Game Piece Elements That Are Removably Affixable to a Surface and Method of Use

This invention relates to game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface and, more particularly, this invention relates to game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface that can be affixed to a surface during game play, removed from the surface, and reaffixed to a surface during or after game play. This invention also relates to a method of using game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface during game play.

Table top games (hereinafter “games”) are a very popular form of entertainment. During game play, game piece elements are used to mark or denote characters' or players' movement through the game environment or to depict individual components of the game environment itself. The game piece elements are traditionally drawn on the game board surface or game piece elements which are abstractions or representations of the characters or the game environment are made of card stock, chip board, or other materials.

Drawing the game piece elements on a game board surface has its disadvantages. A widely used solution is a game board which is a large vinyl sheet covered in a one-inch grid (one such game board is sold under the trade name Battlemat). The players can use dry-erase or wet-erase markers to draw the game environment on the game board and only illustrating that which the characters have explored. However, this approach has a few disadvantages. First, it takes time draw/erase/redraw the game board as the game play progresses. Second, the player experience and immersion may be diminished by the artistic ability, or lack thereof, of the person drawing on the game board.

Constructing the game piece elements of card stock, chip board, or another material has its disadvantages as well. These pre-illustrated pieces of cardstock or chipboard can be used to construct the game board as game play progresses by laying out successive game piece elements on the game board, table, or other surface. This method has the disadvantage of the game piece elements' lack of stability. The game piece elements are not anchored to the table or other surface on which they are placed. Thus, these game piece elements tend to shift and move during routine game play and require constant readjustment which interrupts game play continuity. Game piece elements that have professionally, pre-made artwork and stability during game play will be a useful invention.

In some games, the game play environment may call for features or other objects that are not available on the game piece elements. For example, a game piece element in the shape of a room may require a fireplace in the room during game play. Game piece elements that can adapt to the game play and allow for additional features or other objects to be added to the game piece elements as game play progresses will be a useful invention.

The game play may require that the game play environment change as game play progresses. Game play may require that the game players only see the current game play environment and not the past or future game play environment. At any given moment during game play only the portion of the game environment in which play is currently occurring needs to be displayed. This is to simulate the characters' limited knowledge of the overall game play environment and this is commonly referred to as “fog of war”. Game piece elements that will facilitate removing past game environments and creating future game play environments will be a useful invention.

An objective of the present invention is the provision of game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface that can be securely affixed to a surface during game play and removed and repositioned during game play.

Another objective of the present invention is the provision of game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface that can be removably affixed to a variety of surfaces.

A further objective of the present invention is the provision of game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface in which one or more game piece elements can be removably affixed to another game piece element during game play.

Moreover, an objective of the present invention is the provision of game piece elements that can be adapted to game play through writing or drawing and the writing or drawing erased or removed after game play.

A still further objective of the present invention is the provision of game piece elements that are reusable.

A method of using the game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface is also disclosed.

Other objectives and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of the preferred embodiments herein.

Throughout the figures of the drawings, where the same part appears in more than one figure of the drawings, the same number is applied thereto.

Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments of the invention that are illustrated in accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same or similar reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts or steps. The drawings are in simplified form and are not to precise scale. For purposes of convenience and clarity only, directional terms such as top, bottom, left, right, up, down, over, above, below, beneath, rear, and front, can be used with respect to the drawings. These and similar directional terms are not to be construed to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. The words attach, connect, couple, and similar terms with their inflectional morphemes do not necessarily denote direct or intermediate connections, but can also include connections through mediate elements or devices.

Many traditional board games, such as Monopoly® or Candy Land®, have a static game board. In these games, using a static game board (hereinafter “static game”), the game board or game environment is laid out or established before game play begins. Once the game board or game environment is established, it is static in that it does not change as game play progresses. Game play follows a predictable and prescribed set of movement through a static game environment.

Monopoly is a registered trademark with United States Trademark Registration Number 326,723 (among others) owned by Hasbro, Inc. of 1027 Newport Avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States 02862.

Candy Land is a registered trademark with United States Trademark Registration Number 3,858,624 (among others) owned by Hasbro, Inc. of 1027 Newport Avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States 02862.

There are board games, however, in which the game board or game environment is dynamically generated during game play, such as Carcassonne®, The Settlers of Catan®, or Dungeons and Dragons®. In these games with a dynamic game board (hereinafter “dynamic games”), whether through random placement at the beginning of the game or game piece element placement throughout game play, the game board or game environment is dynamic. The game board or game environment is dynamic in that the game board or game environment changes as game players progress through the game play.

Carcassone is a registered trademark with United States Trademark Registration Number 3,167,081 owned by Hans im Gluck Verlags-GmbH of Birnauerstr 15, Munich, Germany 80805.

The Settlers of Catan is a registered trademark with United States Trademark Registration Number 4,328,606 owned by Catan GmbH of Schulgasse 43, Rossdorf, Germany 64380.

Dungeons and Dragons is a registered trademark with United States Trademark Registration Number 1,166,670 (among others) owned by Wizards of the Coast LLC of 1107 Lake Washington Blvd N, Suite 800, Renton, Washington 98056, United States.

The terms game board and game environment will be used throughout this disclosure (both previously and after). A game board is a physical structure on which game piece elements may be placed. The game board can be a blank structure, a grid, or have pre-illustrated artwork.

A game environment is the arrangement of game piece elements of the game and may or may not use a game board. The game piece elements may be placed directly on a table or another surface or may utilize game board to create the game environment.

The surface is depicted as a game board and a table in the following description. The game board and the table are meant to be examples of surfaces on which the game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface can affix to. But, the game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface can affix to any surface including, but not limited to, vertical or horizontal white boards, a desk, a wall, and all such surfaces are encompassed by this disclosure.

