Strategy Game System

Abstract

Disclosed herein is strategy game system. The game system includes a generally flat plate member providing a playing surface. Further, the game system includes the plate member including a plurality of marked landing regions and at least one raised region. Yet further, at least one game coin on the plate member for shooting by a player into one of the at least one marked landing region and the at least one raised region, wherein the player uses a cue stick to shoot the at least one game coin.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from a provisional patent application No. 62/034,042, filed on Aug. 6, 2014 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the disclosure relates to a strategy game system. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a multi-player combative war strategy game that utilizes specific items and placement to affect the players' outcome.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The cue sports including the game of pool and billiards has been popular throughout the world over past several centuries. These games are typically played on a table having receptacles called pockets along the rails, into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. The key skill required in cue sports is to be able to hit the balls accurately with a cue. The advantage of cue sports is that players get physically involved in the game, as they move around the pool table and hit the balls with a cue stick. A disadvantage of cue sports is that is does not generally provide time to a player to work out a strategy, rather it is a fast-action, impulse-type game.

Strategy games such as chess and checkers have also been very popular since ages. Autonomous decision-making skills of players have a high significance in determining the outcome of strategy games. Further, the strategy games require internal decision tree style thinking, and high situational awareness. Strategy games are generally played on boards. In such games, opponents arrange a number of game pieces on the board and “attack” each other in an effort to achieve the established goal. A disadvantage of strategy games is that they do not permit players to be physically involved in the game play.

A new and improved table game is desired that allows players to work out a strategy and also allows the players to get physically involved in the game.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is strategy game system. The game system includes a generally flat plate member providing a playing surface. Further, the game system includes the plate member including a plurality of marked landing regions and at least one raised region. Yet further, the game system includes at least one game coin on the plate member for shooting by a player into one of the at least one marked landing region and the at least one raised region, wherein the player uses a cue stick to shoot the at least one game coin.

The strategy game system may be used to play a multi-player combative war strategy game that utilizes specific items and placement to affect the players' outcome. The object of the game is to be the first player to manoeuvre the game coin through multiple landing regions and reach the top of a raised portion on the plate member. The players utilize a cue stick to shoot their game coins. The game consists of rules that relate to a track region, multiple landing regions, hazardous regions, call challenges, skip cards and fouls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a strategy game system according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the strategy game system according to according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a game coin according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of a game coin according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section view of a plate member according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates the strategy game system according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a landing region of the strategy game system according to the exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary.

The present invention will be further illustrated with examples below. Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the entire structure of a strategy game system 100 will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the strategy game system 100 and FIG. 2 is a top view of the strategy game system 100. The strategy game system 100 may be used to play a multi-player combative war strategy game that utilizes specific items and placement to affect the players' outcome. The strategy game system 100 is a table game like pool and billiards. Accordingly, the strategy game system 100 includes a generally flat plate member 102 (table top) providing a playing surface. The plate member 102 includes the entire area within a boundary 104 that surrounds the plate member 102 from all sides. Further, the strategy game system 100 comprises a support structure 106 for supporting the plate member 102.

The area of the plate member 102 is divided into a track region 108 and a course region 110. The course region 110 is located in the centre of the plate member 102. The track region 108 is located on the periphery of the plate member 102. The track region 108 is defined by the area between the boundary 104 and the track rail 111.

Further, the track region 108 and the course region 110 include two or more marked landing regions and one or more raised region. For example, the track region 108 and the course region 110 may include ten marked landing regions 112-130 and one raised region 132. Some of the marked landing regions 112-130 are defined on one or more sides by a raised bar. The track region 108 includes two marked landing regions 112 and 114. The remaining eight marked landing regions 116-130 lie in the course region 110.

Yet further, each player is issued a game coin to participate in the game. For example, the game may be played between 2-6 players, so each player gets their own game coin. As shown in FIG. 3, a game coin 302 is generally a cylindrical shaped metal block. The game coin may have a colored top face 304 as shown in FIG. 4. Each player may be provided with a game coin with a different color. The coloured tops help in distinguishing the game coins of each player during game play. The players shoot their respective game coins with a cue stick during game play. The game coins are designed such that when hit they slide on the plate member 102. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the diameter of the cylindrical game coin may be 1.25″ at the centre of the cylinder. However, the cylinder may taper towards the top face of the game coin, such that the diameter of the circular top face is 1.031″. Further, the bottom 0.125″ of the cylindrical game coin may be tapered such that the diameter of the circular bottom face is less than 1.25″.

