Word Game for Enhancing Diction

Abstract

This present invention relates to a vocabulary-based game for a group of players. The game can include a deck of cards having both alphabet cards and non-alphabet or action cards. Each alphabet card can have one or more letters thereon. Each action card can have one or more rules displayed thereon. The plurality of cards are dealt to participating players in a predetermined number and the game proceeds generally wherein sequential players create words by using or ‘playing’ their alphabet cards to form words. Each player, during his or her turn, attempts to play a word from his or her hand or add letters to a word from another player. Points are based on the length of the formed word (i.e. number of letters in the formed word) and can be enhanced by an action card.

Claims

1. A deck of playing cards comprising: a plurality of alphabet cards, wherein each of the plurality of alphabet cards has at least one letter thereon; and a plurality of action cards, wherein the plurality of alphabet cards is comprised of a first group of consonant cards and a second group of vowel cards.

2. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein a count of the first group of consonant cards relative to a count of the second group of vowel cards comprises a ratio of about 4:1 to about 1:1, inclusive.

3. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein a count of the first group of consonant cards relative to a count of the second group of vowel cards comprises a ratio of about 3:1 to about 2:1, inclusive.

4. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein a count of the first group of consonant cards relative to a count of the second group of vowel cards comprises a ratio of about 2:1 to about 1:1, inclusive.

5. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein a count of the first group of consonant cards relative to a count of the second group of vowel cards comprises a ratio and further wherein the ratio is representative of a consonant to vowel ratio reflecting the actual average usage rate used in English word formation.

6. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of action cards includes an instruction thereon.

7. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of alphabet cards and said plurality of action cards comprise a language and further wherein said language is selected from a group consisting of English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Korean, Thai and German.

8. The deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of action cards includes an instruction thereon and said instruction provides an operation to a word formed by the plurality of alphabet cards.

9. A method of playing a card game, said method comprising the steps of: providing a deck of cards, wherein a first portion of said deck of cards comprises a plurality of alphabet cards each having at least one letter thereon, and a second portion of said deck of cards comprises a plurality of action cards each having an instruction thereon; dealing in a random order a combination of said plurality of alphabet cards and said plurality of action cards from the deck of cards in a predeterminable number to each of at least two players; stacking a remaining portion of the deck of cards in a stack pile; each of the at least two players taking sequential turns wherein a first designated player draws out a first word using two or more of the plurality of alphabet cards; scoring said first word according to a number of letters in the first word; and subsequent to drawing out said first word, the first designated player picking up a number of cards from the stack pile to equal the predeterminable number for a subsequent turn.

10. The method of playing a card game of claim 9, wherein said predeterminable number is selected from a group consisting of four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten.

11. The method of playing a card game of claim 9, further comprising a second designated player drawing out a second word using two or more of the plurality of alphabet cards from the dealt cards; and scoring said second word according to the number of letters in said second word.

12. The method of playing a card game of claim 10, wherein a second designated player adds to said first word using one or more of the plurality of alphabet cards from the predeterminable number of cards dealt to the second designated player to form a second word.

13. The method of playing a card game of claim 12 further comprising the step of scoring the second word, wherein a single point is awarded for each letter in the second word.

14. The method of playing a card game of claim 9, wherein said plurality of alphabet cards is comprised of a plurality of consonant cards and a plurality of vowel cards.

15. The method of playing a card game of claim 14, wherein a count of said plurality of consonant cards relative to a count of said plurality of vowel cards comprises a ratio of between about 3:1 to about 1:1, inclusive.

16. The method of playing a card game of claim 14, wherein a count of said plurality of consonant cards relative to a count of said plurality of vowel cards comprises a ratio, and further wherein the ratio is representative of a consonant to vowel ratio reflecting the actual average usage rate used in English word formation.

17. A method of playing a card game, said method comprising the steps of: providing a deck of cards, wherein said deck of cards comprises a plurality of alphabet cards each having at least one letter thereon; dealing a predeterminable number of cards from the deck of cards to each of at least two players; stacking a plurality of undealt cards from said deck of cards face down; each of the at least two players taking a sequential turn wherein a designated first player draws out a first word using two or more of said plurality of alphabet cards from the dealt cards; scoring said first word according to a number of letters in said first word; and subsequent to drawing out said first word, said designated first player picks up a number of cards from the plurality of undealt cards to retain said predeterminable number for a subsequent turn by the designated first player.

