WO2003015880A1

WO2003015880A1 - Game marker

Info

Publication number: WO2003015880A1
Application number: PCT/AU2002/001117
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christopher Collins
Original assignee: Christopher Collins
Priority date: 2001-08-20
Filing date: 2002-08-19
Publication date: 2003-02-27
Also published as: AUPR709401A0

Abstract

A versatile game marker is disclosed which transcends many traditional and modern game plays and may be used as 1) a unique dice; 2) a sensitive balancing act; 3) an interlocking construction piece; 4) an object for prompting story telling; 5) a command for players to touch and assume positions. The marker may be used as an individual or in conjunction with others markers providing enormous game play combination due to the ability to individualize each marker and a variety of outcomes for each marker. The device consists of geometrically designed figure or character within a pyramid outline incorporating a built in spring for random dancing or bouncing. A counterweight in the top portion assists with balancing techniques while a tacky skin provides for attraction to other markers.

Description

GAME MARKER

This invention relates to the creation of an improved game marker in the form of a figure or character which can be used as a dice, domino, construction unit, balancing body, dancing toy, and prompt for story telling. There is no shortage of traditional and modern table, board and floor games but the majority are limited by only one game play, which after a while tend to become repetitive and boring and markers tend to be dedicated and inflexible, unable to be used in other games. Games are generally biased towards either luck, skill or imagination and to have a game or marker that combines all three would be unusual.

This invention relates to the following games and entertainment pursuits of which this invention (the marker) may be used for all. a. Dice - a game of random luck with values placed upon its faces - so too this marker may have values and instructions placed upon its landed positions. b. Dominoes - a game of luck and skill matching up spots or values - so too this marker provides the ability to match up body parts and body positions. c. Cards — a game of luck and skill with cards of identities and values and by simply changing rules a vast array of games may be played - so too each marker can adopt an identity through colour or shaped personality but has the added bonus of changing its value as it is also a dice. d. Balancing Acts - A set of dominoes or cards may be used as building units to skillfully form three dimensional structures - so too this marker may be balanced upon each other on common points but also has the added bonus of a counterweight to challenge skill. e. Story telling — imaginative story telling or gossip becomes initiated through prompts of words or objects from the audience - so to this marker provides such prompts by the way the marker is shaped as a figure and may be named then positioned upon another marker or an object at will to create a story. f. Bowls - balls may be thrown to land on or knock another ball - so too this marker may be thrown to land on another marker but has the added bonus of the spring legs and arms to provide a random dance like effect and these angled tentacles may be used to catch or dislodge another marker. g. Touching Games - a few games becoming popular today are those which instruct the player to place their body parts in certain positions - so to this invention instructs the players to adopt a nominated position and touch qther players in a certain way. All of the above games and entertainment pursuits are encompassed by this invention and may use one or more of the game markers as values, identities, instructions, prompts or props. The game marker takes the form of a character or figure which is so shaped with its arms and legs extended to form the ridge lines of the top of a pyramid and the hands and feet forming the corners of the base being a square or a rectangle, thus providing five planes in which the marker may rest to which each position may be attributed a value similar to a dice, however the geometric shape further provides common points for common parts such as hands, feet, backs and bottoms which may be aligned with markers of the same configuration to match up body parts similar to dominoes which may be played on a horizontal surface or balanced upon each other in a vertical format and to further add diversity each marker in a set can vary in colour or shape providing identities and varying values similar to a deck of playing cards, thus this game marker combines the markers of dice, dominoes and cards in a unique form providing an enormous array of overlapping game play possibilities.

The game marker shall take the figure form of a character, human, animal, fictional or cartoon and be of any gender.

The game marker shall have any number of arms and legs or additional appendages forming a multi sided pyramid. The game marker shall form different identities by changing colour, shape or features to provide different characters or personalities.

The game marker shall provide an unbiased dice by balancing the weight of material proportional on all planes.

The game marker shall provide a bias dice by adding more material weight to the plane or planes required.

The game marker may have the centre of balance altered by adding or removing material weight either on the hands and feet or the bottom, thus varying the stability of each marker.

The game marker has the ability to support other markers similar to a scrum by standing each marker on two points i.e. feet or hands and leaning against other markers aided by a slightly tacky surface and a countenveight in the bottom which holds the scrum together but may also cause the marker to fall when moved over centre.

The game marker shall use material of flexible or springy nature to assist with random bounce when thrown like a dice.

