Board Game

Abstract

A board game is presented that includes a game board or playing surface having an even plurality of precisely cut game piece sockets, each socket having a unique shape, and a plurality of game pieces, each game piece precisely engaging only one of the even plurality of game piece sockets. The game presents a contest for two or more players to be the first to fit all of their allocated, precisely cut pieces, each into their corresponding socket and then announce the name of the game, Pajaggle™. The board game may also be played individually against the clock to engage all of a pre-selected number of pieces in their respective sockets on a given board or playing surface.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from copending U.S. Provisional patent application 61/155,396 filed Feb. 25, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTIONS

The inventions described below relate to the field of leisure amusement devices and more specifically board games that may be played to provide multiple levels of difficulty simultaneously.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS

Board games have been a common form of leisure amusement for many years. One of the difficulties of most board games is adjusting the level of difficulty for all players. For a family with two parents and two children, the challenge is keeping the game challenging for the parents while not overwhelming the children and causing unnecessary frustration. If you add grandma and or grandpa to the mix the problem of adjusting the complexity to accommodate all players multiplies.

SUMMARY

A board game is disclosed that includes a game board having any suitable number of precisely cut game piece sockets, each socket having a unique and generally similar shape, and a plurality of game pieces, each game piece precisely engaging only one of the plurality of game piece sockets. The Pajaggle™ game pieces for a game set are generally complex and confusingly similar shapes. Each Pajaggle™ piece is a uniquely shaped game element formed to engage only one correspondingly shaped socket. The game may be played as a contest for two or more players to be the first to fit all of their allocated, precisely cut pieces, each into their corresponding socket and then announce the name of the game, Pajaggle™. The board game may also be played individually against the clock to engage all or a pre-selected number of pieces in their respective sockets on a given board.

A board game as disclosed may include an even number of playing pieces that is set depending on the size of the game board used. For most two player games on an 12 in. by 12 in. board, there will be between 40 to 80 (always an even number) “Pajaggle™” game pieces, each piece having a different yet generally similar, precisely cut shape and only one socket precisely cut to engage each Pajaggle™ game piece. Any suitable number of pieces may be used.

Alternatively, one or more game pieces may be double, triple or other multiple piece. For example, a unique socket exists in a game board to engage a Pajaggle™ ring which is a game piece that has a socket cut into it to engage a smaller unique piece. Alternatively, a Pajaggle™ ring may have a socket formed or cut into it to engage a unique second Pajaggle™ ring which has a socket formed or cut into it to engage a unique Pajaggle™ piece.

The board game may be played by an individual against the clock or a single board may accommodate up to 4 players. With two to four players, competitor's hands add a challenge by interfering with each other's view and access to the board sockets.

In another alternative, game play for multiple players or tournament play may be accomplished over a communication network such as the Internet. Electronic play may also be accomplished for a single player as an isolated application on a single computing device and may be similar to game board play. Alternatively, online play may be accomplished using any suitable two-dimensional or three dimensional shapes such as cars, motorcycles or other compelling shapes.

In yet another alternate configuration, the playing surface for a dynamic game board configuration may include a pre-selected or open number of Pajaggle™ plates. Each Pajaggle™ plate is a generally planar polygon that may or may not include interlocking features and or a socket. To arrange Pajaggle™ plates for a game, the plates are arranged abutting each other to form a continuous game surface. There may be many different shapes of game surfaces formed depending on the number of plates and the number of sides of each plate. The selection of the number of sides to the plates and the number of plates for a game may also permit or require that a game surface have one or more discontinuities. Each Pajaggle™ plate contains a socket cut into and possibly through the plate, the socket for engaging a single precisely cut Pajaggle™ piece. The socket in a plate may be oriented between the geometric center of the plate and the perimeter of the plate. This off-center orientation of the socket permits the plate to be oriented in a number of positions relative to the adjacent plates. The clock orientation of each plate combined with the ability to arrange the placement of the plates within the playing surface produces a factorial number of game variations for a given number of Pajaggle™ plates.

In dynamic game play, arranging the playing surface prior to game play is an additional strategic element of the game.