18. The method of playing a card game of claim 17, wherein said plurality of alphabet cards comprise a plurality of consonant cards and a plurality of vowel cards.

19. The method of playing a card game of claim 18, wherein a count of said plurality of consonant cards relative to a count of said plurality of vowel cards comprises a ratio of between about 3:1 to about 1:1, inclusive.

20. The method of playing a card game of claim 18, wherein a count of said plurality of consonant cards relative to a count of said plurality of vowel cards comprises a ratio, and further wherein the ratio is representative of a consonant to vowel ratio reflecting the actual average usage rate used in English word formation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The description refers to provided drawings in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the different views, and in which:

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the various game components of one potential embodiment of the word card game for enhancing diction of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a diagrammatic view of one potential embodiment of the word card game for enhancing diction of the present invention being played by four players in accordance with the disclosed architecture; and

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of one potential embodiment of the method of playing the word card game for enhancing dictation of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the innovation can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. Various embodiments are discussed hereinafter. It should be noted that the figures are described only to facilitate the description of the embodiments. They are not intended as an exhaustive description of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention. Additionally, an illustrated embodiment need not have all the aspects or advantages shown. Thus, in other embodiments, any of the features described herein from different embodiments may be combined.

[0020] As noted above, there is a long felt need in the art for a game that is a fun and entertaining replacement for standard board or tabletop games, such as card games. There is also a long felt need in the art for a game that is unique, and that can be used by educational institutions to enable individuals to learn through fun and entertainment. Additionally, there is a long felt need in the art for a game that works on enhancing creative diction and memory skills, and that is educationally oriented and adaptable to different educational levels. Finally, there is a long felt need in the state of the art for a game that enhances vocabulary skills, improved brain function, is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and that is both fun and easy to play.

[0021] The present invention, in one exemplary embodiment, is a novel word game for enhancing diction that is comprised of a deck of cards having both alphabet cards and non-alphabet or action cards. The alphabet cards comprise a plurality of alphabet or letter cards, wherein each alphabet card includes an individual alphabet/letter on a face thereof and the alphabet cards can include duplicates of the same letter. The non-alphabet or action cards comprise a plurality of non-alphabet cards, wherein each non-alphabet or action card includes a rule on a face thereof. It is to be appreciated that the non-alphabet cards can be used or deployed to boost or enhance player point totals. To be described hereinafter, the alphabet cards are used for making words and the action cards are used to selectively boost the points scored by the made-up words or to alter other game playing protocols.

[0022] Referring initially to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the various game components of one potential embodiment of the word card game for enhancing diction 100 of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. As shown, the exemplary arrangement of the present invention includes a deck of cards 102 comprising at least one hundred and fifty cards that may be stored in a game box 104 when not in use. In on embodiment, the playing deck 102 is comprised of at least one hundred and twenty-eight alphabet cards 106 and at least twenty-two non-alphabet or action cards 108. The compilation or distribution of consonants to vowels to form the deck of alphabet cards 106 can include a count or number (i.e., a quantity) of each letter card to reflect the common or typical usage of each letter in forming, for example, words in the English language. For example, word compilations of the English language demonstrate that the ratio of consonants to vowels to form words is in the typical range of about 4:1 to about 1:1. Therefore and in order to maximize the possibility of word formation, the ratio of consonants to vowels in the deck of alphabet cards 106 should range from about 4:1 to about 1:1.

[0023] In one exemplary deck of alphabet cards 106 having a consonant to vowel ratio in the range of 4:1, the number of consonant cards would be approximately 105 (i.e., a count of five cards for each for the 21 identified consonants) and approximately 25 vowel cards (i.e., a count of five cards for each of the five identified vowels, namely A, E, I, O and U). Another exemplary deck of alphabet cards 106 having a consonant to vowel ratio in the range of 3:1 can include approximately 105 consonant cards (i.e., a count of five cards for each of the 21 identified consonants) and approximately 35 vowel cards (i.e., a count of seven cards for each of the five vowels, namely A, E, I, O and U). In yet another exemplary deck of alphabet cards 106 having a consonant to vowel ratio in the range of 5:2, the deck of alphabet cards 106 may include approximately 105 consonant cards (i.e., a count of five cards for each of the 21 identified consonants) and approximately 40 vowel cards (i.e., a count of eight cards for each of the identified vowels, namely A, E, I, O and U).

