US3762714A - Marble game with turntable board - Google Patents

Abstract

A marble game played on a rectangular game board that has marble depressions in different locations representing the path of the travel of the colored marbles used by each player and there being a turntable in the middle of the board having marble depressions therein. There is a starting position and home area at each corner of the board for one or more players and each has a different colored marble and a different colored ''''start'''' position. Each player may have four marbles located in a row of four marble depressions and the game is started by one of the players rolling a die for the required number to start the game. Players take turns in succession and there is a step-up location on the board which is the ''''ready'''' position to move to the turntable. Whenever the player qualifies for movement to the turntable it is set in position according to a circular arrangement of numbers on the base board and beneath the turntable, which are exposed through a hole in the turntable. Thus, if the player rolls a number on the die to get on the turntable the turntable itself is set to that number and so forth. There are other rules of the game which are variable such as penalties when another player lands on the other player''s marble and so forth.

Description

United States Patent n91 Wilson 1451 Oct. 2, 1973 MARBLE GAME WITH TURNTABLE BOARD [76] Inventor: Julian L. Wilson, 3867 Wieuca Rd.

N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30342 [22] Filed: Feb. 22, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 228,118

[52] U.S. Cl. 273/134 GA, 273/134 G [5 l] Int. Cl. A63f 3/00 [58] Field of Search 273/134 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,166,325 1/1965 First 273/134 AD 2,839,303 6/1958 Baker 273/134 G 2,238,829 4/1941 Schoonderwoerd et al. 273/134 AD 1,558,288 10/1925 Roman 273/134 AD FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 821,205 8/1937 France 273/134 GA 810,858 8/1951 Germany 273/134 AD Primary Examiner-Delbert B. Lowe Attorney-Patrick F. Henry 57 ABSTRACT A marble game played on a rectangular game board that has marble depressions in different locations representing the path of the travel of the colored mar bles used by each player and there being a turntable in the middle of the board having marble depressions therein. There is a starting position and home area at each corner of the board for one or more players and each has a different colored marble and a different colored start position. Each player may have four marbles located in a row of four marble depressions and the game is started by one of the players rolling a die for the required number to start the game. Players take turns in succession and there is a step-up location on the board which is the ready" position to move to the turntable. Whenever the player qualifies for movement to the turntable it is set in position. according to a circular arrangement of numbers on the base board and beneath the turntable, which are exposed through a hole in the turntable. Thus, if the player rolls a number on the die to get on the turntable the turntable itself is set to that number and so forth. There are other rules of the game which are variable such as penalties when another player lands on the other players marble and so forth.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures MARBLE GAME WITH TURNTABLE BOARD BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Games, toys 'and sporting goods and particularly games played with a board and markers such as marbles.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art includes a number of marble games and game board games but none of them use a game board, turntable, and procedure of the sort set forth in the present application. One of the most important things about games is whether there is sufficient variation from time to time to offer a challenge and something unique and some games readily wear-out" because they no longer amuse or challenge. Furthermore, some games played with spinners or dice depend essentially entirely upon what chance number was obtained from spinner or dice and very little other chance. The pres ent game contains a number of happenings and chances which take place during the course of the game in addition to just the movement of the player's marble based upon the number that comes up on the die.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A game board which accommodates two or more players includes a movable turntable on the board which is set to a number predetermined by the chance selection of the player. The travel of each player's marker, which in one preferred embodiment is a marble, depends not only upon the number shown by a thrown die, or any other chance selector, but also upon that numbers relationship with the turntable and other players markers. Each player must move from a start or standby position to a ready" position to move on to the turntable and then through the turntable back to the home position before the game is completed and there may be anywhere from one to several markers which must travel through this route before a player wins. Therefore, in addition to the chanceof getting one marker from the standby" back to the home positionit is also necessary to beat the other players by getting=all the other markers so the game includes a certain amount of uncertainty all the way to the end.

An object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive game which may be played with markers like marbles on an inexpensive game board that includes a number of chance happenings to provide an interest in the game.

Another advantage of this invention is found in the simplicity of construction wherein a board that may be made from cardboard has a very inexpensive turntable mounted on it and a plurality of depressions whereby common ordinary marbles may be used in different colors as markers.

Still another advantage of the present invention isthe variation in the game which may be achieved by changing a simple rule such as the number that must be thrown to move from one spot to another or the numbering of the position of the turntable based upon a chance selector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the game board including a chance selector die.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2--2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the game board shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The completed game board is designated generally byreference numeral 10 and comprises a rectangular game board 12 which may be made from thick tempered pressed wood, plywood or any other suitable material, and has aturntable 14 mounted on ascrew pivot 16 thereon, and theturntable 14 has an opening or awindow 18 therein exposing thesurface 20 of board 12 therebelow. A plurality of numbers 22 (e.g. 1, 2, etc.) is located in a circular pattern beneath thewindow 18 so that theturntable 14 is turned to expose one of themany numbers 22 as position indicator numbers.Turntable 14 may be manufactured from A; inch thick tempered pressed wood and in one example is 9% inches in diameter with 24marble holes 26 each 7/16 inch in diameter equally spaced at 15 degree intervals on a circle having a diameter of 8% inches. The large hole orwindow 18 is placed on a 2% inch radius and centers between any two of the 24 marginal orperipheral holes 26. The stationary or primary board 12 is a 14 inch square, matching with theturntable 14 described above, and is also made of Va inch tempered pressed wood. Near the margin or periphery on thetop 30 of the board 12 there are a total of 64 holes of 7/16 inch diameter which of course can be complete openings or concavities to accommodate a marble. One group of such holes designated byreference numeral 32 is arranged in a circle around the outside of theturntable 14 and there are 24 of these equally spaced at 15 degree intervals on a circle which has a diameter ofl 1 inches thru the center at thepivot 16 and these holes are all aligned with the diagonals and perpendiculars of the square.

