Game for Teaching Fundamental Aspects of Dating, Relationships, and Marriage

The present invention relates generally to the field of games, and more particularly to teaching individuals about relationships, including real-life dating, relationships, and marriage concepts.

A relationship coach is a professional who helps people improve their relationships with others by teaching them strategies to communicate better and be more emotionally intelligent. Relationship coaches can help with a variety of relationships, including romantic, family, friendship, and business relationships.

Relationship coaching has emerged as a global industry and is booming. In 2024, revenues for the relationship coaching sector rose to $928.5M.

The present invention provides a particularly effective mechanism for teaching dating, relationship, and marriage skills to players in the context of a game. Each player starts at single, which is physically located in the middle of the board. The object of the game is for a player to start in the middle at single and advance from single to dating to relationship and then to marriage. A player wins when they end up on a physical location deemed “Know Love.” The game comprises of the following: (1) a non-negotiable list of must haves associated with each player; (2) an indicium of a set of scenarios created by three decks of cards, labeled the dating phase, relationship phase and marriage phase; and (3) the board that has counted each with instructions. Each player advances through the roll of the die to various places on the board and is randomly assigned the particular game event by the instruction on the space in which they land. The space potentially affects their advancement by giving a personality trait to each random position that affects their position or by instructing the user to respond to a question from one of the decks, depending on what phase they are in. By answering the posed scenario, the player either advances, loses turns, changes phases, or goes back to single. The scenario or position can also be affected by each player's non-negotiable list.

There are many board games out there that address a common theme: war, strategy, investing—all playing for a common theme to beat another to a definable goal. This specific forum can be used as an educational tool rather than for the sake of purely competition. It is important in society to know how to advance from dating to falling in love. Education in schools and in other forums rarely address the need of an individual to be successful in relationships and, more specifically, intimate relationships. Most people learn through experiences with others and the various circumstances and situations that are encountered in relationships. However, this process can be somewhat draining and excessively emotional as one picks and chooses a mate. Many relationships encounter negative emotions, such as bitterness, envy, jealousy, anger, and others. The object of the present invention is to expose the player to these scenarios that exist so one can be better equipped to find the person that they are compatible with and to provide knowledge of the path to ultimate bliss with the right person.

There are many games for couples on the market today, however, what they usually lack is a fundamental education in the path of relationships and knowing when it is better to remain single or when one should move forward to ultimate bliss. The goal of the present invention is to educate people with the common situations that arise in relationships so one can know what to expect in certain situations and circumstances. This is much needed in society as relationships affect the health and well-being of a person and their effect upon others. The goal of the present invention is to achieve such education to foster and equip players of the game with a better idea of how to advance through relationships and practice such without causing an unnecessary negative emotional experience as what occurs in reality. By utilizing a board game, one can experience a trek through a relational path without the full brunt of a realistic consequence. Thereby, causing an education of such through a virtual character or fantasy by imposing upon such, a realistic set of events that mimic reality within a set frame.

Embodiments of the present invention disclose an approach to teach individuals about relationships, including real-life dating, relationships, and marriage concepts.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the Figures.

1 FIG. 100 102 104 106 108 110 112 114 116 118 Referring to, game pieces, in accordance with the present invention, comprises: dating cards; relationship cards; marriage cards; avoid going single cards; non-negotiable list cards; dice; pawns; tokens; and bucks.

2 FIG. 200 202 204 206 208 210 Referring to, game board, in accordance with the present invention, comprises: marriage card space; Know Love card space; relationship card space; dating card space; and single space.

3 FIG. 300 204 208 210 302 304 306 308 314 Referring to, game board section, in accordance with the present invention, comprises: Know Love space; dating space; single space; dating starts space; relationship starts space; marriage starts space; advance to relationship space; and back to single space.

4 FIG. 400 402 404 406 Referring to, landing spaces, in accordance with the present invention, comprises: dating scenario space; negative landing space; and positive landing space.

200 112 114 210 114 108 118 116 200 110 102 104 106 200 208 206 202 In setting up the game, the following is done: (1) lay game boardopen within reach of all players; (2) place one die of diceand one or more pawns of pawnsof each player's choice in the single space, returning leftover pawnsto the game box; (3) place all avoid going single cards, bucks, and tokensin a supply beside game board; (4) shuffle all non-negotiable list cardsand give one to each player, returning leftover cards to the game box (this represents the type of person each player aspires to end up with during the game; keep it in mind while making decisions during the game and during your love life); (5) separately shuffle dating cards, relationship cards, and marriage cardsinto decks, placing each deck on its corresponding spot on game board, dating card space, relationship card space, and marriage card space, respectively; and (6) randomly determine the first player or player who rolls the highest die is the first player.

