Card based act-it-out game and method of playing card based act-it-out game

Abstract

An act-it-out game and method of game play with point cards that have unique phrases on them. The point cards can be positive point cards or negative point cards. Players attempt to correctly guess the unique phrases while another player acts out the phrase. Players attempt to get rid of negative point cards by winning a duel against another player.

Claims

1. An act-it-out game comprising: a plurality of a first card type having a positive point sub-type and a negative point sub-type; the first card type comprises a face side and a back side; the face side of the first card type comprises a unique phrase; the face side of the first card type comprises either a positive indicator or a negative indicator; a single card of a second card type; the second card type comprises a face side and a back side, wherein the face side of the second card type comprises a unique identifier that distinguishes the face side of the second card type from the face of the first card type; a plurality of a third card type; the third card type comprises a face side and a back side; the face side of the third card type comprises a pair of unique phrases, consisting of a first unique phrase and a second unique phrase, a first directional indicator and a second directional indicator.

2. The act-it-out game of claim 1 further comprising: a fourth card type comprising a first side and a second side wherein the first side has a first action indicator and the second side has a second action indicator.

3. The act-it-out game of claim 1 further comprising: a timer, a token, and a box.

4. The act-it-out game of claim 1 wherein the back side of the first card type and the back side of the second card type are identical.

5. The act-it-out game of claim 1 further comprising: at least twenty first card type cards and at least ten third card type cards.

6. The act-it-out game of claim 1 further comprising: three hundred first card type cards and one hundred and twenty-five third card type cards.

7. The act-it-out game of claim 3 wherein the timer is a sand timer.

8. The act-it-out game of claim 3 wherein the timer is provided via a smartphone application.

9. A method of playing an act-it-out game comprising: initiating a duel between a first dueling player and a second dueling player wherein a card comprising a first unique phase and a second unique phrase is presented to the two dueling players; assigning the first dueling player the first unique phrase and the second dueling player the second unique phrase; the two dueling players competing to get other game players to guess their assigned unique phrase before the other game players guess the other dueling player's assigned unique phrase.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein: the dueling players must act out their unique phrase to try and get the other game players to guess the unique phrase.

11. A method of playing an act-it-out game comprising: creating a main deck of a first card type wherein the first card type has a positive point sub-type and a negative point sub-type, the first card type comprises a face side and a back side, the face side of the first card type comprises a unique phrase, and the face side of the first card type comprises either a positive indicator or a negative indicator; a second card type comprising a face side and a back side wherein the face side comprises a unique identifier distinguishing the face side of the second card type from the face side of the first card type and the back side of the second card type is indistinguishable from the back side of the first card type; creating a main deck of a third card type wherein the third card type comprises a pair of unique phrases, consisting of a first unique phrase and a second unique phrase, a first directional indicator and a second directional indicator; creating a starting deck by combining a single second card type with at least two first card types; dealing one card face down from the starting deck to each player; flipping the dealt cards over to reveal the faces of the cards; the player with the second card type retaining the second card type; adding the dealt first card types back to the main first card type deck; starting a timer; the player holding the second card type becomes the first on-turn player; the on-turn player draws a card from the main first card type deck and looks at the face side of the drawn first card type; the on-turn player tries to get the other players to guess the unique phrase on the drawn first card type without showing the other players the face of the drawn first card type by acting out the unique phrase; and the first player to correctly guess the unique phrase on the drawn first card type is given the first card type.

12. The method of playing an act-it-out game of claim 11 further comprising: a new player becomes the on-turn player and the steps of drawing a first card type card from the main first card deck, acting out the unique phrase on the drawn first card type card, and giving the first card type card to the first correct guesser are repeated.

13. The method of playing an act-it-out game of claim 12 further comprising: the steps of a new player becoming the on-turn player, drawing a first card type card from the main first card deck, acting out the unique phrase on the first card type card, and giving the first card type card to the first correct guesser are repeated until the timer indicates time is up; and player scores are calculated by tallying the positive point sub-type first card type cards and negative point sub-type first card type cards in each player's possession.

