Playing card game with viewable grid array base

Abstract

The playing cards are laid out in a grid configuration such as three rows of four cards each. Unlike traditional plating card games where there is an element of secrecy between players, in this game, the player does not hold any cards away from the other players field of vision. Both players play the game upon the grid of these array of the rows and columns of the playing cards, in an environment and orientation similar to how two players place chess four checkers on a respective chessboard or a checkerboard.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to playing games with playing cards arrayed in a viewable grid.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The traditional board games of checkers and chess use pre-arranged arrays of geometrical grids for opposing players, where game pieces are moved strategically without either player hiding game pieces from the other player.

Among related patents include U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,298 of Schlumbrecht which discloses a casino and game in which a pool of playing cards is revealed to the players, while the remaining cards are kept hidden from view by respective players. U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,337 of Somma is similar in scope to Schlembrecht '298. However, Schlumbercht '298 does not describe a card game where both players have equal access to all cards successively revealed in a grid array.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,756 of Hughes teaches using a deck of flash cards for teaching music to students. However, the reference actually does not teach the use of a tactical playing card game where the playing cards are arrayed in a viewable grid, where neither-player has hidden cards not revealed to the other player.

Other playing card games are noted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,524 of Nannicola where a grid is provided progressively revealing winning numbers or indicia. U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,715 of Friedman with hands of selected hidden cards and pools of common revealed cards.

To that end, Schlumbrecht '298 and Hughes '756 are directed to particular playing card games where the players hide certain cards from other players.

The use of an array of playing cards in the present invention for a game, where neither player hides cards from the other players would be discouraged, if not clearly taught away from Schlumbrecht '298 and Hughes '756.

Therefore, the use of a geometrical grid array, as in Applicant's present invention, in conjunction with strategic rules without hiding cards is not only not suggested, but would be discouraged or taught away by the references relied on.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a playing card game wherein the playing cards are arrayed in a geometric grid, and the players strategically select the cards in the array.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a playing card game which utilizes a set of playing cards without having the players hide selected cards from view and which promotes game intrigue.

Other objects which become apparent from the following description of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In keeping with these objects and others which may become apparent, the present invention is a playing card game which preoccupies and interactively involves the development of minds and thoughts of participant(s). Even though the Soori game is simple to play, it is challenging as well, while game has a smooth nature, peace of mind and pleasure amusing. Soori game is easy to learn and to play. Soori game is as challenging and intimidating as chess. Since in chess each player has to consider many scenarios where in the Soori card game a few scenarios will do the job. The players go ahead and enjoy the Soori game in three levels with lots of fun.

The array of playing cards arrayed in a grid of the present invention enhances the strategy of the game by incorporating a technical game of strategy without having each player hide a hand of cards greatly enhances the intrigue of the game aspects while maintaining its utility as a game of skill.

The use of a geometric grid of playing cards, such as a rectangle, provides the players with a playing surface which provides a grid for selecting playing cards and moving about the grid.

The subject matter is not a traditional card game where opposing players each hold a “hand” of a plurality of cards, hidden from view from other players. No one plays the game “with cards close to the chest”, as the saying goes.

Instead, the cards are laid out in an array of rows and columns forming a “grid”, like the board games chess or checkers, but instead of a grid in the form of a checkerboard grid of rows and columns, the cards are arrayed in the aforesaid array of a grid comprising rows and columns of cards, such as shown in the drawing FIGS. 1-22.

For example, the playing cards are laid out in a grid configuration such as three rows of four cards each. Unlike traditional playing card games where there is an element of secrecy between players, in this game, the player does not hold any cards away from the other players field of vision. Both players play the game upon the grid of these array of the rows and columns of the playing cards, in an environment and orientation similar to how two players place chess four checkers on a respective chessboard or a checkerboard.

As for classic card games where a “pool” of cards are revealed to all players such as in the card game “Casino”, in the Casino card game the players still retain a significant portion of the 52 card deck in “hands” which are not revealed to the other players.

The drawing Figures show various portions of a game played according to pre-set rules. But the novelty is not in the rules (values assigned to winning cards, steps to be taken, etc.) but rather in that the players play like they are playing chess or checkers, with cards instead of playing pieces on a playing board.

In other words, the cards themselves are both the playing board grid array, and the playing pieces.

For example, unlike the traditional playing card “War” game, or the game of “Poker”, the battles between cards are determined by tactical choice (like the game of “Chess”) instead of by chance, as in “War” or “Poker”.

