| Board games with selected player movers and methods for playing same -> Monitor Keywords |
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Board games with selected player movers and methods for playing 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 PieceBoard games with selected player movers and methods for playing same description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060284373, Board games with selected player movers and methods for playing same. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is based upon and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) to the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/687,368 entitled "Chess-Like Game" and filed on Jun. 3, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present disclosure is directed to board games, and more particularly to board games in which groups or teams of player movers are used for movement and simulated combat on a game board. Player movers may be provided in visually distinguishable sets, such as an alpha set and a beta set, each player mover of each set including a base portion having differentiable indicia, such as character indicia, game attribute indicia, and so forth. Game attribute indicia may optionally be represented on a reference element, such as a game card, for each player mover. Some player movers may further include removable covers each configured to selectively conceal indicia of the player mover, such as character indicia. [0003] Some methods of game play may provide that a group of player movers is selected for each player prior to game play, composed of one mover from the alpha set (or "alpha mover") and a plurality of movers from the beta set (or "beta movers"). The number and nature of the beta movers may be determined by one or more game attributes of the selected alpha mover. In some methods, each player may use removable covers to conceal some player movers of the player's selected group, such as the beta player movers, prior to their use in game play. In some methods, a game attribute of the selected alpha mover may determine the number and nature of the game actions each player may perform during a turn. In some methods, the goal of game play may be to defeat an opponent's alpha mover. Such methods may provide that a player's alpha mover may be defeated either as a result of combat or as a result of defeating a number of the player's beta movers. BACKGROUND [0004] Examples of games wherein players use groups of player movers with different movement and/or combat capabilities on a game board include the traditional game of chess and chess variants, the Milton Bradley game Stratego, and also the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,322,077; 6,561,513; and 6,601,851; and U.S. Patent App. Pub. Nos. 2004/0090002, 2004/0239032, and 2005/0167914. Examples of games in which players select groups of player movers for game play can be found in collectible card games including the TALISMAN card game produced by Games Workshop, Inc., first introduced in 1983, and the MAGIC: THE GATHERING game produced by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., later described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,332 and U.S. Reissue Patent No. RE37,957. All of the aforementioned disclosures are incorporated herein by reference. SUMMARY [0005] Various embodiments of board games in which groups of player movers are used for movement and simulated combat on a game board are presented herein. [0006] In some embodiments, a set of game components may include two visually distinguishable sets of player movers, such as a first set and a second set, each player mover of each set (alternatively referred to herein as alpha and beta player movers, or alpha and beta movers) including a base portion having differentiable indicia such as character indicia, game attribute indicia, and so forth. [0007] In some embodiments, character indicia may consist of a sculpted figurine mounted to the base portion. [0008] Game attribute indicia may represent a unique set of game attribute values associated with each player mover, and may be represented as numerical values, each value representing a different attribute of the player mover in game play. Game attributes may include movement attributes such as movement pattern, movement range, movement cost, and so forth; combat attributes such as attack pattern, attack range, damage and defense capabilities, and so forth; special abilities and/or rules specific to the player mover; and/or other attributes or characteristics relating to game play. [0009] The number and nature of game attributes may differ by set; for example, alpha movers may have some game attributes that beta movers do not, and vice versa. Also, the values corresponding to each attribute may differ among player movers of a set, such that each player mover may have a unique set of game attribute value indicia. [0010] Game attribute value indicia for each player mover may be represented on the player mover, and/or on a reference element, such as a game card, that identifiably corresponds to the player mover. In some embodiments, the reference element corresponding to each player mover is a game card that includes a representation of the player mover and the unique set of game attribute value indicia associated with the player mover. In such embodiments, each beta player mover also includes some game attribute value indicia, represented by a small group of numbers and symbols located on the base portion of the beta mover. [0011] Some player movers may further include covers, each cover configured to selectively conceal indicia of the player mover, such as character indicia. In some embodiments, each beta player mover may include a cover configured to be removably attachable to the base portion of the player mover, concealing the character indicia when attached. In such embodiments, the removable cover of each beta mover may be removably attachable to the base portion of any beta mover, rendering a group of covered beta player movers substantially indistinguishable from each other. In embodiments in which the base portion of the beta player mover includes game attribute indicia, such indicia may be visible when the character indicia of the player mover is concealed. [0012] In some embodiments, each player mover may be associated with a category or suit. The reference element for the player mover may include categorizational indicia indicating the category of the player mover. In such embodiments, the removable covers for the beta player movers may also include such categorizational indicia, such