MULTI-TRACK TYPE BOARD GAME DEVICE AND METHOD USING THE SAME

Abstract

Disclosed is a multi-track type board game device. The disclosed multi-track type board game device is a board game device including a board plate having a plurality of spaces and representative tokens moving as many spaces as a numeral appeared by rolling a dice, in which the board plate includes: a side track, a section for moving the representative tokens therein, formed along the edge of the surface of the board plate and having a plurality of certificate purchase spaces, instruction spaces and instruction card acquisition spaces respectively formed and arranged in the shape of a square; and a center track, another section for moving the representative tokens therein, formed inside of the side track and having a plurality of certificate purchase spaces, instruction spaces, and instruction card acquisition spaces formed and arranged in the shape of a circle or a square.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Applications No. 10-2012-0065901, filed on Jun. 20, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multi-track type board game device and a method of playing a board game using the same, and more specifically, to a multi-track type board game device and a method of playing a board game using the same, in which interest in a game is doubled and a player may enjoy a three-dimensional game as the number of tracks is increased by additionally configuring one or more center tracks connected to a side track inside the side track formed along the edge of the surface of the board, and, furthermore, creativity, thinking power, concentration and brightness of the player may be further improved, and the ability of learning wealthy habits, world views and common senses is further enhanced based on the story of the game.

2. Background of the Related Art

Generally, a board game includes all sorts of games played by spreading a certain game plate (board) and moving a few representative tokens on the board according to predetermined rules or played using a predetermined number of playing cards, such as poker or Hwatu (a kind of Korean card game), according to predetermined rules. Although the board game is specifically divided into a card game played using cards and a board game characterized by dice and warrior tokens, both the card game and the board game are generally referred to as a board game.

Since players enjoy the board game face to face with each other, it appeals a different kind of interest that cannot be felt in a computer game that is mostly enjoyed by individuals. Recently, the board game is diversified to reach over 10,000 kinds, and the range of the board games is very extensive so as to include socio-friendly themes such as expansion of territory, accumulation of wealth, protection of environment, equality of sexes and the like.

Particularly, the Blue marble game, which is the first board game in Korea, was very popular among children in early 1980s. Blue marble is a green bead representing the earth, and the Blue marble game is similar to Monopoly, which is a real estate board game of USA released in 1934. It is said that the Monopoly is originated from a game of taking properties using a straw bundle shaped in a dice played by farmers named Brua Ethenis and Sarasen Icrimable in a district of Italy.

This game is played by rolling two dice, moving a representative token as many spaces as the sum of numerals on the dice and taking an action corresponding to a landed space. The regions visited by the representative token are capital cities of respective countries, and brief information on a corresponding region is printed on a sovereign card, i.e., a certificate corresponding to ownership. The game is divided into two halves. In the first half, players purchase sovereign cards rounding the game plate, and the main game is started in the second half when the players construct buildings on their properties and collect rental fees. The goal of the game is to survive to the last without being bankrupted by making profits through rental incomes earned from his or her properties, and the last surviving player becomes the winner. The game includes non-sovereign regions, such as a deserted island for resting three turns, a space travel allowing a player to move to a desired place and a social welfare fund, and an action card referred to as a golden key, and a variety of strategies and rules can be applied. All of these principles are commonly used in Blue marvel type games.

However, since the Blue marvel type board games commonly stick only to an one-track style game having one outer track as a moving path of the representative tokens, difficulty of the game stays at a plain level, and since interest is pursued only by changing a type of a game, users requesting further higher difficulty levels are not satisfied with the game.

Meanwhile, although a board game proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,650 has two tracks and seems to be similar to the present invention, actually, since the US patent is not configured to freely move representative tokens between the two tracks and the representative tokens move independently, the idea and rules of the game are different from those of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a new multi-track type board game device, in which one or more center tracks are additionally formed inside a side track which is formed along the edge of the surface of a board so that tokens may move between the side track and the center tracks, and thus creativity, thinking power, concentration and brightness of players may be further improved, and the ability of learning wealthy habits, world views and common senses may be further enhanced based on the type of the game.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new method of playing a board game using the multi-track type board game device.