Moving back to FIGS. 1 and 2, each player places their game coin on a specific location marked “start” 136 in the track region 108. Next, each player chooses a skip card (not shown), wherein each skip card carries a printed number. The player with the lowest skip card number shoots first, the player with the highest skip card number shoots last and the rest of players get their turns in the respective order. Thereafter, on their turn, each player shoots their game coin using a cue stick. The game coin slides over the plate member 102 when hit with the cue stick. The object of the game is to be the first player to manoeuvre their game coin through all the ten marked landing regions 112-130 and reach the raised region 132. The player reaching the raised region 132 first wins the game. The raised region 132 is called a “hill”, so the player reaching the “hill” first becomes the “King of the Hill”. Further, the game coin must be completely in a central circular region 134 marked on top of the raised region 132 to win the game.

Further, the players are allowed to shoot their game coins to hit the game coins of the opponents. Since this is a strategic game filled with engaging combative shots, the players must be aware of their opponents acting as “snipers” while on the “battlefield” during the game play.

The track region 108 and the course region 110 have a passage 138 for the game coins to pass from the track region 108 into the course region 110. While on the track region 108, the players are allowed to shoot only towards the passage 138 to enter the course region 110. Therefore, the players on the track region 108 cannot shoot their game coins backwards to hit the game coins of opponents behind them in the track region 108. Further, the track region 108 includes edge deflectors 140-146 to deflect the game coin through the respective corners in the track region 102.

The players take multiple turns to shoot their respective game coins and move them across the marked landing regions 112-130 one-by-one in a specific sequence. For example, the marked landing regions 112-130 may be numbered is a numerical sequence 1 to 10. Therefore, the players take multiple turns to shoot a game coin and move it across the marked landing regions 112-130 in the numerical sequence 1 to 10. The game coin is accepted to be in a marked landing region when it is completely inside the marked landing region without touching the boundary line of the respective marked landing region. If a game coin does not go completely inside the marked landing region, then the respective player is allowed to re-shoot from the current location of the game coin on their next turn.

Further, the plate member 102 includes two or more marked shooting spots such that there is a marked shooting spot corresponding to each marked landing region. Therefore, there are ten marked shooting spots, wherein each marked shooting spot corresponding to one marked landing region. The first marked shooting spot is the location marked “start” 136. The remaining nine marked shooting spots 148-164 are spread across the plate member 102. The players place their game coins on a marked shooting spot to shoot the game coin into the corresponding marked landing region. For example, a player successfully lands his game coin the marked landing region “3” 116. Now the player needs to shoot the game coin into the marked landing region “4” 118. Therefore, the player lifts the game coin from the marked landing region “3” and places it on the marked shooting spot “4” 152. Then, the player tries to shoot the game coin into the marked landing region “4” 118. However, the game coin does not reach the marked landing region “4” 118, but stops at some location ‘A’ just outside the marked landing region “4” 118. Therefore, in the next turn, the player tries to shoot the game coin from the location ‘A’ into the marked landing region “4” 118. This goes on until the game coin goes fully into the marked landing region “4” 118. Once the game coin reaches the marked landing region “4” 118, the player lifts the game coin from the marked landing region “4” 118 and places it on the marked shooting spot “5” 154 to shoot the game coin into the marked landing region “5” 120.

When the player manoeuvres the game coin through all the marked landing regions and reaches the last marked landing region 130, the player is allowed to shoot towards the raised region 132. The player places the game coin on a “king” shooting spot 165 and shoots the game coin towards the raised region 132.

