Educational science game and method of play

Abstract

An educational game is shown which encourages learning while providing a novel and unique gaming experience. An array of unusual or unique features are combined in the game, such as the ability to move any game piece along a primary and a secondary game board, variable movement for different game pieces depending upon the characteristics of that game piece, the ability to obtain “equipment” to alter those characteristics, and an ultimate goal based upon the acquisition of a plurality of tokens. Other unusual or unique game playing features are disclosed.

1 . A board game for play by a plurality of players comprising: 
 a primary game board having a plurality of game spaces connected along one or more contiguous paths;    a secondary game board disjointed from said primary game board, also having a plurality of game spaces connected along one or more contiguous paths;    a plurality of game pieces, each belonging to a particular player, designed to move along the contiguous paths of either the primary or secondary game board; and    one or more transition mechanisms in the game, said transition mechanism moving a game piece from the primary game board to the secondary game board or vice versa.    
   
   
       2 . The board game of  claim 1 , further comprising tokens that are available for players to collect, and wherein the object of the game is to collect a set number of said tokens and to subsequently go to a specified game space.  
   
   
       3 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein said tokens are acquired by first landing on any game space designated for such purpose, and subsequently answering a question correctly.  
   
   
       4 . The board game of  claim 3 , further comprising a random number generator activated by player that fixes the number of game spaces which the game piece of that player will move on that turn, and wherein said questions are printed on cards, each card having a plurality of questions of varying difficulty and the difficulty level of the question used is determined by the most recent result of the random number generator.  
   
   
       5 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein after the set number of tokens have been collected and a player reaches the specified game space with his/her/their game piece, the player cannot win until passing a final test facilitated by a random number generator.  
   
   
       6 . The board game of  claim 5 , wherein said final test consists of a mathematical formula based on the results of successively activating a random number generator.  
   
   
       7 . The board game of  claim 6 , wherein said mathematical formula is keeping a running cumulative sum of the results of said activations, where if the running cumulative sum ever equals a pre-designated number the player wins, but if the running cumulative sum ever exceeds such pre-designated number the player's turn ends and said final test must be attempted on a subsequent turn with the running cumulative sum reset to zero.  
   
   
       8 . That board game of  claim 1 , further comprising a voucher for each player and a random number generator activated by player that fixes the number of game spaces the game piece of that player will move on that turn, and wherein each player starts the game with his/her/their voucher, which may be used by the player one time to void any one result of said random number generator—regardless of whether it is the turn of that player or another player—thus forcing the reactivation of said random number generator.  
   
   
       9 . A board game for play by a plurality of players comprising: 
 one or more game boards, each game board having a plurality of game spaces connected along one or more contiguous paths;    a plurality of game pieces, each belonging to a particular player, designed to move along said contiguous paths, each game piece having certain innate characteristics associated therewith that are unique to that game piece;    a plurality of characteristic-altering pieces which may be acquired by a player to alter one or more of the innate characteristics of his/her/their game piece; and    wherein the rules for movement of said game pieces along said contiguous paths are based at least in part upon the characteristics of said game pieces, whether innate or altered.    
   
   
       10 . The board game of  claim 9 , further comprising one or more game spaces designated for habitability testing based on the characteristics, whether innate or altered, of any game piece landing on said designated game space; wherein habitability for said designated game space is conducted by randomly generating the characteristics of the designated game space and comparing the same to the innate or altered characteristics of the game piece landing thereon; and wherein a reward is given to the player whose game piece passes said habitability testing.  
   
   
       11 . The board game of  claim 10 , wherein said reward for passing habitability testing is the ability to take another turn.  
   
   
       12 . The board game of  claim 10 , further comprising a device to randomly generate the characteristics of said designated game space, and wherein the potential exists on said device to randomly determine that habitability testing is passed regardless of the characteristics of the game piece.  
   
   
       13 . The board game of  claim 9 , wherein said characteristic-altering pieces are acquired by first landing on any of a plurality of game space designated for such purpose, one or more spaces designating a particular characteristic-altering piece and one or more spaces designating a characteristic-altering piece of the player's choice.  
   
   
       14 . The board game of  claim 13 , wherein one or more designated spaces for acquiring characteristic-altering pieces require the player to correctly answer a question after landing on said space before a characteristic-altering piece can be acquired.  
   
   
       15 . The board game of  claim 13 , wherein one or more designated spaces for acquiring characteristic-altering pieces allow a player to acquire such characteristic-altering piece based on the outcome of a random number generator activated after the player lands on said space.  
   
   
       16 . The board game of  claim 13 , further comprising one or more designated spaces, which if one player lands thereon, every other player receives one or more characteristic-altering pieces.  
   
   
       17 . The board game of  claim 13 , further comprising one or more designated spaces, which if a player lands thereon, he/she/they lose one ore more characteristic-altering pieces.  
   
   
       18 . A board game for play by a plurality of players comprising: 
 one or more game boards, each game board having a plurality of game spaces connected along one or more contiguous paths;    a plurality of game pieces, each belonging to a particular player, designed to move along said contiguous paths;    a random number generator activated by player that fixes the number of game spaces the game piece of that player will move on that turn; and    wherein a player has the option of moving his/her/their game piece along a path in a direction opposite that which he/she/they moved in the preceding turn by declaring such an intent prior to activating said random number generator.    
   
   
       19 . The board game of  claim 18 , wherein a plurality of contiguous paths are interconnected in a manner to form one or more junctions, and a player passing a junction on a given turn may proceed away from the junction along any of said contiguous paths.  
   
   
       20 . The board game of  claim 19 , wherein a player passing a junction may not proceed away from the junction along the contiguous path from which he/she/they entered the junction, unless the player's turn started on the junction and that player declared an intent to move his/her/their game piece in the opposite direction prior to activating said random number generator.  
   
   
       21 . The board game of  claim 18 , further comprising one or more passageways disposed on game board, having an originating space and a destination space, that have the potential to move a player's game piece to the destination space when he/she/they land on the originating space.  
   
   
       22 . The board game of  claim 21 , wherein the determination of whether a game piece moves to the destination space of a passageway for one or more passageways is based on the result of the most recent activation of said random number generator.