USRE37957EExpiredUtility
Trading card game method of play
Est. expiryJun 22, 2014(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Richard Channing Garfield
A63F 2003/00996A63F 1/00
75
PatentIndex Score
91
Cited by
47
References
60
Claims
Abstract
Provided herein is a novel method of game play and game components that in one embodiment are in the form of trading cards ( 10, 12, 40, 42, 44, 48, 54, 60, 64 ). However, the game components may take other forms, such as a board game, or the game may be played in different media, such as electronic games, video games, computer games, and inter-active network. In one version, the game components comprise energy or mana cards 40 and command or spell cards ( 10, 12, 42, 44, 48, 54, 60, 64 ) having command or spells associated therewith that utilize the energy to enable a player to attack, defend and modify the effect of other mana cards, spell cards, and the fundamental rules of play. The goal of the game is to reduce the life points of other players to a level below one. In this game of strategy and chance, players construct their own library of cards, preferably from trading cards, and play their library or deck of cards against the deck of cards of an opposing player. Cards may be obtained from retail outlets, trading with other players or collectors, and winning cards at games and tournaments.
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modifiedThe embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A method of playing games involving two or more players, the method being suitable for games having rules for game play that includes instructions on drawing, playing, and discarding game components, and a reservoir of multiple copies of a plurality of game components, the method comprising the steps of:
each player constructing their own library of a predetermined number of game components by examining and selecting game components from the reservoir of game components;
each player obtaining an initial hand of a predetermined number of game components by shuffling the library of game components and drawing at random game components from the player's library of game components; and
each player executing turns in sequence with other players by drawing, playing, and discarding game components in accordance with the rules until the game ends, said step of executing a turn comprises:
(a) making one or more game components from the player's hand of game components available for play by taking the one or more game components from the player's hand and placing the one or more game components on a playing surface; and
(b) bringing into play one or more of the available game components by:
(i) selecting one or more game components; and
(ii) designating the one or more game components being brought into play by rotating the one or more game components from an original orientation to a second orientation.
2. A method of playing a trading card game, the game components including rules of play, which include instructions on execution of a turn, and the predetermined number of cards in a library of trading cards and the hand of trading cards, and a reservoir of trading cards, the method of playing the card game for each player comprising the steps of:
collecting an individual pool of trading cards from the reservoir of trading cards by purchasing and trading with others;
constructing a library of a predetermined number of trading cards from the player's pool of trading cards by selecting individual cards the player elects to play with;
obtaining a hand of a predetermined number of trading cards from the player's library of trading cards; and
executing a turn at the player's option, in accordance with other players to, at the player's option, enter and remove one or more cards into and out of play in accordance with the rules, said step of executing a turn for each player comprises:
(a) drawing one or more trading cards from the library of trading card;
(b) entering one or more trading cards into play by placing the one or more trading cards face up in a first orientation on a playing surface, and at the player's option, using one or more trading cards that have been entered into play in accordance with the rules and tapping each trading card used in play so all players are aware the trading card is in use by turning the trading cards from the first orientation to a second orientation on the playing surface; and
(c) discarding one or more trading cards into a discard area on the playing surface as necessary to maintain the predetermined number of cards in the player's hand of trading cards.
3. A method of playing card games, the method being suitable for card games having rules of play and multiple copies of a plurality of cards, the rules of play including instructions on executing turns, the predetermined number of cards in the players library and hand of cards, and the objective of the game, the method comprising the steps of:
each player obtaining a pool of cards from the multiple copies of the plurality of cards by purchasing or trading with others or playing a card game with others for ante;
each player constructing a library of a predetermined number of cards by examining and selecting cards from the player's pool of cards;
each player obtaining a hand of a predetermined number of cards from the player's library of cards by first shuffling the player's library of cards and randomly drawing the hand of cards therefrom; and
each player executing a turn until the game concludes in accordance with the rules of play, said step of executing a turn includes placing one or more cards on a playing surface for other players to see the playing face on the one or more cards and designating one or more of the cards on the playing surface for entry into play.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said step of designating one or more of the cards comprises rotating the one or more cards on the playing surface from an original orientation to a second orientation.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein said second orientation is 90 degrees from the first orientation.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein said step of executing a turn comprises the initial step of rotating the player's cards previously designated in a prior turn from the second orientation to the original orientation.