BRIEF DRAWING DESCRIPTION

The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a selection of selected playing cards having value in the game;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the initial grid of playing cards at the beginning of the game;

FIG. 3 is an initial inquiry and of these playing cards where the cards are removed and turned over to reveal their suit and assigned numbers;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view after a subsequent playing incident of the cards of the grid;

FIGS. 5 to 21 are top plan the views of the grid progressing through out the game; and,

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of the method of playing the game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The playing cards are laid out in a grid configuration such as three rows of four cards each. Unlike traditional playing card games where there is an element of secrecy between players, in this game, the player does not hold any cards away from the other players field of vision. Both players play the game upon the grid of these array of the rows and columns of the playing cards, in an environment and orientation similar to how two players place chess four checkers on a respective chessboard or a checkerboard.

FIG. 1 shows all valuable cards which they have points value in soori games, all Spades from Ace to King can have 7 points.

FIG. 1 shows other extra 13 points as follows: 2 of Spades has 2 points, Ten of Diamonds has 3 points, four Jacks have 4 points, one point each, four Aces have 4 points, one point each, total of 13 points.

FIG. 1 also shows all cards which each have one point.

FIG. 2 shows the actual start of the Soori game. Player B or a neutral non-playing dealer distributes the card by giving 6 cards to player A downward on position C and 6 cards to himself or herself or player B on position E. He or she will continue such distribution for 4 times for each player. Now each player A and B has 4 decks of 6 cards with total of 48 cards. Each player has 24 cards downward and the remaining 4 cards will lie down in the middle upward on the row D.

FIG. 3 shows the two players will reveal upward their top cards in the grid array. At this point each player can figure out his situation with respect to the grid. However, the player A must start the game. He can play the Ten of Hearts with Ace of Hearts.

In FIG. 4 the player A saves his winning cards on position F and face up the next card. In this case, he played the card Ten of Hearts. The next card under Ten of Hearts was Five of Hearts. Now it is the player B turn to play. Player B also plays Ten of Spades with Ace of Spades.

In FIG. 5 player B saves his winner cards on position G. Player A moves the King of Diamonds on the center.

In FIG. 6 player B picks up the King of Spades with the King of Diamonds in the center as though they do not have any point value in this game.

In FIG. 7, player A moves the 6 of Clubs with value of one point. He does this because the player B does not have any card with number 5 to pick up the 6 of Clubs. Therefore, on the next move the player A can win his own 6 of Clubs with 5 of Hearts.

In FIG. 8 player B moves his 6 of Diamonds on the center, and does not waste his Jack of Diamonds for the 6 of Clubs. He saves this powerful tool for a better hand.

In FIG. 9, as mentioned before, player A wins 6 of Clubs with 5 of Hearts. Player B wins the Queen of Spades with Queen of Clubs.

In FIG. 10 player A cannot move his 3 and 7 of Spades. If he does, the player B will win with his 8 and 4 of Clubs. Therefore, he moves his 2 of Spades in the center, as though player B has a 9 of Spades with no value point.

In FIG. 11 the situation is extremely sensitive. It looks like an array of a grid in a chess game and each player must be very careful play so well to get most points on such situation. Two players have 3, 8, 7, 2, 9 and 4 against each other in order to force the oppose party to give a SOOR, or predetermined penalty of points. Now it is the player B to play. If he moves 9 of Spades he has to pick it up with 2 of Spades with no value, 4 of Clubs he loses one point with 7 Club of player A, 8 of Clubs he loses one point with 3 Spade of player A. In such case it pays for player B to take the risk and sacrifice his Jack and he will be very lucky to have any card of 3 of Clubs, 3 of Hearts, 3 of Diamonds.

In FIG. 12, as is shown, the player B sacrifices his Jack and his 3 of Hearts shows up. He is very lucky with his risk. He puts the opposing player A in a difficult position and player A has to give player B a SOOR of 10 points.

In FIG. 13, as is noted, the player A moves his 2 of Hearts to much the 9 of Spades of player B. He does not move his 3 of Spades and 8 of Hearts. If he does, beside the Soor penalty of points, he will lose one point of Club.

FIG. 14 shows 9 of Spades picked up 2 of Hearts and it was saved on position H to represent the number of penalty points of SOORS of player B.

In FIG. 15 the player A becomes more confused. Instead of he moves his Queen, he moves his 8 of Hearts. With this move, he gives the player B another chance of acquiring SOOR penalties of points.

FIG. 16 shows that player B with his 3 of Hearts got the second SOOR (20 extra points).

In FIG. 17 player A moves his Queen of Hearts, which it is a good move.

In FIG. 18 player B moves his King of Hearts. He is very lucky and he gets another Jack.

