WO2007000650A1

WO2007000650A1 - Board game

Info

Publication number: WO2007000650A1
Application number: PCT/IB2006/001752
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniel Rocco Rossouw
Original assignee: Daniel Rocco Rossouw
Priority date: 2005-06-27
Filing date: 2006-06-27
Publication date: 2007-01-04
Also published as: ZA200800687B

Abstract

A board game is disclosed comprising a playing board 10 comprising an outer ring route (14) comprising a plurality of discrete landing zones that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path and a plurality of animal capture routes (16, 18, 20, 22 and 24) that extend inwardly from the outer ring route (14) for allowing a player to acquire an animal associated with the capture route (16, 18, 20, 22 and 24), each capture route (16, 18, 20, 22 and 24) also comprising a plurality of discrete landing zones that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path, with at least one of the landing zones of each of the capture routes (16, 18, 20, 22 and 24) being pre-designated as an animal acquisition zone (58).

Description

BOARD GAME

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a board game.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a board game, the board game comprising:

a playing board comprising:

an outer ring route comprising a plurality of discrete landing zones that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path; and

a plurality of capture routes that extend inwardly from the outer ring route for allowing a player to acquire an object associated with the capture route, each capture route also comprising a plurality of discrete landing zones that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path, with at least one of the landing zones of each of the capture routes being pre-designated as an object acquisition zone;

a plurality of playing tokens, one per person playing the board game;

at least one object token per capture route; first random number generating means for randomly determining the number of landing zones that the player can traverse with his or her playing token, so that when the player lands on one of the pre- designated object acquisition zones the player acquires the object token associated with the capture route; and

a plurality of player playing boards, one per person playing the board game, for receiving the acquired object token.

Typically, at least one of the landing zones of the outer ring route and/or each of the capture routes is pre-designated as an object loss zone, so that when the player lands on one of the pre-designated object loss zones the player loses an object token.

Conveniently, the board game further comprises second random number generating means for randomly determining the number of object tokens to be acquired and lost by a player when the player lands on the object acquisition zone and the object loss zone, respectively.

Preferably, the object associated with the capture route is an animal, with there being five inwardly extending capture routes, one for each of the well- known Big Five animals, namely the lion, the rhino, the elephant, the leopard and the buffalo.

Advantageously, at least one of the landing zones of the outer ring route is pre-designated as a credit depot, with each credit depot having an associated credit token that the player collects when he or she lands on, or traverses, the credit depot landing zone.

Conveniently, the board game further comprises third random number generating means that can be used for randomly determining the number of credit tokens to be collected when he or she lands on, or traverses, the credit depot landing zone. Typically, there are five credit depots for allowing a player to collect credit tokens for vehicle, water, fuel, stores and medical supplies.

Preferably, at least one of the landing zones of the outer ring route and/or one of the capture routes is pre-designated as a hazard landing zone, requiring the player to lose at least one credit token.

Conveniently, the second random number generating means can be used for randomly determining the number of credit tokens to be returned by the player when he or she lands on one of the hazard landing zones.

Each player playing board comprises:

an inner area where acquired objects are initially and temporarily held; and

an outer area for holding the objects that have been moved out of the inner area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a playing board for a board game, the playing board comprising:

a plurality of capture routes that extend inwardly from the outer ring route for allowing a player to acquire an object associated with the capture route, each capture route also comprising a plurality of discrete landing zones that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path, with at least one of the landing zones of each of the capture routes being pre-designated so that when a playing token associated with a player randomly lands on one of -A-

these pre-designated landing zones the player acquires the object associated with the capture route.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a playing board for use in the board game of the present invention, the playing board comprising an outer ring route and a plurality of capture routes extending inwardly from the outer ring route;

