Category-Related Guessing Game

Abstract

The claimed invention is a game in which a player or players tries to guess the category to which a set of words or phrases belongs. The words or phrases are arranged on a playing means such that only the first letter of each word or phrase is initially revealed. The second letters of each word or phrase are then simultaneously revealed, then the third letters, and so on, until a player is able to guess the category to which the words or phrases belong. The game represents an original and elegant advance over other games involving categories, members of categories, and orthography. Whereas other games involve only two of these types of information, or involve providing two types of information in order to guess the third type, the claimed invention utilizes orthography to enable a guessing of both words and categories in a dynamic and fun way, and further implements a simple game device conducing to ease and excitement of play.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 61/115876, filed Nov. 18, 2008 by the present inventor.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None

SEQUENCE LISTING

None

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention belongs to the general category of guessing games involving words, categories, and the spelling of words. In these games, players are supplied with information of one or more of these types—word, category, or letters—and are asked to guess information about on or more of the other types. No prior art game has taught a

Certain games in the prior art provide a player with certain letters and ask the player to guess a word or phrase. The popular children's game “hangman” and the television game show “Wheel of Fortune” begin with a concealed word or phrase. These games gradually reveal letters located at various positions within the word or phrase, while the player or players seek to guess the word or phrase using as few letters as possible. In the game Scrabble, and in many similar games, players are provided with assorted letters, with which the players seek to form words of their own choosing. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,994 to O'Connor (1997).

U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,862 to Wong (2003) discloses a game which provides players with the first letters of words belonging to an acronym. The object of the game is to guess the spelled-out form of the acronym. The game gradually provides players with additional letters located at various positions within the words of the acronym. As in “hangman” or Wheel of Fortune,” the player or players seek to guess the answer using as few letters as possible.

The prior art also discloses games which provide a player with certain members of a category, and ask the player to guess the name of the category. The popular game show “$100,000 Pyramid” included a game segment of this type.

The prior art has also disclosed inventions which supply a player with a certain letter and a certain category, and ask the player to guess one or more words which begin with the given letter and fall within the given category. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,261,671 to Wyatt (1993), 4,928,976 to Vano (1990), 4,911,452 to Marchese (1990), 4,877,254 to Yuscavage (1989), 4,592,553 to Mammen (1986), 4,222,561 to Whitten (1980), 4,198,047 to Scott (1980), 4,123,051 to Tsacoyannis (1978). In these games, there are no predetermined “correct” answers to the challenge; a player need only guess any word which falls within the given category and which begins with the given letter.

There are prior art games which supply a player with an assortment of letters and a certain category, and the player must use the given letters to form words belonging to the given category. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,934,711 to Runstein (1990), 4,306,724 to Brzezinski (1981), and 4,198,047 to Scott (1980).

U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,435 (1993) to Tanner discloses a game which provides letters in the form of scrambled words, as well as the beginning letter or letters of a “main word” which may be a category to which the scrambled words belong. The player must guess the unscrambled words as well as the main word.

In short, the prior art involves games which either (a) provide given letters and require the guessing of complete words or phrases, (b) provide given words or phrases and require the guessing of the category to which the words or phrases belong, or (c) provide a given category along with the first letters of words—or provide a given category along with a set of scrambled letters—and require the guessing of members of the category.

SUMMARY

The claimed invention is a method of playing a game by gradually revealing the letters of a series of words or phrases which belong to a single category and are arranged in a vertical list. At the beginning of play, the first letter of each of the words or phrases is exposed to the player, the rest of the letters of the words or phrases being concealed by a concealing device. Over the course of a turn, the concealing device is gradually slid to the right such that a second, third, fourth, etc., column of letters is exposed to the player. The object of the game is to guess the category to which the words or phrases belong. The player seeks to guess the answer category using the fewest number of exposed columns of letters as possible. Points are awarded based on the number of letters displayed at the time the player guesses the category.

