Board game

Abstract

Online, electronic, or physical board game having playing spaces and playing elements marked with a letter of the alphabet and a point value. After drawing an initial number of playing elements from a pool, each player may either exchange their playing elements or play the playing elements on the playing area during their turn to form a word or words using playing elements already played on the board by the player or other players by placing playing elements onto successive adjacent playing spaces to add points equal to the playing elements forming the word or words to the player's score, and to subtract points equal to the point values of the playing elements of another player the player used to form the word or words, unless the other player's playing element was a part of the word that was played on a playing space indicated as safe.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A game, comprising:
 a playing area defining a plurality of individual playing spaces, wherein one of the plurality of individual playing spaces is pre-marked on said playing area to indicate a starting location, and wherein a portion of the plurality of individual playing spaces are pre-marked on said playing area to indicate safety; and   a plurality of playing elements comprising drawn playing elements, played playing elements, and a pool of remaining playing elements, said plurality of playing elements being adapted for being played during a player's turn, being adapted to be randomly drawn from a pool of remaining playing elements after a player's turn, and being possessed by a player of a plurality of players ready to be played during the player's turn on said playing area,   further adapted so that each player of the plurality of players is enabled in playing successive turns if a playing player so chooses to form a word during each turn out of the plurality of playing elements currently in possession by the playing player,   wherein each playing element of said plurality of playing elements is marked to indicate a letter of the alphabet and a corresponding point value or marked to allow to represent any letter of the alphabet except for “S” and a corresponding point value,   said playing area and said plurality of playing elements adapted for enabling a first player to play during a first turn a number of playing elements onto successive adjacent playing spaces of said playing area to form a word, the word covering the starting location playing space, and the word covering corresponding individual playing spaces in one direction on said playing area, to earn points for a score of the first player equal to a sum of each of the point values corresponding to those of said plurality of playing elements used to form the word during the first turn,   further adapted to enable each player of the plurality of players to randomly draw more playing elements from the pool of playing elements to be held in possession for subsequent turns and corresponding to the number of playing elements immediately previously played,   further adapted to enable at least one other player of the plurality of players to make plays forming words out of the playing elements,   wherein upon any successive turn any player may change a score previously earned by any other player upon forming a new word by playing at least one playing element connected with any other player's previously played playing element, or playing elements, on said playing area to enable subtracting from the score of the any other player the corresponding point values of the any other player's previously played playing element, or elements, that are a part of the new word or words thus formed by the player, unless the playing elements played on said playing area forming a word previously played by another player were considered safe, in which case only the point values of the playing elements played by the player during the player's turn would be added to that player's score for that turn.   
     
     
         2 . The game of  claim 1 , wherein said playing area is square shaped and has 15 rows and 15 columns to form 225 square-shaped individual playing spaces. 
     
     
         3 . The game of  claim 2 , wherein the individual playing space pre-marked to indicate a starting location is a centrally-located playing space. 
     
     
         4 . The game of  claim 2 , wherein the individual playing spaces pre-marked to indicate safety comprise marking on said playing area each corner playing space lying in an outer peripheral portion of said playing area, a centrally-located playing space between each corner playing space lying in the outer peripheral portion of said playing area, and each corner playing space lying in a next inner peripheral portion of said playing area adjacent the outer peripheral portion of said playing area. 
     
     
         5 . The game of  claim 1 , wherein said plurality of playing elements comprise:
 2 blank playing elements to indicate any letter of the alphabet except “S” and “0” point value;   9 playing elements marked “A” and “1” point value;   2 playing elements marked “B” and “3” point value;   2 playing elements marked “C” and “3” point value;   4 playing elements marked “D” and “2” point value;   12 playing elements marked “E” and “1” point value;   2 playing elements marked “F” and “3” point value;   3 playing elements marked “G” and “2” point value;   2 playing elements marked “H” and “3” point value;   9 playing elements marked “I” and “1” point value;   1 playing element marked “J” and “5” point value;   1 playing element marked “K” and “4” point value;   4 playing elements marked “L” and “2” point value;   2 playing elements marked “M” and “3” point value;   6 playing elements marked “N” and “2” point value;   8 playing elements marked “O” and “1” point value;   2 playing elements marked “P” and “3” point value;   1 playing element marked “Q” and “5” point value;   6 playing elements marked “R” and “1” point value;   4 playing elements marked “S” and “1” point value;   6 playing elements marked “T” and “1” point value;   4 playing elements marked “U” and “2” point value;   2 playing elements marked “V” and “4” point value;   2 playing elements marked “W” and “3” point value;   1 playing element marked “X” and “4” point value;   2 playing elements marked “Y” and “2” point value; and   1 playing element marked “Z” and “5” point value.   
     
