Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Piece moves over board having pattern
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-11
2001-07-31
Pierce, William M. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Piece moves over board having pattern
C273S430000, C273S431000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267376
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to board games, and more specifically to a trivia game involving multiple levels of difficulty selectable by each of the players. Players providing a correct response at the highest level of difficulty, have the option of advancing their own position marker, or alternatively setting back the position marker of another player, as desired.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various board games testing the knowledge and/or skill of the players, have been known for centuries. More recently, games involving the testing of trivial knowledge (e. g., Trivial Pursuit, ™) have become popular. Such games generally involve a peripheral or other playing path described over a portion of the board, with the playing path being common to all players. Players advance position markers along the playing path according to the degree of success of each in correctly responding to randomly selected questions, usually contained in a deck of question and answer cards.
The results of such a game are generally straightforward, with players having a greater knowledge in the given subject or field of the game, almost always winning the game. Each player's fate is in his or her own hands in such a game, and there is nothing any of the other players can do to alter the course of success of such a superior player. Once such a player approaches the end point of the game, the result is a foregone conclusion.
Accordingly, a need will be seen for a question and response game with rules or procedures allowing players to retard or set back the progress of other players, under certain circumstances of play. The game is played on a board having a series of parallel playing paths thereon, with each player using a single one of the paths. The winning player is the first to move one's position marker from one end of the board (or path) to the other, in accordance with the rules. Opposing players may restrict or reverse the progress of a player by correctly answering a question, preferably at a higher level of difficulty, and choosing to move the player's marker back rather than advancing their own marker. An incorrect response results in the corresponding position marker being set back a corresponding number of positions, depending upon the level of difficulty of the selected question. While the present game may be played using questions from virtually any subject area, it is particularly directed to the use of trivia questions based upon television programs, and more particularly upon current or past situation comedies (“sitcoms”).
A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,717 issued on May 23, 1978 to Susan Rossetti, titled “Educational Game,” describes a board game having a game board with a single sinusoidal path thereover. Separate question cards and answer cards are provided, with each card having only a single question or answer thereon. A single die is used to determine the number of positions advanced by each player after a correct response to a question. No means for setting back the progress of an opponent, is provided by Rossetti. In contrast, the present game provides both questions and corresponding correct responses on opposite sides of a single card, thereby eliminating any possibility of non-corresponding question and answer cards becoming mixed together. Each of the cards of the present game includes a series of questions, and their corresponding answers, having various degrees of difficulty, unlike the single question and answer cards of the Rossetti game. No chance element is provided in the present game; the advance of a given player's position marker is entirely dependent upon the knowledge of that player. However, the present game provides an added element of interest by allowing a player to set back the position marker of an opposing player, if the first player is able to answer a question correctly at the highest level of difficulty and chooses to use his or her move to set back the opposing player.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,823 issued on Oct. 24, 1978 to Tarrie A. McBride, titled “Educational Device Employing A Game Situation,” describes a game having a game board with a single peripheral playing path therearound. Questions and answers are provided on a series of different decks of cards, with each deck pertaining to a slightly different subject area corresponding to a position on the game board, thus opening the possibility of mixing different decks. No means for setting back the progress of another player is provided by McBride in her game. The present game utilizes only a single deck of question and answer cards, with questions on one side of the card and answers on the opposite side. All players select a single card randomly from the deck regardless of their position on the board. The provision for setting back the progress of another player by successfully answering a question of the highest level of difficulty, the plurality of paths on the game board, and other features, render the present game different from the McBride game.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,337 issued on Jun. 16, 1981 to Michael A. Carrera et al., titled “Family Sex Education Board Game,” has a game board with a single peripheral path therearound and a series of different groups of question cards, each of a different level of difficulty. Additional discussion and bonus cards are also provided. The Carrera et al. cards must be carefully kept from being mixed with one another in order to retain the qualities of the game, whereas the present cards form a single deck. Moreover, Carrera et al. require a separate answer book, whereas the questions and corresponding answers of the present game are included on opposite sides of single cards. Carrera et al. do not provide any penalty or setback for incorrect answers, do not provide for a player to set back the progress of another player under certain circumstances, include chance means in the play of the game, and provide a separate score sheet and score marking pegs, each of which features is different from the present game.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,255 issued on Dec. 22, 1987 to Daniel P. Henry et al., titled “Educational Board Game,” describes a game having a game board with a complex pair of intersecting playing paths thereon, unlike the present game board. Chance means are used to determine the distance traveled at each play, unlike the present game. A correctly answering player continues to roll the die and advance, so long as he or she continues to answer each question correctly at each play, unlike the present game. No means is provided for setting back the position of another player, nor being set back for incorrectly answering a question, as in the present game. Henry et al. provide different levels of difficulty, but the level must be selected at the beginning of the game by each player, and may only be changed according to certain specific rules and locations of the game board during play, unlike the present game where each player may select any level of difficulty desired at each turn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,780 issued on Aug. 15, 1989 to Samuel E. Begley et al., titled “Sports Trivia Board Game,” describes a question and response game having questions of different levels of difficulty. Progress about the peripheral path of the game board, and the difficulty of the questions provided to the players during play, is determined purely by chance means, with the players having no input. Thus, a player of the Begley et al. game may by chance advance only a single position on the board, yet be required to answer a question at the highest level of difficulty, unlike the present game. As the score is maintained on a separate sheet in the Begley et al. game, no provision is made to set back the position of a player marker for an incorrect answer, as provided for in the present game. Moreover, Begley et al. make no provision for setting back an opposing playe
Littman Richard C.
Pierce William M.
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