204 200 The goal of the game is to go from “No” Love to “Know” Love, working your way through the dating, relationship, and marriage circuits in order to reach the Know Love spaceon the top right of game board. The game is meant as a story to go through more than a game to strategize upon. Therefore, sometimes, a player will go through situations they have no control over—just as in life. Furthermore, some of the cards and spaces will introduce narrative situations that do not impact the actual game mechanics in any particular way, but that is because the mechanics are not the focus-the story is the focus. Thus, to best enjoy the game, the player should surrender to the narrative, considering each input to build upon the story each character is going through.

204 112 114 210 302 The game is played over multiple rounds until a player reaches Know Love space. In each round, players alternate taking turns clockwise. On a player's turn, they resolve the following steps: (1) roll one die of dice(a player only rolls both when a space or card effect instructs to do so); (2) move your pawnclockwise as many spaces as indicated by the player's roll; when starting at single space, the first space to move to is dating starts space; and (3) resolve the effect of the space landed upon. Once the player is done, the turn is passed to the player to the left.

108 210 118 108 210 118 308 116 314 210 102 104 106 Each space describes the situation it represents and gives an in-game effect. When an effect gives avoid going single cards, take one from the supply. If an effect would send you back to the single space, the player may discard the card and avoid this. These cards represent the legacy of good things the player has done in their love life, which helps give their loved ones confidence they will not mess up again. When an effect gives bucks, the player takes the indicated amount from the supply. Just like with avoid single cards, if an effect sends the player back to the single space, the player can spend $50 bucksto avoid this. These bucks represent money the player can invest in self-improvement, such as counseling, books, or tools within the game. When an effect in the dating circuit has an asterisk (e.g., advance to relationship space), the player advances to the relationship circuit and gains a token of tokens. While the player has the token, they are protected from effects in the relationship circuit that have an asterisk (e.g., back to single space). The player loses the token if they go back to the dating circuit or single space. This token represents the player is in a relationship with someone that fits their non-negotiable list. When an effect says dating scenario, relationship scenario, or marriage scenario, the player picks a card from dating cards, relationship cards, or marriage cards, respectively, and reads it aloud, resolving its effects. These cards represent situations the player goes through during particular moments of their love life. The player keeps the cards they drew, nearby, so they can check and reflect upon them when the game ends. If any of the decks deplete, return the cards and shuffle them to rebuild the particular deck.

The most recent effect the player goes through always trumps the previous one. For example, if the player gains two more rolls and, during the first roll, the player lands on a space that says lose a turn, the player loses their second roll and loses a turn like the space indicated. This represents how the last act in a relationship typically trumps previous outcomes and promises. Doing things right creates a positive momentum, but making a poor call breaks it and redirects to self-reflect, learn, and correct.

210 114 204 Apart from the very first step from single spaceto the dating circuit, the player only advances to higher circuits when an effect instructs to do so. The player does not automatically advance to the next circuit when they land on its starting space, the player keeps going around it until an effect changes it. When the player makes it all the way around a circuit, consider that to be an entire year's worth of experiences. When a player's pawnreaches Know Love space, the game ends and that player wins. Alternatively, if an hour has lapsed and no one has won, the game may be ended with no one winning. Likewise, if other players are very close to winning at the point when another player wins, the game may continue for one or more rounds, as one player's success in love does not mean every other player must fail. Regardless of which player won, the players should take some time with one another to share in-game and real-life experiences—that is the best way to get to know love.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

While in the preferred embodiment, the game is implemented as a board game, the game is readily adaptable to a computer environment, and may be provided on a floppy disk, CD ROM or other suitable medium. Further, in an electronic embodiment, the game can be played by players at diverse locations via a local area network, wide area network or an extended network such as the Internet. Accordingly, the various terms employed in the above description to identify physical components, such as “board,” “tokens,” “dice,” “cards,” “tracks,” etc. should be taken to include electronic media equivalents.

Also, the preferred embodiment is one example of play and does not constitute the various forms of play that can be altered outside of the rules specified to accomplish the same agenda or similar agenda of the game. For example, one can prefer to remain single and alter the game in such a way that this is the object utilizing the same tools and format. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the scope of the preferred embodiment but in the spirit of the claims and tools fostered to accomplish the object of the game.

The foregoing is a description of preferred exemplary embodiments and best mode of the invention known to the applicant at the time of filing the application. The invention is not limited to the specific forms shown. For example, modifications may be made in the design and arrangement of the elements within the scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.