Polyhedral dice

Abstract

A die, or sets thereof, with at least twelve sides, displaying indicia from two sets of indicia; one indicium from a set of six indicia, together with another indicium from a set of four indicia. In the preferred embodiment, the die, or sets thereof, is a twelve-sided dodecahedron-shaped die and the indicia consists of ranks and suits, respectively. The ranks are displayed twice on each die, and the suits are displayed thrice on each die. Further, in the preferred embodiment, there are four kinds of this die. These kinds display different configurations of rank-suit indicia, which allows for a variety of scores to be formed, across sets of said dice.

Claims

1. One or more dice, wherein each die has at least twelve sides, and wherein at least twelve sides of each die display a first indicium from a first set of six indicia in combination with a second indicium from a second set of four indicia, and wherein all indicia in the first set of six indicia are displayed the same number of times on each die and wherein said number is at least two.

2. The dice of claim 1 wherein all indicia in the second set of four indicia are displayed the same number of times on each die and wherein said number is at least three.

3. The dice of claim 2 wherein each die is a twelve-sided die and shaped as a dodecahedron.

4. The dice of claim 3 wherein at least one of the dice the first set of indicia consists of the ranks of Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six, and wherein the second set of indicia consists of the suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs.

5. The dice of claim 3 wherein at least one of the dice the first set of indicia consists of the ranks of Seven, Eight, Nine, Jack, Queen and King, and the second set of indicia consists of the suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs.

6. The dice of claim 4 wherein at least one of the dice display indicia indicating the combinations Ace-Spades, Two-Clubs, Three-Spades, Four-Clubs, Five-Spades, Six-Clubs, Ace-Hearts, Two-Diamonds, Three-Hearts, Four-Diamonds, Five-Hearts, Six-Diamonds.

7. The dice of claim 4 wherein at least one of the dice display indicia indicating the combinations Ace-Clubs, Two-Spades, Three-Clubs, Four-Spades, Five-Clubs, Six-Spades, Ace-Diamonds, Two-Hearts, Three-Diamonds, Four-Hearts, Five-Diamonds, Six-Hearts.

8. The dice of claim 5 wherein at least one of the dice display indicia indicating the combinations Seven-Spades, Eight-Clubs, Nine-Spades, Jack-Clubs, Queen-Spades, King-Clubs.

9. The dice of claim 5 wherein at least one of the dice display indicia indicating the combinations Seven-Clubs, Eight-Spades, Nine-Clubs, Jack-Spades, Queen-Clubs, King-Spades.

10. The dice of claim 1 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

11. The dice of claim 2 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

12. The dice of claim 3 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

13. The dice of claim 4 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

14. The dice of claim 5 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

15. The dice of claim 6 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

16. The dice of claim 7 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

17. The dice of claim 8 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

18. The dice of claim 9 wherein the dice are embodied as physical objects or electronic objects, or a combination thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIGS. 1-5 provide two-dimensional views of all twelve sides of six kinds of dodecahedron-shaped dice, each kind of die displaying one of five distinct indicia configurations, in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0011] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of indicia on each side of the first kind of die.

[0012] FIG. 2 shows the configuration of indicia on each side of the second kind of die.

[0013] FIG. 3 shows the configuration of indicia on each side of the third kind of die.

[0014] FIG. 4 shows the configuration of indicia on each side of the fourth kind of die.

[0015] FIG. 5 shows the configuration of indicia on each side of the fifth kind of die.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The following dice describe the preferred embodiment but the invention is not restricted to this particular embodiment.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows a first kind of dodecahedron-shaped die 10 wherein each pentagonal side 12 displays a rank 14 in combination with a suit 16. Each of the ranks Ace (A), Two (2), Three (3), Four (4), Five (5) and Six (6) are displayed on two sides of the die, and each of the suits Spades (S), Hearts (H), Clubs (C) and Diamonds (D) are displayed on three sides of the die. The odd ranks are combined with Spades and Hearts (AS, AH, 3S, 3H, 5S, 5H) and the even ranks are combined with Clubs and Diamonds (2C, 2D, 4C, 4D, 6C, 6D), so that each consecutive rank is alternating in suit.