The claimed invention differs fundamentally from other inventions which combine categories, the members of categories, and the spelling of words. The invention introduces a unique, original element of an interplay between categories of words and spellings of words. In the claimed invention, players are gradually given the first few letters of words or phrases belonging to a particular category and are asked to guess the category. In no prior game has the spelling of words been brought into this type of conjunction with word categories.

Unlike “hangman”-type games, the claimed invention supplies the beginning letters of a set of words or phrases, rather than letters located at random points within a single word or phrase. Unlike the Wong invention, the claimed invention involves members of categories rather than the words within an acronym. Also unlike the Wong invention, the claimed invention reveals multiple initial letters in sequence starting with the first letter of each word or phrase, rather than revealing the first letters followed by letters located variously within the words of the acronym.

The orthographic component renders the claimed invention original advance vis-à-vis “$100,000 Pyramid”-type games which require a player to guess a category based on a list of words or phrases. The claimed invention does not reveal all the letters of the words. In effect, the player of the claimed invention guesses at both the words and the category.

By contrast with category games in which players must guess words belonging to a given category and beginning with a given letter or letters, the claimed invention (a) involves an element of guessing the answer category based on given words, rather than guessing answer words based on a given category; (b) involves the gradual revelation of multiple initial letters rather than merely the first letter, and (c) involves the guessing of not any words belonging to the category but only the particular words printed on the game card.

With regard to games in which players must unscramble a collection of letters to form words belonging to a particular category, the claimed invention differs in that (a) the claimed invention involves an element of guessing the answer-category based on given words rather than guessing answer-words upon being supplied with a given category, (b) the deduction of words within the claimed invention is not an unscrambling but a gradual revelation of initial letters of words; and (c) the claimed invention involves an element of guessing multiple pre-selected words within the answer-category rather than the guessing of any word within the category.

The claimed invention differs from the Tanner invention in that the orthographic component is not an “unscrambling” and particularly in the claimed invention's method for gradually revealing columns of letters.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a game card.

FIG. 2 is a game device.

FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 are examples of a computer display screen.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

• 13 recessed cavity
• 14 sliding cover
• 15 cover control mechanism
• 16 windable dial
• 17 dial handle
• 18 letter display element
• 19 cover element
• 20 player input element

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an example of a game card, which displays a set of words or phrases belonging to a particular category (“member words”). The member words are arranged in a vertical list, one word being printed directly beneath another. The printing of the member words is justified to the left margin and the letters of the member words are evenly spaced such that the second letter of each word is aligned in a vertical column with the other second letters, the third letters are likewise aligned in a column with each other, and so on. The other side of the card may be blind.

FIG. 2 shows a game apparatus containing a recessed cavity 13 of dimensions slightly larger than a game card. A sliding cover 14 slides above the recessed cavity 13 from right to left so as to cover the recessed cavity 13 completely when closed. The game apparatus further comprises a cover control mechanism 15 which automatically slides the cover component from left to right over timed intervals. The control mechanism is operated by a windable dial 16 connected to an internal spring of a conventional egg-timer type. When the cover control mechanism 15 is activated, the sliding cover 14 slides from left to right to the extent of the displacement between the left border of a game card and a small margin to the right of the first column of letters on the game card. After the elapsing of a period of time—for instance, thirty seconds—the cover control mechanism 15 causes the sliding cover 14 to slide an additional distance representing the displacement between a small margin to the left of the second column of letters on a game card and a small margin on the right of that second column. The process continues for the third and fourth columns, and so on, for five or six iterations of the left-to-right motion of the sliding cover 14. The tension on the internal spring is approximately sufficient to allow nine or ten iterations of the left-to-right motion when the spring is fully wound. The mechanical connections between the sliding cover 4, the internal spring, and the windable dial 16 are such that the sliding cover 4 may be manually slid to left or right, regardless of the amount of tension in the spring and without damaging the spring, gain in the manner of a conventional egg timer.