     
         6 . The game of  claim 5 , wherein said playing area is a board and wherein said plurality of playing elements comprise a corresponding plurality of tiles, each tile having at least two sides, wherein each side of each tile is pre-marked to associate with a player and each player plays the tiles on the side associated with the player on said playing area, wherein during the game, the tiles already on said playing area may be flipped to the side associated to a current player when the current player forms at least one word by adding at least one additional tile to tiles already played on said playing area by another player to indicate points to be added to the current player's score and points to be subtracted from the another player's score. 
     
     
         7 . The game of  claim 5 , wherein said game is played electronically and wherein each of said plurality of playing elements is capable of being designated as any particular player's playing element upon being drawn by the player, and wherein during the game, a playing element already on the playing area may be automatically changed from being designated as one player's playing element to a current player's playing element when the current player forms at least one word by adding at least one additional playing element to form a word with the playing elements already played on said playing area by another player to indicate points to be automatically added to the current player's score and points to be automatically subtracted from the another player's score. 
     
     
         8 . A method of playing a game, comprising the steps of:
 (i) obtaining a playing area divided into individual playing spaces, wherein a portion of the individual playing spaces are marked to indicate safety and an individual playing space is marked to indicate a starting location, and a set of playing elements, wherein each playing element, except for a limited number of wild playing elements, is marked to indicate a letter of the alphabet having a corresponding point value also marked thereon, and wherein each of the limited number of wild playing elements may be used to represent any letter of the alphabet except an “S”, each wild playing element having a corresponding point value of zero marked thereon;   (ii) randomly dealing each player a set number of playing elements from a pool of playing elements corresponding to a maximum number of playing elements that each player is allowed to possess at a time;   (iii) playing a first turn, wherein a first player may either:
 Play two or more of the playing elements in the first player's possession on the playing area to form a word in a direction; 
 Play two or more of the playing elements in the first player's possession on the playing area to form a word in a direction to keep the playing elements safe, wherein one or more of the playing elements are played over one or more individual playing spaces marked to indicate safety; 
 Play all playing elements in the player's possession on the playing area to form a word in a direction to keep the playing elements safe even when not on an individual playing space marked to indicate safety; 
 Randomly exchange any or all of their playing elements in the set number of playing elements with playing elements from the pool of playing elements; or 
 Pass the first turn; 
   (iv) adding up point values of the playing elements played on the playing area by the first player to comprise an interim score for the first player;   (v) restocking the set number of playing elements for the first player by obtaining random playing elements from the pool of playing elements;   (vi) playing a next turn, wherein a current player must either:
 Play one or more of their set number of playing elements on the playing area to form another word or words in one or more directions, wherein the current player may steal playing elements and their point values from counting for one or more previous players if the another word or words were formed using one or more playing elements previously played on the playing area by one or more previous players unless any of the one or more playing elements of the one or more previous players used was previously played by the one or more previous players to form a word or words on the individual playing space marked to indicate safety or made safe through a player having played all playing elements in that player's possession during a single turn; 
 Exchanging any or all of their playing elements in the set number of playing elements with randomly drawn playing elements from the pool of remaining playing elements unless 10 or less playing elements remain in the pool of remaining playing elements; or 
 Pass the turn; 
   (vii) Adding point values of stolen playing elements from one or more of the previous players to a sum of point values of the tiles played on the playing area by the current player to add to an interim score for the current player, and subtracting sum of the point values of the stolen playing elements from the interim score of the one or more previous players to whom the stolen playing elements previously belonged;   (viii) Restocking the set number of playing elements for the current player by randomly drawing playing elements from the pool of remaining playing elements;   (ix) Repeating steps (vi)-(viii) until no playing elements are remaining in the pool of remaining playing elements and one of the players has played all of the remaining playing elements in their possession or each player passes their turn consecutively;   (x) Adding to the interim score of each player a combined point value of any playing elements left in the other player's possession to obtain a final score for each player; and   (xi) Determining a winner by comparing final scores.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein a total number of the set of playing elements is 100 and the set number of playing elements to possess is 7. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the game is played on a computer. 
     
