A wireless programmable digital chess clock having to a housing, a display mounted in the housing and operatively arranged to display time associated with a first player's clock and operatively arranged to display time associated with a second player's clock, a first switch mounted in the housing and operatively arranged to stop the first player's clock and start the second player's clock when activated; a second switch mounted in the housing and operatively arranged to stop the second player's clock and start the first player's clock when activated, a microcontroller operatively arranged to set and control the first and second players' clocks, and, a near field communication module, in communication with microcontroller, and operatively arranged to receive signals from an external transmitting device, where the signals are used to set the time on the first and second players' clocks.

A reconfigurable boardgame system herein comprises a reconfigurable boardgame board (e.g., four panel tri-fold) with a plurality of “page-retaining corner members” in corners of board panels, allowing interchanging customized boardgame pages. In one embodiment, only those corners of each panel that are exteriorly located on the board have corresponding corner members (leaving the center unobstructed). In another embodiment, the boardgame board is contained within a reconfigurable boardgame kit, which may comprise reusable (e.g., generic and shared) game pieces (dice, timers, pawns, etc.) for use by many games. In still another embodiment, the boardgame kit comprises blank and/or templated items to be filled in, such as boardgame panels, cards, customized dice, game pawn blanks, rules templates, etc. Envelopes may store the game panel pages, rules, and custom pieces of each individual boardgame, to be stored in the kit and used with the reconfigurable boardgame board and the generic reusable game pieces.

A cooler can include a game table formed in a top surface thereof. The game table can include a game surface surrounded by side walls about its perimeter for storage of the game elements and to prevent game elements, such as game balls, from escaping from the recessed game surface. The game surface can include elements for various games, including foosball, hockey, football, pool, craps, roulette, chess, checkers, backgammon or the like. In some embodiments, the game elements may be interchanged to provide multiple different games that can be played in the recessed gaming surface. In some embodiments, game players may be disposed on arms that extend across the game table in a manner similar to conventional foosball players. Such arms may be made removable to permit changing between game player-based games and games that can be played directly on the recessed surface.

Provided are a configuration updating method and apparatus, a device, and a storage medium. The method is applied to an edge device and includes that: identification information of a configuration file to be updated in the edge device and first version information of the configuration file are acquired, the configuration file at least including an image, collected by a collection apparatus, of a game region and a parameter of the collection apparatus; second version information of a configuration file in a cloud server is acquired based on the identification information; the configuration file of the second version information is acquired from the cloud server in a case where the second version information is higher than the first version information; and the configuration file in the edge device is updated with the configuration file of the second version information.

A gamecard holder comprising a bottom surface, a back surface, opposing sides, and a front viewing portion that collectively form an elevated holder that is operable to be placed on any table or comparable surface. The front viewing portion includes a plurality of slots operable to hold various pull-tabs or game cards. The front viewing portion faces the player and is configured such that the height along the front viewing portion increases towards the back surface of the holder such that the pull-tabs, when placed in the slots, are viewable to the player. Optionally, the holder may include a retractable stand operable to transition the holder from a raised position ideal for playing games to a closed position for storing. As an additional option, the holder may include a support assembly for holding a portable electronic device as well as a power source and charging station.

Timing systems configured to be used with a computing device including an electronic display and a tilt sensor. The timing systems include a switch and computer executable instructions. The switch includes a base and a cradle. The cradle is pivotally mounted to the base and configured to support the computing device. The cradle is configured to pivot relative to the base between a first pivot position and a second pivot position. The computer executable instructions are stored on the computing device and include instructions for displaying a game timer on the electronic display of the computing device. The instructions include controlling the game timer in response to the tilt sensor detecting that the cradle has pivoted between the first pivot position and the second pivot position.

A game player table system is a portable and collapsible surface that is used by a single person or shared by a second person. A small flat surface that could hold cards, pieces, keys, phones, or the like so that they are not placed on the playing table and thereby cause distractions or penalties. Cup holders could also be used to hold beverages and prevent spills and damage from the spills to the game pieces.

This disclosure describes a tabletop game assistant system configured to ingest and guide tangible games (such as board games, card games, etc.) using natural language interaction and image capture/visual display components. The system can include features enabling a game developer to “teach” the system the rules of a game using natural language, such as written instructions, to reduce or eliminate the need for writing dedicated code. The system may process images of a game board and/or tokens such as game pieces and/or cards to further generate game data in the form of a logical game model. The system can use the game data to guide human players of the game and, in some cases, participate as a player itself. The system may further be configured to observe a game and detect invalid actions, answer questions regarding the rules, and suggest moves. The system may provide additional utilities such as generating a random output (e.g., rolling virtual dice) and learning to recognize new game pieces.

A system, computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program, and a computer-implemented method for providing custom features in a game is provided. A themed game board associated with a first set of rules of a computer-implemented game is generated. The first set of rules relates to a theme of the themed game board and is different than a second set of rules associated with a game board without a theme. Game board display data is provided to a first client device of a first player to display the themed game board. A move on the themed game board is received from the first client device, and a score associated with the move is generated. The score is based on the first set of rules relating to the theme, where the score is different than a score associated with the move on the game board without a theme.

An integrated apparatus for storage of consumer articles using a stackable and interlocking mechanism is disclosed herein. Specifically, in some embodiments, multi-layered stacking and control of consumer articles is achieved by forming couplings (e.g., male-female couplings) among the consumer articles such that they are subsequently placed in a stacking fashion. Such stacking can be employed in a symmetric, asymmetric and/or combination manner in order to form an interlocking mechanism between two or more of the stackable consumer articles, thus ensuring that the storage apparatus is stable and the consumer articles protected. In some embodiments, the consumer articles can be related to household articles, commercial articles, board games or any other suitable article.