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 show examples of a computer display screen. In FIG. 7, a letter display element 18 displays a vertical column of letters while a cover element 19 occupies the remainder of the display screen. A computer program causes the letter display element 18 display additional columns of letters, as pictured in FIGS. 8 and 9, over timed intervals, while the cover element 19 occupies an progressively smaller portion of the screen. A player input element 20 allows a player to manually enter input which the computer program compares against a stored database.

OPERATION

The game is played by two or more players or teams. In one embodiment, only one player or team (“the playing player”) seeks to guess the category during a particular turn. A turn begins with one game participant (“the judging player”) removing a game card (FIG. 1) from a deck of such cards, silently reading the category name printed on the game card without revealing any portion of the face of the card to the playing player, placing the game card (FIG. 1) face-up in the recessed cavity 13 of the game apparatus, and closing the sliding cover 14 of the game apparatus. The game apparatus is then placed in front of the playing player and the judging player winds the windable dial 16 using the dial handle 17. The cover control mechanism 15 is activated by releasing pressure on the dial handle 17. Upon activation, the game apparatus slides the sliding cover 14 to the right and thus reveals to the playing player the first letters of the member words. The playing player seeks to guess the category to which the member words belong. As time elapses, the game apparatus slides the cover progressively to the right. The judging player awaits the guessing of the correct category and may stop the cover control mechanism 15 by sliding the sliding cover 14 all the way to the right, when the correct category is guessed. Any number of categories may be guessed without penalty until the correct one is guessed. Points are tabulated based on the number of columns of letters which are exposed when the correct category is guessed. The fewer the columns which are revealed when the correct answer is guessed, the fewer points are assigned to the playing player. After a designated number of turns, the player with the fewest umber of points wins the game.

Alternative embodiments include:

(a) An embodiment in which no players read the face of the card before placing it in the game device, and the players compete against each other to guess the category first. When a player concludes that he or she has determined the category, he or she declares his or her guess, and manually slides the sliding cover 4 to the right to assess the accuracy of his or her guess. A penalty is assessed if the player has guessed the wrong category.

(b) An embodiment in which the game card (FIG. 1) is folded such that the right side of the card conceals the entirety of the letters printed on the left side of the card while also concealing the category name printed on the right side of the card. The folded card may be manually manipulated by sliding the right edge of the card so as gradually to reveal individual columns of letters.

(c) An embodiment in which a player uses a piece of paper to write down words or phrases belonging to a category of his or her choosing, concealing those words by a folded portion of the paper or any other covering material, and quizzing another player as to the category name.

(d) An embodiment in which the category name is printed on the reverse of the card instead of on the same side of the card as the member words, so that the answer-category is revealed by flipping the card over rather than revealing the right side of the card.

(e) An embodiment involving the addition of a game board displaying a continuous path along which the players move playing pieces by a number of spaces based on each player's performance during his or her turn, with greater success in guessing categories being rewarded by greater movement on the continuous path. The game ends when one player's playing piece reaches the end of the continuous path.

(f) An embodiment involving the use of a computer program having a stored database of sets of words along with their associated category names. The program creates a letter display element 18 displaying an initial column of letters and then successive columns of letters over timed intervals. A cover element 19 may be used to aesthetically represent a cover concealing additional letters. A player input element 20 allows a player to enter input consisting of the player's guess as to the correct category. The program compares the player's guess against the correct answer in the database and advises the player as to whether he or she has guessed right or wrong.

(g) An embodiment in which the letters revealed to the player are not the first letters followed by second and third letters, and so forth, but random letters or columns of letters from the words or phrases.

(h) An embodiment in which the object of the game is to guess not only the name of the category but the names of the words or phrases themselves. The player or players may be apprised of the category name initially, or the category name may be revealed letter by letter along with the revelation of the letters of the words or phrase, or the category name may be concealed altogether.