[0024] In yet a still further embodiment of a deck of alphabet cards 106 having a consonant to vowel ratio in the range of 3:2, the alphabet deck 106 can include approximately 84 consonant cards (i.e., a count of four cards for each of the 21 identified consonants) and approximately 50 vowel cards (a count of ten cards for each of A, E, I, O and U). In still another exemplary deck of alphabet cards 106 having a consonant to vowel ratio in the range of 1:1, the deck 106 can include approximately 63 consonant cards (i.e., a count of three cards for each of the 21 identified consonants) and approximately 65 vowel cards (i.e., a count of thirteen cards for each of the vowels, namely A, E, I, O and U).

[0025] Notwithstanding, it is to be appreciated that the count for each alphabet card, in the deck of alphabet cards 106, should approximate the frequency as to which that particular letter is used in English word formation. For example, some of the most common letters used in the English language are E, A, R, I, O, T, N and S (refer to Table 1 below). More specifically, Table 1 reflects one analysis of the letters occurring in the words listed in the main entries of the Concise Oxford Dictionary (9th edition, 1995). The frequency of each letter in word formation is represented by the percentages of occurrence illustrated next to the letter. Using these frequencies, one can equate the relative usage ratio of each letter.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 E 11.1607% 56.88 A 8.4966% 43.31 R 7.5809% 38.64 I 7.5448% 38.45 O 7.1635% 36.51 T 6.9509% 35.43 N 6.6544% 33.92 S 5.7351% 29.23 L 5.4893% 27.98 C 4.5388% 23.13 U 3.6308% 18.51 D 3.3844% 17.25 P 3.1671% 16.14 M 3.0129% 5.36 H 3.0034% 5.31 G 2.4705% 2.59 B 2.0720% 0.56 F 1.8121% 9.24 Y 1.7779% 9.06 W 1.2899% 6.57 K 1.1016% 5.61 V 1.0074% 5.13 X 0.2902% 1.48 Z 0.2722% 1.39 J 0.1965% 1.00 Q 0.1962% (1)

[0026] For example, the most used letter, E, is 56 times more common than the letter Q in forming English words. Accordingly, in one arrangement of the deck of alphabet cards 106, the count or number of each alphabet card may reflect the relative usage of each letter in the English language. The closer the count of the deck of alphabet cards 106 (i.e. frequency in the deck) is to typical usage in the English language, the easier the game 100 will be to play. Conversely, diverting the count of the deck of alphabet cards 106 away from typical usage in the English language, the more difficult the game 100 will be to play. Therefore, players can manipulate the difficulty of game play by changing the ratio, count, or number of particular letters in the deck of alphabet cards 106. Any number of alphabet cards 106, in a variety of respective ratios of consonants to vowels, can be used to compile a deck of alphabet cards 106 to fulfill the objectives of the game as described herein. It should also be appreciated that relative letter usage ratios, including consonant to vowel ratios, can be adapted according to specific languages used in playing the game.

[0027] Each alphabet card 106 has a letter 1060 on its face, and each alphabet card 106 can be in a different color. By comparison, each non-alphabet or action card 108 has a rule, action step or protocol 1080 printed on its face, and each non-alphabet or action card 108 can be in a different color. A document sheet (i.e., rules of the game) 110 can also be included in the game box 104 to suggest the rules for playing the game 100.

[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates a diagrammatic view of one potential embodiment of the word card game for enhancing diction 100 of the present invention being played by a plurality of players in accordance with the disclosed architecture. It is to be appreciated that any number of players can play the game at the same time, though the preferred number of players be between 2 to 6 players, inclusive. Prior to starting the game, all players must agree on a dictionary and a score keeper. Additionally, prior to starting the game, the ground rules of the game are established and the rules must be understood and agreed by all of the players. It should be noted that one ground rule can prohibit proper nouns and/or abbreviations from being used to generate words. Another ground rule can prohibit the formation of two letter words, though two letter words may also be permitted provided that they do not use a two letter alphabet card. Nonetheless, other rules can also be agreed to by the players prior to initiating the game 100.

