in the first play area.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a bonus puzzle piece section 30 containing at least one (only on is shown) bonus jig-saw type puzzle piece 32 which may find correspondence with a second jig-saw type puzzle piece 28 in the second play area 24 to increase the possibility of winning a prize. It should be noted that the bonus puzzle piece section may be used as an instant prize awarding section by identifying the bonus puzzle piece as an instant prize winner through, for example, some form of identifying indicia such as an asterisk.

[0029] In a further embodiment of the invention, either or both of preselected first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 and second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 may be designated for instant win prizes. Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown an instant win feature associated with both the first play area 6 and the second play area 24. It will be understood that the optional instant win feature shown in FIG. 4, may appear only in the first play area 6 or the second play area 24.

[0030] The first play area 6 shown in FIG. 4 has an individual space 12 containing a first jig-saw type puzzle 14 (designated by the indicia “4C”) which is marked with, for example, an asterisk indicative of an instant win prize. The marking may include a prize amount (e.g. $5).

[0031] The second play area 24 is shown in FIG. 4 as also having an instant win prize with regard to the second jig-saw type puzzle piece 28 identified by the indicia “4B” which, like the first jig-saw puzzle piece “4C” is marked with an asterisk.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 1, the indicia 25 which appears on the scratch-off layer on top of the jig-saw puzzle pieces 28 in the second play area 24 may be imprinted thereon through a technique described in Desbiens (Reissue Pat. No. 34,673) incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A lottery ticket comprising:

a) a first play area comprising a plurality of first jig-saw type puzzle pieces having at least one first mating surface adapted to mate to a complimentary mating surface of at least one other first jig-saw type puzzle piece, said first jig-saw type puzzle pieces being covered by a removable scratch-off layer;

b) a second play area comprising at least one second play region, each second play region containing at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces which may be of the same shape as one or more first jig-saw type puzzle pieces located in the first play area.

wherein if at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces in a second play region are matched with first jig-saw type puzzle pieces in the first play area a prize may be won.

2. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein the at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces are mated to each other or at least one other second jig-saw type puzzle piece through a mating surface.

3. The lottery ticket of claim 2 wherein the at least one mating surface comprises at least one projection or cavity or combination thereof complimentary in shape to a corresponding projection or cavity in the mating surface of another first jig-saw type puzzle piece.

4. The lottery ticket of claim 1 comprising a plurality of second play regions.

5. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein the first play area comprises a plurality of individual spaces, each space containing at least one first jig-saw type puzzle piece.

6. The lottery ticket of claim 4 wherein each of the second play regions contains the same number of second jig-saw type puzzle pieces.

7. The lottery ticket of claim 4 wherein not all of the second play regions contain the same number of second jig-saw type puzzle pieces.

8. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein the first play region comprises a plurality of individual spaces, each space containing at least one first jig-saw type puzzle covered by a scratch-off layer, wherein up to all of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces are exposed by removing the scratch-off layer.

9. The lottery ticket of claim 8 wherein less than all of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces are exposed by removal of the scratch-off layer.

10. The lottery ticket of claim 1 further comprising a bonus section containing at least one first jig-saw type puzzle piece.

11. The lottery ticket of claim 1 further comprising at least one bonus game region in the second play area.

12. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second jig-saw type puzzle pieces comprises an instant win feature.

13. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein the second jig-saw type puzzle pieces in at least one of the second play regions forms a pattern.