To accomplish the above objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-track type board game device as a board game device including a board plate partitioned into a plurality of spaces and representative tokens moving as many spaces as a numeral appeared by rolling a dice, in which the board plate includes: a side track, a section for moving the representative tokens therein, formed along an edge of a surface of the board plate and having a plurality of certificate purchase spaces on which a price for purchasing an ownership certificate is printed, a plurality of instruction spaces on which details of direct instructions are printed, and a plurality of instruction card acquisition spaces for acquiring an instruction card on which details of special instructions are printed, respectively formed and arranged in a shape of a square; and a center track, another section for moving the representative tokens therein, formed inside the side track and having a plurality of certificate purchase spaces, instruction spaces and instruction card acquisition spaces respectively formed and arranged in a shape of a circle or a polygon. A side track connection passage space is formed at each corner of the side track, and a center track connection passage space is formed on the center track corresponding to the side track connection passage space, and, in addition, a connection passage through which the representative token may bi-directionally move between the side track and the center track is formed between the side track connection passage space and the center track connection passage space.

In the present invention, a side track connection passage space formed at one of four corners of the side track also functions as a starting point of the representative tokens.

In the present invention, a plurality of certificate purchase spaces, instruction spaces and instruction card acquisition spaces formed on the side track and the center track, except the side track connection passage spaces and the center track connection passage spaces, may be configured to be randomly or regularly mixed.

In the present invention, the multi-track type board game device further includes a plurality of ownership certificate cards for possessing a specific certificate purchase space by paying game money corresponding to a purchase price printed on the certificate purchase space when the representative token arrives at the certificate purchase space on the side track or the center track; and a plurality of instruction cards that can be open only when the representative token arrives at a specific instruction card acquisition space on the side track or the center track.

In the present invention, any one or more connection passages among the connection passages which allow the representative token to move in both directions between the side track connection passage space and the center track connection passage space may be configured as a unidirectional connection passage through which the representative token may move in one direction only from the center track to the side track, and a position shift space is formed on the unidirectional connection passage so that the representative token may enter and move to a desired space of the side track or the center track when the representative token moving around the side track arrives at the other one remaining side track connection passage space of the side track.

In the present invention, a support space on which details of subsidiary conditions are printed is formed in one or more certificate purchase spaces formed on the side track and the center track, and a support token is placed at the support space.

To accomplish another object of the present invention, there is provided a method of playing a board game using a multi-track type board game device, in which if a representative token arrives at a side track connection passage space formed at a corner of the side track while moving along the side track, it may enter the center track connection passage space on the center track connected through the connection passage, and if the representative token arrives at a center track connection passage space on the center track while moving along the center track, it may enter a facing side track connection passage space through the connection passage, and thus a three-dimensional game is allowed since the representative token may travel both the side and center tracks when it arrives at the side track connection passage space or the center track connection passage space of the side track or the center track.

In the present invention, there is provided a method of playing a board game using a multi-track type board game device, in which if a representative token arrives at any one of side track connection passage spaces on the side track while moving around the side track, it enters the center track connection passage space connected through a bi-directional connection passage, and then if the representative token arrives again at any one of bi-directional center track connection passage spaces while moving around the center track, it may enter a facing side track connection passage space connected through a corresponding connection passage, and thus a three-dimensional game is allowed since the representative token may travel the multiple tracks when it arrives at a connection passage space on the side track or the center track, and when the representative token moving around the side track arrives at a connection passage space connected to a unidirectional connection passage on the side track, a preference is given to the representative token so as to enter a position shift space formed on the corresponding unidirectional connection passage and move to a space of a desired track between the side track and the center track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings. Understanding that the drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting in scope, the invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a first exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a third exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fourth exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fifth exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sixth exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a seventh exemplary view showing a board plate configuring a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an image showing the front and rear sides of a certificate card which cannot place a support token applied to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an image showing the front and rear sides of a certificate card which can place a support token applied to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an image showing the front and rear sides of an instruction card applied to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an image showing dice, representative tokens and support tokens applied to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an image showing game moneys applied to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an image showing certificate cards used in a real estate economy game among certificate cards applied to the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is an image showing certificate cards used in a sports game among certificate cards applied to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS
1: Dice               2: Representative token
100: Board plate      110: Side track
111: Side track connection passage space
112, 122: Certificate purchase space
114, 124: Instruction card space
116, 126: Instruction card acquisition space
120: Center track
121: Center track connection passage space
130: Connection passage
131: Unidirectional connection passage
140: Position shift space
200: Ownership certificate card
300: Instruction card 400: Game money