Further, the plate member 102 includes one or more marked hazard regions. For example, the marked hazard regions include oil hazard regions 166-170, mud hazard regions 172-178 and water hazard regions 180-182. When a game coin lands in a marked hazard region, the respective player is awarded a penalty. The penalty is one of moving the game coin back to a start position and losing a turn at shooting the game coin. For example, when a game coin lands in one of the oil hazard regions 166-170, the respective player needs to move the game coin back to the location marked “start” 136. Therefore, the oil hazard cannot affect the player once they cross the two marked landing regions 112-114. Further, if the game coin lands in one of the mud hazard regions 172-178 or one of the water hazard regions 180-182, the respective player looses a turn.

The player awarded the penalty of losing a turn at shooting the game coin is provided a skip card to let the other players know to skip the respective player in the next round of shooting. Once the player is skipped, the player returns the skip card to let other players know that the player is back on the shooting rotation lineup.

A game coin is accepted to be in a marked hazard region if the game coin is completely inside the marked hazard region without touching the boundary line of the marked hazard region. If at any time a player's game coin lands in one of the oil hazard regions 166-170, mud hazard regions 172-178, water hazard regions 180-182 and the marked landing regions 112-130 and there is a dispute whether the game coin is completely in the respective region, the players whose game coin is in question is eligible to raise a challenge. The player may raise a challenge by throwing a challenge flag (not shown) on the plate member 102. The challenge flag is used to signal to other players to stop the game for a review. Once the challenge flag is thrown, and no one accepts the challenge, the challenge is forfeited. However, if an opponent accepts the challenge, then the review is performed. The review may be performed using a close up photo clicked using a cell phone or looking closely at the game coin using a magnifier. If after the review, the game coin in question is not in favor of the challenger player, the challenger loses a shot. For example, if a player challenges when their game coin lands in one of mud hazard regions 172-178 and water hazard regions 180-182, and the review does not favor the challenger, then the challenger loses an additional shot, that is one shot for landing in the water or mud hazard region and one shot for losing the challenge. Accordingly, the player gets two skip cards for a loss of two shots.

If at any time the shooter knocks the opposing opponents' game coin off the table or over the rail, the shooter loses a turn and return to his last shooting spot. The opponents' game coin is positioned back on the table in the shooters last known position.

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section view of the plate member 102 taken along line A-A of FIG. 2. The cross-section view shows the track region 108 defined by the boundary 104 and the track rail 111. Further, the cross-section view shows a raised bar 129 used to define the marked landing region 128. Moreover, the cross-section view shows the raised region 132.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the strategy game system 100. The four corners of the game system 100 are marked A, B, C and D respectively. In the example embodiment, the length and the breadth of the plate member 102 is 8 feet and 4 feet respectively. The height and the width of the boundary 104 are 1.5″ and 0.75″ respectively. The width of the track region 108 is 4″ throughout the length of the track. Further, the track rail 111 is of size 1.5″ (height) by 0.75″ (width).

The location marked “start” 136 has a width of 2″ and it is located 7″ from the edge AD.

The marked landing region 112 is of the size 4″ by 4″ and it is located 35.5″ from the edge AB. The two oil regions 166 and 168 are located on either size of the marked landing region 112. Each oil region 166 and 168 is of the size 4″ by 3″. The landing region 114 is of the size 4″ by 4″ and it is located 35.5″ from the edge AB. The oil hazard region 170 is located next to the landing region 114. The size of oil hazard region 170 is 4″ by 3″. The marked landing region 116 is located 17″ from the track rail parallel to the edge AB. Further, the marked landing region 116 is located 5″ from the track rail parallel to the edge BC. As shown in FIG. 7, the size of landing region 116 is approximately 7.5″ by 1.75″. Further, the landing region 116 includes a raised triangle shaped bar 702. The dimensions of the triangle are 3″ by 2.5″ by 2.5″. Therefore, the player needs to shoot the game coin into the landing region 116 along the directions marked with arrows 704.

As shown in FIG. 8, the landing region 118 includes one raised bar 802 of length 6″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. The landing region 118 includes a 22.5 degree cut and one 1.625″ opening 804. Therefore, the player needs to shoot the game coin into the landing region 118 through the opening 804.

As shown in FIG. 9, the landing region 120 includes one raised bar 902 of length 4.5″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. Further, the landing region 120 includes a 45 degree cut and one opening 904. The width of the opening 904 is 1.625″.

