AU712035B2 - A game - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT 4 4 4.

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Robert Stanley PHILLIPS As above CULLEN

CO.,

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

4* 4: 44° 44 4 4 Invention Title: A GAME The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: This invention relates to a board game and particularly relates to a board game which mimics the open air game of lawn bowls.

Lawn bowls is an open air game which has wide popularity amongst older people and increasing popularity with younger people. It is not always possible for older people to play lawn bowls, for instance due to temporary injury and arthritic complaints. There are other circumstances such as bad weather which prevent lawn bowls from being played.

This invention can also be enjoyed by children, adults, families and other groups including those with and without any experience in the game of lawn bowls.

*The present invention is directed to a game which mimics the game of lawn bowls and which allows the lawn bowls game and skills to be enjoyed when the outdoor game cannot be played.

It is not possible to simply convert an outdoor lawn bowls game to a board game, but after much research and experimentation, the present inventor has developed a board game which does emulate the outdoor lawn bowls game to an extent sufficient to provide enjoyment and a selection of skills to be used.

It is an object of the invention to provide a game which may overcome the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a lawn bowls board game comprising a board member which has a multiplicity of separate zones thereon, these zones comprising a majority of first zones and a minority of second zones, position indicator means to identify each of the zones, playing tokens which can be moved onto a said zone, instruction means to instruct a player to place a said token on a particular zone on the board, characterized in that the first zone allows a token to be placed in one position only on the zone, while the second zone allows a token to be placed in at least two separate positions on the zone.

With the above arrangement, the present invention overcomes one of the disadvantages which has been to emulate on a board, an outdoor game which involves rolling of biased lawn bowls.

The board member may comprise a rigid flat substantially rectangular board which can be formed from any suitable material, for instance cardboard, hard plastic, stiff paper, wood, metal and the like.

Throughout the specification and claims, the term "board member" can include any type of base which can be printed or otherwise formed with the zones and position indicator means. For instance, the board member could :include a flexible plastic sheet which can be folded or rolled up when not in use. It is envisaged that the board member could include a cloth which could be stretched and pinned or otherwise manipulated to provide a planar surface on which the game can be played.

The board can have various sizes to allow a larger number of zones to be applied to the board and/or to allow each zone to be of larger size (this providing advantage to vision impaired players). The board is typically rectangular in shape to emulate a lawn bowls field, but it should be *appreciated that other shapes could be used to provide an aesthetic or decorative appearance to the board.

The board member has a multiplicity of separate zones. Each ozone is preferably clearly defined from each other zone and this can be done by using clearly visible borders around each zone. In an embodiment, the board can be divided by a number of parallel horizontal lines and a number of parallel vertical lines to define the multiplicity of zones, each zone being substantially square. Of course, other means could be used to define the various zones.

The game further includes a number of playing tokens which can be moved by a player onto a said zone. These tokens can take any desired shape and configuration, and for instance the tokens could be in the shape of a lawn ball. It is preferred that the shape and size of the token is such that the token is able to be placed entirely within a first said zone.

The zones are divided into first zones and second zones. Each zone is preferably identical in shape and size. The first zones are such that a token can be placed in only one position on a first zone. In an embodiment, this can be achieved by having a pin hole in a first said zone, with the playing token having a pin which can fit in the pin hole. Of course, it is possible for the playing token to have a number of pins which can fit into corresponding holes on a first zone, the arrangement being such that the token can only be placed in one position on a first zone. It is also envisaged that rather than having pins and pin holes, other forms of projections and recesses could be used, or indeed other forms of location means could be used. For instance, the token may have a pointer on it which aligns with an indicia on a first zone to position the token in one position on the first zone.

In contrast, the second zones are able to position a token in at least two separate positions on the zone. For instance, if the token has a projecting pin, the second zone can have a number of pin holes such that the token can be positioned on the second zone in a number of different places.

As with the first zone, this location arrangement can be done in a variety of ways including pins and pin holes, other forms of projections and recesses, or other forms of location means.

The second zones preferably have four spaced pin holes or other types of locating means such that a playing token can be positioned on a second zone at four different places.

The game further includes instruction means to instruct a player to place a token on a particular zone. This can be in the form of an instruction sheet, instruction manual, instruction cards and the like. An interesting part of the game is that dice are not required in order to play the game as will be exemplified below.

In an embodiment, the game may have at least 100 and preferably at least 200 first zones, and between 2 10 and preferably 2 said second zones.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following figure which illustrates a board on which the board game can be played.

Referring to the figure, there is shown a board 10 which has a multiplicity of separate rectangular zones thereon, the zones being defined by ruling the board into horizontal and vertical squares. The vast majority of the zones are first zones which are identified by having a single pin hole in the zone. Numeral 11 identifies a first zone. The board further has two second zones being identifies by having four pin holes in them, these second zones being E8 and The board has position indicator means to identify each of the zones and these are the letters A Z on each side of the board and the numbers 1 19 on the top of the board. This arrangement allows each zone to be separately identified.