In FIG. 19 player A moves his 5 of Diamonds. At this point, again the game's geometric array situation is exactly like a chess game. It is player B's turn. If player B moves his Ace of Diamonds, the player A wins with his 10 of Clubs with 2 points. If he moves his 4 of Clubs, he loses one point with 7 of Spades of player A. If he moves 8 of Clubs, he will lose one point with 3 of Spades of player A. Therefore, he has to play his Jack and pick up the 5 of Diamonds.

In FIG. 20, the player A made the same assumption as player B did before and he does not move his 3 of Spades, 7 of Spades and 10 of Clubs. He picks up his King of Clubs with King of Hearts in center without considering aftermath consequences.

As FIG. 21 shows, the player A carelessly gave the player B the third SOOR of penalty points.

The game is continued with subsequent moves on the grid array up to the end.

As show in the flow chart at FIG. 22, the game can be played with various skill levels and options. For example, the method of playing the card game includes several level, including the steps of:

a) dealing out a whole deck of cards to first and second players by distributing all cards into a plurality of stacks in a row for each player and a playing field comprising a number of single open cards lined up in a row between each player's row, each stack having a top open card, whereby all cards being played are open to both players;

b) each player in turn combining an open numbered card or cards in his own stacks with a numbered card or cards in the playing field whose face values add up to a predetermined numerical value, each player retaining the combined cards, removal of a card from a stack opening up for view another card;

c) each player during his turn having an option to move a card from his own stack to a vacated space in the playing field;

d) the players continuing to play in turn until a winner is determined by a predetermined computation.

The stacks and the row of cards in the playing field noted in paragraph “a” above form a grid.

In the playing card game, the winner is determined by which player has the most retained cards after all cards are retained by the players. Moreover, each card has an assigned value and the winner is determined by who has the most points or a predetermined point total.

A designated picture card may be a wild card, and a non-designated picture card can only be used by a player to pick up a matching picture card and retained by the player picking up the matching card.

The game is played in multiple levels of complexity. For example, as noted in the flow chart block diagram FIG. 22, a level I is played with a winner being determined by the player collecting a predetermined number of cards. Furthermore, a level II is played with a winner being determined by a player reaching a predetermined number of points. Lastly, a level III is played with bonus points being awarded for specific moves by a player.

The game can be varied so that some suits earn additional points.

However, the important feature is the layout of the playing card game in which the grid is in the form of a rectangle divided into rows of spaces for the stacks and open cards in the playing field.

EXAMPLES

Level I

How To Deal Cards

In Level I, a dealer of a live set of cards, or a computer displaying the grid array on a computer screen deals 6 cards to opponent and 6 cards to itself, four times, in six stacks per player. (Optionally, the dealer can deal 4 cards to opponent and itself, six times in six stacks).

Each player has 24 cards for a total of 48 cards, in 4 stacks per player, all face down. The remaining 4 cards of the deck are laid on the playing field face up. Each player then turns his or her top four cards face up.

The first player A's turn comes first to play the first hand of the first game. After player A has played, it is the opponent, player B's, turn. The opponent (or a computer) will automatically play its turn.

For any player, A or B, to take center cards, the sum of all cards picked up MUST be equal to 11. For example:

If Player has Center Total
1 + 10 =             11
2 + 9 =              11
3 + 8 =              11
4 + 7 =              11
5 + 6 =              11
6 + 5 =              11
7 + 4 =              11
8 + 3 =              11
9 + 2 =              11
10 + 1 =             11

Multiple cards can also be picked up from the center, as follows:

If Player has 2 (on the cards)+4 and 5 (in center) that equals 11.

8+(2+1)=11, 5+(4+2)=11, 6+(2+3)=11,

Also note a more complex equation:

4+(1+3+3)=11, 1+(5+1+4)=11.

In each turn, a player can only use one top card from a hand plus as many cards, on the playing field as the player can—but the player must make them equal to 11.

Kings can be picked up by other Kings.

Queens can be picked up by Queens.

Jacks pick up all numbered cards on the playing field including Jacks.

Kings and Queens are NOT picked up by Jacks.

If a player A or B cannot make 11, the player A or B must place a card on the playing field.

Last Winning Hand:

The last winning play of a set will collect all cards showing on the playing field. For example: If player A is the last player who can pick up 11 points by adding one of player A's cards with the card(s) of the playing field, or King with King, or Queen with a Queen, then player A receives all cards on the playing field plus the rest of opponent, player B's, cards.

Objective Winner (Level I)

Multiple hands are played, until one player has collected 100 cards.

Level II

Objective:

The first person to collect 65 points (rather than cards) wins. In this level II, players A and B must evaluate their opponent's top cards to gain more points for themselves.