Claims

1. A playing apparatus for guessing categories, the playing apparatus consisting of a plurality of playing means and a means for concealing text displayed on the playing means, each playing means displaying a set of words or phrases constituting members of a category, the words or phrases being displayed on the playing means such that all the letters of the words or phrases except the first letter of each word or phrase may be initially concealed, then both the first and second letters (but not the remaining letters) of each word or phrase may be revealed with the remaining letters being concealed, then the only first three letters of each word or phrase may be revealed, and so on, the concealing means being constructed so as to be capable of initially concealing, then gradually revealing the letters of the words or phrases.

2. A method for a player or players to guess categories by being apprised of initially only the first letter of each of a set of given words or phrases belonging to a given category, then being gradually apprised of second, third, and fourth letters of each word or phrase, and so on, until a player guesses the category, the letters being supplied to the player in the form of a simultaneous revelation of additional letters from all the words or phrases.

3. A method for a player or players to guess categories by being apprised of certain but not all the letters of a set of words or phrases belonging to a given category, then being apprised of additional letters of the words or phrases until the category is guessed.

4. A method for a player or players to guess members of a category, by being apprised of only the first letter of each of a set of words or phrases, by then being gradually apprised of second, third, and fourth letters of each word or phrase, and so on, until the player guesses some or all the words or phrases, the letters being presented to the player in the form of a simultaneous revelation of additional letters from all the words or phrases.

5. The method of claim 4, comprising the further step of apprising the player or players of the category to which the words or phrases belong.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the name of the category to which the words belong is revealed letter by letter, beginning with a single letter which is followed by the revelation of additional letters.

7. The apparatus described in claim 1, wherein the concealing means is a portion of the playing means which is folded so as initially to conceal then gradually to reveal he words or phrases.

8. The apparatus described in claim 1, wherein the concealing means is a separate device in which the playing means is placed, the device comprising a playing-means-holding component and a cover component.

9. The apparatus described in claim 8, wherein the device comprises a cover control component which automatically manipulates the cover component so as to reveal a greater portion of the playing means over timed intervals.

10. The apparatus described in claim 1, wherein the words or phrases on the playing means are arranged in a vertical list, the printing of the words on the playing means being justified to the left margin of the playing means and successive letters of each word or phrase being evenly spaced such that the second, third, fourth, etc., letters of ach word or phrase appear directly above or below each other.

11. The apparatus described in claim 9, wherein the playing means is a playing card.

12. The apparatus described in claim 1, wherein the category to which the words or phrases belong is also printed on the playing means.

13. The method described in claim 2, wherein one player writes down a list of words or phrases belonging to a category, such words and category being of the layer's own choosing.

14. The method described in claim 2, comprising the further step of tabulating points based on the number of letters which are revealed at the time a player correctly guesses the category.

15. The method described in claim 2, comprising the further steps of assembling a plurality of players, choosing a starting player or team to begin a round of play, designating another player or team as the “judging player,” said judging player drawing a randomly selected playing means from a general pool of playing means each of which displays a set of words or phrases belonging to a category, such judging player causing the words or phrases displayed on the playing means to be initially concealed and then gradually exposed, while the starting player seeks to guess the category to which the words or phrases belong, such judging player evaluating whether the starting player's guess or guesses is correct, and such judging player stopping play when the starting player has correctly guessed the category.

16. The method described in claim 2, comprising the further step of assembling a plurality of players, such players selecting a playing means from a general pool of playing means each of which displays a set of words or phrases belonging to a category as well as the name of the category, no player initially observing either the words or phrases or the category name, the players competing to guess the category, and play ending when a player first guesses a category or first guesses the answer category correctly.

17. The method described in claim 14, comprising the further step of moving playing pieces assigned to each player on a game board, such movement being dictated by the number of points each player has accumulated during rounds of the game.

18. The method described in claim 2, comprising the further step of employing a computer program to store a plurality of sets of words or phrases along with the associated categories, to retrieve from the database a set or words or phrases along with the given category name, to display to a player or players of the initial letters of the words or phrases, to gradually display additional letters of the words or phrases, to accept player input consisting of guesses concerning the name of the given category, to compare player input against the stored name of the given category, and to apprise the player or players whether the guesses are correct.