Melding Card Games With Solving Component

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to card games, and more particularly to card games in which players play to form certain card combinations or “melds,” in order to collect information that in turn allows the players to solve a puzzle.

1 . A kit for playing a card game, the card game involving the determination of a solution, the kit comprising: 
 a set of playing cards, each of the playing cards including a value indicia thereon;    a set of information cards, each of the information cards including information indicia thereon;    a set of requirement cards, each of the requirement cards including requirement indicia thereon, each of the information cards being configured to be associated with a requirement card so that one of the requirement indicia is identified; and    a solution card, the solution card including a plurality of potential solutions to the card game, the information indicia being related to each of the potential solutions.    
   
   
       2 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the card game involves a mystery and the solution is the identity of a criminal, the set of information cards can be separated into at least two categories of cards, each category of information cards being associated with a different type of information indicia, each type of information indicia being related to the identity of the criminal.  
   
   
       3 . The kit of  claim 2 , wherein the information indicia relates to physical traits of a criminal, one category of information cards including information related to a first physical trait and another category of information cards includes information related to a second physical trait.  
   
   
       4 . The kit of  claim 3 , wherein the first physical trait is one of a hair color, an eye color, the presence of glasses and the presence of facial hair, and the second physical trait is another of a hair color, an eye color, the presence of glasses, and the presence of facial hair.  
   
   
       5 . The kit of  claim 4 , wherein the first physical trait is a hair color, and each of the information cards with the first physical trait identifies a hair color that is different than the hair color of the other information cards with the first physical trait.  
   
   
       6 . The kit of  claim 5 , wherein the second physical trait is an eye color, and each of the information cards with the second physical trait identifies an eye color that is different than the eye color of the other information cards with the second physical trait.  
   
   
       7 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the card game involves a mystery and the solution includes the identification of a criminal, the solution card including a plurality of suspects that have different combinations of physical traits, each of the suspects having a different combination of physical traits than the other suspects.  
   
   
       8 . The kit of  claim 7 , wherein the information indicia relates to a physical trait of at least one of the plurality suspects on the solution card, and each of the information cards identifies a different physical trait.  
   
   
       9 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the value indicia are numbers, and each of the playing cards includes a number, the requirement indicia including a plurality of numbers, each of the requirement indicia forming a requirement to be met by a value of a meld of playing cards to view an information card associated with the requirement card.  
   
   
       10 . The kit of  claim 9 , wherein the set of playing cards includes a plurality of suits, each of the playing cards including a number and suit indicia, the playing cards being combinable with other playing cards of a same suit to form the meld of playing cards.  
   
   
       11 . The kit of  claim 10 , wherein the set of playing cards includes a wild suit, and a meld of playing cards can be formed that includes at least one playing card of the wild suit.  
   
   
       12 . A method of playing a card game with the kit of  claim 1 , the method comprising: 
 separating the information cards into the categories of information cards;    selecting an information card from each category of information cards;    for each selected information card, selecting a requirement card and a particular requirement indicia thereon;    associating each of the selected information cards with one of the selected requirement cards so that the selected requirement indicia is identified;    dealing a predetermined number of playing cards to each player;    beginning a round wherein each player in turn is allowed to choose to draw a card from either a remaining deck of playing cards or a discard pile, form a meld of playing cards, and discard a playing card to the discard pile, wherein the player can view an information card if the value of melds formed by the player meets or exceeds the associated requirement indicia.    
   
   
       13 . A set of rules for playing a card game with the kit of  claim 1 , wherein the rules specify that a player may view an information card associated with a requirement card if the player forms one or more melds of playing cards with a sum of the value indicia of the melded playing cards meeting or exceeding the requirement indicia identified by a selected information card.  
   
   
       14 . The kit of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a die; and    a set of rules for playing the card game, wherein each of the playing cards includes suit indicia of one of a plurality of suits, and the rules specify that: 
 a player may form a meld of playing cards of a same suit, the value of the meld being the sum of the value indicia of the playing cards in the meld;  
 the player may roll the die and add the number rolled using the die to the value of the melded playing cards; and  
 the player may view an information cards associated with a requirement card if the sum of the value indicia of the melded playing cards and the roll of the die meets or exceeds the requirement indicia identified by a selected information card.  
   
   
   
       15 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the card game involves a mystery and the solution is the identity of a criminal, the solution card identifies potential suspects that can be the criminal, each of the potential suspects has a different combination of four physical traits, the information cards being separable into four categories based on information indicia relating to the four physical traits, the four physical traits being a hair color, an eye color, the presence of glasses, and the presence of facial hair, the requirement cards including requirement indicia that is a series of numbers, one of each category of information cards being configured to be associated with a particular requirement indicia on one of the requirement cards, the particular requirement indicia being a number and forming a requirement to be met by one or more melds of playing cards to view an information card associated with the requirement card, each of the playing cards has a suit and a number as its card value indicia, the playing cards being combinable with other playing cards of a same suit to form a meld, and the value of the meld of playing cards is a sum of the value indicia of the playing cards in the meld.  
   