As shown in FIG. 10, the landing region 122 includes two raised bars 1002 and 1004. The first bar 1002 is of length 5.5″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″ with a 22.5 degree cut. The second bar 1004 is of length 5″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. Further, the landing region 122 includes two openings 1006 and 1008, each opening of width 1.625″.

As shown in FIG. 11, the landing region 124 includes two raised bars 1102 and 1104 with a 22.5 degree cut. Each of the two raised bars 1102 and 1104 is of length 5.5″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. Further, the landing region 124 includes one opening 1106 of width 1.625″. The landing region 124 is located at a distance 14″ from the landing region 120 as shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 12, the landing region 126 includes two raised bars 1202 and 1204, each of length 3.5″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. Further, the landing region 126 includes one opening 1206 of size 1.625″.

As shown in FIG. 13, the landing region 128 includes two raised bars 1302 and 1304, each of length 5.5″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. Further, the landing region 128 includes a 45 degree cut and one opening 1306 of width 2.5″. As shown in FIG. 6, the landing region 128 is located at a distance of 32.75″ from the edge AB and 2″ from the track rail parallel to the edge BC.

As shown in FIG. 14, the landing region 130 includes four raised bars 1402-1408, each of length 2.125″, width 0.5″ and height 0.75″. Further, the landing region 130 includes four openings of width 1.625″.

The landing region 130 is located at a distance of 27.75″ from the track parallel to the edge CD and 3″ from the track rail parallel to the edge AD.

The nine shooting spots 148-164 are marked as 1.5″ diameter circles.

The “king” shooting spot 165 is a circle of diameter 2.75″. The “king” shooting spot 165 is located 2.75″ from the track rails parallel to the edges AB and AD.

The raised region 132 is located in the centre of the plate member 102. The raised region 132 is a circle of 16″ diameter. Further, the raised region 132 has a flat top circle of 4″ diameter. Yet further, the central circular region 134 is a circle of 1.5″ diameter.

In the preferred embodiment, the generally flat plate member 102 providing a playing surface is made out of a shuffle board epoxy poly resin and sand, although in alternative embodiments of the present invention, the generally flat plate member 102 providing a playing surface may be made of any other suitable material having low coefficient of friction to allow the game coin to slide effortlessly on the generally flat plate member 102. The present invention is a non-obvious integration of three games wherein the three games being pool, golf, and shuffleboard, integrated with additional features and rules.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

While various embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented for purposes of example only, not limitations. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practicing of the disclosure, without departing from the breadth or scope.

Claims

1. A strategy game system comprising of:

a generally flat plate member providing a playing surface;

the plate member including a plurality of marked landing regions and at least one raised region; and

at least one game coin on the plate member for shooting by a player into one of the at least one marked landing region and the at least one raised region, wherein the player uses a cue stick to shoot the at least one game coin.

2. The strategy game system of claim 1, further comprising a support structure for supporting the plate member.

3. The strategy game system of claim 1, wherein at least one marked landing region in the plurality of marked landing regions is defined on at least one side by a raised bar.

4. The strategy game system of claim 1, wherein the area of the plate member is divided into a track region and a course region, wherein the course region is located in the center of the plate member and the track region is located on the periphery of the plate member, wherein the track region and the course region have at least one passage for the at least one game coin.

5. The strategy game system of claim 4, wherein the track region includes at least one edge deflector to deflect the game coin through at least one corner in the track region.

6. The strategy game system of claim 4, wherein a game starts from a specified position in the track region, wherein on the track region a player is allowed to shoot only in the direction towards the course region.

7. The strategy game system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of marked shooting spots including a marked shooting spot corresponding to each marked landing region, wherein a player places a game coin on the marked shooting spot to shoot the game coin into the corresponding marked landing region.

8. The strategy game system of claim 1, wherein a player takes multiple turns to shoot a game coin and move it across the plurality of marked landing regions one-by-one in a specific sequence.

9. The strategy game system of claim 8, wherein the game coin is accepted to be in a marked landing region when it is completely inside the marked landing region without touching the boundary line of the respective marked landing region, wherein if the game coin does not go completely inside the marked landing region, then the respective player is allowed to re-shoot from a current location of the game coin.

