GB2216811A - Mathematical board game - Google Patents

Abstract

A board game comprises a board which has superimposed upon it a pattern formed by a plurality of hexagonal or square spaces and a plurality of tiles bearing numbers. Players place the numbered tiles on the board in accordance with the rules to form sequences creating dividends which when divided by a prearranged divisor result in quotients which then determine the scoring points gained by the players. Hazards and bonuses are provided tactically and mathematically. <IMAGE>

Description

QUOTIENT NUMBERS 30ARD GAME APPARATUS The board game to be described relates to apparatus comprising a board which has superimposed upon it a pattern formed by a plurality of hexagonal spaces upon which players place numbered pieces.

The numbers thus placed - in accordance with the rules to be described - create dividends which when divide by a pre-agreed divisor result in quotients which determine the scoring points gained by the players. The player who gains the highest score at the end of the game is adjudged the winner.

The game to be described is designed to encourage mathematical and tactical skills on the part of players and can be looked upon as both competitive and entertaining. The game is best played by two or more players but can easily be accepted as a 'patience' challenge for a single player.

The game can be described as a teaching aid for children and young students to stimulate quick thinking in mathematical learning. An alternative board with squares to replace the hexagonal spaces can be used to provide a simpler form of game for less advanced players and additionally a modified form of play, to be described, can be used to encourage younger children to play at mathematics.

The game has been devised to provide hazards and bonuses to promote tactical play to gain advantage rom the numbers held in a player's hand.

In an example of board game apparatus according to the present invention there is provided a board divided into adjacent hexagonal spaces of which there are a total of 351, this number of hexagons is deemed satisfactory for a game of sufficient length to hold interest. Superimposed upon this pattern of hexagons are scattered spots to draw attention to play restrictions, to be described. Additionally there are a lesser number of spaces marked ' X2 'and ' X7 ' to denote bonuses of double and triple points respectively.

A set of numbered pieces or tiles, are provided, comprising - fifteen each of numbers 1 to 9 and seven O (zero) tiles.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example of play with reference to the accoapanying drawings In which Figure 1 - illustrates a plan view o the layout of a boardfor playing on hexagonal spaces.

Figure 2 - illustrates a single example of a numbere tile.

Figure 3 - shows a perspective view of a suitable support rack for the tiles and furnished for the convenience of players to hold the tiles during play.

This can be made of plastic or other suitable material.

Figure 4 - illustrates a linnen (or similar) bag for holding or b-anking the tiles and will hereafter be refered to as the 'bank'.

Figure 5 - shows the plan view of an alternative board for playing on square spaces.

To begin play all the numbered tiles are placed in the bank. The order of play is agreed and each player draws eight tiles from the bank. The tiles are placed in the racks provided.

The first player combines two, three or four tiles and places them on the board on a straight line of adjacent hexagon spaceswhick run across the large centre spot (6).

The sum of the digits when added together must be divisible by five. The player completes his turn by counting and announcing his score. Be then takes from the bank an equivalent number of tiles as have been placed on the board, to maintain the total number of tiles on his- rack.

Play passes to the left. The second player adds one or more numbers to the tiles already on the board so as to interlock diagonally with theme All new numbers must be placed in a straight row and must total a number divisible by five, the dividend is to include any number or numbers from the previous play which are touching the newly played numbers. The player gets full credit for all totals, in straight lines, formed or modified by his play0 The second player ten completes his turn by counting and announcing his score. After this player has replaced his used tiles by an equivalent number from the bank , play again passes to the left.

New number sequences may be formed by : (a) Placing one or more numbered tiles diagonally to existing tiles on the board.

(b) Placing new tiles parallel to existing rows. The new play must touch at least one tile in the existing row. A single tile play can only be made in this way.

(c) No more than one number can be added to te beginning or the end of an existing straight line number series in one play. The sum of the digits in the midified series must be divisible by five. This addition to the end of an existing line is only permitted when three or more new tiles are added in that play. A single tile play cannot be added to the end of a line.