14. The method of playing an act-it-out game of claim 13 further comprising: a first dueling player electing to duel and selecting an opposing second dueling player; drawing a card from the third card type main deck and placing the third card type face up proximate the first dueling player and second dueling player wherein the first directional indicator is pointing at the first dueling player and the second directional indicator is pointing at the second dueling player; the first dueling player acting out the first unique phrase on the drawn third card type card while the second dueling player simultaneously acts out the second unique phrase on the drawn third card type card; and the dueling player to first get the non-dueling players to correctly guess their respective unique phrase wins the duel.

15. The method of playing an act-it-out game of claim 14 further comprising: the player that won the duel taking a first card type or a second card type from the player that lost the duel.

16. The method of playing an act-it-out game of claim 15 wherein: the player holding the second card type can give first card type cards to other players.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the game components for the novel game, method, and game mechanics for playing a card-based act-it-out game.

[0006] FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of a game component.

[0007] FIG. 3 is a font view of an embodiment of a game component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The components of first embodiment of the game 30 are described with reference to FIG. 1-3. The game 30 components comprise a sheriff card 31, a ranger token 32, three hundred bandit cards 33, one hundred and twenty five duel cards 33, ten jail/parole cards 35, and a timer 36. The game 30 components come in a box 37.

[0009] The bandit cards 33 are representative of the first card type referenced in the claims. The bandit cards 33 comprise positive bandit cards 38 and negative bandit cards 39. Each bandit card 33 comprise a unique phrase 40. For purposes of this application, the term phrase includes single word phrases. Each bandit card 33 may further comprise a unique image 41. Bandit cards 33 comprise a face side 42 and a back side 43. The unique phrase 40 and unique image 41 are on the face side 42 of the bandit cards 33. The back sides 43 of the bandit cards are uniform, so that the bandit cards 33 cannot be distinguished based on their back sides 43. The back sides 43 of positive 38 and negative 39 bandit cards are indistinguishable, making it impossible to tell whether a bandit card 33 is positive 38 or negative 39 without seeing the face 42 of the bandit card 33.

[0010] Positive bandit cards 38 have a positive indicator 44 on the face side 42. Negative bandit cards 39 have a negative indicator 45 on the face side 42.

[0011] Duel cards 33 are representative of the third card type referenced in the claims. Duel cards 33 have a face side 46 and a back side 47. The face side 46 of the duel cards 33 comprise a unique pair 48 of phrases consisting of a first phrase 49 and a second phrase 50. The face side 46 of the duel cards 33 further comprise a first direction indicator 51 and a second direction indicator 52. The first direction indicator 51 is proximate to, and corresponds to, the first unique phrase 49. The second direction indicator 52 is proximate to, and corresponds to, the second unique phrase 50.

[0012] The sheriff card 31 is representative of the second card type references in the claims. The sheriff card 31 comprises a face side 73 with an image or marking that distinguishes the sheriff card 31 from all other cards. The back side of the sheriff card 31 matches the back side 43 of the bandit cards 33, making it impossible to tell the sheriff card 31 apart from the bandit cards 31 when both are face down.

[0013] The jail/parole cards 35 have a jail side 53 and a parole side 54. Jail/parole cards 35 are representative of the fourth card type referenced in the claims.

[0014] The timer 36 can be a small sand timer. Persons of ordinary skill in the art understand that other types of timers could be used, including a smartphone application with a timer feature.

[0015] The method of gameplay for a first embodiment of the game 30 are described with reference to FIGS. 1-3.

[0016] Players 55 play individually or in teams. For purposes of this disclosure, the term player will be used with the intention that player could mean a team of players.

[0017] To set up for game play, create a bandit card deck 56 by stacking the bandit cards 33 face 42 down. Create a duel card deck 57 by stacking the duel cards 34 face 46 down. The bandit card deck 56 and the duel card deck 57 are the main decks 58.