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiments of a multi-track type board game device according to the present invention will be hereafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The preferred embodiments described below are provided so that those skilled in the art may easily understand the present invention. The present invention is not limited by the embodiments and can be modified in other forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In the present invention, the term ‘and/or’ is used as a meaning which includes one of the constitutional components arranged before and after the term. In this specification, being positioned ‘on’ a constitutional component means further providing a third constitutional component on the constitutional component, in addition to a constitutional component directly positioned on the constitutional component. In this specification, although each constitutional component or part is referred using an expression such as ‘a first’, ‘a second’ or the like, these are expressions used to clarify describe the invention, and the present invention is not limited by the expressions.

In addition, thickness and relative thickness of a constitutional component shown in the figures may have been exaggerated in order to clearly express the embodiments of the present invention. The items expressed in the accompanying figures are drawn in order to easily describe the embodiments of the present invention, and they may be different from those of actual implementations.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 14 described above, the multi-track type board game device 10 of the present invention includes one or more dice 1 or roulettes, a plurality of representative tokens 2 and support tokens 4, a board plate 100 having at least two tracks, a plurality of ownership certificate cards 200, a plurality of instruction cards 300, and game moneys 400.

The ownership certificate cards 200 may be divided into ownership certificate cards for the side track and ownership certificate cards for the center track, and the instruction cards 300 may also be divided into instruction cards for the side track and instruction cards for the center track. However, it is apparent that the ownership certificate cards and the instruction cards may be commonly used for both the side track and the center track.

Among these, the board plate 100, which is the core component of the present invention, is formed in a square shape, and a side track 110, which is a section where the representative token 2 may move, is formed along the edge of the surface, and one or more center tracks 120, which are sections where the representative token 2 may also move around, are formed at the center of the board plate 100 inside the side track 110.

A plurality of certificate purchase spaces 112 on which a price for purchasing an ownership certificate is printed, a plurality of instruction spaces 114 on which details of direct instructions are printed, and a plurality of instruction card acquisition spaces 116 for acquiring an instruction card 300 on which details of special instructions are printed are regularly or irregularly formed on the side track 110.

In addition, a plurality of certificate purchase spaces 122 on which a price for purchasing an ownership certificate is printed, a plurality of instruction spaces 124 on which details of direct instructions are printed, and a plurality of instruction card acquisition spaces 126 for acquiring an instruction card 300 on which details of special instructions are printed are also regularly or irregularly formed on the center track 120.

Here, a side track connection passage space 111 is formed at each corner of the side track 110, and a center track connection passage space 121 is formed on the center track 120 corresponding to the side track connection passage space 111. A connection passage 130 through which the representative token 2 may bi-directionally move between the side track 110 and the center track 120 is formed between the side track connection passage space 111 and the center track connection passage space 121.

A side track connection passage space 111 formed at one of the four corners of the side track 110 also functions as a starting point of the representative tokens 2.

A plurality of certificate purchase spaces 112 and 122, instruction spaces 114 and 124 and instruction card acquisition spaces 116 and 126 formed on the side track 110 and the center track 120, except the side track connection passage spaces 111 and the center track connection passage spaces 121, may be configured to be randomly or regularly mixed.

In the present invention, there is provided a plurality of ownership certificate cards 200 for possessing a specific certificate purchase space 112 or 122 by paying the game money 400 corresponding to the purchase price printed on the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 when the representative token 2 arrives at the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 on the side track 110 or the center track 120.

In addition, the multi-track type board game device 10 further includes a plurality of instruction cards 300 that can be open only when the representative token 2 arrives at a specific instruction card acquisition space 116 or 126 on the side track 110 or the center track 120.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, any one or more connection passages among the connection passages 130 which allow the representative token 2 to move to both of the side and center tracks between the side track connection passage space 111 and the center track connection passage space 121 may be configured as a unidirectional connection passage 131 through which the representative token 2 may move in one direction only from the center track 120 to the side track 110.