7. A method of playing games involving two or more players, the method being suitable for games having rules for game play that include instructions on drawing, playing, and discarding game components, and a reservoir of multiple copies of a plurality of game components, the method comprising the steps of:
each player constructing their own library of a predetermined number of game components by examining and selecting game components from the reservoir of game components;
each player obtaining an initial hand of a predetermined number of game components by shuffling the library of game components and drawing at random game components from the player's library of game components; and
each player executing turns in sequence with other players by drawing, playing, and discarding game components in accordance with the rules until the game ends, said step of executing a turn comprises:
( a ) making one or more game components from the player's hand of game components available for play by taking the one or more game components from the player's hand and placing the one or more game components on a playing surface; and
( b ) bringing into play one or more of the available game components by:
( i ) selecting one or more game components; and
( ii ) designating the one or more game components being brought into play by rotating the one or more game components from an original orientation to a second orientation.
8. A method of playing a trading card game, the game components including rules of play, which include instructions on execution of a turn, and a predetermined number of cards in a library of trading cards and a hand of trading cards, and a reservoir of trading cards, the method of playing the card game for each player comprising the steps of:
collecting an individual pool of trading cards from the reservoir of trading cards by purchasing and trading with others;
constructing a library of a predetermined number of trading cards from the player's pool of trading cards by selecting individual cards the player elects to play with;
obtaining a hand of a predetermined number of trading cards from the player's library of trading cards; and
executing a turn at the player's option, in sequence with other players to, at the player's option, enter and remove one or more cards into and out of play in accordance with the rules, said step of executing a turn for each player comprises:
( a ) drawing one or more trading cards from the library of trading card;
( b ) entering one or more trading cards into play by placing the one or more trading cards face up in a first orientation on a playing surface, and at the player's option, using one or more trading cards that have been entered into play in accordance with the rules and tapping each trading card used in play so all players are aware the trading card is in use by turning the trading cards from the first orientation to a second orientation on the playing surface; and
( c ) discarding one or more trading cards into a discard area on the playing surface as necessary to maintain the predetermined number of cards in the player's hand of trading cards.
9. A method of playing card games, the method being suitable for card games having rules of play and multiple copies of a plurality of cards, the rules of play including instructions on execution turns, a predetermined number of cards in the players library and hand of cards, and an objective of the game, the method comprising the steps of:
each player obtaining a pool of cards from the multiple copies of the plurality of cards by purchasing or trading with others or playing a card game with others for ante;
each player constructing a library of a predetermined number of cards by examining and selecting cards from the player's pool of cards;
each player obtaining a hand of a predetermined number of cards from the player's library of cards by first shuffling the player's library of cards and randomly drawing the hand of cards therefrom; and
each player executing a turn until the game concludes in accordance with the rules of play, said step of executing a turn includes placing one or more cards on a playing surface for other players to see a playing face on the one or more cards and designating one or more of the cards on the playing surface for entry into play.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said step of designating one or more of the cards comprises rotating the one or more cards on the playing surface from an original orientation to a second orientation.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said second orientation is 90 degrees from the original orientation.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein said step of executing a turn comprises the initial step of rotating the player's cards previously designated in a prior turn from the second orientation to the original orientation.
13. A method of playing a card game, comprising:
obtaining a hand of cards from a supply of cards; and
executing a turn by placing one or more cards from the hand of cards on a playing surface and designating one or more of the cards on the playing surface by rotating the one or more cards from an original orientation to a second orientation.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the one or more cards from the hand of cards are placed on the playing surface with a playing face exposed to view.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein the second orientation is 90 degrees from the first orientation.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising undesignating one or more previously designated cards by rotating the one or more previously designated cards from the second orientation to the original orientation.
17. A method of playing an electronic card game, comprising:
designating a hand of cards from available cards on an electronic display device;
executing a turn by causing one or more cards from the hand of cards to be displayed in a playing area displayed on the display device and designating the one or more cards in the playing area by positioning the one or more cards in a predetermined orientation.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the predetermined orientation is a 90 ° rotation from an initial orientation.
19. A method of playing a game for two or more players, the game including rules of play and game components, the method comprising:
constructing a library of game components from a plurality of game components that comprise a first set of game components and a second set of game components, a portion of the plurality of game components having limited availability with respect to a remainder of the plurality of game components, each game component in the first set of game components having a point value associated therewith, and each game component in the second set of game components having a point value cost associated with using the game component;
obtaining a hand of game components from the library of game components; and
executing a turn at the player's option that comprises using one or more of the first set of game components in conjunction with one or more of the second set of game components in accordance with the rules of play.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein constructing a library comprises examining and selecting game components.