Figure 2 shows a detailed view of part of the playing board shown in Figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 shows a game reserve card for use by a player playing the board game of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, a pentagonal playing board 10 comprises a playing board layout 12 for use in the board game of the present invention. Alternatively, the playing board 10 may take the form of a rectangular or square board, on which the pentagonal playing board layout 12 is printed. The board layout 12 comprises an outer ring route 14, which will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 2, as well as five animal capture routes 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 for each of the well-known Big Five animals, namely the lion, the rhino, the elephant, the leopard and the buffalo. Each route comprises a plurality of discrete landing zones or squares that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path. Each animal capture route 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 comprises a route entrance gate, namely 16.1 , 18.1 , 20.1 , 22.1 and 24.1 , respectively. The board layout 12 includes five credit depots 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 for allowing a player to stock up on credit tokens for vehicle, water, fuel, stores and medical supplies, respectively. A 10-sided dice 36, defining third random number generating means, is provided, which gets thrown by a player passing through or landing on one of the credit depots, with the thrown number determining the number of credit tokens to be accumulated by the player. In this regard, and as shown in Figure 1 , the board game comprises credit tokens corresponding to vehicle, water, fuel, stores and medical supplies, namely credit tokens 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54, respectively. Thus, for example, Figure 2 shows one of the credit depots, in this case a garage depot 26 for supplying vehicle supplies. Thus, when a player passes through or lands on this credit depot 26, he or she must throw dice 36 in order to determine how many garage supply credit tokens 46 he or she is to receive.

These credit tokens 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54 are in turn used to pay for Safari Hazard card penalties, bid on game auctions and pay entrance fees to another player when entering an animal loop that is owned by another player. These features will be described in more detail further on in the specification.

The following three sets of cards, which define second random number generating means, are also provided, with reference now also to Figure 2:

1. Animal Capture cards 56, which are used to determine how many of a specific type of animal are captured when a player lands on one of the Capture squares 58 on one of the animal capture routes 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24, in this case the rhino animal capture route 18.

2. Animal Loss cards 60, which are used to determine how many of a specific type of animal are to be returned by a player when the player lands on one of the Loss squares 62 on one of the animal capture routes 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 or on the outer ring route 14.

3. Safari Hazard cards 64, which are used to determine what penalty, in the form of specific credit tokens 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54, needs to be paid when a player lands on one of the Hazard squares 66 on one of the animal capture routes 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 or on the outer ring route 14. Should a player not have enough credit tokens 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54 to pay the required amount, the player has to move to the corresponding credit depot 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34, throw the dice 36 and collect the number of credit tokens 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54 shown on the dice 36. The player then continues play from that credit depot on his/her next turn. The Safari Hazard cards 64 may also include a "miss a turn" instruction. Examples of Safari Hazard cards 64 include: a. "Hyena steals food during the night, lose 2 store credits, or return to the store depot". b. "Chafing makes hole in water bottle". c. "Axe slips and cuts foot". d. "Encounter soft sand". e. "Food box falls off roof rack". f. "Someone in party gets malaria". g. "Vehicle stalls while crossing river".

The board game further includes a pair of dice 68, defining first random number generating means, with the throw total of the pair of dice 68 being used to determine the number of squares that the player can traverse. A plurality of game reserve cards 70 (not to scale), one per player, is also provided, which will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 3, as well as a plurality of playing tokens 72 (not to scale), again, one per player. The playing tokens 72 can, for example, take the form of miniature 4X4 / game viewing vehicles. A plurality of animal tokens 74 are also provided for each of the big five animal types. These tokens can either be miniature replicas of the various animals, or can simply take the form of discs with the name and/or picture of the animal being printed thereon. As indicated above, these animal tokens 74 are collected when a player lands on a Capture square on one of the animal capture routes of the board layout. The game further provides a plurality of instruction squares, such as squares 76 and 78 in shown in Figure 2. Square 76 allows the player landing on this square to advance to any animal loop gate of his/her choice, such as gate 18.1 for the Rhino Animal Loop. Square 78 allows the player who happens to land on this square to advance to any one of the credit depots 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 of his or her choice and collect the associated credit tokens 46, 48, 40, 52 and 54 by throwing the dice 36. Alternatively, the player can simply remain on this instruction square 78 and select any credit depot 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 from which to receive credit tokens 46, 48, 40, 52 and 54, the number of which would be determined by the throw of dice 36.

