Plot Compass For Creating Gameboards and Moving Pieces

Abstract

The invention relates to a strategy game that uses a new game device, called a plot compass, that enables two or more players to create a custom gameboard map with tiles of congruent regular polygons. The different circumstances by which these plot compasses create new types of tile allows the game to mark such tile types differently. Differently-marked tiles can signify different kinds of terrain, such as allied or enemy houses of any given individual player—houses that can be as short as one-story huts, or as tall as multi-story towers. When other circumstances create other types of tile, they can be marked as natural terrains that are player-neutral, like mountains, plains, or lakes, along with one cratered hole, and one volcano that can shift its position vis-a-vis all the other tiles during each round of tile creation. Such terrains together can form, in each game, the distinctive geography of a customized one-of-a-kind gameboard, each gameboard resembling an irregularly-shaped island of Micronesia, surrounded by sea.The invention also relates to one or more players using such a plot compass to move pieces from their resident, occupied tiles to land on targeted tiles on that same gameboard. Hence any player can engage in competitive acts of gameboard creation and gameboard piece movement, solely by using this plot compass device, acting with other players during rounds of simultaneous play.

I hereby claim the process and method relating to the following: 
     
         1 . A game of gameboard creation whose plot compass enables two or more players to create a custom gameboard made from connected, congruent, and contiguous tiles of a single regular polygon shape, comprising the steps of:
 a) selecting one shape from the list of either a 4-sided regular polygon, or a 6-sided regular polygon, thereby creating a selected shape,   b) placing one surface of that selected shape face up upon an empty plane of space, thereby creating a seed tile,   c) assigning unique compass directions to any subset of the set exhausting every side, corner, and extra-dimensional aspect of that seed tile, thereby creating a frame compass as a template surrounding that seed tile,   d) providing to each player an individualized version of that frame compass template, thereby creating two or more player plot compasses,   e) allowing each player, during each round of simultaneous gameboard creation, to select a direction of plotting from one's own player plot compass, thereby creating a pathway from the seed tile to an indicated spot,   f) plotting a new tile of selected shape onto that indicated spot, creating what can be arbitrarily called a terra of land.   
     
     
         2 . The game of  claim 1 , further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) making a distinctive mark for each player, thereby creating a player's mark,   b) displaying that player's mark on each terra plotted exclusively by only a single player during a given round, thereby creating what can be arbitrarily called a house allied to that player,   c) displaying a distinctive neutral mark on any terra that is plotted jointly by two or more players during a given round, thereby creating what can be arbitrarily called a mountain.   
     
     
         3 . The game of  claim 2  further comprising the revising step of preventing any player from plotting a terra on top of any terra that is not either an allied house or the seed tile. 
     
     
         4 . The game of  claim 3  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) eliminating each selected compass direction that plots a terra from the player plot compass, so that the selected direction is not able to be used again in any later round for plotting, 
 b) preventing a player from plotting any land of a terra anywhere if every selectable space of adjacency to the seed tile is not viable, either because such space is:
 i. already filled by a terra that is not an allied house, 
 
 or:
 ii. already eliminated as a compass direction for plotting from that player's plot compass, 
 
 c) requiring any one extra-dimensional aspected direction of a player plot compass to be a selectable instruction to terminate that device. 
 
     
     
         5 . The game of  claim 4  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) allowing each player in each round the repeatable option to engage in a series of one or more slides by selecting any original direction from the player's plot compass, whether that direction has been eliminated by a previous plot or not, to shift that player's plot compass away from the seed tile to frame anew an allied house, as an eligible terra adjacent to that seed tile, and from there, if desired, to frame anew another such eligible terra that is so adjacent to that of the previous one, and so on, until, from that vantage, after all slides are completed, the player either:
 i. plots a terra of a new allied house, if no other player plots in the same selected empty space during that round, 
 
 or
 ii. plots a terra of a new mountain, if more than one player plots in the same selected empty space during that round, and 
 
 b) for the designated purpose of selecting a direction for sliding, exempting any original direction of the plot compass from elimination, or from being affected by any previous elimination; but maintaining such eliminations for the designated purpose of selecting a direction for plotting. 
 
