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  Board game and method of playing the sameRelated Patent Categories: Amusement Devices: Games, Board Games, Pieces, Or Boards Therefor, Piece Moves Over Board Having Pattern, Chance Device Controls Amount Or Direction Of Movement Of Piece, Property Or Commodity TransactionsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070235931. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application claims the priority benefit of provisional patent application 60/678,696 filed on May 9, 2005 by Johnnie Simmons. [0002] An improved board game and a method for playing the same is provided. The method has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten or a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These cubes may be referred to as "blocks." The game may allow two to six players taking turns biding, making connections, challenging and/or blocking other players from acquiring property. The player with the most city blocks at the end of the game is declared the winner. The game requires a mixture of skill and chance to win. [0003] Games of poker and property acquirement have been played by millions of people over the years. These games are extremely popular with family and friends. Even further, the recent rise in poker popularity has brought card games to many previously unfamiliar with the game. In addition, games of property acquirement, such as Monopoly.RTM. or Risk.RTM. have long been among the best selling board games in the United States. Even further, these games have recently become available to play over the Internet. [0004] However, known board games are often too complicated, last too long and/or are not exciting for many people. Therefore, the present invention provides a novel board game which incorporates features not before incorporated into a board game. The present game incorporates skill and luck to allow a player to acquire as much of a "city" as possible. The player acquiring the largest percentage of the "city" at the end of the game is declared the winner. [0005] A need, therefore, exists for an improved board game and a method for playing the same which overcomes deficiencies of known board and/or card games. Additionally, a need exists for an improved board game which is easy to play and exciting. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] The present invention generally relates to an improved board game and a method for playing the same. The game has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten or a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These cubes may be referred to as "blocks." [0007] The game may have fifty-six cubes, each representing a city block. [0008] For a more complete understanding of the game, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and to the accompanying drawings. Further, additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the detailed description of the preferred embodiments and from the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the game of the present invention having cubes and a playing surface. [0010] FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the game of the present invention having cubs and illustrating a move in the game. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0011] The present invention generally relates to an improved board game and a method for playing the same. The method has a plurality of card-faced cubes. The card-faced cubes may be divided into four different suits, including, Avenues (AVE), Drives (DR), Streets (ST) and Boulevards (BLVDS). The game generally has fifty-six cubes total. It should be understood that the game may have more or less than fifty-six total cubes. Each suit may have indicia, including: a King, Queen, Jack, numbers one through ten and a Wild. Further, the indicia and suits may be ranked. These suits may be referred to as "blocks." [0012] The method specified by the rules below is best described by the referring to the figures. Referring now to FIG. 1, the game may have a playing surface 1 and blocks 2. the playing surface 1 may be a board made from, for example, cardboard, or the playing surface 1 may simply be, for example, a table. To start the game, the blocks 2 may be placed face down, in a pile 3, on the playing surface 1 and shuffled. (Two blocks 2 of FIG. 1F are not shown face down for illustrative purposes). More specifically, the blocks 2 may have a top side 30, a bottom side 31, a first side 32, a second side 33, a third side 34 and a fourth side 35 (not visible). The bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 may have indicia 36 such as, for example, the numbers one through ten, a King 40, a Queen 76, a Jack 77, or a Wild. Further, the bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 may have a color such as gold or black. The top side 30, the first side 32, the second side 33, the third side 34 and the fourth side 35 of the block 2 may lack indicia 36. More specifically, the top side 30, the first side 32, the second side 33, the third side 34 and the fourth side 35 of the block 2 may simply have, for example, a pattern common to all the blocks 2. While the bottom side 31 of the block 2 is face down on the playing surface 1, the players 4 may not be able to tell what indicia 36 is on the bottom side 31 of the block 2. [0013] To begin the game, the player 4 may select four blocks 2 from the pile 3 to establish his/her starting "capital" 11. The "capital" 11 may be a temporary area in which a player 4 may store his or her blocks 2 and for which the player 4 may use those blocks 2 during his or her turn. Typically, the blocks 2 are placed with the bottom side 31 face down on the playing surface 1 when the four blocks 2 are selected to start the game. As a result, the players 4 are unaware of what indicia 36 is on the bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 each player 4 is selecting. The remaining blocks 2 are then placed in a row 5. Generally, the rows 5 have approximately seven of the remaining blocks each. The more players 4 in a game, the fewer blocks 2 will remain to be played from a "city" 10 (as is discussed below). [0014] The rows 5 are then flipped up so as to be visible to the players. More specifically, the blocks 2 are flipped over so that the bottom side 31 of the blocks 2 are now facing upward, and visible to all the players 4. The blocks 2 remaining after each player 4 selects the initial four blocks 2 (the "capital" 11) are placed in the rows 5 to form what is called "the city" 10. More specifically, the "city" 10 may be the term used to describe the remaining blocks 2 not used in all the players 4 "capital" 11. The players 4 may then bid for the right to make the first move of the game and/or to choose the direction of turns by revealing a block 2 from each of their players 4 "capital" 11. After a player 4 has depleted all of his or her "capital" 11, the "capital" 11 is restocked with blocks 2 from that player's 4 "holdings" 20 (as described below). If a player 4 has no blocks 2 left in his or her "capital" 11 and no blocks 2 in his or her "holdings" 20, then the player 4 may be out of the game. The "holdings" 20 of a player 4 may be similar to a bank in which the player 4 attempts to accumulate blocks 2. The "holdings" 20 of a player 4 may differ from the "capital" 11 of a player 4 in that the blocks 2 in a player's 4 "holdings" 20 may not be immediately available for play. Blocks 2 may be required to move from the "holdings" 20 to the "capital" 11 prior to play. [0015] The bidding process begins by each player 4 selecting a single block 2 from his or her initial four blocks 2 (the "capital" 11). The single block 2 is selected so that the remaining players 4 cannot see the bottom side 31 of the selected block 2 before all the bidding takes place. After each player 4 selects his or her block 2, the players 4 reveal the bottom side 31 of his or her selected block 2 to the other players 4. [0016] The player 4 with the highest ranking block 2 gets to go first and/or choose the direction of turns of the remaining players 4. If two or more players 4 have identical bids (based on the ranking of the blocks 2), the players 4 with identical bids only then re-bid until there is a winner. If a player 4 exhausts all of his or her "capital" 11 during the initial bidding process, the entire game may be started over. [0017] Referring now to FIG. 2, a player 4 may collect blocks 2 from the "city" 10 by matching blocks 2 from the "city" 10 with blocks 2 from the players 4 "capital" 11. More specifically, during a player's 4 turn, the player 4 may select a block 2 from his or her "capital" 11 to match with a block 2 in the "city" 10. (FIG. 2 illustrates the player 4 selecting a block 2 with a # 7) When a player 4 collects a block 2 from the "city" 10, the collected block 2 is placed next to the player's 4 matching "capital" 11 block 2. The player 4 may then take back his or her initial block 2 (again, block #7) and the corresponding matching block 2 in "the city" 10. As a result, the player 4 has gained one additional block 2 and "the city" 10 has lost one block 2. The blocks 2 may be matched by number 12, suit 13 and/or letter 14. If the player's 4 selected block 2 can be matched with more than one of the blocks 2 in the "city" 10, the player 4 may take the additional matching blocks 2. For example, FIG. 2b illustrates the player 4 selecting a block 2 (a block 2 with a #8 is selected) and matching the block 2 with a corresponding #8 block 2 in the city and a block 2 having a "Queen" 76 designation (which can be done if the Queen 76 and player's 4 #8 block are of the same suit 13). The removed blocks 2 in FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b are then placed into the player's 4 "holdings" 20. [0018] In order for a player 4 to collect a block(s) 2 from the "city" 10, the top side 30 of the player's 4 block 2 (from his or her "capital" 11) may be required to match with all top sides 30 of the blocks 2 in the "city" 10. More specifically, a player 4 may collect blocks 2 by matching, for example, blocks 2 in his or her possession with blocks 2 in the "city" 10 by numbers 12, suits 13, and/or letter 14 (such as King 40, Queen 76 or Jack 77) [0019] Some of the blocks 2 may be gold blocks 15. The gold blocks 15 may be of a higher rank than the remaining blocks 2. The gold blocks 15 may be connected with lesser-ranked blocks 2 of any suit 13. However, the gold blocks 15 may not be connected with blocks 2 with numbers 12 of a different suit 13. [0020] A player 4 may make a single, double or triple connection. More specifically, a single connection is when a player 4 may remove a single block 2 from the "city" 10 and place the single block 2 into his or her player's 4 "holdings" 20. A double connection is when a player 4 may remove two blocks 2 from the "city" 10 and a triple connection is when a player 4 may remove three blocks 2 form the "city" 10 (the removed blocks 2 are placed in his or her player's 4 "holdings" 20). [0021] A player's 4 "capital" 11 block 2 must be able to connect with all blocks 2 of the "city" 10 in which the player's 4 "capital" 11 block 2 is in contact with. If no connection may be made by a player 4, the play is said to be "locked." More specifically, a "locked" play is when no connection can be made and the player 4 is forced to lose his or her turn. Continue reading... Full patent description for Board game and method of playing the same Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Board game and method of playing the same patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. 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