Now adding,, andto the consideration, the structure and function of game piece elements that are removably affixable to a surface(hereinafter “game piece element” or “game piece elements) can clearly been seen. Game piece elementshave three layers: an affixation layer, an artwork layer, and an erasable layer.

Affixation layeris the layer that affixes the game piece elements to game board, table, or other surface. Affixation layeris preferably made of a micro-suction or nano-suction tape layer with one side of the micro-suction or nano-suction tape being securable to the artwork layerand the other side being removably affixable to the game board, table, or other surface. A suitable micro-suction tape is available under the trade name REGABOND-S and is available for purchase through Exel Trading Company, LTD., with an address of 123-0842 3-9-2 Kurihara, Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

REGABOND-S is an example of a material used as the affixation layer, but any suitable material can be used as long as it provides removable affixation between the game piece elementsand the game board, table, or other surface, and some examples include, but are not limited to, tape, micro-suction or nano-suction foam, micro-suction or nano-suction adhesive, and micro-suction or nano-suction sheets, and all such materials are encompassed by this disclosure.

Artwork layeris between affixation layerand erasable layer. Artwork layercan be made of any suitable material including, but not limited to, wood, chipboard, plastic, foam, rubber, vinyl, paper, synthetic paper, or textiles, and all such suitable materials are encompassed by this disclosure.

The artwork layerhas artwork. Artworkcan be any suitable artwork for game play and the depicted artworkis meant to be an example, but not limiting, of artwork. Artworkserves to provide pre-prepared artwork that is high quality. The pre-prepared artworkenhances the game play experience because it provides for faster, more continuous play as it is pre-prepared and does not have to be drawn during game play. Also, pre-prepared artworkenhances game play through high quality artworkand is not reliant on the ability of the game players to draw the desired features on the game board or otherwise add the features to the game environment.

Erasable layeris made of a material that can be written or drawn on and then, the writing or drawing can be erased so that the game piece elementcan be reused. Erasable layercan be made of a dry erase layer or any other suitable material and all such suitable materials are encompassed by this disclosure.

Erasable layeris on top of artwork layerand may be a laminate over game piece elementas long as the bottomof affixation layeris still exposed and able to removably affix game piece elementto a game board, table, or other surface. During game play, a player may use any suitable writing utensil such as, but not limited to, a dry erase marker to make drawings or writing on game piece element.

Game piece elementmay be placed on the game board, table, or any other suitable surface during game play. In a static game, the game piece elementsare placed at the beginning of the game play. In a dynamic game, the game piece elementsare placed at the beginning of game play and change and/or are added to as the game play progresses. Game piece elementdemonstrates a game piece elementbeing placed on the game boardand tableduring game play.

Game piece elementcan be placed on top of another game piece elementduring game play. Referring specifically toand, game piece elementis a table and the table is placed on game piece elementwhich is a room. The artworkon game piece elementandcan be any suitable artworkcorresponding with game play. It is also noted that additional game piece elementscan be placed on top of game piece element. Or, in other words, a player can create a stack of game piece elementswith one game piece elementplaced on top of game piece elementand another game piece elementplaced on top of game piece element. The game players can continue stacking game piece elementsas many times as needed.

Game piece elementis being removed from game boardand table. Game piece elementsare removable from the game board, table, or other surface. The game piece elementscan be removed and replaced during game play or can be removed at the end of game play so that they are reusable.

One of the advantages of game piece elementsis that as play progresses, game piece elementscan be removed and new game piece elementscan be placed on the game board, table, or other surface in their place. This is advantageous in games where the game environment changes as the game play progresses. Game piece elementscan be removed to eliminate past game environments as game play progresses. New game piece elementscan be placed on the game board, table, or other surface as game play progresses to create new or altered game environments as the game environment changes. This flexibility of adding and removing game piece elementsallows only the current game environment to be seen by game players, as past game environments can be removed and future game environments can be easily configured as game play progresses.

Now addingto the consideration, methodof practicing the invention can be clearly seen. Methodcomprises the following individual steps. As will be obvious to persons of ordinary skill in the art, the steps, or steps equivalent thereto, may be practiced in any reasonable order which will produce the desired result.

STEPis the game piece element and surface procurement step. In this STEP, the user procures the game, game piece elements, a writing instrument, and the game board, table, or other desired surface. The user may already have one or all of the game, game piece elements, writing instrument, and game board, table, or other desired surface and may not need to obtain all or any of these items.

STEPis the game play step. In this STEP, the game is played. For a static game, the users lay out the game board, if any, and set up game piece elementsas required by the rules of the particular game and affix the game piece elementsto the game board, table, or other surface. Then, the users play the game as dictated by the rules of the particulargame (game piece elementsmay have to be added or removed to the game environment, but the overall game environment remains stable).

For a dynamic game, the users follow the rules of the particular game. The users affix game piece elementson the game board, table, or other desired surface as required by the rules of the particular game. The user removes part or all of game piece elementsand replaces them with other game piece elementsas the game environment changes.

It is optional during game play, to write or draw on game piece elementsusing a writing instrument.

STEPis the game piece element and surface removal step. In this STEP, when game play is finished, all remaining game piece elementsare removed. It is optional to remove any writing or drawings on game piece elementsat this time. The game board, if any, is removed and the game boardand the game piece elementsare stored for later use.

While various embodiments and aspects of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above exemplary embodiments.

This application—taken as a whole with the abstract, specification, claims, and drawings being combined—provides sufficient information for a person having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention as disclosed herein. Any measures necessary to practice this invention are well within the skill of a person having ordinary skill in this art after that person has made a careful study of this disclosure.

Because of this disclosure and solely because of this disclosure, modification of this device and method can become clear to a person having ordinary skill in this particular art. Such modifications are clearly covered by this disclosure.