Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Electrical
Utility Patent
1998-08-07
2001-01-02
Sager, Mark A (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Electrical
Utility Patent
active
06168157
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to toys and games.
BACKGROUND
The well-known game of Twister™ includes a spinner and a mat on which are arranged differently colored circles. A player spins the spinner and attempts to put his hand or foot on a circle having the color indicated by the spinner. This continues until a player is unable to reach a circle of the indicated color or a player loses his balance, causing him to remove a hand or a foot from the mat.
SUMMARY
In one general aspect, a toy that implements a body-bending game comparable to the Twister™ game includes a housing, sensors, such as buttons, located on the exterior of the housing, and a processor positioned in the housing and connected to the sensors. The processor is configured to instruct players to press particular sensors and to use particular parts of the body (e.g., hand or foot) when doing so, and is further configured to evaluate whether the players have pressed the particular sensors.
Implementations may include one or more of the following features. For example, the sensors may be implemented as buttons, and the housing may be a multisided housing (e.g., a cube) having cushioned corners and different colored, pressure sensitive, convex, circular buttons on each side. The pressure on each of the buttons is sensed by the processor which provides the players with instructions through a speaker and evaluates the player's compliance with the instructions. The players' game performance is also critiqued by the toy at the conclusion of the game. The buttons are also used by the players to configure the toy (i.e., to select game type, skill level, and numbers of players) by pressing opposing buttons. The players' initial selection of a skill level determines the speed or the difficulty at which the game is started. The skill level can be adjusted by the processor during game play to make the game more challenging.
The sensors are uniquely identified. For example, the sensors may have different colors or different shapes.
Cushioned comers on the toy prevent damage to the toy and injury to the players during game play. The compliance of the cushioned comers also helps players to hold the toy without dropping it, as the cushioned comers tend to center the player's body parts on the sensors, which may be recessed relative to the cushioned comers.
In another general aspect, a toy includes a housing in the shape of a cube. Sensors located on each side of the cube are connected to a processor in the cube. The processor may use a speaker and speech to present the player with options and applicable instructions. A number of games may be played using the toy. The first game involves passing the toy from player to player, within a specified time period, while using the parts of the body designated by the toy to press and hold buttons called out by the toy. The object of the game is to increase the number of passes made between players without a mistake. While the selection of the skill level set by the players determines the initial time period allowed for each transfer of the toy between players, the time period is adjusted during game play to make the game more challenging and interesting.
A second variation of this game employs an overall time limit for the duration of the game. The objective of the game is to increase the number of passes of the toy completed, without a mistake, within the designated time period. As game play continues, the game is made more challenging by the introduction of additional parts of the body to be used in passing the toy from one player to the next.
A third game which can be played with the toy involves three or four players cooperatively covering the buttons as instructed by the toy. The objective of this game is for the players to maneuver their bodies to press and hold the buttons without releasing previously pressed buttons. The difficulty of the game is increased by increasing the number of parts of the body used in pressing and holding the buttons.
Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description, including the drawings, and from the claims.
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Beckman Ralph A.
Bradford Kipp L.
Kamentsky Howard
Murphy, III John F.
Schwartz Stephen A.
Fish & Richardson P.C.
Hasbro Inc.
Sager Mark A
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