Turning now to Figure 3, the outer area of a player's game reserve card 70 defines a game reserve area where captured animals are placed. Conveniently, the pentagonal shaped game reserve card 70 allows five game reserve areas 80, 82, 84, 86 and 88 to be defined, one per big five animal type. Significantly, there are five circles/zones provided within each game reserve area for receiving animal tokens of the same animal type.

The inner area 90 of a player's game reserve card 70 defines a Boma where captured animals are first temporarily held before being moved over into the outer game reserve area 80, 82, 84, 86 and 88. A player can move animals from his/her Boma to the game reserve area only at the start of that player's turn to throw the dice, or when any player calls for an auction. A Boma is by definition an enclosure where captured animals are kept to acclimatize when they are moved to a new game reserve or for a "cooling down" period after being captured. The Boma provides six circles for receiving animal tokens of any animal type. Significantly, when a player captures or gains animals, and the player's Boma does not have space to receive all of the captured/gained animals, the player may only receive as many animals as the space in the Boma allows. Significantly, and with reference to the use of the Animal Loss cards 60 described above, only animals in the outer game reserve area can be lost, with animals within the Boma being safe from the Animal Loss card 60.

Although not shown, the board game of the present invention further includes Game Auction cards, with each player receiving three of these cards at the start of each game. These cards can be used at any time during play before throwing the dice 68 for his/her turn to play. A Game Auction card entitles a player holding one of these cards to call a game auction for any four animals of his/her choice. All players then bid any number of depot credit tokens of their choice in a closed style auction to determine who wins the auction. All depot credit tokens bid by all players are lost irrespective of whether a player has been successful or not in an auction. Once a Game Auction card has been used, it can not be reused. As discussed above, players have to make space in their Boma for animals gained from the auction by placing animals out to the reserve area of their game reserve boards. A maximum of four animals can be called for in an auction and it is the player calling the auction's prerogative which animals are in the auction. When two players have bid the same total number of credit tokens in an auction, the player whose bid includes the highest number of tokens of a similar type wins the auction. Should that number also be the same for the two players, a throw of one of the dice determines the winner.

In addition, the board game of the present invention further includes Animal Loop ownership cards. The first player to place five of any one type of animal into their reserve area of their game reserve card wins the honour of ownership of that specific animal loop. Any other player wishing to enter that animal loop to accumulate those animals must pay the owner of that loop a predetermined number of depot credits. The number of depot credits to be paid can either be a fixed number, say, three depot credits, or there may be an incremental form of payment to owners of loops so that, for example, if a player owns one loop, payment is, say, 3 credits, and if a player owns 2 or more loops, payment is, say, 4 credits. The player entering the animal loop may choose which type of depot credits are paid to the owner of the loop. However, should a player lose one or more of the animals of the loop that he/she owns and is not in a position to replace those lost animals from the Boma, the player loses ownership of that animal loop. In this event, another player, who has five of that type of animal in their reserve section of the game reserve card, takes over the ownership of that animal loop. Should more than one player have five of these animals, the roll of a dice decides ownership of that particular animal loop.

The following are considered to be the unique features of the present invention:

1. The general aim is to capture members of the Big Five African animals, and in particular to capture five of each of the Big Five animals in order to win the game.

2. The collection of depot credits.

3. Holding auctions for the purpose of collecting animals and bidding for animal auctions using depot credit tokens.

4. Striving to own one or more of the animal loops by collecting five of any one type of animal.

5. Players having to pay depot credit tokens when entering an animal loop owned by another player.

6. When two players land on the same square, they may trade animals that are currently in their respective Bomas with each other.

7. Various possible strategies, in which, for example, a player may decide to initially concentrate on accumulating credit tokens by continuously traversing the outer ring of the playing board, as opposed to taking a risk by entering one of the animal loops and stand the chance of being removed from that loop when landing on a Safari Hazard square and not being able to pay the associated penalty. A further advantage of collecting token credits is that it places the player in a relatively stronger position when it comes to animal auctions.