[0029] Referring again to FIG. 2, playing of the game 100 generally involves each player sequentially playing their hand in sequential rounds. For example, play can start with a first player 201 playing his or her hand and then continuing sequentially in, for example, a clockwise direction so that the second player 202 follows the first player 210, and then a third player 203, fourth player 204, etc. General play begins after the initial dealing of the cards 102 to all the players in the game. Once the cards are dealt, the remaining cards from the deck of cards 102 can be placed in a stacked pile at the center of the table 220. Placement of the remaining cards on the table, after dealing, enables access to the cards 012 by all of the participating players, 201, 202, 203, 204. In one illustrative example, seven cards can be initially dealt to each player comprising a random count of alphabetic cards 106 and action cards 108. The game ends when all cards are gone (i.e. all of the cards in the stacked pile are depleted), and/or when any player uses all of his or her cards or no players can make another play, wherein the player to play all of their cards first receives an agreed upon bonus amount (e.g., 10 points). Once the game ends, any player who has remaining cards, in accordance with another ground rule, must subtract one point for each alphabet card 106 and two points for each action card 108 remaining in their hand. To be detailed below, the player with the highest point total wins the game.

[0030] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of one potential embodiment of the method of playing the word card game for enhancing dictation 100 of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. As shown, in one exemplary arrangement, at block 301, the rules of the game 100 are established, and a deck of one hundred and fifty cards is shuffled and seven cards are dealt out to each player. At block 302, the remaining deck of cards are placed face down in a stack pile proximal to the center of play. Then, players 201, 202, 203, 204 start the game by taking turns in a sequential or clockwise manner where the designated first player 201 proceeds to initiate play by drawing out or creating a word by using two or more of the alphabet cards 106 from the seven cards held in their hand at block 303. After drawing out or creating a word known in the English language, the first player 201 then picks up cards from the stacked pile to replenish the cards in their hand to retain a total of seven cards for a subsequent turn at block 304. Scoring of the first player's word is based on the count of letters or alphabet cards 106 formed in the word. For example, a two letter word equates to two points; a three letter word equates to three points; a four letter word equates to four points; and so on and so forth. Therefore, the total letter count of the word, for example the count of alphabet cards 106 used to form the word, equates to the point value for that word. A designated second player 202 then proceeds to play a word (i.e. draw out or create) from their hand by combining two or more alphabet cards 106.

[0031] During play, a player can challenge a word on its legitimacy and/or spelling, and incomplete or improper words may be penalized. In one alternative or contemporaneous play, the designated second player 202 may choose to add a letter or letters to a word created by a previous play of another player. The addition of a letter or letters can be at the end of (i.e., a suffix), or in front of (i.e., a prefix) the previously played word. Adding to another player's word can be limited to a single occurrence if all of the players so agree in advance of the game. The player adding to a word, or previous play, of another player, can score the point total of the newly formed word according to the count of letters in the newly formed word. In on embodiment, a point per letter is awarded for words having 6 or fewer letters, 10 points are awarded for a seven letter word and 12 points are awarded to words containing eight or more letters. Additionally, a bonus of 10 points is awarded if a player plays all seven cards in one turn, which is in addition to the points awarded for the word played. A player who is unable to play a word may pass when it is his or her turn.

[0032] In another alternative or contemporaneous play, the designated second player 202 can play an action card 108 if the player does not have a word to play and cannot add to a previous player's word, or if it doesn't need to be partnered with a word (e.g., the action cards Double, Triple and Quad have to be played with a word). After all of the cards are played, the designated second player 202 can then pick up cards from the stacked pile to replenish the played cards in order to retain a total seven cards in their hand at the conclusion of their turn at block 305. The same steps can then be repeated by each of the remaining players 203, 204 to finish a turn of the game at block 306.

[0033] It is to be appreciated that action cards 108 can also be used by a player during any turn to enhance the point value of the word created by that player 201, 202, 203, 204. Exemplary action cards 108 can include specific enhancements, operations or instructions to be followed by a player. For example, exemplary action cards 108 may include enhancements that instruct the player to add one or two points, respectively, to the played word of said player. Other exemplary action cards 108 can include enhancements that instruct the player to multiply the count of a played word of said player by two or three, respectively (i.e., DOUBLE POINT 2× or TRIPLE POINT 3×). Illustrative scoring for an exemplary three letter word, combined with the above described action cards, would result in the following point totals: 3+1=4; 3+2=5; 3×2=6; and 3×3=9. Illustrative scoring for an exemplary four letter word, combined with the above described action cards, would result in the following point totals: 4+1=5; 4+2=6; 4×2=8; and 4×3=12. Nonetheless, it is to be appreciated that a different count of letters for the played word will respectively result in a different point total being achieved. Other action cards, with a variety of point enhancements, can be designated for playing the game 100. For example, another example of an action card 108 may include an instruction that allows the player to form more than one word during a single turn. Still another example of an action card 108 could include reversing the direction of play from a first direction to a second direction (i.e., REWIND).

