Board game and board-game environment

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention include an almost limitless number of board games, based on the familiar children's game Tic Tac Toe, that include dice or other random-play-generation means used by players to partly and/or completely select plays, and also include the game environments on which the game embodiments are played Players alternate in employing the random-play generator to select a next move, placing a labeled token, inscription, or other indication on a region of the game board when the selected move involves occupying a game-board region. A game embodiment of the present invention can be played by a single player against one or more imaginary, or virtual opponents, and can be played by two or more players, each player employing tokens or inscriptions that uniquely identify the player. Play continues until a winning player's tokens occupy a defined set of board regions, such as a set of laterally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent board regions that together span the game board. Game environments that represent embodiments of the present invention may comprise printed paper, cardboard, wood, metal, or synthetic game boards and game tokens, dice or other random-play generator, and may alternatively constitute a game interface displayed by a display monitor of a computer system, a game interface displayed by a portable game device, or lines inscribed on any surface that can be inscribed by the players along with a random-play generator, such as dice.

1 . A game played within a game environment comprising a game board and a random-play generator, the game comprising: 
 a game state represented by player indications placed in regions of the game board; and    a sequence of plays, culminating in a winning play, each play in the sequence of plays made by a player by employing the random-play generator to select a next move, wherein a winning play comprises placement of an indication by a winning player onto a region of the game board that completes a winning, game-board-spanning pattern of indication placements for the winning player.    
     
     
         2 . The game of  claim 1  wherein the random-play generator is a set of two six-sided dice, each die having sides labeled with the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as well as a blank side.  
     
     
         3 . The game of  claim 2  wherein the game board is approximately square, and has 9 square regions, each square region numbered with a single numeral, different from the remaining square regions, selected from among the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 8, and 9.  
     
     
         4 . The game of  claim 3  wherein player indications are tokens labeled with a symbol corresponding to a player.  
     
     
         5 . The game of  claim 3  wherein a player employs the random-play generator to make a move by throwing the two dice to obtain a dice-throw result, and selecting a move based on the dice-throw result, the moves including: 
 reinitializing the game state to an initial game state when the dice-throw result is {5,5};    making no change to the game state when the dice-throw result is { , }; and    placing a token by the player on a game-board region when the dice-throw result sums to an integer having a value between 1 and 9, with a blank considered to have the value 0.    
     
     
         6 . The game of  claim 1  wherein player indications are of a player-indication type selected from among: 
 tokens labeled with a symbol corresponding to a player;    a symbol written impressed onto a game board corresponding to a player; and    a symbol corresponding to a player displayed on a display screen of a computing or gaming device.    
     
     
         7 . The game of  claim 1  wherein the game board contains regions on which player indications may be placed, the regions of a region-type selected from among: 
 sections of rings within a game board having concentric rings divided in ring sections;    squares within a game board having columns and rows of squares;    three-dimensional volumes within a three-dimensional game board; and    hyper-dimensional volumes within a hyper-dimensional game-board.    
     
     
         8 . The game of  claim 1  wherein the game board is a physical surface or three-dimensional structure.  
     
     
         9 . The game of  claim 1  wherein the game board is displayed on a display device.  
     
     
         10 . The game of  claim 1  wherein the random-play generator is one of: 
 one or more dice, each having three or more sides labeled with numerals, blanks, or additional types of symbols;    cards imprinted with symbols or blank indicating moves;    tiles or tokens imprinted with symbols or blank indicating moves; and    a computer-implemented random-play generator.    
     
     
         11 . A method of competing for entertainment, the method comprising: 
 providing a game board divided into regions;    providing tokens for each of two or more players, each player provided with tokens that uniquely identify the player;    providing a random-play generator; and    alternatively taking turns by the players, each turn providing an opportunity to a player to place a token on a region of the game board determined by the random-play generator, until a player wins by having placed tokens in a game-board-spanning pattern.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the random-play generator is a set of two six-sided dice, each die having sides labeled with the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as well as a blank side.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the game board is approximately square, and has 9 squares, each square numbered with a single numeral different from the remaining squares, selected from among the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 8, and 9.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein player indications are tokens labeled with a symbol corresponding to a player.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein a player employs the random-play generator to take a turn by throwing the two dice to obtain a dice-throw result, and selecting a move based on the dice-throw result, the moves including: 
 reinitializing a game state to an initial game state when the dice-throw result is {5,5};    making no change to the game state when the dice-throw result is { , }; and    placing a token by the player on a game-board region when the dice-throw result sums to an integer having a value between 1 and 9, with a blank considered to have the value 0.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the tokens are of a type selected from among token types including: 
 tokens labeled with a symbol corresponding to a player;    a symbol written impressed onto a game board corresponding to a player; and    a symbol corresponding to a player displayed on a display screen of a computing or gaming device.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the game-board regions are of a region type selected from among: 
 sections of rings within a game board having concentric rings divided in ring sections;    squares within a game board having columns and rows of squares;    three-dimensional volumes within a three-dimensional game board; and    hyper-dimensional volumes within a hyper-dimensional game-board.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the game board is a physical surface or three-dimensional structure.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the game board is displayed on a display device.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the random-play generator is of a random-play-generator type selected from among: 
 one or more dice, each having three or more sides labeled with numerals, blanks, or additional types of symbols;    cards imprinted with symbols or blank indicating moves;    tiles or tokens imprinted with symbols or blank indicating moves; and    a computer-implemented random-play generator.    
     
     
         21 . A game environment comprising: 
 a game board that is approximately square, and has 9 square regions, each square region numbered with a single numeral, different from the remaining squares, selected from among the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 8, and 9;    a game state represented by player indications placed in the square regions of the game board; and    a set of two six-sided dice, each die having sides labeled with the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as well as a blank side, that together compose random-play generator.