In still another alternate configuration, the playing surface of a dynamic locking game board for a Pajaggle™ game is composed of any suitable number of generally hexagonal Pajaggle™ plates. Each side of a Pajaggle™ plate for a dynamic locking game board include interlocking elements to engage the interlocking elements of an adjacent plate. A dynamic locking game board may be composed of plates having any suitable size and formed of any suitable material from metal, wood, plastic and acrylic to polymer foam for very large outdoor game surfaces.

Using the dynamic game surface and or the dynamic locking game surface a dynamic game may be played by separating the Pajaggle™ plates and the Pajaggle™ pieces with each set of elements in an opaque container. Each player selects a preset number of plates and pieces from each container. Each player arranges their pieces and plates in a holder to shield them from the other players sight until they are placed on the playing surface. Then, in turn, each player may place one or more of their plates, and or pieces into the corresponding plates, on the playing surface. If no play is possible a player must take a piece or a plate until all the pieces and plates are in play. The first player to clear all pieces and plates from their holder wins. Play may be scored using any suitable technique.

The fixed Pajaggle™ game board, the dynamic game surface and the dynamic locking game surface may also be used as a chassis or framework which may incorporate other classic games such a checkers, chess, tic-tac-toe and others.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a game board with first piece shapes.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a game board with second piece shapes.

FIG. 3 is an electronic network configured for electronic Pajaggle™.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an electronic game board in a starting configuration.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an electronic game board in the ending configuration.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of rectangular Pajaggle™ plates for a dynamic playing surface.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of hexagonal Pajaggle™ plates.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a game surface composed of hexagonal Pajaggle™ plates.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a hexagonal, locking Pajaggle™ plate.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a game surface composed of dynamic locking Pajaggle™ plates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Game board 10 of FIG. 1 includes a plurality of sockets such as sockets 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. For each socket there is a corresponding game piece that is precisely shaped to fit in only one socket. For example, game piece 14P corresponds only to socket 14 and game piece 13P corresponds to socket 13. Game piece 13P may be improperly placed into any socket that will accommodate it, such as socket 16, and in accordance with the rules cause a Pajiggle™. The generally similar shape of the Pajaggle™ game pieces enhances the possibility of a Pajiggle™ as well as establishing a consistent “look and feel” to each Pajaggle™ game.

Double game piece or Pajaggle™ ring 14P is a game piece that also includes a socket, socket 17 which in turn properly accommodates only game piece 17P.

Referring now to FIG. 2, alternative game board 20 includes a plurality of flower shaped sockets such as sockets 22 and 25. As discussed above, each socket is sized to properly engage only one game piece such as game piece 22P which properly engages only socket 22.

To play a game between two players on a fixed board such as board 20, all the pieces for the selected board are evenly divided between the players. Alternatively, the game may be handicapped based upon the skill level of the opponents. The pieces may be divided based upon size or the number of pieces or a player may be given a time advantage. For example, an adult may hold in total more pieces and pieces which are smaller, while the opponent, a child, may have hold fewer pieces which are larger in size. However, no one player should hold both pieces of a double-piece.

During game play, players place their pieces into the appropriate sockets in the game board as fast as possible. The first player to put all of his or her game pieces into the correct sockets first and say “Pajaggle™,” wins.

Each game piece fits specifically into only one socket, however, given the similarity in shapes, it's possible that a game piece may be placed into an incorrect socket. For example a smaller game piece fits into a slightly large socket having a generally similar shape. The insertion of a piece into an incorrect socket is referred to as a pajiggle™ and when it is learned that a player has made a pajiggle™ game play stops. The pajiggled piece is removed and the opponent can then penalize the player who made the pajiggle™ by transferring to him or her “x” number of Pajaggle™ game pieces and then play resumes. Alternate penalties may be assessed depending on the participants.

The game play is completed upon insertion by a player of all their game pieces into the corresponding sockets. To restart, the game board is rotated clockwise or counter clockwise, 90 degrees for example, so that the orientation of all sockets relative to each player are changed.

In another alternative, the winner of a game may receive a predetermined number of points in addition to a predetermined number of points corresponding to the number of game pieces that the opponent was unable to insert into the game board before “Pajaggle™” was announced. In this version, the first player who reaches an agreed point total wins.