In this case, a position shift space 140 is formed on the unidirectional connection passage 131 so that the representative token 2 may enter and move to a desired space of the side track 110 or the center track 120 when the representative token 2 moving around the side track 110 arrives at the side track connection passage space 111 connected to the unidirectional connection passage 131.

A method of playing a game using the present invention configured as described above is follows.

First, a game player starts a game after determining an order, and the player moves the representative token 2 along the certificate purchase spaces 112 and 122, the instruction spaces 114 and 124 and the instruction card acquisition spaces 116 and 126 formed on the side track 110 and the center track 120, as many spaces as the sum of numerals on the dice appeared by rolling the dice, and takes a variety of actions according to the instruction printed on a landed space.

For example, in a world travel economy game such as the Blue marble or the Monopoly, when a representative token 2 arrives at a corresponding certificate purchase space 112 or 122, the player becomes the owner of the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 by purchasing the ownership certificate by paying the game money 400 of the player corresponding to the purchase price printed on the certificate purchase space 112 or 122.

If the representative token 2 arrives again at the purchased certificate purchase space 112 or 122 after an owner is determined like this, value of the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 may be increased since the player may selectively build a cottage, a building, a hospital or the like. Contrarily, if a representative token 2 of another player arrives at the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 owned by a player, the player pays a toll fee to the owner of the corresponding ownership certificate.

Contrarily, if the representative token 2 arrives at an instruction card acquisition space 116 or 126, any one of instruction cards for the side track stacked in a separate section is open, and an action is taken according to the instruction recorded on the instruction card for the side track.

Here, the instruction may be an advantageous instruction such as “Go forward two spaces”, “Donate $300” or the like or may be a disadvantageous instruction in some cases. This may vary depending on games and thus is not specific.

For another example, in a war game, when a representative token arrives at a certificate purchase space 112 or 122, the player becomes the owner of the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 by purchasing the ownership certificate by paying the game money of the player corresponding to the purchase price printed on the certificate purchase space 112 or 122.

If the representative token 2 arrives again at the purchased certificate purchase space 112 or 122 after an owner is determined like this, value of the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 may be increased since the player may possess belongings such as a spear, a sword, a shield or the like.

Contrarily, if a representative token 2 of another player arrives at the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 owned by a player, the player pays a toll fee to the owner of the corresponding ownership certificate.

Contrarily, if the representative token 2 arrives at an instruction card acquisition space 116 or 126, any one of instruction cards for the side track stacked in a separate section is open, and an action is taken according to the instruction recorded on the instruction card for the side track. Here, the instruction may be an advantageous instruction such as “Go forward two spaces”, “Dispatch 200,000 soldiers” or the like or may be a disadvantageous instruction in some cases. This may vary depending on games and thus is not specific.

For still another example, in a sports game, when a representative token arrives at a certificate purchase space 112 or 122, a player becomes the owner of the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 by purchasing the ownership certificate by paying the game money of the player corresponding to the purchase price printed on the certificate purchase space 112 or 122.

If the representative token 2 arrives again at the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 after an owner is determined like this, value of the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 may be increased since the player may possess belongings such as a gold medal, a silver medal, a bronze medal or the like.

Contrarily, if a representative token 2 of another player arrives at the certificate purchase space 112 or 122 owned by a player, the player pays a toll fee to the owner of the corresponding ownership certificate.

Contrarily, if the representative token 2 arrives at an instruction card acquisition space 116 or 126, any one of instruction cards stacked in a separate section is open, and an action is taken according to the instructions recorded on the instruction card.

Here, the instruction may be an advantageous instruction such as “Receive a prize of $200”, “Move backward two spaces” or the like or may be a disadvantageous instruction in some cases. This may vary depending on games and thus is not specific.