The game marker shall be made of a material of a slightly stretchy, sticky nature surface to assist with adhesion to each other when used for balancing. The game marker shall have the bottom flattened to provide a sixth position and hence form a six sided dice.

The game marker shall be used as prompts and props for story telling as the shaped characters lend themselves to being named and the geometric shape of common points of common body parts provide for a large variety of positions with which the characters may interlink, so providing imaginative and inspirational props for story telling. The game marker is well shaped that an able bodied person could copy any position and therefore be used as instruction for the players to physically take these positions portrayed by the markers either when thrown or placed.

The game marker shall have additional material under the legs and arms to form a convex arc in order that the marker may rock like a rocking chair.

The game marker relies upon the extended limbs to be used as a catching and tripping device to upset positions and movements when markers are unbalanced or thrown at each other.

The game marker shall be used in conjunction with a flexible substrate such as a trampoline type, which would greatly improve the bounce, twisting and dancing of the markers when thrown upon such a surface. The game marker shall also be used in conjunction with a concave bowl which when two or more markers are thrown into the bowl the nature of the curve and weight of the markers shall force the markers to land upon each other which prompts the player to physically assume those positions. The game marker incorporates uniquely designed appendages being arms and legs incorporating an additional; spring feature which provides more lift and random bouncing while providing an interesting dance, effect by utilizing a material of a spring nature and substantially tapering the appendages and by providing a sharp return angle of a small amount of material in the ankle/wrist region, which when the marker is dropped or thrown onto that point the weight of the body combined with the thinness, tapering angle and return flexible memory of the material in that region have a larger than normal return bounce aided by the unnatural angle of the foot providing for an undeterminable random bounce which subsequently can bounce from foot to foot or hand to hand giving an interesting dance until coming to rest.

The game marker uses the material of the return angle on the feet and hands not only as a random return spring but also to form pads on the same plane in order that other markers may locate onto those common corner points and the marker itself may rest in stability and form the base of the pyramid.

The game marker also uses the return angle of the feet or hands to raise the legs and arms off the ground when the marker is resting in any plane. To assist with the understanding of the design of the marker and how the markers relate to each other as a working set as well as the key features associated with the design please refer to the following drawings. In the drawings FIG. 1 shows the invention as a one piece of shaped or moulded material of spring nature clearly showing the shaped body being a figure or character comprising head (1), bottom (2), legs (3), arms (18), hands (19) and foot (4). Note the arms (18) and legs (3) form the ridgelines of the top portion of a pyramid (5) and the hands (19) and feet (4) form the square or rectangular base (6) of that pyramid. This forms the five sides of the dice but there could be more.

Note the rounded shape at the bottom (2) sometimes called top of the dice that allows for smooth rotation at the base yet provides a point to sit when the marker falls in in the upper planes of the pyramid further supported by two other points being hands (19) or feet (4). The bottom (2), top of the dice, also acts as a weighted portiori which when moved provides a constantly changing centre of gravity for the various game plays described later in the text.

Note also that the head (1) or any other point of the body may if required be weighted in such a way as to bias the fall of the dice towards that area.

Referring to FTG. 2 shows the designed leg spring in compression in side view. Having been dropped (13) at an angle onto the table or similar substrate (7) the main weight of the body (8) in conjunction with the tapered leg (9) and the protruding foot (10) creates a pivot (11) and hence due to the spring nature of the material a compression point is created resulting in a rebound (12) causing the marker to flick back into the air and repeat the procedure on another foot (10) or hand (19) and so on until the marker comes to rest. Note the importance of the legs (9) and arms (18) being independent from each other for free and maximum spring aided by the severe tapering from the main body, which in itself provides a good spring at the outer tips of the appendages.

FIG. 3 shows the five positions formed by the triangle - hands up (20), legs up (21), lean left (22), lean right (23), bottoms up (24). Note how the marker rests in bottoms up (24) on four points being hands and feet and in all other positions i.e. hands up (20) rests on three points being bottom, hands or feet. This is essential for stability and the ability to align up common points when placing markers to "'g»e'•ther. FIG. 4 shows in side view how the geometric design allows for easy matching of body parts to form interlocking or touching structural shapes. Note how the geometric shape of the pyramid body with common body p∑trts points allow for construction of a three dimensional structure matching parts like dominoes i.e. hands to hands (25), bottom to bottom (27) etc and how the markers nest into each other i.e. back to back (26) and legs to legs (28) etc. Positions are held by the tacky nature of the skin and the weighted bottom, Characters will of course fall off if inappropriately balanced due to the movement of the centre of gravity in the bottom (2). FIG. 5 shows in side elevation a marker standing vertical while leaning over forward. The centre of balance (29) is clearly well outside the body due to the counterweight of extra material in the bottom (2). While this clearly maintains the vertical stance in equilibrium the marker can easily overbalance forward (30) or backwards (31) which is an important feature when the markers are supporting each other.