[0018] Create a stater deck 59 according the following chart:

TABLE-US-00001 No. of Jail/parole Players Bandit Cards cards Three Sheriff card 31 and two bandit cards 33 one Four Sheriff card 31 and three bandit cards 33 One Five Sheriff card 31 and four bandit cards 33 Two Six Sheriff card 31 and five bandit cards 33 Three Seven Sheriff card 31 and six bandit cards 33 Four Eight Sheriff card 31 and seven bandit cards 33 Five Nine Sheriff card 31 and eight bandit cards 33 Six Ten Sheriff card 31 and nine bandit cards 33 Seven Eleven Sheriff card 31 and ten bandit cards 33 Eight Twelve Sheriff card 31 and eleven bandit cards 33 Nine Thirteen Sheriff card 31 and twelve bandit cards 33 Ten

[0019] If there are more than eleven players 55, one player 55 takes the sheriff card 31 and the other players take a bandit card 33.

[0020] After the cards are set aside for the starter deck 59, set aside the jail/parole cards 35 so that only the sheriff card 31 and selected bandit cards 33 remain in the starter deck 59 face down.

[0021] Shuffle the stater deck 59, keeping the cards face down. Deal one card to each player 55. Once all cards are dealt, the players 55 flip over their cards to show the face sides. The player 55 that received the sheriff card 31 keeps the sheriff card 31. The remaining bandit cards 33 from the starter deck 59 are shuffled back into the main bandit deck 56.

[0022] Shuffle the main bandit card deck 56 and the main duel card deck 57. Keep the main bandit card deck 56 and duel card deck 57 separate and face down.

[0023] A smartphone application can be used in conjunction with playing the game 30. The smartphone application can provide features such as a timer, instructions, and game play prompts.

[0024] The objective in the game is to collect the most positive bandit cards 38 before time runs out. Each positive bandit card 38 is worth one point. Negative bandit cards 39 are worth minus one point.

[0025] The payer 55 holding the sherif card 31 starts the game by drawing a bandit card 33 from the face down main bandit card deck 56. The sheriff card 31 is always left face 73 up. The ranger token 32 can be placed in front of the on-turn player 55 to help keep track of who is on turn. The timer 36 is started and the player 55 on turn acts out the unique phrase 40 on the face 42 of the drawn bandit card 33. The other players 55 attempt to guess unique phrase 40 based on the on-turn player's 55 acting.

[0026] The first player 55 to correctly guess the bandit card unique phrase 40 being acted out 67 receives the bandit card 33. The bandit card 33 is handed to the winning guesser face 42 down so that the group of players 55 cannot see the face 42 of the bandit card 33.

[0027] The player 55 receiving the bandit card 33 can turn the card 33 over to look at the face 42. At this point, only the player 55 that acted out the bandit card unique phrase 40 and the winning guesser know if the bandit card is a positive bandit card 38 or a negative bandit card 39. The player ascertains whether a bandit card 33 is a positive bandit card 38 or a negative bandit card 39 by the presence of either a positive indicator 44 or a negative indicator 45 on the face 42 of the bandit card 33.

[0028] The next player 55 clockwise from the on turn player 55 is now on-turn. The ranger token 32 can be used to keep track of which player 55 is on turn by rotating the token 32 when the turn changes.

[0029] The next player repeats the steps of drawing and acting out a bandit card 33.

[0030] If a player 55 breaks a game rule, another player 55 can place a jail/parole card 35 parole side 54 up in front of the violating player 55. If the violating player 55 commits another violation, the parole/jail card 35 is flipped to the jail side 53. When a player 55 has a jail side 53 parole/jail card 35, the player 55 cannot guess and potentially win bandit cards 33 until after the player's next turn as the acting player 55. If a player 55 with a jail side 53 card 35 shouts out a correct answer, their answer is disregarded and the next player 55 to guess the correct answer is the correct guesser.

