Amusement devices: games – Miscellaneous – Electric
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-25
2002-12-17
McMahon, Marguerite (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Miscellaneous
Electric
Reexamination Certificate
active
06494457
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to children's toys and games. More particularly the present invention relates to those games that are enhanced versions of the game of hide and seek. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to such games that utilize an object, such as a doll, stuffed animal, toy or other such object, that is hidden and which communicates its relative position to the person seeking the toy or object.
B. Background
The game of hide and seek has likely been around for a very long time. In fact, most people have played the game of hide and seek, either when they were a child or as an adult in conjunction with children. The standard game of hide and seek requires two or more participants with one participant being the seeker and the other participant(s) hiding so the seeker cannot easily find them. Typically, the seeker will hide his or her eyes to give the other participants a chance to hide. Once the allotted time has gone by for the others to hide, the seeker will begin seeking out the other participants. When the seeker is able to find and touch another participant, that participant becomes the next seeker and the game is repeated. There are numerous variations of the standard game where rules are made to increase or decrease the difficultly of play. One such variation on the standard hide and seek game is where one person (often a parent or older sibling) hides an object, such as a doll, stuffed animal or toy, so that another person (i.e., a child) can try to find the object. Typically, the person who hid the object will watch the person seeking the object and give clues as to the location of the hidden object, usually in reference relative to the seeker's position and often in the vague form of whether the seeker is cold, warm or hot. Based on the clues, the seeking participant uses his or her logic skills to determine the object's location.
One limitation of the standard game of hide and seek is that the game requires at least two persons (whether both are children or one is a parent or other adult) to participate, one as the seeker and one who hides. If only two participants are playing the standard hide and seek game, the one hiding is unable to give any clues as to his or her position without the sound of the clues, as opposed to the words themselves, giving away the hider's location. In fact, with only two people playing hide and seek, the modified game (i.e., where an object is hidden and clues are given) is usually the game of choice for younger children due to their inability to find a well-hidden hider. Naturally, without a second person to do the hiding or seeking, either the standard or modified game of hide and seek cannot be played. With young children at home, often it is the parent who plays as the other participant. Even well meaning parents, however, are generally limited on the amount of time and patience they have available for playing such a game. Usually, the parent will tire of the game before the child does.
For traditional hide and seek games, the number of players to make the game fun generally depends on the size of area where the game is played and the number of places to hide. If the area is small with not too many places to hide, the game is generally more fun with fewer players. Otherwise, the game is not very much fun because it is too easy to find the hidden participants. In contrast, if the playing area is large with many places to hide, the game is generally much more fun with more participants. This is particularly true for a game being played in a large area with only a young seeker and a single hidden child, which would be too difficult to be fun.
A number of modern variations of the game of hide and seek have been developed and/or patented to incorporate modern electronic technology into devices to be used to play the game. One such game is “Hide 'n Sneak” that utilizes a seeker unit and one or more “hider” units that are worn by the person seeking and the person hiding, respectively. When the seeker comes within a preset distance of the hider, the seeker unit picks up a signal transmitted by the hider unit to let the seeker know he or she is close to a person hiding. As the seeker gets closer to the hidden person, the seeker unit uses a variety of lights and/or sounds to indicate the relative closeness to the person hiding. As such, the game basically replaces visual seeking with sonar-type seeking. Another game is called “Hide 'n Squeak” by Milton Bradley. In this game, an object such as a kitten or puppy with a transmitter inside is hidden. The object transmits a “cute” sound every few seconds for the child to follow. Skill level is adjusted by setting how often the object transmits the sound. Other than listening for the sound of the object, there is no other interaction between the seeker and the object. Another available game utilizes the Freddie Fish® character in a toy format, treasures for hiding and a tracking device. The character toy emits different phrases to guide the seekers to the hidden treasures. Other than listening to the phrases emitted by the toy, no other interaction takes place between the child and the toy. One common aspect of the above-mentioned games is that none of them provide much of an opportunity for the seeker to use and develop his or her logic skills. The interaction between the seeker and the hidden objects is generally very minimal and the seeker merely has to follow the sound of the devices to determine where they are located.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,575 to Perry discloses a hide and seek game that utilizes a radio receiver for the seeker and radio transmitters for those who are hiding. Each transmitter emits a radio signal that is picked-up by the receiver, which measures the field strength of the cumulative signal field generated by the transmitters. The receivers and transmitters can be configured in the form of a wrist watch sized device to be worn on the players' person. The transmitters also include a feature to allow them to be temporarily turned off. This game, like the traditional game of hide and seek, requires two or more participants. In addition, the game devices appear to be less suitable for very young children due to the need to understand the effect of multiple radio signals. A similar type of game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,969 to Wicks. This patent describes a treasure hunt type of game that utilizes pagers and a wireless paging system. The participants decipher clues to determine which location they need to go to next. Once there, they signal the base pager station that they are there and then they receive the next clue. This game requires interaction with a wireless paging system and is not configured for young children.
While the foregoing describes certain hide and seek and related games that are available or have been previously patented, none of the games provide a hide and seek game that can be played by a single participant (once the object is hidden) and which interacts with the participant. The ability to provide a participant, particularly young children, with a hide and seek game that both entertains and helps develop the participant's thinking abilities would be beneficial to most parents. As is well known, a child playing by his or herself or even with other children often becomes bored and wants a parent to interact in a game with the child or children. The level of interaction desired by the child or children often is not possible due to work or other activities engaged in by the parent. Although the parent wants to keep the child or children busy, he or she desires to have something that interacts with the child and makes the child use and further develop thinking skills. What is needed, therefore, is a hide and seek game and interactive apparatus for use with the game that can be played by one or more young children and which provides a level of interaction with the child or children that encourages the child to uti
Conte Shelly
Reichman Cindy
LandOfFree
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