10. The strategy game system of claim 8, wherein the player shoots the game coin towards the at least one raised region, after moving the game coin through all the marked landing regions in the plurality of marked landing regions one-by-one in the specific sequence, wherein the player shoots the game coin towards the at least one raised region from a specific marked shooting spot.

11. The strategy game system of claim 10, wherein the player reaching the at least one raised region first is declared the winner of a multi-player game.

12. The strategy game system of claim 8, wherein all the marked landing regions in the plurality of marked landing regions are numbered, wherein all the marked shooting spots are numbered according to the corresponding marked landing regions, wherein the specific sequence is a numerical sequence.

13. The strategy game system of claim 1, wherein the plate member further comprising at least one marked hazard region.

14. The strategy game system of claim 13, wherein the at least one marked hazard region includes at least one of at least one oil hazard region, at least one mud hazard region and at least one water hazard region.

15. The strategy game system of claim 14, wherein when a game coin lands in a marked hazard region, the respective player is awarded a penalty.

16. The strategy game system of claim 15, wherein the penalty is one of moving the game coin back to a start position and losing a turn at shooting the game coin.

17. The strategy game system of claim 16, wherein the player awarded the penalty of losing a turn at shooting the game coin is provided a skip card to let the other players know to skip the respective player in the next round of shooting and once the player is skipped, the player returns the skip card to let other players know the player is back on the shooting rotation lineup.

18. The strategy game system of claim 15, wherein a game coin is accepted to be in a marked hazard region if the game coin is completely inside the marked hazard region without touching the boundary line of the marked hazard region, wherein when there is a dispute regarding whether the game coin is completely inside the marked landing region, the player whose game coin is in question is allowed to raise a challenge, wherein in response to raising a challenge, a review is performed using one of a cell phone camera photo and a magnifier, wherein if the challenger player loses the challenge, the challenger player loses a turn at shooting the game coin.

19. The strategy game system of claim 18, wherein the challenger player uses a challenge flag to signal to other players to stop the game for a review.

20. The strategy game system of claim 1, wherein the game coin is generally a cylindrical shaped metal block with a colored top face.

21. A strategy game system comprising of:

a generally flat plate member providing a playing surface, wherein the area of the plate member is divided into a track region and a course region, wherein the course region is located in the centre of the plate member and the track region is located on the periphery of the plate member, wherein the track region and the course region have at least one passage for the at least at least one game coin;

the plate member including a plurality of numbered marked landing regions and a raised region;

a plurality of numbered marked shooting spots including a numbered marked shooting spot corresponding to each numbered marked landing region, wherein a player places a game coin on the numbered marked shooting spot to shoot the game coin into the corresponding numbered marked landing region;

wherein the plate member further comprising marked hazard regions, wherein when a game coin lands in a marked hazard region, the respective player is awarded a penalty;

at least one game coin on the plate member for shooting by a player into one of the at least one of a numbered marked landing region and the raised region, wherein the player uses a cue stick to shoot the at least one game coin;

wherein a player takes multiple turns to shoot a game coin and move it across the plurality of numbered marked landing regions one-by-one in a numerical sequence;

wherein the player shoots the game coin towards the raised region, after moving the game coin through the plurality of numbered marked landing regions one-by-one in a numerical sequence; and

wherein a player reaching the raised region first is declared the winner of a multi-player game.

22. The strategy game system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of numbered marked landing regions includes ten numbered marked landing regions, the plurality of numbered marked shooting spots includes ten numbered marked shooting spot s and the raised region is located in the center of plate member, wherein the game coin is accepted to be in a marked landing region when it is completely inside the marked landing region without touching the boundary line of the respective marked landing region, wherein if the game coin does not go completely inside the marked landing region, then the respective player is allowed to re-shoot from a current location of the game coin.

23. The strategy game system of claim 21, wherein a game coin is accepted to be in a marked hazard region if the game coin is completely inside the marked hazard region without touching the boundary line of the marked hazard region, wherein when there is a dispute regarding whether the game coin is completely inside the marked landing region, the player whose game coin is in question is allowed to raise a challenge, wherein in response to raising a challenge, a review is performed using one of a cell phone camera photo and a magnifier, wherein if the challenger loses the challenge, the challenger loses a shot.