8. Excess animals in a player's Boma can be exchanged for any two depot credit tokens.

9. When landing on a gate square (16.1 , 18.1 , 20.1 , 22.1 , 24.1), a player has the choice of either entering the relevant animal loop or continuing around the outside route. The choice of entering an animal loop is not dependent on the player landing on the gate square at the final count of the dice total. Therefore, a player can elect, at any point of the dice count, when reaching a gate square, to either enter the relevant animal loop or continue around the outer route. Should a player elect to enter an animal loop, the player continues to count off the remaining dice count as per normal play and if that loop is owned by another player, then the player entering the loop must pay the other player the required amount of credit tokens.

10. While a player is moving in an animal loop, the player may land on (at the final count of the dice total) or may traverse a square which intersects with another animal loop (see figures 1 and 2). The player may only enter the other animal loop under the following condition. If the player lands on the intersecting square with the other animal loop, at the final count of the dice total, the player may elect to enter the other animal loop on his/her next turn. If that loop is owned by another player, then the player entering the loop must pay the other player the required amount of credit tokens. The player does not have the option to enter another animal loop if the player traverses an intersecting square while in the process of counting out his/her moves according to the dice count, i.e. taking a throw total of 9 on the dice (68), should a player land on an intersecting square at the count of, for example 8 (of his/her 9 moves), then the player does not have the choice of entering the other animal loop and must continue on in the loop that the player was in at the time. 11. When a player throws a double, the player continues to throw until he or she does not throw a double, with him/her then moving a number of squares corresponding to the total count of all the throws of the dice. The player has to action all squares that the counter lands on for each of the throw totals.

12. A player has the choice of where to move in terms of the outer loop or an animal loop and can continue, for example, to go round and round the animal loop (or outer loop) as long as desired, provided the rule of moving in a clockwise direction is adhered to.

Claims

CLAlMS

1. A board game comprising:

a playing board comprising:

a plurality of playing tokens, one per person playing the board game;

at least one object token per capture route;

first random number generating means for randomly determining the number of landing zones that the player can traverse with his or her playing token, so that when the player lands on one of the pre-designated object acquisition zones the player acquires the object token associated with the capture route; and

2. A board game according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the landing zones of the outer ring route and/or each of the capture routes is pre-designated as an object loss zone, so that when a player lands on one of the pre-designated object loss zones the player loses an object token.

3. A board game according to either claim 1 or claim 2, which further comprises second random number generating means for randomly determining the number of object tokens to be acquired and lost by a player when the player lands on the object acquisition zone and the object loss zone, respectively.

4. A board game according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein either the object associated with the capture route is an animal.

5. A board game according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the landing zones of the outer ring route is pre-designated as a credit depot, with each credit depot having an associated credit token that the player collects when he or she lands on, or traverses, the credit depot landing zone.

6. A board game according to claim 5, which further comprises third random number generating means that can be used for randomly determining the number of credit tokens to be collected when he or she lands on, or traverses, the credit depot landing zone.

7. A board game according to either claim 5 or claim 6, which comprises five credit depots for allowing a player to collect credit tokens for vehicle, water, fuel, stores and medical supplies.

8. A board game according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein at least one of the landing zones of the outer ring route and/or one of the capture routes is pre-designated as a hazard landing zone, requiring the player to lose at least one credit token.

9. A board game according to claim 8, when dependent upon claim 3, wherein the second random number generating means can be used for randomly determining the number of credit tokens to be returned by a player when he or she lands on one of the hazard landing zones.

10. A board game according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each player playing board comprises:

an inner area where acquired objects are initially and temporarily held; and

11. A playing board for a board game, the playing board comprising:

a plurality of capture routes that extend inwardly from the outer ring route for allowing a player to acquire an object associated with the capture route, each capture route also comprising a plurality of discrete landing zones that are arranged next to each other so as to define a continuous path, with at least one of the landing zones of each of the capture routes being pre-designated so that when a playing token associated with a player randomly lands on one of these pre-designated landing zones the player acquires the object associated with the capture route.