FIG. 6 shows in side view a number of markers balanced upon their feet (4) leaning against each other with the tips of their hands (15) to form a self supporting scrum. This balancing arrangement or scrum is only possible with a slightly sticky surface and the weighted bottom (2) being over centre as shown in FIG. 5. Note - the inner core is formed by two characters touching hands at point (16) however outer characters may fall away if their weighted bottom (2) is placed over centre as shown in FTG. 5. As more characters are added or moved the pressure on the scrum alters which can cause one or more characters to fall as adhesion is lost or the centre of gratvity moves.

FIG. 7 shows in plan view the scrum building with more markers and as the arms and bodies become over lapped (33) each marker becomes an important link therefore removal or altering position can dramatically reduce the integrity of the structure so leading to challenging game strategies. Note marker (34) is only supported at one point and a change in movement or scrum pressure could cause this marker to drop. FIG. 8 shows in side elevation some of the possible combinations of the interlinking of figures and how common body parts such as feet (4), hands (1 ), back (26), legs (3), bottom (2) may be matched up similar to dominoes.

FIG 9 shows in plan view how the markers may align up their hands (19) and feet (4). All markers are drawn with bottom points up however note how marker (32) is drawn sitting up with hands up but the feet (4) can still be aligned demonstrating how markers may be aligned with common points or body parts in any one of the five planes therefore providing vast potential combinations. FIG. 10 shows the addition of material on the outside of the legs (35) and arms (36) in a convex arc to provide a rocking feature similar to a rocking chair.

As this invention is extremely versatile and the marker encompasses many existing games as well as new and potentially unlimited game play possibilities . the technical features in relation to the major game plays shall be described.

1. As the marker has in effect five sides due to the pyramid formation of the legs and arms this directly relates to five positions - hands up, legs up, lean left, lean right, bottoms up and hence the marker may be a. Used as a dice with values or instruction given to each position, b. Used as a command in a floor game instructing the players to physically take those positions on the floor. c. Used as props and prompts for story telling as the geometric pyramid design allows the markers in the form of figures to nest together in a multitude of positions or planes stimulating imaginative comments enhanced by the naming of individual coloured or personalized markers. 5

2. As the marker has been designed as a figure within a geometrically balanced pyramid being four equilateral triangular sides on the top surfaces and a square or rectangular base, common points have been created to align or match up common body parts such as hands, feet, back, legs, arms as required in the

10 following game plays a. Dominoes may be played by matching hands to hands, feet to feet, back to back, bottom to bottom etc.

15 b. The marker may be used as building blocks to balance markers upon each other using the common parts as locaters aided by a slightly tacky surface.

3. As the markers have been designed to include a counterweight in the bottom the markers may be used to perform balancing acts against each other or an

20 object, hence, a. The markers can be placed upon each other at their common points to build a three dimensional vertical structure using the markers weights and angles to keep the structure in balance.

25 b. By standing the markers on their feet and leaning against each other a scrum effect may be built forming a structure wherein the markers become structural members. However when the markers are added or moved the various counterweights acting against each other create pressure points to

30 either hold up or push over other markers. A slightly tacky surface assists with contact.

4. The designed in spring legs and arms provide for a high and random bounce as they are thrown and perform a dance like effect as they bounce from one limb

35. to another. The long limbs also provide tentacles in which other markers may get caught as they are thrown upon each other. a. Like bowls the markers may be thrown to land on or near each other however additional play value is added with the combination of luck in a

40 random bounce and skill in using the tentacles to catch, trip up or undo positions of other markers. b. A touching game may also be adopted instructing the throwers of the markers to physically take the positions of their respective markers and 5 touch in that way.