     
     
         6 . The game of  claim 5 , but before the first round of gameboard creation, further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) substituting a new neutral terra for the seed tile, where such a terra can be arbitrarily called Chaos,   b) counting all of the unique compass directions of the frame compass, starting with 0 for the first such counted direction, to 1 for the second, and so on to a highest numeral for the last, whereby the entire range of ascending numerals from lowest to highest is expressed in the single digits of a created base numeral system that ends at that highest numeral,   c) assigning a unique numeral from that base numeral system to each compass direction on each player's plot compass, thereby creating each player's plot clock, where each unique clock numeral serves as a substitute for each unique compass direction,   d) providing all of the unique compass directions of the same frame compass to guide the prospective movement of each future Chaos reaction, thereby creating a Chaos reaction compass,   e) assigning a unique numeral from the base numeral system of the frame compass to each compass direction on that Chaos reaction compass, thereby creating a Chaos reaction clock, where each unique clock numeral serves as a substitute for each unique compass direction that Chaos may move.   
     
     
         7 . The game of  claim 6 , during each round of gameboard creation, further comprising the steps of:
 a) allowing each player to select a numeral from one's own player plot clock corresponding to a compass direction for a selected empty space that plots a terra that has adjacency either to:
 i. Chaos, 
   or to
 ii. any allied house that is framed via one or more slides away from Chaos, 
   b) plotting a new terra onto each selected empty space of such adjacency,   c) collecting each selected single numeral from each player plot clock, and adding all such numerals together to create a sum in the common base numeral system whose last digit is saved,   d) finding the compass direction of the Chaos reaction clock that matches this saved last digit,   e) for that found compass direction:
 i. if indicating a pathway along any particular side or corner of Chaos, then moving Chaos in that found compass direction thru terras of every kind until stopping at the first empty space so discovered, 
 ii. if indicating a pathway along any extra-dimensional aspect of Chaos with any numeral greater than the least numeral among all such extra-dimensional aspects, then leaving Chaos stationary in its place, 
   and,
 iii. if indicating a pathway along any extra-dimensional aspect of Chaos with either the least or the only numeral among all such extra-dimensional aspects, then:
 a. if the compass direction is found during the first round of gameboard creation, then leaving Chaos stationary in its place, 
 
 and
 b. if the compass direction is found in any round of gameboard creation following the first round, then repeating the reaction of Chaos from the most previous round, 
 
   f) creating a new type of neutral terra, in the first empty space vacated by Chaos if it has moved in a found compass direction along a side or corner of Chaos, whereby that neutral terra can be arbitrarily called a plain.   
     
     
         8 . The game of  claim 7 , further comprising the revising step of: before the first round of gameboard creation, creating a new type of neutral terra, which can be arbitrarily called a hole, already residing beneath Chaos, revealed only when Chaos vacates its initial position for the first time by moving by side or corner reaction in a found compass direction. 
     
     
         9 . The game of  claim 8 , further comprising the revising step of: immediately before and immediately after every Chaos reaction, examining the gameboard for any empty space of any size or shape surrounded on all sides by terras, and filling that empty space completely with a new type of neutral tile, which can be arbitrarily called a lake, which further can be arbitrarily considered to be a terra of land surrounding an aqua of lake water. 
     
     
         10 . The game of  claim 9  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) allowing a player to plot a terra upon a selected space of adjacency that is already occupied by an allied house of one story, arbitrarily called a hut, thereby changing that hut into what is arbitrarily called a tower, of two stories, 
 b) allowing every such additional plot of a terra on top of a tower to add one additional story to that existing tower. 
 
     
     
         11 . The game of  claim 10 , further comprising the revising steps of: after the last round of Gameboard Creation, after all players have terminated their plot clocks, Gameboard Population begins, consisting of:
 a) counting any complete set of connected houses sharing the player's mark of only one player as that player's allied territory,   b) placing exactly one allied player's piece into each such allied territory,   c) filling each and every empty space that touches any outer corner or outer side of any existing terra with a new neutral tile of selected shape, where that new neutral tile can be arbitrarily called an aqua of sea water.   
     
     
         12 . The game of  claim 11 , after the last round of Gameboard Creation, or, alternatively after the last round of Gameboard Piece Movement, before any use of a different configuration of a plot clock, further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) for each player plot clock already used during Gameboard Creation to create a custom gameboard, creating a table whereby:
 i. in each new row of the first column, listing in order from first to last, the maximum number of rounds that could have been played during the most previous session of gameboard creation, 
 ii. in each row of the second column listing in order from lowest to highest, all of the numerals of the given plot clock, starting with 0 for Round 1, and ending with the highest numeral for the final round, 
 iii. in each row of the third column, for each round of play where a numeral of the plot clock was selected, recording that selected plot clock numeral, and for those remaining rounds where no numeral of the plot clock was selected, recording the smallest among the remaining unselected plot clock numerals, thereby in both cases together obtaining a unique plot clock numeral, 
 iv. in each row of the fourth column “putting” the alternate plot clock numeral of the third column “in the position” of the old plot clock numeral of the second column, 
   b) for that player plot clock, replace the position of the old plot clock numeral with the substituted plot clock numeral.   
     