A ditch 12 is provided along the Al A19 row on the board this emulating the real ditch in the outdoor lawn bowls game.

The zones Q1 Q19 to ZI and Z19 are not provided with pin .holes as it is, in practice, extremely rare for a token to be placed in these zones.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the first zones have a single pin hole in them while the two second zones (E8 and G10) have four equally spaced apart pin holes. A playing token 13 can be moved over any one of the zones. Playing token 13 has a central downwardly projecting pin 0 0 .14 which fits within the single hole on the first zones and one of the for holes on the two second zones to position the token in place on a zone.

By having only one pin hole in a first zone, token 13 can be placed in only one position in a first zone. In contrast, the two second zones allows token 13 to be placed in four separate positions.

The game can be played by 2, 4, 6 or 8 players and is played in a manner similar to lawn bowls but with a few interesting added extras.

Each player is given a number of instruction means in the form of cards (not illustrated). Each player plays his or her allotted number of cards, called "an end" after which the team whose tokens are closest to the kitty (the kitty being zones G10 or E8), is the winning team and their score is recorded. Tokens that end up in the ditch (Al A1 9) are not counted.

The number of "ends" played may be predetermined before the game starts or the number of "ends" played may be determined by time limits.

The white kitty marker has four positions on G10. Once a position has been selected by the team winning the toss at the start of the end, it cannot be altered unless the kitty is sent to the other square E8.

The cards may include umpire cards. The umpire cards may give a penalty or reward from the umpire to the player. Once the umpire card is used, it goes to the bottom of the pack.

The cards may include spider cards. A spider may be run S before the start of the play or during the mid-way break. For instance, four games of five ends may be played then the spider may be played and thereafter another four games of five ends may be played. The idea with the spider is to see who can place the token closest to the ditch. A token that lands in the ditch doesn't count. The players are all dealt one spider card after which the pack of 20 cards has been shuffled. The winner is the player with the token nearest to the ditch. In the event of a draw, players play-off again and the winner can be awarded a small prize.

For a fours game, this game requires 8 players divided into two teams, for instance a blue team and a red team. The playing cards are colour coded in a similar manner. Each team decides which will be the lead, second, third, and skip, and will take up the lead, second, third and fours skip cards. Each pack contains ten cards which are shuffled and placed face down in front of the player. A skip tosses a coin to see which team starts, and the white kitty marker is placed in one of the four holes in the second zone Each skip has a score pad and starts the team off with ten bonus points. The lead of the team going first (for instance blue team) turns over the first card and places the card beside the pack. The contents of the card are read out to the other players (the contents being instructions to where the token is to be placed on the board plus a banter comment common to the game of lawn bowls), and the token is moved to the appropriate zone on the board. The read lead follows with the first bowl. The blue lead has the second bowl, followed by the red lead again. Thereafter, the blue and red seconds play two bowls, the blue and red thirds play two bowls, followed by the skips with two bowls. When the last skip has played the second card, this constitutes an "end" and the end is over and the team with the bowl or bowls closest to the white kitty takes one point for each bowl and adds it to the score.

Each set of cards is reshuffled to start another "end" with the winning team starting first.

If a triples game is to played, this game requires 6 players divided into two teams, for instance the blue team and the red team. Each team will have a lead, second and skip (with a third being omitted). The lead, .second and skip cards are picked up and the game is played.

If a pairs game is to be played, 4 players are required divided into two teams, each team consisting of a lead and a skip. The game is played in a manner as described above. For a singles game, two players are required, each player taking up a single skip stack of cards. Each player plays four bowls.

In the embodiment, the cards are divided into a series of blue cards and a series of red cards. The series of blue cards consist of a stack of lead cards, a stack of second cards, a stack of third cards, and a stack of °°•fours skip cards (for the fours game), a stack of triples skip cards (for the triples game), and a stack of pairs skip cards (for the pairs game). Each stack has ten cards in it although this can vary to suit.

The playing cards further include spider cards, umpire cards, and singles skip cards for both teams.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (3)

1. A lawn bowls board game comprising a board member which has a multiplicity of separate zones thereon, these zones comprising a majority of first zones and a minority of second zones, position indicator means to identify each of the zones, playing tokens which can be moved onto a said zone, instruction means to instruct a player to place a said token on a particular zone on the board, characterized in that the first zone allows a token to be placed in one position only on the zone, while the second zone allows a token to be placed in at least two separate positions on the zone.

2. The game of claim 1, wherein the zones comprise at least 200 said first zones and between 2 10 said second zones.

3. The games of claim 1 or claim 2 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing. o*°Re DATED this 14 th day of August 1998 *-**.Robert Stanley PHILLIPS By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.