[0018] FIG. 2 shows a second kind of die with the same features as the die shown in FIG. 1 except that the rank-suit combinations are inversed so that the odd ranks are combined with Clubs and Diamonds (AC, AD, 3C, 3D, 5C, 5D) and the even ranks are combined with Spades and Hearts (2S, 2H, 4S, 4H, 6S, 6H).

[0019] FIG. 3 shows a third kind of die with the same features as the dice shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except that the ranks comprise Seven (7), Eight (8), Nine (9), Jack (J), Queen (Q) and King (K), instead of Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six, and the ranks Eight, Jack and King are combined with Spades and Hearts (8S, 8H, JS, JH, KS, KH) while the ranks Seven, Nine and Queen are combined with Clubs and Diamonds (7C, 7D, 9C, 9D, QC, QD).

[0020] FIG. 4 shows a fourth kind of die with the same features as the die shown in FIG. 3 except that the rank-suit combinations are inversed so that the ranks Eight, Jack and King are combined with Clubs and Diamonds (8C, 8D, JC, JD, KC, KD) while the ranks Seven, Nine and Queen are combined with Spades and Hearts (7S, 7H, 9S, 9H, QS, QH).

[0021] FIG. 5 shows a fifth kind of dodecahedron-shaped die wherein ten of the pentagonal sides are blank 50 and wherein two of the sides display an indicium for the of Joker (?) 52. An alternative version of the fifth kind of die displays the indicia of Jackpot ( )instead of Joker.

[0022] By virtue of each rank being displayed twice on each kind of die in FIG. 1-5, a characteristic of these dice is that the probability of rolling a particular playing rank is identical to rolling a particular pip configuration with a standard six-sided die, i.e., one in six. This makes the probabilities of these dice, despite their relatively unorthodox shape, more intuitive for a novice player who is only be familiar with games involving standard six-sided dice, than if these dice had any other multiple of distinct ranks displayed. By virtue of each suit being displayed thrice on each kind of die in FIG. 1-4, a further characteristic of these dice is that the probability of rolling a particular suit is the same for each die, i.e., one in four.

[0023] By virtue of each kind of die in FIGS. 1 and 2 displaying all consecutive ranks, a further characteristic of these dice is that rolling a set comprising these dice may result in some or all of the dice producing a consecutive series of ranks, e.g., AS-2D-3S-4H-5D (known as a straight) and by virtue of each kind of die in FIGS. 1 and 2 displaying all distinct card suits, a further characteristic is that rolling a set comprising these dice may result in some or all of the dice producing a series of the same suit, e.g., AS-AS-4S-5S-6S (known as a flush). By virtue of the dice in FIGS. 1 and 2 displaying inverse odd rank-suit combinations in relation to each other, a further characteristic of these dice is that rolling a set comprising these dice may result in some or all of the dice producing a consecutive series of ranks of the same suit, e.g., AS-2S-3S-4S-5S (known as a straight flush).

[0024] By virtue of the dice in FIGS. 3 and 4 displaying ranks that are consecutive in relation to the highest and lowest ranks of the dice in FIGS. 1 and 2, 7-8-9 being consecutive in relation to 6 and J-Q-K being consecutive in relation to A, provided that A can be treated as consecutive to both K and 2, a characteristic of these dice is that rolling a set comprising these dice may result in some or all of the dice producing ranks that can be combined with ranks produced by the dice in FIGS. 1 and 2 to produce a consecutive series of ranks, e.g., KH-AS-2D-3S-4H-5D. By virtue of each kind of die in FIGS. 3 and 4 displaying all distinct card suits, a further characteristic is that rolling a set comprising these dice may result in some or all of the dice producing suits that can be combined with suits produced by the dice in FIGS. 1 and 2 to produce a series of the same suit, e.g., AS-AS-4S-5S-6S-9S. By virtue of the dice in FIGS. 3 and 4 displaying inverse combinations of odd rank-suit combinations in relation to each other, a further characteristic of these dice is that rolling a set comprising these dice may result in some or all of the dice producing rank-suit combinations that can be combined with rank-suit combinations produced by the dice in FIGS. 1 and 2 to produce a consecutive series of ranks of the same suit, e.g., AS-AS-4S-5S-6S-9S.