     
         11 . A game to be played by a plurality of players, comprising:
 a playing area defining a plurality of individual playing spaces, wherein one of the plurality of individual playing spaces is pre-marked on said playing area to indicate a starting location, and wherein a portion of the plurality of individual playing spaces are pre-marked on said playing area to indicate safety; and   a set of playing elements comprising individual playing elements that may be played on the plurality of individual playing spaces on said playing area to cover corresponding individual playing spaces, wherein the individual playing elements are adapted to be randomly drawn from the set of playing elements and a number of the individual playing elements is possessed by each player per turn,   wherein each player is enabled to play successive turns if the player so chooses and may form at least one word using the individual playing elements in the player's possession or already played on the plurality of individual playing spaces of said playing area to earn a score,   wherein each of the individual playing elements is marked to indicate a letter of the alphabet and a corresponding point value for evaluating the score or marked to allow to represent any letter of the alphabet each player chooses except for “S” and a corresponding point value for evaluating the score,   said playing area and said set of playing elements adapted for enabling starting the game by playing a number of individual playing elements onto successive adjacent playing spaces including the individual playing space pre-marked to indicate the starting location to form a word in one horizontal or vertical direction on said playing area to earn points for the score of a first player equal to a sum of each of the point values corresponding to those of the individual playing elements used to form the one word during a first turn,   said set of playing elements further adapted to enable each player to randomly draw more individual playing elements from a remaining set of playing elements to be held in possession for subsequent turns and corresponding to the number of playing elements immediately previously played by each player,   further adapted to enable in subsequent turns each player to make subsequent plays forming words on said playing area by playing individual playing elements in each player's possession,   wherein upon any successive turn each player may change a score previously earned by any other player upon forming at least one word using at least one individual playing element in each player's possession adjacent to at least one of any other player's previously played individual playing elements on said playing area to enable subtracting from the score of the any other player the corresponding point values of the any other player's previously played playing element or elements that are a part of the word or words thus formed, unless the individual playing elements played on said playing area forming at least one word previously played by another player had been played over one of the individual playing spaces pre-marked to indicate safety, in which case only the point values of the playing elements played by each player during the player's turn would be added to that player's score for that turn.   
     
     
         12 . The game of  claim 11 , wherein said playing area is square shaped and has 15 rows and 15 columns to form 225 square-shaped individual playing spaces. 
     
     
         13 . The game of  claim 12 , wherein the individual playing space pre-marked to indicate a starting location is a centrally-located playing space. 
     
     
         14 . The game of  claim 13 , wherein the individual playing spaces pre-marked to indicate safety comprise marking on said playing area each corner playing space lying in an outer peripheral portion of said playing area, a centrally-located playing space between each corner playing space lying in the outer peripheral portion of said playing area, and each corner playing space lying in a next inner peripheral portion of said playing area adjacent the outer peripheral portion of said playing area. 
     
     
         15 . The game of  claim 14 , wherein individual playing elements of said set of playing elements are:
 2 playing elements marked “WILD” to indicate any letter of the alphabet except “S” and “0” point value;   9 playing elements marked “A” and “1” point value;   2 playing elements marked “B” and “3” point value;   2 playing elements marked “C” and “3” point value;   4 playing elements marked “D” and “2” point value;   12 playing elements marked “E” and “1” point value;   2 playing elements marked “F” and “3” point value;   3 playing elements marked “G” and “2” point value;   2 playing elements marked “H” and “3” point value;   9 playing elements marked “I” and “1” point value;   1 playing element marked “J” and “5” point value;   1 playing element marked “K” and “4” point value;   4 playing elements marked “L” and “2” point value;   2 playing elements marked “M” and “3” point value;   6 playing elements marked “N” and “2” point value;   8 playing elements marked “O” and “1” point value;   2 playing elements marked “P” and “3” point value;   1 playing element marked “Q” and “5” point value;   6 playing elements marked “R” and “1” point value;   4 playing elements marked “S” and “1” point value;   6 playing elements marked “T” and “1” point value;   4 playing elements marked “U” and “2” point value;   2 playing elements marked “V” and “4” point value;   2 playing elements marked “W” and “3” point value;   1 playing element marked “X” and “4” point value;   2 playing elements marked “Y” and “2” point value; and   1 playing element marked “Z” and “5” point value.   
     
     
         16 . The game of  claim 15 , wherein said plurality of playing elements comprise a corresponding plurality of tiles, each tile having at least two sides, wherein each side of each tile is pre-marked to associate with a player of plurality of players and each player plays the tiles on the side associated with the player on said playing area, wherein during the game, the tiles already on said playing area may be flipped to the side associated to a current player when the current player forms at least one word by adding at least one additional tile to tiles already played on said playing area by another player to indicate points to be added to the current player's score and points to be subtracted from the another player's score. 
     
     
         17 . The game of  claim 15 , wherein said game is played electronically and wherein each of said plurality of playing elements is capable of being designated as any particular player's playing element upon being drawn by the player, and wherein during the game, a playing element already on the playing area may be automatically changed from being designated as one player's playing element to a current player's playing element when the current player forms at least one word by adding at least one additional playing element to form a word with the playing elements already played on said playing area by another player to indicate points to be automatically added to the current player's score and points to be automatically subtracted from the another player's score.