Socket and game piece shapes may adopt any suitable two dimensional shape such as gears, flowers, leaves, footprints, fishes, birds, animals or any other. Game boards and game pieces may be made of any suitable material or combinations of material.

A full game set includes pieces marked to enable an (official or sanctioned) evenly matched game to take place. For example, in a 60 piece set, 30 pieces have a blue dot (or some other suitable mark or color) and 30 pieces have a red dot to enable an even, fair distribution of pieces. Alternatively, players may alternately select their own pieces before a game until each player has half the available game pieces.

If the pieces are marked or colored for an even distribution of difficulty, then handicapping may be accomplished by moving a predetermined number of pieces from one player to the other prior to game play. Handicapping may also be accomplished by rearranging larger, simpler pieces to one player and more complex pieces to the other player with both player holding the same number of pieces.

Alternatively, handicapping may be accomplished by adding or subtracting time for timed games, by adding or subtracting pieces for head to head play or for timed play, or by adjusting the distribution of piece complexity for head to head or timed play.

Referring now to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an electronic version of the Pajaggle™ game may be played on any suitable computing device such as computers 26, 27, 28 or 29 and wireless devices 30 or 30A over any suitable communication network such as the Internet or a telephone network or network 31. The electronic version of the board game may also be implemented as a software application suitable to be played on any standalone device with a touch screen or other suitable user interface such as computer 32 with pointing device 32p.

When a player of digital Pajaggle™ starts a game they may view an introductory page such as page 33 and select a level of difficulty such as Expert, Intermediate, or Beginner and or the set of Pajaggle pieces and sockets to be used and or any other suitable parameter may be selected. The selection of level of difficulty alters the amount of time a player has to recognize and successfully place a pending Pajaggle™ piece on its corresponding socket as well as controls the similarity of the Pajaggle™ pieces and sockets. A player then starts game clock 34 on play page 35 and score register 36 and a preset number of sockets are revealed from a set of Pajaggle™ sockets. The number of sockets may be adjusted to correspond to the resolution of the display however 20 sockets provides a suitable electronic game challenge.

In the first round, a single Pajaggle™ piece is revealed in window 37 and the player has a preset time, 4 seconds for example, to find the socket corresponding to the revealed Pajaggle™ piece. If successful, the player receives a predetermined first round number of points, for example 5 points. If the player is unsuccessful in matching the revealed Pajaggle™ piece to its corresponding socket, the revealed piece disappears and is placed back in the piece queue. As pieces are placed in the piece queue, they may remain in relative order or they may be randomly rearranged. Play continues until all Pajaggle™ pieces have been revealed and either matched to their corresponding socket or returned to the piece queue.

In the next round, a previously revealed and re-queued Pajaggle™ piece is again revealed and the player has a preset time to find the socket corresponding to the re-revealed Pajaggle™ piece. If successful at matching the re-revealed piece to its unique socket in a subsequent round a player receives less points than in the prior round. If the player is unsuccessful at matching the re-revealed Pajaggle™ piece to its corresponding socket, the re-revealed piece again disappears and is placed back in the piece queue.

In each subsequent round a player receives less points for matching a revealed Pajaggle™ piece to its corresponding socket than were possible in the prior round. Play continues until all pieces are matched to their corresponding sockets or the available points diminishes to zero. Total score 38, total time 38T are then displayed as well as an invitation 39 to play again as illustrated on page 35F in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 6 the playing surface for a dynamic game board configuration may include a pre-selected or open number of Pajaggle™ plates such as plates 40. Each Pajaggle™ plate is a generally planar polygon that may or may not include interlocking features and or a socket such as socket 41. To arrange Pajaggle™ plates for a game, the plates are arranged abutting each other such as plates 42A, 42B and 42C to form a continuous game surface 43. There may be a many different arrangements of game surfaces that may be formed depending on the number of plates and the number of sides of each plate and how the plates are combined together to form a dynamic playing surface. An arrangement of a playing surface includes the number and orientation of Pajaggle™ plates relative to each other and does not include the general shape of the entire playing surface.