[0025] By virtue of the kind of die in FIG. 5 displaying Joker indicia, or Jackpot indicia, which can be treated as wild, i.e., they may represent any rank-suit combination, rolling a set comprising this kind of die may result in some or all of the dice producing a Joker, or Jackpot, which may be used to create, or combine with, any relevant combination, e.g., a consecutive series of ranks such as KH-?-2D-35-4H-5D, a series of the same suit such as AS-AS-4S-5S-6S-? or a consecutive series of ranks of the same suit such as KS-AS-2S-3S-?-5S.

[0026] The dice so described are used in dice games belonging to the genre category games in the preferred embodiment of the invention, but the invention is not restricted to these games. The game described below, is the preferred game for the employment of said dice. The game employs three dice of the kind shown in FIG. 1, two dice of the kind shown in FIG. 2, one die of the kind shown in FIG. 3, one die of the kind shown in FIG. 4, and two dice of the kind shown in FIG. 5. The five dice of FIGS. 1 and 2 will hereinafter collectively be referred to as the Base dice, the two dice of FIGS. 3 and 4 as the Court dice, two dice of FIG. 5 as a Joker die and a Jackpot die.

[0027] A turn starts by a player first rolling the five Base dice. After the first roll, the player may opt to re-roll some, none or all of the Base dice. After the second roll, the player may again opt to re-roll some, none or all of the Base dice. Once the player has decided to not re-roll any more Base dice or when the two permissible re-rolls have been exhausted, the player may roll the two Court dice together with the Joker die once. The player may then combine the result of the Base dice, Court dice and Joker die to form any combination that qualify for any of the eighteen Ranks, Multiples and Arrays score categories in TABLE A below.

[0028] Once a player has selected to score in a score category, the player may not score again in that same category for the remainder of the game. If the dice do not qualify for any unscored score category, the player must select a score category to forgo for the remainder of the game. Once a player has selected to score in a score category, or a score category to forego, the score is calculated based on the below table and entered onto a score card, after which the turn ends. The process is repeated for each player in turn until all eighteen turns have been completed for every player. The Bonuses & Penalties score categories are calculated and the player with highest total when summing all scores wins the game.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE A RANKS Category Score Aces Sum Twos Sum Threes Sum Fours Sum Fives Sum Sixes Sum MULTIPLES Category Score Chance Sum High Die Sum One Pair + 1 Pair Sum Sum Three of a Kind + 1 Pair + 3 of a Kind Sum Sum Sum Four of a Kind + 1 Pair + 3 of a Kind + 3 of a Kind and Ace Sum Sum Sum Sum Five of a Kind + 1 Pair + 3 of a Kind + 4 of a Kind + 5 of a Kind 60 120 240 480 480* ARRAYS Category Score Flash 35 Sm. Straight +1 boost +2 boost +3 boost Jackpot 20 40 80 160 320 Lg. Straight +1 boost +2 boost +3 boost Jackpot 20 40 80 160 320 Red Flush +1 boost +2 boost +3 boost Jackpot 25 50 100 200 400 Black Flush +1 boost +2 boost +3 boost Jackpot 25 50 100 200 400 Straight Flush +1 boost +2 boost +3 boost Jackpot 125 250 500 1000 2000 BONUSES & PENALTIES Category Score Ranks Total ? 63 ?73 ?83 ?93 ?103 60 120 260 620 1800 Cross-Outs =1 =2 =3 ?4 ?50 ?75 ?90 ?100 Five Aces 5 Ace Yatzy 5 Ace Flash 25 50 500 Royal Flush Royal Flush in Spades 1000 3000 Dead Man's Roll Accumulated score and instant loss Bankruptcy* Accumulated score *Transfer of accumulated score