This is how the point system works:

Each ACE = 1 Point          Total of 4 points possible in each hand
Each JACK = 1 Point         Total of 4 points possible in each hand
The TEN of                  Total of 3 points possible in each hand
Diamonds = 3 Points
The TWO of CLUBS = 2 Points Total of 2 points possible in each hand
All CLUBS = 1 Point Each    Total of Thirteen points possible in
                            each hand
however only the player with the most amount of CLUBS gains 7 points - and no points are given to the opponents.
Total number of points in each hand: 20 Points.
Kings can be picked up by other Kings.
Queens can be picked by Queens.
Jacks pick up all numbered cards on the playing field including Jacks.
Kings and Queens are NOT picked up by Jacks.

Scoring:

First player A will go through all of player A's cards and count player A's Clubs. During the game player A to collect as many Clubs Cards as possible. Remember, only the player with seven or more clubs, gains 7 points. The player with 6 or less Club cards doesn't gain any points. While playing with the computer, the program will count the player's points according to the above system for player A.

For example:

If player A collected
	A Five, a Two, a Three, a King,	7	Points,
	a Six, a Seven, a Queen, =
	and a Ten, all of CLUBS (nine CLUB CARDS):
	The Ace of Hearts: =	1	Point,
	The Ten of Diamonds: =	3	Points,
	The Jack of Spades: =	1	Point,
	And The Two of CLUBS (Counts again) =	2	Points,
	TOTAL this hand: =	14	Points.
Note: opponent, player B, will count his or her points as follows:
	The remaining three ACES: =	3	Points,
	And the remaining three JACKS: =	3	Points
	Total points for opponent B in this hand: =	6	Points.
	Note:
	The total number of player A's points plus opponent player B's points add up to 20 Points. (14 + 6 + 20).
	Multiple hands are dealt until a player reaches 65 Points.

LEVEL III

In this level player A must be aware of opponent player B's top four cards at all times, in addition to player A's top cards. Ten Bonus points called “Soor”, are granted to a player who wipes clean the playing field in the middle of the hand.

For example:

Assume that there are no cards on the playing field. If opponent player B is showing a 6, a 5, an 8 and a Queen player A must avoid placing a 5, a 6, a 4 and or a Queen. This way he cannot make 11 using your last placed card on the playing field to make 11 and gain the Soor points.

Remember, if there are CLUBS involved, there will be additional points in opponent player B's favor.

The accumulation of Soor penalty points also applies to a King being picked up by a King (or a Queen being picked up by a Queen) provided that there will not be any cards left on the playing field.

Furthermore, player A must use his or her Jacks cleverly—possibly when there are a lot of CLUBS available on the playing field and ultimately when there are no Kings and or Queens on the Playing Field. Remember, this will grant player A not only the Seven Club points (provided that player A picks 7 or more) but also the Soor Bonus Penalty Points. Additionally, this will make it very difficult for opponent player B to play the very next hand and he will gain no points.

The last two cards (if any) do not gain the Soor Bonus points.

The object of the game comes from its name “Soori” to collect the Soor Bonus points.

In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended Claims.

Claims

1. A method of playing a card game comprising the steps of:

dealing out a whole deck of cards to first and second players by distributing all cards into a plurality of stacks in a row for each player and a playing field comprising a number of single open cards lined up in a row between each player's row, each stack having a top open card, whereby all cards being played are open to both players;

each player in turn combining an open numbered card or cards in his own stacks with a numbered card or cards in said playing field whose face values add up to a predetermined numerical value, each player retaining the combined cards, removal of a card from a stack opening up for view another card;

each player during his turn having an option to move a card from his own stack to a vacated space in said playing field;

said players continuing to play in turn until a winner is determined by a predetermined computation.

2. The method of claim 1 in which said stacks and said row of cards in said playing field form a grid.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the winner is determined by which player has the most retained cards after all cards are retained by the players.

4. The method of claim 1 in which each card has an assigned value and the winner is determined by who has the most points or a predetermined point total.

5. The method of claim 1 in which a designated picture card is a wild card.

6. The method of claim 5 in which a non-designated picture card can only be used by a player to pick up a matching picture guard and retained by the player picking up said matching card.

7. The method of claim 6 in which the game is played in multiple levels of complexity.

8. The method of claim 7 in which a level I is played with a winner being determined by the player collecting a predetermined number of cards.

9. The method of claim 8 in which a level II is played with a winner being determined by a player reaching a predetermined number of points.

10. The method of claim 9 in which a level III is played with bonus points being awarded for specific moves by a player.

11. The method of claim 10 in which some suits earn additional points.

12. The method of claim 11 in which the grid is in the form of a rectangle divided into rows of spaces for said stacks and open cards in said playing field.