that a group of covered player movers may be distinguishable from each other only by the categorizational indicia of the covers. [0013] A game board suitable for use with the player movers may include an array of movement spaces, which may be arranged in any configuration suitable for movement of, and simulated combat among, the player movers. For example, movement spaces may be arranged in a checkerboard-like grid, upon which each player's group of pieces may be placed in an initial configuration. In some embodiments, a game board may include a grid of movement spaces representing a common area, and adjacent groups of movement spaces representing starting areas for each player. In such embodiments, each player may initially place his or her group of player movers in a designated starting area. [0014] Some methods of game play may provide that a group of player movers is selected for each player prior to game play, the group consisting of one alpha player mover and a plurality of beta player movers, the number and nature of the beta movers determined by one or more game attributes of the selected alpha mover. For example, the set of game attribute value indicia for each alpha mover may include a numerical value representing a "selection value" for the alpha mover. The set of game attribute value indicia for each beta mover may include a numerical value representing a "selection cost" for the beta mover. Thus, the group of player movers may be selected such that the selection costs of the beta movers may sum to the selection value of the alpha mover. [0015] In some embodiments, the available pool of player movers from which a group of player movers is selected for game play may be as provided with a preassembled game set, such that a group of player movers may be preselected for each of a number of players of the game, according to the selection technique described above. Optionally, sets of one or more player movers may be made available for purchase separately from those available in a preassembled game set, such that each player may purchase, trade, or otherwise obtain a personal collection of player movers. In such embodiments, a player may select a different group of player movers for each game. [0016] In some methods of game play, pre-game preparation may also include the use of removable covers to conceal some player movers of a selected group, such as the beta movers. In such methods, the alpha mover and the concealed beta movers of a player's group may be placed initially in a designated starting area on a game board, and each beta mover may remain concealed until the player moves the mover onto the common area or otherwise brings the mover into play, at which point the cover is removed and the character indicia of the beta mover is revealed. As such, initial concealment of some of the player movers may incorporate a strategic element into game play because a player's use of the player mover, or its position in an initial configuration, may not be evident to an opponent until the player mover is brought into play. [0017] In embodiments in which each player selects a group of player movers from a personal collection of player movers, not only the initial arrangement of each player's beta movers, but also their identities, may be hidden from opponents, by concealing character indicia of the beta movers prior to being brought into play. In such embodiments, a method may provide that a reference element for a concealed beta mover is revealed only upon bringing the beta mover into play. [0018] In embodiments in which some of the game attribute value indicia of the beta movers is visible when the character indicia is concealed, the covered player movers may be turned so that the indicia is not visible to an opponent, so that the visible indicia provide a reference or reminder to the player. Optionally, such indicia may be visible by an opponent, in which case an opponent may attempt to deduce the identity of the concealed player mover. In embodiments in which each cover includes categorizational indicia, such indicia may provide additional information to an opponent regarding the identity, or character indicia, of the beta mover concealed by the cover. [0019] In some methods, players may execute turns in sequence to perform a number of game actions, the number and nature of which may be determined by one or more game attributes of the player's alpha mover. For example, the set of game attribute value indicia for each alpha mover may include a numerical value representing an "action value." The set of game attribute value indicia for each player mover may include various numerical values representing "action costs" for game actions available for each player mover. Thus, the action value of a player's alpha mover may represent a limit for the game actions that may be performed with the player's player movers during a turn. In other words, game actions may be performed such that the action costs of the various game actions performed in a player's turn sum to a value less than or equal to the action value of the player's alpha mover. Such game actions may include bringing a player mover into play by moving it from a starting area to the common area (and revealing the character indicia, if the player mover is a beta mover), moving a player mover on the common area, attacking an opponent's player mover, and so forth. [0020] In some methods, during game play, each player's player movers may engage in combat with an opponent's player movers under certain conditions. For example, the set of game attribute value indicia for a player mover may include indicia indicating an attack range, such as a range of movement spaces relative to the player mover. If an opponent's player mover is within a player mover's attack range, the player mover may "attack," or engage the enemy's mover in combat. Combat may be resolved according to a system of rules, and may relate to game attribute value indicia representing each player mover's attributes in combat, such as damage and defense attributes. For example, each player's set of game attribute value indicia may include a damage value, which may indicate a number of "points" or units of damage that a player mover inflicts to the other player mover during combat. When a player mover has sustained a predetermined amount of damage, such as represented by a defense value associated with the player mover, it may be considered defeated or destroyed, and removed from play. Continue reading about Board games with selected player movers and methods for playing same... 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