Meanwhile, on the board plate 100, if the representative token 2 arrives at a side track connection passage space 111 formed at a corner of the side track 110 while moving along the side track 110, it may enter the center track connection passage space 121 on the center track 120 connected through the connection passage 130, and if the representative token 2 arrives at a center track connection passage space 121 on the center track 120 while moving along the center track 120, it may enter the side track connection passage space 111 on the side track 110 connected through the connection passage 130, and thus a three-dimensional game is allowed since the representative token may travel both the side and center tracks when it arrives at the side track connection passage space 111 or the center track connection passage space 121 of the side track 110 or the center track 120.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, it may be configured such that three side track connection passage spaces 111 among the side track connection passage spaces 111 respectively formed at each corner of the side track 110 configuring the board plate 100 and three of the center track connection passage spaces 121 formed on the center track 120 in correspondence to the three side track connection passage spaces 111 are connected through the bi-directional connection passages 130, and a unidirectional connection passage 131 is formed between any one or more side track connection passage spaces among the side track connection passage spaces 111 and center track connection passage spaces corresponding thereto so that a representative token may move only from the center track 120 to the side track 110.

In this case, a position shift space 140 is formed on the unidirectional connection passage 131 so that the representative token 2 may enter and selectively move to a desired space of the side track 110 or the center track 120 when the representative token 2 moving around the side track 110 arrives at the side track connection passage space 111 connected to the unidirectional connection passage 131.

According to the configuration described above, in the case of the board plate 100, if the representative token 2 arrives at a specific connection passage space among the three side track connection passage spaces 111 of the side track 110 while moving along the side track 110 according to the magnitude of the numerals of the dice, it may enter the center track connection passage space 121 on the center track 120 connected through the connection passage 130.

Like this, if the representative token 2 arrives at a specific connection passage space among the three center track connection passage spaces 121 formed on the center track 120 while moving along the center track 120 after entering the center track 120, it may enter the side track connection passage space on the side track connected through the connection passage 130, and thus a three-dimensional game is allowed since the representative token 2 may travel multiple tracks when it arrives at the side track connection passage space 111 or the center track connection passage space 121 of the side track 110 or the center track 120.

At the same time, when the representative token 2 moving around the side track 110 arrives at the side track connection passage space 111 connected to the unidirectional connection passage 131, it may enter the position shift space 140 positioned on the unidirectional connection passage 131 and selectively move to a desired space of the side track 110 or the center track 120.

In the present invention, when the representative token moves to a certificate purchase space 112 or 122, an instruction space 114 or 124, or an instruction card acquisition space 116 or 126 where a support space 112a or 122a is formed, the support token 4 is placed at the support space.

In the present invention, as the number of moving paths of a representative token is increased compared with existing board games by additionally configuring one or more center tracks bi-directionally and/or uni-directionally connected to the side track inside the side track, interest in a game is doubled since a three-dimensional game is allowed. Furthermore, creativity, thinking power, concentration and brightness of the player may be further improved, and the ability of learning wealthy habits, world views and common senses is further enhanced based on the type of the game.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A multi-track type board game device as a board game device comprising a board plate partitioned into a plurality of spaces and representative tokens moving as many spaces as a numeral appeared by rolling a dice, wherein

the board plate includes:

a side track, a section for moving the representative tokens therein, formed along an edge of a surface of the board plate and having a plurality of certificate purchase spaces on which a price for purchasing an ownership certificate is printed, a plurality of instruction spaces on which details of direct instructions are printed, and a plurality of instruction card acquisition spaces for acquiring an instruction card on which details of special instructions are printed, respectively formed and arranged in a shape of a square; and

a center track, another section for moving the representative tokens therein, formed inside the side track and having a plurality of certificate purchase spaces, instruction spaces and instruction card acquisition spaces respectively formed and arranged in a shape of a circle or a polygon, wherein

a side track connection passage space is formed at each corner of the side track, and a center track connection passage space is formed on the center track corresponding to the side track connection passage space, and, in addition, a connection passage through which the representative token may bi-directionally move between the side track and the center track is formed between the side track connection passage space and the center track connection passage space.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein a side track connection passage space formed at one of four corners of the side track also functions as a starting point of the representative tokens.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of certificate purchase spaces, instruction spaces and instruction card acquisition spaces formed on the side track and the center track, except the side track connection passage spaces and the center track connection passage spaces, is configured to be randomly or regularly mixed.

4. The device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of ownership certificate cards for possessing a specific certificate purchase space by paying game money corresponding to a purchase price printed on the certificate purchase space when the representative token arrives at the certificate purchase space on the side track or the center track; and

a plurality of instruction cards that can be open only when the representative token arrives at a specific instruction card acquisition space on the side track or the center track.