Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Game board having interchangeable – variable – or plural...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-15
2002-11-26
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Game board having interchangeable, variable, or plural...
C273S287000, C273S242000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06485019
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to games, and, more particularly to board games which allow multiple level play.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Board games typically include a board, one or more game pieces which are used on the board with different players or teams of players generally having different game pieces, and indicia printed on the board defining spaces, functions, travel paths or other information. Movement of game pieces is often controlled by rolling dice, using a spinner, or by using instructional cards. Alternatively, in many strategy games such as chess, movement is simply decided by taking alternating turns. Each game has unique rules which define the goal of the game, how and what actions can be taken by the various players, and how certain events proceed, such as the start and finish of the game. The rules vary widely from game to game, and, indeed, the rules are the very essence of the game, since many different types of games are readily amenable to play on a board format.
Often, the board game is designed to have all pieces fit within an oblong rectangular box. The board itself can be sized to fit within the box as a unitary flat surface; however, to accommodate greater playing options, the board is often folded in half or in thirds or in other manners which will allow a larger sized playing surface to be achieved.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,923 to Bennett, a board game is described which has apertures which extend through one or more hinged play sections. The design allows play to be extended to different sections of an extended board by having pieces pass through an aperture. However, the Bennett concept is not directed to and does not allow for multilevel play. Rather, it is oriented only to two dimensional play with extended path routes for game pieces, and it does not allow free movement forward and reverse.
There are few games which allow multilevel games to be played. Typically, these games are generally focused on high level strategic endeavors such as three dimensional chess or three dimensional connect four.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved game, which is akin to a board game, but which will allows play to proceed on multiple levels by allowing one or more playing levels to be switched relative to game pieces maintained in apertures which extend through the multiple stacked playing levels.
According to the invention, a plurality of playing levels, each with unique indicia thereon, are stacked on top of each other. A plurality of apertures extend through the multiple stacked playing levels. During play, game pieces travel between apertures according to the rules of the game being played. Interconnections between apertures on different levels will vary according to the indicia thereon. Thus, the game board allows for playing conditions to vary by switching between playing levels, with the relative positions of the game pieces remaining stationary during switching.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3031193 (1962-04-01), Chapman
patent: 3206887 (1965-09-01), Eyler
patent: 3758693 (1973-09-01), Ebert
patent: 4210336 (1980-07-01), Williamson
patent: 4350343 (1982-09-01), Salazar
patent: 4365438 (1982-12-01), Nelson
patent: 5255923 (1993-10-01), Bennett
patent: 5356155 (1994-10-01), Gross
Braunlich Tom
Tesh Rollie
Winslow Jim
Layno Benjamin H.
Mendiratta V K
Reed Smith LLP
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