5. As the markers may be made in limitless colours or character forms each marker shall have a unique identity like a playing card with a value however as a marlξ-er also has five sides like a dice this card in effect can change its value 0 with five more variables greatly expanding game play possibilities. With this flexibility of image and value the markers could be used in the following games. a. Bingo, e.g. a call would be "orange male hands up" b. The majority of card games as all identities may be created within the shape and colours of a marker and the element of surprise shall be hiding the markers such as in a bag or in one's lap. c. Chess d. Draughts

This invention is truly a universal game marker, which may not only be used in the above games and entertainment pursuits but provides an opportunity to inspire players to create their own games, rules and pursuits.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows: -

1. The game marker takes the form of a character or figure which is so shaped with its arms and legs extended to form the ridge lines of the top of a pyramid and the hands and feet forming the corners of the base being a square or a rectangle, thus providing five planes in which the marker may rest to which each position may be attributed a value similar to a dice, however the geometric shape further provides common points for common parts such as hands, feet, backs and bottoms which may be aligned with markers of the same configuration to match up body parts similar to dominoes which may be played on a horizontal surface or balanced upon each other in a vertical format and to further add diversity each marker in a set can vary in colour or shape providing identities and varying values similar to a deck of playing cards, thus this game marker combines the markers of dice, dominoes and cards in a unique form providing an enormous array of overlapping game play possibilities.

2. The game marker of claim 1 shall take the figure form of a character, human, animal, fictional or cartoon and be of any gender.

3. The game marker of claim 1 shall have any number of arms and legs or additional appendages forming a multi sided pyramid.

4. The game marker of claim 1 shall form different identities by changing colour, shape or features to provide different characters or personalities.

5. The game marker of claim 1 shall provide an unbiased dice by balancing the weight of material proportional on all planes.

6. The game marker of claim 1 shall provide a bias dice by adding more material weight to the plane or planes required.

7. The game marker of claim 1 may have the centre of balance altered by adding or removing material weight either on the hands and feet or the bottom, thus varying the stability of each marker. ,

8. The game marker has the ability to support other markers similar to a scrum by standing each marker on two points i.e. feet or hands and leaning against other markers aided by a slightly tacky surface and a counterweight in the bottom which holds the scrum together but may also cause the marker to fall when moved over centre.

9. The game marker of claim 1 shall use material of flexible or springy nature to assist with random bounce when thrown like a dice.

10. The game marker of claim 1 shall be made of a material of a slightly stretchy, sticky nature surface to assist with adhesion to each other when used for balancing.

11. The game marker of claim 1 shall have the bottom flattened to provide a sixth position and hence form a six sided dice.

12. The game marker of claim 1 shall be used as prompts and props for story telling as the shaped characters lend themselves to being named and the geometric shape of common points of common body parts provide for a large variety of positions with which the characters may interlink, so providing imaginative and inspirational props for story telling.

13. The game marker of claim 1 is well shaped that an able bodied person could copy any position and therefore be used as instruction for the players to physically take these positions portrayed by the markers either when thrown or placed.

14. The game marker of claim 1 shall have additional material under the legs and arms to form a convex arc in order that the marker may rock like a rocking chair.

15. The game marker of claim 1 relies upon the extended limbs to be used as a catching and tripping device to upset positions and movements when markers are unbalanced or thrown at each other.

16. The game marker of claim 1 shall be used in conjunction with a flexible substrate such as a trampoline type, which would greatly improve the bounce, twisting and dancing of the markers when thrown upon such a surface.

17. The game marker of claim 1 shall also be used in conjunction with a concave bowl which when two or more markers are thrown into the bowl the nature of the curve and weight of the markers shall force the markers to land upon each other which prompts the player to physically assume those positions.

18. The game marker of claim 1 incorporates uniquely designed appendages being arms and legs incorporating an additional; spring feature which provides more lift and random bouncing while providing an interesting dance effect by utilizing a material of a spring nature and substantially tapering the appendages and by providing a sharp return angle of a small amount of material in the ankle/wrist region, which when the marker is dropped or thrown onto that point the weight of the body combined with the thinness, tapering angle and return flexible memory of the material in that region have a larger than normal return bounce aided by the unnatural angle of the foot providing for an undeterminable random bounce which subsequently can bounce from foot to foot or hand to hand g Si'ving an interesting dance until coming to rest.

19. The game marker of claims 1 and 18 uses the material of the return angle on the feet and hands not only as a random return spring but also.to form pads on the same plane in order that other markers may locate onto those common corner points and the marker itself may rest in stability and form the base of the pyramid.

20. The game marker of claims 1 and 18 also uses the return angle of the feet or hands to raise the legs and arms off the ground when the marker is resting in any plane.