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Board game with audible timerRelated Patent Categories: Amusement Devices: Games, Board Games, Pieces, Or Boards Therefor, Piece Moves Over Board Having PatternBoard game with audible timer description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060170158, Board game with audible timer. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/541,891 entitled "BOARD GAME WITH AUDIBLE TIMER," filed Feb. 3, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes. BACKGROUND [0002] Musical Chairs is a well-known children's game in which children move around a circle of chairs while music plays for a random duration. Once the music stops each child must quickly sit in any available chair. At least one player is eliminated in every round of play because there is one less chair than the number of players. Thus, although the game may be exciting for children due to its fast pace and physical activity, it is of limited enjoyment for those players that are eliminated from the remainder of the game. [0003] By including some of the features of Musical Chairs into a board game, children are able to enjoy the thrill of musical chairs without being left out due to elimination. Additionally, a board game does not require a significant amount of space and may therefore be played when there is insufficient room for setting up the chairs required in Musical Chairs. Such incorporation also increases the unpredictability of the board game. [0004] This disclosure relates generally to board games, and more specifically, to board games that have a timer. Timer games are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,201,129, 3,759,521, 4,128,246, 4,192,512, 4,206,925, 4,852,886, 5,351,955, 5,429,369, 5,540,439, 4,696,477, 4,938,481, 5,009,431, 5,129,655, 6,056,623, and 6,203,017 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. SUMMARY [0005] The present disclosure relates generally to a board game including a play control mechanism. More specifically it relates to a game in which players move their player pieces along the board as long as a timer in the play control mechanism is running. Once there is no time remaining, players whose player pieces are not on designated board spaces are penalized. In some embodiments, the play control mechanism includes a move-determining portion that determines the allowed movement of a player piece. [0006] The advantages of the present invention will be understood more readily after a consideration of the drawings and the Detailed Description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0007] FIG. 1 shows a flow chart illustrating a method of game play according to the present description. [0008] FIG. 2 shows a front view of a game according to the present description and including a board, player pieces, and a play control mechanism. [0009] FIG. 3 shows a side view of the game shown in FIG. 1. [0010] FIG. 4 shows another exemplary play control mechanism for use with a board game. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0011] A method of playing a game 10 is shown in FIG. 1. Game 10 includes a play control mechanism 12. The game is commenced by activating a primary portion of the play control mechanism, as indicated at 100. The primary portion may be adapted to indicate an allowed play interval, such as a random amount of time. A secondary portion of the play control mechanism is then activated 102, which requests a player to follow a given instruction 104. If the player then reaches a predetermined goal 106, that player is the winner 108. Otherwise, the players determine whether the primary portion is still activated 110. If the primary portion is still activated, the next player takes a turn 112 at activating the secondary portion. If the primary portion is not still active, such as through the completion of an event, any players not meeting a predetermined criteria are penalized 114. The process is then repeated until a winner of the game is declared. [0012] Examples of game 10 are illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. Game 10 typically includes a play control mechanism 12, a board 14, and player pieces 16. Board 14 has numerous board spaces 18, along which play control mechanism 12 is used to direct the progression of player pieces 16. [0013] Although play control mechanism 12 may be integral with board 14, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in some examples play control mechanism 12 may be a separate component so that it may be placed anywhere on a play surface, as shown in FIG. 4. Thus play control mechanism 12 may be separately purchasable for incorporation into existing board games to increase the complexity of such games. [0014] In the examples shown, play control mechanism 12 is comprised of a primary portion, such as a timer portion 20, and a secondary portion, such as a move-determining portion 22. [0015] So that players will know when timer portion 20 is operating, timer portion 20 may include an audio mechanism 24. Audio mechanism 26 may play speech patterns or music that stop when no time is remaining. Timer portion 20 is a random timer so that the players will not be able to predict what will happen next in the game. It should be appreciated that timer portion 20 may alternatively or additionally include a visual display, however it is preferred that the timer provide audio feedback so young children will not be required to keep their attention on a visual display while trying to perform the functions necessary for the remainder of the game. [0016] Move-determining portion 22 that determines the allowed movement of a player piece, much like a traditional die would. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, move-determining portion 20 may be integral with play control mechanism 12 to avoid loss of game components and avoid choking hazards associated with small children. [0017] In some examples, move-determining portion 22 is divided into several sections, such as the flowers shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each section may light up randomly, play a particular tune for each section indicating a predetermined allowed move, and the like. In some versions, whichever color flower remains lit indicates a corresponding board space 18 to which the appropriate player may move his or her player piece 16. For example if a yellow flower remains lit then that player may move his or her player piece 16 to the next yellow board space. Move-determining portion 22 may visually refer to board spaces 18 through indicia that match-particular board spaces or by indicating the total number of spaces to be moved. Alternatively or additionally, move-determining portion 22 may provide audio instructions to the respective player. [0018] In some versions of play control mechanism 12 as shown in FIG. 4 move-determining portion 22 takes the form of a traditional die or set of dice. Indicia 26 may instruct a player to move back to a previous green board space, move two spaces forward, and the like. [0019] Two activation mechanisms 28 may be included in play control mechanism 14 to activate timer portion 20 and move-determining portion 22 independently. As shown in FIGS. 2-4, these activation mechanisms include a move button 30, which activates move-determining portion 22, and a timer button 32, which activates timer portion 20. It should be appreciated that other sections of play control mechanism 12 may be used as activation mechanisms. Continue reading about Board game with audible timer... Full patent description for Board game with audible timer Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Board game with audible timer patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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