A player may place up to four tiles on the board for any one play. A player may also place all eight tiles in one play to gain bonus points. It is not permitted to play 5, 6 or 7 tiles in one play If a player is unable to place one or more pieces on the board to form a total divisible by five he may discard any number of pieces into the bank and replace them by an equal number 09 new pieces to maintain a total of eight in his rack. This action takes the place of play to the board and he awaits his next turn to play.

A player wishing to place all eight tiles in one play may not include a zero tile nor place any piece on a hexagon space marked with a spot. This spot restriction does not apply to a play of one, two, three or four tiles.

Special rules applied to zero tO) pieces (a) A zero tile may not be played on it's own.

(b) A zero tile may be used as part of a 2, 3 or 4 tile play ,but not included in an eight piece play.

(c) A zero piece may be placed at either end of an existing line of numbers but that line of numbers cannot be included in the player's score for that turn. Only the new line of numbers placed diagonally can be counted for scoring, even though it contains a zero.

(d) When a zero is included in the play it must not be used in the middle of the sequence. The zero piece must always be placed at the end of the line of numbers.

te)Apla-y may be made diagonally to a zero tile already on the board.

(f) A play cannot be made in line with a sequence which is already containing a zero.

Scoring To calculate the scoring points for any one line,first add up the sum of the individual numbers in that line to form a dividend divisible by the divisors five and/or ten, the quotient or quotients thus obtained provide the number of points scored in that line.

Example (1) 5+3+7 = 15, 15 + 5 = 3 Points.

Example t2) 5+3+7+5 = 20, 20 ' 5 = 4 Points, 20 ' 10 = 2 Points, Total score = 4+2 = 6 Points.

When tiles are placed on the board to join a plurality of lines, the quotient for each line is calculated seperately for individual line points. The points are then added together to give the score for that play.

The dividends created by each of the plurality of lines are not summated for one dividend prior to division.

A sequence of tiles lying across a hexagon marked X2 has it's quotient (score) multiplied by to.

A sequence of tiles lying across a hexagon marked X3 has it's quotient (score) multiplied by three.

A play of all eight tiles in a player's hand in one turn is awarded a bonus of 20 (twenty) points. The quotient calculated for this line is subject to the X2 and X3 bonuses but the additional 20 points is not.

The above outline of the playing of the board game embodied in this invention has been confined to the use of a board superimposed with a pattern of hexagonal spaces.

As previously claimed an alternative pattern of squares can be used to simplify the play. Reference to figure 5 will readily show that tiles can only be placed on either horizontal or vertical lines i.e. two directions, whereas on an hexagonal pattern two diagonal directions are available in addition to one horizontal line where all the spaces in the line are touching one another. It follows, therefore, that a degree of simplification is achieved for players of lessr skills.

An alternative form of play to aid less experienced players is available whereby the dividend is not formalized by adding the number digits as described previously. The dividend now becomes the sequence of numbers as placed.

Example (3) ;her numbers 5, 3, 7 and 5 are played to the board in that order the dividend is taken as 5375.

Scoring is thus : 5375 .' 5 = 175 Points.

Quotients from this form of play are much higher but should not detract from the interest of the game as larger scores can stimulate greater excitement A further alternative to the game as described is to change the divisor number to assist learning. Having a different divisor for each game played, the player (or student) will learn to manipulate numbers in an interesting and profitable way.

Claims (7)

1. A board game apparatus which has superimposed upon it a pattern composed of a plurality of hexagonal spaces upon which players place numbered pieces. The numbered pieces thus placed are to be used as mathematical dividends which in conjunction with pre-arranged divisors provide quotients for the purpose of scoring points during play.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the numbered pieces are in the form of tiles of which there are fifteen each of numbers one to nine and seven zero tiles.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claims 1 and 2 in which the board has superimposed upon it a pattern composed of a plurality of square spaces to which the numbered tiles are played and used as an alternative to the hexagonal pattern9

4. An apparatus as claimed in claims 1,2 and 3 in which segments are marked to indicate different bonus points.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 4 in which segments are marked to indicate restrictions or hazards to scoring possibilities.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 5 to be used as a teaching aid for children and young students of mathematics.

7. A game apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.