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US 12,605,617 B2Granted
Word board game apparatus and method
OwnerRyan Shieldsinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A game apparatus having a case, cubes, and tiles. The method of playing the game involves placing or removing tiles on or from said cubes, and then manipulating handles or knobs on the case to transform a row or column of cubes and the associated tiles. During the course of game play, a matrix of visible active tiles is dynamically manipulated by users to achieve game goals.
Claims20
An apparatus for enabling a word game using combinations of letters, comprising:
- a case having outer four sides and four inner sides and an opening on the top of the case and a closed bottom;
- a plurality of cubes each cube having 6 faces, dimensioned to fit within the case, the plurality of cubes arranged in a square pattern,
- a plurality of tiles having thereon letters dimensioned to fit onto the face of any of the plurality of cubes;
- a plurality of knobs, a subset thereof proximate each side of the case, each knob having an outer face and an inner face;
- a plurality of rods, each rod having a first end and a second end, each such rod traversing through the outer side and inner side of the case via corresponding apertures, wherein each outer side and inner side of the case has one quarter (¼) of the total number of apertures and each outer side and inner side of the case is configured to receive one quarter (¼) of the total number of rods;
- the first end of each rod coupled to the inner face of a corresponding knob and the second end of a rod terminating within the case operable to be directly or indirectly applied against one of the faces of the plurality of cubes via a cube turning member;
- and
- a tensioning or spring mechanism within the case coupled to each knob or rod operable to cause the knob or rod to maintain an equilibrium relative to the case, and further operable to allow movement of the rod so that the second end of the rod is operable to apply pressure to corresponding face of a cube.
5 more elements
A method of game play, comprising the steps of:
- drawing a tile at random from a plurality of tiles, each tile having an associated letter;
- affixing such tile to an empty side of a cube object hour a plurality of cube objects;
- rotating a row or column of a subset of the plurality of cube objects to further expose an empty side of least one of the cube objects;
- claiming, if any, bona-fide words formed in rows, columns, or diagonals by the visible letters on the upward facing sides of the cube objects;
- and
- repeating the rotating and claiming steps until all sides of all the cube objects are occupied with tiles.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.