[0034] Returning to the one potential method of playing the game 100 of the present invention described in FIG. 3, the played-out alphabet cards 106 and action cards 108 during the course of playing the game are continuously piled in a discard pile 210 after each round, and the discard pile 210 is prohibited from reuse during the game at block 307. It is to be appreciated that ‘played out’ cards include alphabet cards 106 that have been used to complete a word; alphabet cards 106 that have been added to a word of another player; and action cards 108 that have already been acted upon (i.e., used). Any number of action cards 108, with a variety of respective instructions, can be used to compile the deck of cards 102 to fulfill the objectives of the game as described herein. One alternative play by each player during the course of a single game may also include a single occurrence of trading or exchanging all seven cards held by a player for a new set of seven cards removed from the top of the stacked pile. The traded in cards can then be placed at the bottom of the stacked pile, be shuffled and seven new cards drawn at block 308, however the player cannot play out until his or her next turn. The game 100 is finished at block 309 when the stacked pile is depleted, and/or when one of the players 201, 202, 203, 204 uses all of his or her cards, or when no player can make another play. For scoring, ground rules can stipulate subtracting one point for each alphabet card 106 and two points for each action card 108 held by a player 201, 202, 203, 204 at the end of the game 100 from their scored points. The player with the highest point total at the end of the game is declared the winner at block 310.

[0035] It is also contemplated that the card game 100 can be altered to include more than one language on the alphabet cards. It is to be appreciated that playing the aforementioned game, using multiple languages, can facilitate one's learning of a second language. For a greater number of players, the total number of cards in the deck 102 can be increased including an increased number of alphabet cards 106 and non-alphabet cards 108. The cards may be manufactured from a durable paper or plastic material with the letters, rules and protocol designations printed or otherwise applied or formed on a face of the card. The game 100 of the present invention challenges players 201, 202, 203, 204 to exercise their diction, vocabularies and problem-solving skills, and provides both educational and entertainment benefits. In the game, any type of word including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. are acceptable. To increase the challenge of the game, proper nouns such as Michael, America, and Ohio can be prohibited during the playing of one's hand. Additionally, two letter words can also be prohibited during the playing of one's hand to further increase the challenge of the game 100. Alternatively, two letter words may be permitted, provided that the two letter word does not include the two letter alphabet card.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment of the game 100, it should be noted that players 201, 202, 203, 204 may be penalized for creating an improper or incomplete word, depending on the rules agreed to by all players at the onset of the game. Alternatively, the player may simply not be awarded any score for the improper or incomplete word. Players are encouraged to play more complicated (i.e., longer) words and to add action cards to score large amounts of points. In one embodiment, the game 100 may have an associated timer 107 (see e.g., FIG. 1) for recording the timing of a player to play their turn. During game play, players can also communicate amongst themselves verbally to discuss rules and/or to approve or disapprove of any word played by a player.

[0037] The playing cards 106, 108 of the present invention can be made available in multiple different languages including, without limitation, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Korean, Thai, German, or any other language that is spoken and written in various countries around the world. The cards 106, 108 of the deck 102 may further comprise any logo, indicia, trademark, geometric pattern, customizable color and font, embroidery and print and/or images on their face.

[0038] Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature or component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components or features that differ in name but not structure or function. As used herein “deck of alphabet and action cards”, “Word Action! cards”, and “deck of cards” are interchangeable and refer to the word game for enhancing diction 100 of the present invention.

[0039] Notwithstanding the forgoing, the word game for enhancing diction 100 of the present invention can be played by any number of players at any place in accordance with the simple rules of the game. All of the players 201, 202, 203, 204 have an equal and fair chance of winning the game 100. Although the dimensions of the components of the cards 106, 108 are important design parameters for user convenience, the cards 106, 108 may be of any size that ensures optimal performance during use and/or that suits the user's needs and/or preferences. Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. While the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the scope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof.

[0040] What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.