Districting Strategy Game

Abstract

Games of the present technology are strategic districting games in which one or more players are presented with a region divided into sectors, where each sector has a given set of elements, and players are tasked with combining the sectors to create a plurality of districts that achieve an objective.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A strategy game for at least one player comprising:
 a region comprising a bounded shape having an area divided into a plurality of sectors, wherein each sector comprises a bounded shape having an area within the region that does not overlap with any other sector, and each sector contains a set of elements, each element of the set of elements having a type and quantity;   wherein, during play, each player makes one move per turn, according to a set of rules defining types of moves that can be made by the at least one player and restrictions governing how districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors, in pursuit of combining the plurality of sectors into a given number of districts in a manner that seeks to achieve a pre-defined goal based on an aggregation of the elements within each district.   
     
     
         2 . The strategy game of  claim 1 , wherein each element of the set of elements is selected from the group consisting of: resources, hazards, and scraps. 
     
     
         3 . The strategy game of  claim 1 , wherein the pre-defined goal is selected from the group consisting of: maximizing a portion of the given number of districts that contain at least a certain level of at least one of the elements of the set of elements; minimizing a portion of the given number of districts that contain at least a certain level of at least one of the elements of the set of elements; and maximizing a number of points earned by at least one of the players, where the number of points earned by the at least one player depends on the aggregation of the elements within each district. 
     
     
         4 . The strategy game of  claim 1 , wherein the strategy game further includes at least two political parties, and the set of elements in each sector represents a margin of voters within the sector that support each political party. 
     
     
         5 . The strategy game of  claim 4 , wherein the pre-defined goal is selected from the group consisting of: maximizing a portion of the given number of districts controlled by one of the political parties, and equalizing a portion of the given number of districts controlled by each of the political parties. 
     
     
         6 . The strategy game of  claim 1 , further comprising a set of markers, wherein the set of markers comprises a plurality of marker subsets, each marker subset representing a district;
 wherein each marker subset comprises a plurality of markers, and each marker within the marker subset is configured to be placed on a sector to assign the sector as being part of the district represented by the marker subset.   
     
     
         7 . A method of playing a strategy game for at least one player comprising:
 providing a region comprising a bounded shape having an area divided into a plurality of sectors, wherein each sector comprises a bounded shape having an area within the region that does not overlap with any other sector, and each sector contains a set of elements, each element of the set of elements having a type and quantity;   making one move per turn per player, according to a set of rules defining types of moves that can be made by the at least one player and restrictions governing how districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors, in pursuit of combining the plurality of sectors into a given number of districts in a manner that seeks to achieve a pre-defined goal based on an aggregation of the elements within each district.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 providing a set of markers, wherein the set of markers comprises a plurality of marker subsets, each marker subset representing a district;   wherein each marker subset comprises a plurality of markers, and each marker within the marker subset is configured to be placed on a sector to assign the sector as being part of the district represented by the marker subset.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the types of moves that can be made by the at least one player include assigning a sector to a district, and the assigning comprises placing a marker from one of the plurality of marker subsets onto the sector. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the types of moves that can be made by the at least one player includes establishing a new district by assigning a first sector to a district to create an established district. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the types of moves that can be made by the at least one player includes expanding a district by assigning an unassigned sector to a previously established district. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the types of moves that can be made by the at least one player includes reassigning a sector from one district to another district. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the restrictions governing how any of the districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors include a restriction that each district must be comprised of one or more sectors. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the restrictions governing how any of the districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors include a restriction that, at the conclusion of play, each district must have a number of sectors selected from the group consisting of: a minimum number of sectors, a maximum number of sectors, or a specific pre-defined number of sectors. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the restrictions governing how any of the districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors include a restriction that each district must be connected. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the restrictions governing how any of the districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors include a restriction that, at the end of play, every sector within the region must be assigned to a district. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the restrictions governing how any of the districts can be formed from the plurality of sectors include a restriction that each sector is assigned in its entirety to exactly one district. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of making one move per turn per player comprises alternating moves between each player. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of providing a region comprises providing a separate identical region to each player, and the step of making one move per turn per player comprises each player independently assigning a sector to a district within the region provided to that player. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of making one move per turn comprises one of: (a) establishing a new district by assigning the first sector that belongs to it; (b) expanding a district by assigning an unassigned sector to an already established district; (c) reassign a sector from one district to another district, (d) breaking up one or more adjacent districts by un-assigning all sectors that belong to these adjacent districts; and (e) freezing a district by prohibiting any player from modifying the district during the next one or more turns.