21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising designating a status of one or more game components used in the game.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein designating comprises rotating the game component from one orientation to another orientation.
23. A method of playing a card game for two or more players, the game including rules of play and a plurality of cards, the method comprising:
obtaining a hand of cards, the cards comprising energy cards and effect cards, a portion of the cards having limited availability, at least one effect card having indicia corresponding to an energy value cost of using the at least one effect card, and each energy card having indicia corresponding to an energy value for use in conjunction with the at least one effect card; and
executing a turn that comprises using one or more energy cards in conjunction with the at least one effect card from the player's hand of cards in accordance with the indicia on the cards and the rules of play.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein the method further comprises before obtaining a hand of cards, each player constructing a personal library of cards by examining and selecting cards from a plurality of cards, and wherein obtaining a hand of cards comprises each player obtaining a hand of cards from the player's library of cards.
25. The method of claim 23 wherein executing a turn comprises designating one or more cards used in the turn.
26. The method of claim 25 wherein the designating comprises rotating one or more cards from a first orientation to a second orientation.
27. A method of playing a game for two or more players, comprising:
each player constructing a library game components by examining and selecting from a plurality of energy components and effect components, at least one of the energy components having associated therewith an energy value, and at least one of the effect components having associated therewith an energy value cost of playing the effect component;
each player obtaining an opening hand of energy and effect components from the player's library of components; and
each player executing a turn, at the player's option, by playing one or more energy components and playing one or more effect components in accordance with the associated energy and with the rules of play.
28. A method of playing a card game, the game including rules of play and game cards, the method of playing the card game for each player comprising:
obtaining an individual pool of cards from a reservoir of mana cards and spell cards, the mana cards having indicia of the number of mana each mana card is worth, the spell cards having indicia thereon that indicates the effect of the spell card on one or more of the mana cards, spell cards, and the rules of play and that indicates the number of mana from mana cards to be played in conjunction with each spell card;
constructing a library of cards from the individual pool of cards;
obtaining a hand of cards from the library of cards; and
executing a turn in sequence with other players to, at the player's option, play one or more cards in accordance with the indicia on the cards and with the rules of play.
29. A method of playing a card game, the game including rules of play and a plurality of cards, the method of playing the card game for each player comprising:
collecting an individual pool of cards by one or more of trading, purchasing, bartering, and winning cards, the cards including mana cards and spell cards, each mana card having indicia of an amount of mana the mana card is worth, each spell card having indicia of the amount of mana from mana cards that must be played in conjunction with playing the spell card and of an effect that playing the spell card has on mana cards, spell cards, and the rules of play, a portion of the plurality of cards having limited availability;
constructing a library of cards by examining and selecting cards from the player's pool of cards;
obtaining a hand of cards from the player's library of cards; and
executing a turn in sequence with other players to, at the player's option, play one or more mana cards and spell cards in accordance with the indicia on the cards and the rules of play.
30. A method of playing a game for two or more players comprising:
each player constructing a library game components comprising energy components and command components from a plurality of energy components and command components, each energy component having an energy value associated therewith and each command component having an energy value cost associated with playing the command component, wherein one or more energy components having a total energy value equal to or greater than the energy value cost must be played in order to play a command component having the associated energy value cost;
each player selecting an initial number of game components from the player's library of game components; and
each player executing a turn by, at the player's option, playing one or more energy components and playing one or more command components as permitted by the available energy value from the energy components in play.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein players communicate with other players via a network of computers, each player having a monitor on which to display the game components.
32. A method of playing a card game on one or more computers, the card game having rules of play, the method comprising:
designating an individual pool of cards from a reservoir of cards, and privately displaying one or more of the individual pool of cards on a monitor;
selecting an individual library of cards from the individual pool of cards and privately displaying the library of cards on the monitor;
obtaining a hand of cards from the individual library of cards and privately displaying the hand of cards on the monitor; and
executing a turn in accordance with the rules of play and displaying on all player's monitors the cards played on each player.
33. A method of playing a card game having a plurality of cards, the method comprising:
obtaining a hand of cards from a plurality of cards that includes one or more cards from a first set of cards and one or more cards from a second set of cards, the first set of cards having indicia corresponding to a condition of using the first set of cards in play, and a second set of cards having indicia corresponding to meeting the condition of using the first set of cards in play;
identifying a condition of using a selected card from the first set of cards; and
using one or more cards from the second set of cards that meet the identified condition for using the selected card from the first set of cards.
34. The method of claim 33 wherein using one or more cards from the second set of cards further comprises using the selected card in conjunction with using the one or more cards from the second set of cards.
