Board game

A game method associated with a plurality of game boards each having (a) non-ordered storage sockets for storage and (b) ordered sockets, said ordered sockets being arranged in a number of rows, the number of sockets in each row permissibly varying, each game board being adapted to have an owner associated therewith, a multiplicity of playing pieces adapted to fit in said sockets, each playing piece having a first non-valued characteristic and a second non-valued characteristic, such characteristics being selected from a class having a number of members equal to said number of rows, each said playing piece being so constructed that a first side thereof exhibits both said first characteristic and said second characteristic while a second side thereof exhibits only said first characteristic, the number of playing pieces exhibiting any one first characteristic being the same as the number of playing pieces exhibiting any other first characteristic (and, among those playing pieces exhibiting the same first characteristic, about one-half having a second characteristic identical to its first characteristic, and the second characteristic of the remainder being equally distributed among the remaining characteristics), a small number of said playing pieces having on their respective first side a second characteristic which differes from said first characteristic but which bears a mark, means for repeatedly selected a first characteristic at random in such a manner that the consequence of each such selection is only (a) the addition of a playing piece having the selected first characteristic to the selector's storage and then (b) the transfer at the option of the selector, of one or more playing pieces having the same second characteristic from the selector's storage to one row of the selector's ordered sockets, and means for recording only the owner and number of all ordered sockets containing a playing piece each time all the sockets in any one game board contain a playing piece, and the rules of the game method comprising the following steps:

• all the playing pieces are placed in an armory so that only said second side is visible;
• each player takes a game board and a number of playing pieces equal to said number of rows and places said playing pieces in the storage sockets of his game board in such a manner that only said second side is visible to other players;
• each player in succession (1) operates said selection means to select a first characteristic and selects from the armory one selected playing piece exhibiting that characteristic, (2) adds said selected playing piece to his storage and then (3) transfers one or more playing pieces having the same second characteristic from his storage to one row of the ordered sockets in his game board in such a manner that only said second side is visible to other players and in such a manner that no two playing pieces in separate rows have the same second characteristic;
• the completion of any row with playing pieces having the same second characteristic by any player giving that player a certain first advantage, the completion of any row with playing pieces having the same first characteristic as well as the same second characteristic by any player giving that player a certain second advantage, and the completion of any game board with playing pieces by any player giving that player an incremental point score slightly greater than the number of filled ordered sockets on his game board and giving any other player having at least one ordered socket on his game board filled with a marked playing piece an incremental point score equal to the number of filled ordered sockets on his game board, except that any player having more than one ordered socket on his game board filled with a marked playing piece shall receive a score equal to a multiple of the number of filled ordered sockets on his game board.