Investment franchisement game and method of advertisement

#The present invention relates to the integration of a board game and advertising method.

#Since time immemorial, man has played a variety of board games. One of the most popular being the contemporary game of Monopoly. The appeal of the game is that it reflects a basic requirement for survival in a modern world governed by a monitory based economic system. In the game, players compete on a financial basis with gains and losses related to the acquisition and improvement of property.

#As successful as Monopoly and similar games are, they have shortcomings in that the players are constrained to predetermined patterns of action and the quest for reality which the games designers had hoped to achieve is never reached. The games stop at property acquisition and thereby fail to consider one of the most moving forces in modern society-commerce. They do not provide the challenging stimulus afforded in the real world when one considers franchise manipulation of everyday, contemporary commercial establishments combined with real property acquisition. Furthermore, the games are fixed with respect to a relatively small group of hypothetical properties and fail to provide a dynamic system wherein a game may be tailored for regional considerations and the current businesses in vogue.

#FIG. 1 is an example of the board game as it is played, illustrating a partially completed game.

#FIG. 2 illustrates the basic game board.

#FIG. 3 illustrates a typical single space franchise or business property card.

#FIG. 1 illustrates the invention as the game evolves during play. It comprises a basic board 10, with five sets of cards; 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7; arranged at the corners of a central square 11. Arranged about the center square 11 is a border comprised of a plurality of rectangular spaces 12 forming a pathway about the center square bounded by the center square and the outer edges of the game board. Each rectangular area 12 emulate property with the exception of the spaces including the corner squares 13 through 20 which relate to special game functions. Each property space includes a value for which a player may purchase the property, assuming it has not previously been purchased by another player. The property spaces are dimensioned so that a business establishment card representing a franchise or other business establishment or property may be placed over the terrain simulating portion of the space 21 when a card is purchased. (For simplicity of this discussion the term franchise is used to represent franchises as well as all other forms of business). Typical cards are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. These cards are paid for advertisements by real businesses such as franchises and serve to tie the game into contemporary life. For instance, the franchises available via the business property cards 3 and 4 may represent local franchises such as fast food establishments, grocery or department store or service organizations such as gas stations. The business property cards 3 and 4 and vacation cards 5 identify actual entities because the game is constructed by starting with a basic board as illustrated in FIG. 2 and developing sets of cards by selling card space as advertisements to real businesses. Ideally, the game cards are advertising for a variety of contemporary, local business establishments so that the game may be played by emulating all of the local businesses familiar to the players to enhance the fantasy which occurs during play.

#In addition to the franchise cards illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the game includes mandatory service cards such as the hospital cards illustrated in FIG. 7; lottery cards are illustrated in FIG. 5 which provide for easy cash if the person is lucky enough to land upon the proper square; and vacation cards as illustrated in FIG. 5.

#Hospital cards, lottery cards and vacation cards are selected whenever a player lands on a designated square; 18, 19 and 13 respectively; on the game board.