   
       16 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein each information card includes a notch formed in its top edge, the notch being configured so that a particular requirement indicia on a requirement card is visible in the notch when an information card is placed on the requirement card.  
   
   
       17 . A method of playing a melding card game, the method comprising: 
 separating information cards into categories of information cards, each information card including information indicia, each category of information cards including cards with related information indicia;    selecting an information card from each category of information cards;    for each selected information card, selecting a requirement card and a particular requirement indicia thereon and associating the selected information card with the selected requirement card so that the particular requirement indicia is identified;    dealing a predetermined number of playing cards to each player;    beginning a round wherein each player in turn is allowed to: 
 choose to draw a card from either a remaining deck of playing cards or a discard pile of playing cards,  
 form a meld of playing cards,  
 select an information card and its associated requirement card,  
 determine whether a value of the meld of playing cards meets or exceeds the requirement indicia associated with the information card selected by the player, and  
 view the information card selected by the player if the value of the meld of playing cards meets or exceeds the identified requirement indicia.  
   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein during a turn, a player is allowed to combine the value of a meld of playing cards formed that turn and the value of a meld of playing cards formed in a previous turn, and the player is allowed to view an information card selected by the player if the value of the melds of playing cards meets or exceeds the identified requirement indicia.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein during a turn, a player is allowed to roll a die and to combine the value of a meld of playing cards with the number rolled on the die, and the player is allowed to view an information card selected by the player if the sum of the value of the meld of playing cards and the number rolled by the die meets or exceeds the identified requirement indicia.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein during a turn, after viewing an information card, the player is allowed to replace the information card with its associated requirement card so that a different requirement indicia is identified.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the different requirement indicia that is identified is lower than the requirement indicia that the player needed to meet or exceed to view the information card.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the meld of playing cards is a first meld of playing cards, the information card is a first information card, and in a subsequent round, each player in turn is allowed to: 
 form a second meld of playing cards,    select a second information card and its associated requirement card,    determine whether a value of the second meld of playing cards meets or exceeds the requirement indicia associated with the second information card selected by the player, and    view the second information card selected by the player if the value of the meld of playing cards meets or exceeds the associated requirement indicia for the second information card.    
   
   
       23 . A deck of cards, comprising: 
 playing cards, each playing card including card value indicia and suit indicia, the playing cards being separable into a plurality of suits;    requirement cards, each of the requirement cards including requirement indicia thereon; and    information cards, each of the information cards including information indicia thereon, each of the information cards being configured to be associated with a particular requirement indicia on a requirement card, wherein the playing cards are combinable to form one or more melds of playing cards using the suit indicia, a value of a meld being determined by a sum of the card value indicia of the playing cards in a meld, and a selected information card being viewable by a player if the sum of the card value indicia of one or more melds meets or exceeds the particular requirement indicia associated with the selected information card.    
   
   
       24 . The deck of cards of  claim 23 , wherein the card value indicia on the playing cards are numbers, and the sum of the card value indicia of a meld is the sum of the numbers on the playing cards in the meld.  
   
   
       25 . The deck of cards of  claim 24 , wherein the requirement indicia is a series of numbers, and the information card associated with a requirement card being configured to be associated with a number on the associated requirement card.  
   
   
       26 . The deck of cards of  claim 24 , wherein the requirement indicia is a series of numbers, each information card includes a notch formed in its top edge, the notch being configured so that a number on a requirement card is viewable in the notch when an information card is placed on the requirement card.  
   
   
       27 . The deck of cards of  claim 26 , wherein the selected information card is viewable by a player if the sum of the numbers on the playing cards in the meld meets or exceeds the number on the associated requirement card to which the selected information card is aligned.  
   
   
       28 . The deck of cards of  claim 23 , wherein each of the requirement cards resembles an interrogation room and the requirement indicia is a plurality of numbers.  
   
   
       29 . The deck of playing cards of  claim 23 , wherein the deck of playing cards relate to a mystery game in which a solution is the identification of a criminal from a set of potential suspects, the information indicia on the information cards relate to physical traits of the potential suspects, each information card including information indicia relating to a physical trait of the criminal, the information cards being separable into at least two categories based on the information indicia of the information cards, one information card of each category being configured to be associated with a different requirement card, and the information cards being viewable by a player in subsequent turns to determine the identification of the criminal.