35. The method of claim 33 wherein the indicia of condition comprises indicia of a point value cost, and the indicia of meeting the condition comprises indicia of a point value.
36. A method of playing a card game by at least first and second players, the method comprising:
the first player acquiring at separate times a first personal subset of cards from a set of available cards, wherein each card of a certain type has effects that differ from other cards of a different type in the set of cards, wherein the set of available cards includes point cards and effect cards, and wherein one or more cards from the set of available cards have more limited availability than the other cards, and wherein the first player, from the first personal subset of cards, forms a first playable subset of cards;
the second player acquiring a second personal subset of cards from the set of available cards and forming a second playable subset of cards; and
the first and second players exchanging turns playing a game with their respective first and second subsets of playable cards, wherein exchanging turns comprises each player taking an individual turn wherein one or more point cards must be used by the player in conjunction with the player using one of the effect cards.
37. A card game article of manufacture, comprising:
a set of cards comprising point cards and effect cards, each point card and each effect card having a point value associated therewith wherein before playing an effect card of an indicated point value, one or more point cards totaling the indicated point value must be played by the player, and wherein at least some of the effect cards in the set of cards are more powerful and have a greater effect on game play than effect cards having lesser effect on game play.
38. The article of manufacture of claim 37 wherein a plurality of the effect cards further comprise indicia of the effect of the plurality of cards on game play, and further wherein cards having a greater effect on game play have limited availability in the set of cards and have a higher point value than cards having a lesser effect on game play.
39. A method of playing a game for two or more players, the game including rules of play and game elements, the method of play and for each player comprising:
( a ) obtaining a hand of game elements that comprise energy and effect elements from a plurality of game elements, each energy element having indicia thereon indicating an energy value of the energy element, and each effect element having indicia of an energy value from the energy elements that must be played by the player in conjunction with playing the effect element;
( b ) executing a turn in sequence with other players in accordance with the rules of play, each play leaving the game when a life level of the player reaches a final value from an initial value, each turn comprising one or more of:
playing one or more energy elements;
playing one or more effect elements as permitted by an energy value available from the energy elements in play; and
discarding one or more of the game elements as necessary to maintain a predetermined number of game elements in the hand.
40. The method of claim 39 wherein each turn further comprises obtaining one or more game elements from the plurality of game elements.
41. The method of claim 39 wherein executing a turn further comprises flagging each energy element used to contribute to the energy value that must be played by each effect element so that all players are aware that each flagged energy element is in use.
42. The method of claim 41 wherein executing a turn initially includes unflagging one or more of the player's energy elements that were flagged in a previous turn.
43. A method of playing a card game on one or more computers, comprising:
selecting a hand of cards, and displaying the hand of cards on the player's monitor, wherein a first subset of the cards have indicia indicating a point value cost for using in play the one or more cards from the first subset of cards, and a second subset of the cards have indicia thereon of a point value associated with paying the point value cost;
identifying from the hand of cards displayed on the player's monitor a point value cost for playing a selected card from the hand of cards; and
obtaining cards with a sufficient point value to pay the point value cost for playing the selected card.
44. The method of claim 43 , further comprising playing the obtained cards and displaying on each player's monitor each card played by other players.
45. The method of claim 44 , further comprising flagging each card that is used to pay the point value cost associated with the selected card.
46. The method of claim 45 wherein flagging comprises rotating the card from a first orientation to a second orientation on the monitor.
47. An article of manufacture for use by a player in a game, comprising:
rules of game play;
a set of cards comprising a plurality of casting cards, wherein the casting cards are a subset of the set of cards, wherein at least some of the casting cards in the subset have a total point value indicia representing a total number of points a player must expend under the rules of game play in order to play the casting card, each casting card further including indicia indicating the effect that playing the casting card will have on game play.
48. The article of claim 47 wherein the rules of game play comprise at least one rule requiring the playing of point cards having a cumulative point value at least equal to the point value of each casting card to be played.
49. The article of claim 47 wherein the set of cards comprises at least common and rare cards, and wherein the common cards are more numerous in the set of card than the rare cards.
50. A card game, comprising:
rules of play defining the game and game play;
a reservoir of multiple copies of game cards for use by a player to construct a personal deck of cards for game play, a portion of the game cards having fewer available copies than the other game cards, the game cards comprising:
a first subset of game cards, each card having indicia corresponding to one or more conditions for a player to use the card in game play and of the effect on game play of a player using the card; and
a second subset of game cards, each card having corresponding indicia corresponding to meeting the one or more conditions.