     
         13 . A game of gameboard piece movement whose plot compass for each piece allows players to make piece landings on a gameboard made from connected, congruent, and contiguous tiles, each a single regular polygon shape, comprising the steps of:
 a) determining whether a 4-sided regular polygon, or a 6-sided regular polygon, is used in the gameboard as a representative connective tile,   b) assigning a unique compass direction to a subset of the set exhausting every side, corner, and extra-dimensional aspect of such a tile, thereby creating a frame compass as a template surrounding that tile,   c) providing to each piece an individualized version of that template of frame compass, thereby creating apiece plot compass,   d) allowing each player, during each round of simultaneous gameboard piece movement, to select one direction from each piece's plot compass, and to specify the number of spaces to be traversed, so as to move that piece from its resident tile to a targeted tile, thereby creating an ordered movement sequence,   e) moving that player's piece from its resident tile to its targeted tile, according to its ordered movement sequence, thereby creating a plotted landing of that player's piece, where also
 i. any player's piece can be arbitrarily called a starbug, 
 ii. any starbug under the control of a given player and displaying that player's mark can be arbitrarily called an allied starbug to that player, 
 iii. any starbug not controlled by a given player can be arbitrarily called an enemy starbug to that player, 
 iv. any possible landing tile or enclosed space for any starbug can be arbitrarily called a terra of land, 
 and 
 v. any terra created by a given player and displaying that player's mark can be arbitrarily called an allied house to that player, 
   
     
     
         14 . The game of  claim 13 , further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) eliminating any one or more compass directions from a starbug plot compass whose sequence of one or more plots land a starbug onto a targeted terra,   b) preventing any starbug from plotting any action in any specific compass direction that was eliminated from its plot compass,   c) allowing any one direction of an extra-dimensional aspect of a piece plot compass to be a selectable instruction to terminate that device,   d) preventing any starbug from plotting any action at all when every viable compass direction has been eliminated from its plot compass, thereby requiring starbug removal from the gameboard.   
     
     
         15 . The game of  claim 14  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) constructing each starbug with detachable body parts matching, on a one-to-one basis, all of the original selectable directions of its plot compass, 
 b) pulling off a detachable body part from a starbug, for each plot compass selection that results in a starbug's plotted action. 
 
     
     
         16 . The game of  claim 15  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) allowing each starbug in each round the repeatable option to engage in a series of one or more slides by selecting any original direction from the player's plot compass, whether that direction has been eliminated by a previous plot or not, to shift the player's plot compass away from its resident terra to frame anew either an allied house or Chaos, as eligible terras adjacent to that resident terra, and from there, if desired, to frame anew another such eligible terra that is so adjacent to that of the previous one, and so on, until that starbug, after all such slides are completed, plots a landing from that vantage upon a targeted terra, 
 b) exempting any original direction from the plot compass from elimination, or from being affected by any previous elimination, for any sliding purpose. 
 
     
     
         17 . The game of  claim 16  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) defining a landstrand on the gameboard map as the maximum extension of a continuous chain of connected terras, along any side-to-side, or corner-to-corner, single axis of direction, 
 b) allowing any player to move an allied starbug to plot a landing, or alternatively, to slide, from a terra at one extreme end of a landstrand to the terra that lies at the opposite extreme end of that same landstrand, as if the two extreme end-terras were directly adjacent to each other, either on a direct side-to-side connected basis, or direct corner-to-corner, connected basis. 
 
     
     
         18 . The game of  claim 17  further comprising the revising steps of: if one or more starbugs, all from only a single player, plot landings onto an uncontested terra during the same round of play, then
 a) merging any plurality of those landing starbugs into a single starbug whose merged plot compass inherits each uneliminated plot direction only once from the collective set of plot compasses drawn from those landing starbugs, and 
 b) occupying that uncontested terra with the resulting single starbug. 
 
     
     
         19 . The game of  claim 18  further comprising the revising steps of: if at least one starbug from each of two or more players plot landings onto the same targeted terra during the same round of play, thereby creating a contested terra, then
 a) for each individual player, adding together the number of such allied plotted landings, thereby creating individual player sums, and 
 b) ranking such individual player sums from highest to lowest as a basis of resolving that contested terra, whereby:
 i. the player with sole standing as having uniquely the highest sum from counting such allied starbug landings then wins the terra and merges all such allied starbugs within that contested terra into a single starbug that successfully occupies that terra as if it were uncontested, and 
 ii. any player having either a tied or lower sum from counting such allied starbug landings then loses the terra and plots a retreat for each such landing starbug into any empty allied house that is adjacent to that contested terra, but, if such retreat is not possible for any such starbug, the player removes that starbug from the board of play, and 
 
 c) disallowing any slides or voluntary termination for any starbug required to undertake a plotted retreat or to undertake removal from the board of play due to the impossibility of such retreat. 
 