The selection of the number of sides to the plates and the number of plates for a game may also permit or require that a game surface have one or more discontinuities. Each Pajaggle™ plate contains a socket such as socket 44 cut into and possibly through the plate, the socket for engaging a single precisely cut Pajaggle™ piece such as piece 45. The socket in a plate may be oriented between the geometric center 46 of the plate and the perimeter of the plate 47. This off-center orientation of the socket permits the plate and thus the socket to be oriented in a number of positions such as positions 41A, 41B or 41C relative to adjacent plates 42A, 42B and 42C. The rotational orientation of each plate about its geometric center combined with the ability to arrange the placement of the plates within the playing surface produces a factorial number of game variations for a given number of Pajaggle™ plates.

Referring now to FIG. 7, Pajaggle™ plates may be formed to have any suitable number of sides such as hexagonal plate 50. The number of sides of each plate determines the number of possible rotational positions 52 for socket 50S on the plate. A suitable game surface composed of hexagonal plates is illustrated as game surface 53 in FIG. 8. Game surface 53 is formed of hexagonal plates such as plates 54, 55 and 56.

Referring now to FIG. 9, dynamic locking game plate 60 is a generally planar polygon with each side such as side 60A and side 60B including one or more engagements elements such as locking tabs 60P and or locking slot 60Q. Game plates such as dynamic locking game plate 60 may also include a socket such as socket 62. Alternatively one game plate for a dynamic game playing surface may have unique marking or coloring on one side and have no socket and may be used as the termination plate. The termination plate is kept separate from game plates and game pieces and when a player has played all his game pieces the player plays the termination plate to win the game. The termination plate may also be used with the markings on one side to determine playing priority by flipping the plate and by agreement or by a call the resting position of the termination plate determines the playing priority or other detail needing a random determination.

A representative arrangement of dynamic locking game plates such as game plates 63, 64 and 65 to form playing surface 68 is illustrated in FIG. 10. Each plate may include one or more sockets as discussed above. Dynamic locking game plates may be combined to form any suitable shape playing surface. Alternatively, a playing surface border such as border 69 may be used to achieve a regular playing surface shape during dynamic game play. A playing surface border may adopt any suitable shape depending on the number and shape of game plates used.

While the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have been described in reference to the environment in which they were developed, they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Other embodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from the spirit of the inventions and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A board game comprising:

a game board having an even plurality of precisely cut game piece sockets, each socket having a unique and generally similar shape;

a plurality of game pieces, each game piece precisely engaging only one of the even plurality of game piece sockets; and

a set of game rules.

2. A board game comprising:

a playing surface formed from a plurality of generally planar, polygonal plates which may be arranged together to form a plurality of different playing surface arrangements and shapes, each generally planar, polygonal plate including a precisely cut game piece sockets, each socket having a unique shape;

a plurality of game pieces, each game piece precisely engaging only one of the even plurality of game piece sockets; and

a set of game rules.

3. A method of playing a board game comprising the steps of:

providing the players with; a set of generally planar, polygonal game plates, each game plate having a unique socket;

a set of game pieces, each game piece corresponding to only one of the unique sockets of one plate of the set of game plates;

an opaque container for the set of game plates and an opaque container for the set of game pieces; and

a holder for each player to privately arrange and view selected pieces and plates prior to playing them; and

a set of game rules comprising the steps of game setup:

determining a playing area;

the players determine the order of play;

in order of play, each player reaches in each opaque container and removes five plates and five pieces;

each player arranges their five plates and five pieces in their respective holder; and

the set of game rules further comprising the steps of game play:

a first player takes another game piece or game plate from the appropriate opaque container and places it in his holder and then places a game plate from his holder in play in the predetermined play area and may continue if he holds the game piece corresponding to the in play game plate, and may place all combinations of game plates and corresponding game pieces during his turn and a turn ends when a player places a game plate in play and is unable to play the corresponding game piece;

a subsequent player takes another game piece or game plate from the appropriate opaque container and places it in his holder and then the subsequent player may place a game piece into any open game plate that is in play or may place a game plate in the play area, the subsequent player may also place any and all combinations of game plates and corresponding game pieces during his turn; and

game play continues in turn until a player runs out of game plates and game pieces.

4. The method of game play wherein each game plate and game piece is assigned a point value and the point value of un-played game plates and game pieces in players holders at the end of play are used to determine relative finishing positions for the players.