51. The game of claim 50 , further comprising a third subset of game cards for use by a player without meeting the conditions and having indicia of the effect on game play of a player using the card, and wherein the rules of play comprise at least one rule permitting any player to use a card from the third subset of game cards during any player's turn and at least one rule requiring the flagging of each card from the second subset of cards that is used in game play to meet the one or more conditions of the first subset of cards, and wherein the second subset of cards represents a form of energy and the one or more conditions associated with using the first subset of cards comprises an energy cost to be met by the second subset of cards.
52. The game of claim 50 , wherein the rules of play further comprise at least one rule requiring the unflagging of each flagged card that is no longer used to meet the one or more conditions of the first subset of cards.
53. A method of card game play, the card game having rules of play and a plurality of game cards, the method comprising:
each player constructing a deck of game cards from a reservoir of multiple copies of game cards, a portion of the game cards having fewer available copies in the reservoir of game cards than the other game cards, the game cards comprising a first subset of game cards having indicia of one or more conditions for a player to use the card in game play and of the effect on game play of a player using the card; a second subset of game cards having corresponding indicia of meeting the one or more conditions;
each player drawing a hand of cards from the player's deck of cards;
each player executing a turn, comprising using one or more of the second subset of cards, using one or more of the first subset of cards as permitted by the second subset of cards, and drawing one or more cards from the deck of cards.
54. The method of claim 53 , further comprising a third subset of games cards for use by a player without meeting the one or more conditions, the cards in the third subset of game cards having indicia of the effect on game play of a player using the card, and wherein executing a turn further comprises any player playing a card from the third subset of cards during the player's turn or during any other player's turn.
55. A method of playing games involving two or more players, the method being suitable for games having rules for game play that include instructions on drawing, playing, and discarding game components, and a reservoir of multiple copies of a plurality of game components, the method comprising:
each player constructing their own library of game components by examining and selecting game components from the reservoir of game components;
each player obtaining a hand of game components by shuffling the library of game components and drawing at random game components from the player's library of game components; and
each player executing turns in sequence with other players in accordance with the rules until the game ends, wherein at least one turn comprises:
( a ) making one or more game components from the player's hand of game components available for use by selecting the one or more game components from the player's hand and moving the one or more game components to a playing area; or
( b ) using one or more of the available game components by:
( i ) selecting one or more game components; and
( ii ) designating the one or more selected game components by rotating the one or more game components from an original orientation to a second orientation.
56. A method of playing a card game, the game components including rules of play, the method of playing the card game for each player comprising:
collecting an individual pool of cards from a reservoir of trading cards by purchasing and trading with others;
constructing a library of cards from the player's pool of cards by selecting individual cards the player elects to play with;
obtaining a hand of cards from the player's library of cards; and
executing a turn at the player's option, in sequence with other players, wherein executing a turn for each player comprises the following in any order:
( a ) drawing one or more cards from the library of cards;
( b ) placing one or more cards from the player's hand of cards face up in a first orientation on a playing surface, and at the player's option, using one or more cards that have been placed on the playing surface, comprising tapping at least one card on the playing surface so all players are aware the card is in use by turning the card from the first orientation to a second orientation on the playing surface.
57. A method of playing card games, the method being suitable for card games having rules of play and multiple copies of a plurality of cards, the rules of play including instructions on executing turns, and an objective of the game, the method comprising:
each player obtaining a pool of cards from the multiple copies of the plurality of cards by purchasing or trading with others or playing a card game with others for ante;
each player constructing a library of cards by examining and selecting cards from the player's pool of cards;
each player obtaining a hand of cards from the player's library of cards by first shuffling the player's library of cards and randomly drawing the hand of cards therefrom; and
each player executing a turn until the game concludes in accordance with the rules of play, wherein executing a turn comprises one or more of placing one or more cards on a playing surface for other players to see a playing face on the one or more cards and designating one or more of the cards on the playing surface.
58. The method of claim 57 , wherein designating one or more of the cards comprises rotating the one or more cards on the playing surface from an original orientation to a second orientation.
59. The method of claim 58 , wherein the second orientation is 90 degrees from the original orientation.
60. The method of claim 58 , wherein executing a turn comprises initially rotating one or more of the player's cards previously designated in a prior turn from the second orientation to the original orientation.Join the waitlist — get patent alerts
Track USRE37957E — get alerts on status changes and closely related new filings.
We store only your email — no account needed. See our privacy policy.