     
     
         20 . The game of  claim 19  further comprising the revising step of:
 a) allowing any player to select an available plot direction from the plot compass of a starbug to plot support of at least one other allied starbug plotting its own landing onto a targeted terra, if such a targeted terra is positioned adjacently to the current terra of such a supportive starbug, but 
 b) if an enemy starbug plots a landing onto the current terra of such a supportive starbug, then all support of that allied starbug is broken and thereby nullified, and 
 c) the broken supporter starbug must then plot a retreat into any empty allied house adjacent to its current terra, but, if such retreat is not possible, the allied player removes that broken supporter starbug from the board of play, and 
 d) disallowing any slides or voluntary termination for any starbug required to undertake a plotted retreat or to undertake removal from the board of play due to the impossibility of such retreat. 
 
     
     
         21 . The game of  claim 20 , further comprising the revising step of: if starbugs of two or more players plot landings onto the same targeted terra during the same round of play, with at least one additional starbug allied with at least one such landing player successfully plotting support into that contested terra, then resolving such a contested terra, by:
 a) for each individual player, adding each allied starbug that is plotting a landing within the contested terra, with each such landing having a value of one, thereby creating the first final addend of obtaining an individual player sum, plus   b) for each individual player, adding each allied starbug that is plotting unbroken support onto that same contested terra, with each support having a value equal to or less than one but greater than zero, thereby creating the last final addend of obtaining an individual player sum,   c) for each individual player, adding these addends together to obtain each individual player sum, then ranking such player sums from highest to lowest as a basis of settling that contested terra, whereby:
 i. the player with sole standing as having uniquely the highest sum from such landings and unbroken supports, then wins the terra and merges all landing allied starbugs into a single starbug that successfully occupies the contested terra, as if the contested terra were uncontested, with unbroken supporters remaining in place, and 
 ii. any player having either a tied or lower sum from such landings and supports, then loses the terra and plots a retreat for each such landing starbug into any empty allied house adjacent to the contested terra, but, if such retreat is not possible, the game removes the unretreating starbug from the board of play, with unbroken supporters remaining in place, and 
   d) disallowing any slides or voluntary termination for any starbug required to undertake a plotted retreat or to undertake removal from the board of play due to the impossibility of such retreat.   
     
     
         22 . The game of  claim 21  further comprising the revising steps of:
 a) before the first round of Gameboard Piece Movement, counting all of the unique compass directions on each starbug plot compass, but starting with 0 for the first, to 1 for the second, and so on to a highest number for the last, whereby the entire range of ascending numerals from lowest to highest is expressed in the single digits of a created base numeral system, 
 b) assigning a unique numeral from this base numeral system to each compass direction on each starbug's plot compass, thereby creating each starbug's plot clock, where each numeral is assigned on a pairwise basis to each unique direction, 
 c) during each round of gameboard piece movement, allowing each player to select a sequence of one or more numerals uniquely assigned to compass directions on each allied starbug's plot clock for:
 i. a plotted landing, 
 ii. a plotted support, 
 
 or
 iii. a plotted retreat. 
 
 
     
     
         23 . The game of  claim 22  further comprising the revising steps of: if one or more starbugs with plot clocks from each of two or more players plot landings into the same contested terra during the same round of play, with starbugs allied with at least one player possibly plotting additional support, then:
 a) for each individual player, adding together the plot clock numerals of all such plotted landings as the initial addend, plus the plot clock numerals for any plotted supports of such landings as the final addend, as all directed upon that contested terra by allied starbugs, to obtain individual player sums, and 
 b) ranking such individual player sums from highest to lowest as a basis of resolving that contested terra, whereby:
 i. the player with sole standing as having uniquely the highest sum from such landings and unbroken supports, then wins the terra and merges all landing allied starbugs into a single starbug that successfully occupies the contested terra, as if the contested terra were uncontested, with unbroken supporters remaining in place, and 
 ii. any player having either a tied or lower sum from such landings and unbroken supports, then loses the terra and plots a retreat for each such landing starbug into any empty allied house adjacent to the contested terra, but, if such retreat is not possible, the game removes the unretreating starbug from the board of play, with unbroken supporters remaining in place, and 
 
 d) disallowing any slides or voluntary termination for any starbug required to undertake a plotted retreat or to undertake removal from the board of play due to the impossibility of such retreat.