[0031] A player 55 holding at least one bandit card 33 can initiate a duel. Initiating a duel stops the timer 36. The player 55 initiating the duel selects another player 55 to challenge in the duel. The initiating player draws a duel card 34 from the main duel deck 57 and keeps the duel card 34 face 46 down.

[0032] The initiating player 55 and selected opponent player 55 stand side-by-side. The duel card 34 is flipped over to simultaneously reveal the face 46 of the duel card 34 to both dueling players.

[0033] The duel card 34 face 46 comprises a unique pair of phrases 48 consisting of a first phrase 49 and a second phrase 50. The duel card 34 face 46 further comprises a first directional indicator 51 under the first phrase 49 and a second directional indicator 52 under the second phrase 50. Ideally, the directional indicators 51 and 52 are opposing arrows.

[0034] The directional indicators 51 and 52 indicate which of the dueling players is assigned which phrase of the phrase pair 48. Specifically, the first directional indicator 51 points in the direction of one of the dueling players 55. That dueling player is assigned the first phrase 49 of the phrase pair 48. The second directional indicator 52 points to the other dueling player 55. That dueling player 55 is assigned the second phrase 50 of the phrase pair 48.

[0035] After a count down, the dueling players simultaneously begin acting out their assigned phrase 49 or 50. The dueling players are trying to get the remaining players 55 to correctly guess their phrase 49 or 50 before the remaining players guess the other dueling player's phrase. The dueling player 55 who gets the remaining players 55 to correct guess their phase 49 or 50 first, wins the duel.

[0036] The winning duel player 55 takes any one card from the loosing duel player. The player 55 who correctly guessed the phrase 49 or 50 during the duel draws a card from the main bandit deck 56.

[0037] Once the duel is completed, the timer 36 is turned back on and normal gameplay resumes. The player 55 with the ranger token 35 acts out the next bandit card 33 from the main bandit deck 56.

[0038] The player 55 holding the sheriff card 31 can pass negative bandit cards 39 to other players 55. Once a negative bandit card 39 is passed by the sheriff to another player 55, the negative bandit card 39 is left face 42 up.

[0039] Players 55 can get rid of negative bandit cards 39 by winning a duel against the player 55 holding the sheriff card 31 and taking the sheriff card 31 (pursuant to the game play rules for winning a duel). One the sheriff card 31 is obtained, the player 55 can pass negative bandit cards 39 to other players 55.

[0040] The game ends when the timer 36 stops. When the game ends, each player tallies their points by adding the number of positive bandit cards 38 in their hand and subtracting the number of negative bandit cards 39 in their hand. The sheriff card 31 is worth zero points.

[0041] The game can be played with varying degrees of difficulty. For an easier variation, players can be allowed to give clues, sound effects, and/or act to try and get other players to guess a phrase on a bandit or duel card. For an intermediate variation, players can use sound effects and act to try and get other players to guess the phrase on their card. For a harder variation, players can only act (no sounds whatsoever) to try and get other players to guess the phrase on their card.

[0042] The game methodology can be customized and/or varied as desired by the players. For example, a variation can be used wherein duels can be called by any player holding a bandit card regardless of which player is on-turn. In an alternative variation, duels can only be initiated by a player who is on-turn.

[0043] A hybrid team method may be used wherein players on a team cannot see each others' card faces. The objective is for the members of the team to have the most combined points at the end of the game, despite not being able to see each other's card faces. The sherif card 31 is not shared with teammates. A duel must be won to obtain the sherif card 31.

[0044] Another team variation is wherein players on a team collect cards as a group and can see each others' cards. All cards are shared amongst the team, including the sheriff card 31.

[0045] Another variation of the game is to use word associations as clues instead of acting to get the other players to guess the phrase on your card.

[0046] The game components and methodology described herein can be used in a variety of variations.