Near therespective edges 36, 3B, 40, 42 of the board 12, which in the present embodiment is square, there are 40 holes along the respective edges, there being 10 holes on each side in a straight line approximately 1 inch from the edge. These 10 holes are designated by reference numeral 44 and are arranged in two groups there being one group of five holes to a players left and one group of five holes to the players right. The holes in the groups in the example given are 1 inch apart. The extreme left and extreme right holes 44 are each 5% inches from the perpendicular center line of the square. There are four holes designated byreference numeral 58 along the edges of the square there being one on each side on the perpendicular center lines of the square and in the example given at approximately 7/10 of an inch from the edge.

Theposition indicator numbers 22 are laid out on the base board 12 on a circle of 2% inches redius, corresponding in the present example to the numbers on the faces of asingle die 53. There arepositions equally spaced60 degrees'apart from the starting point on a radial line that bisects the space between radial lines of any two of the 24 peripheral holes of the base 12. Numbering is arranged clockwise, 1 thru 6, starting in any one of the positions.Numbers 22 should be of a size to be easily read through the indicator hole orwindow 18 in the turntable. Theturntable 14 is easily mounted by drilling through both it and the base 12 to receive the stud or rivet l6 forfastening them together with sufficient looseness for the turntable to turn with slight resistance.

As mentioned previously there are four player locations designated respectively yellow, red, green and blue. Each stand-by position is designated byreference numeral 54 with that respective color and there may be fourmarbles 56 of the corresponding color placed in the manner shown in FIG. 1 in the respective sockets. Each marble moves first to the start position designated byreference numeral 58 from whence it can travel about the board viaholes 32 and possibly to theturntable 14. It is to be noted that once a player's marble moves onto theturntable 14 it is subject to be moved with the turntable to a different location when another moves onto the turntable and selects one of thenumbers 22.

TYPICAL PROCEDURE FOR PLAYING A GAME The object of the game is to move all of one players fourmarbles 56 of any one color around the board 12 from the standby position to the home position which is designated by reference numeral 60 and corresponds to the respective color for each start position. The first player to get all fourmarbles 56 to home position wins the game.

Each player chooses a color and places the fourmarbles 56 in that color in the standby position. Players then take turns rolling their die to determine by high number who is to play first. From then on, the play proceeds to the left. In order to bring amarble 56 into play it is necessary to roll either a l or a 6 with the player's die. When either of these numbers is rolled, amarble 56 is moved from standby position to start position. From then on, the marble is moved counterclockwise around the board according to the number rolled on the die. If at any time during the game a 6 is rolled a player may then have another turn. Anyplayers marble 56 may pass over anyother marble 56 or one of his own at any time. However, if any players marble 56 lands on a hole occupied by an opponents marble, that opponents marble must be returned to its standby position.

There are four areas marked step-up and designated byreference numeral 64 and which may be colored an orange color or any other color different from the 4 playing colors. If at any time amarble 56 lands on one of these positions then the next move of thatmarble 56 must be onto theturntable 14. A player has the option of playing thefirst marble 56 in travel or playing thenext marble 56 so therefore a player does not necessarily have to move to theturntable 14 but may wait at the step-upposition 64. Any time amarble 56 of any player is moved to theturntable 14, or any time that a play involves marbles already on theturntable 14, theturntable 14 itself must be set to thenumber 22 rolled on thedie 53 and then the marble moved that number of holes. The numbered positions for setting theturntable 14 are shown in thewindow 18 of theturntable 14.Small numbers 72 around the edges of theturntable 14 will help locate the positions.Marbles 56 being moved onto the ,tumtable 14, or already positioned on theturntable 14, may be moved in either direction at any time. That is, amarble 56 on the turntable may be moved clockwise on one turn and counter-clockwise on the next turn if so desired. In order to get off theturntable 14, a marble may leave only at the position of its own color marked finish. It is possible for amarble 56 to go around the board 12 without ever get ting onto theturntable 14 if it never lands on one of the four orange step-uppositions 64. An exact count is required for amarble 56 to get into the home area although once inside any of the four holes may be used as desired. The finish position consists of twoholes 70, one of which is in the circle of holes traveled byopponents marble 56 in going around the board. Thus, anymarble 56 resting there is in danger of being sent back to standby position should an opposingmarble 56 land there. The second of the two finish holes is safe from that danger but then an exact count of one is required to get into the home are although once inside any of the four holes may be used as desired.

Should amarble 56 land on the first orange step-up position nearest its start, then if a count of6 is rolled for that marbles next move the marble will be able to move onto the turntable l4 and in six counts come off again at its own finish position. Should a marble land on the last orange step-up position (the one nearest the finish position for its color) then if a 6 is rolled the marble will be able to move directly into home, since that is exactly six positions away via theturntable 14.

While I have shown and described the game board and set forth a particular complete set of rules for playing one example of the game this is by way of illustration only since various alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions, departures and variations may be made including changes in the rules, omissions of certain rules, additions of other rules and so forth without departing from the scope of the invention as defined only by a proper interpretation of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a game:

a. a multi-sided game board having a plurality of player positions indicated thereon,

b. a turntable mounted inside said player positions on said game board for manual movement relative to said game board,

0. a plurality of individual player markers for each of said players and a home position at which said markers are located, said home position being outside said turntable on said board,

d. individual marker locations on said turntable to which each of said player markes may be moved and from which said player markers may be moved from one location to another,

e. a plurality of numbers on said game board beneath said turntable and a window on said turntable through which one of said numbers is visible as an index depending upon a chance selection by a player, said turntable moving past each player position to carry a player marker thereon and therewith when said marker advances from home position to each players home position comprises a first plurality of player marker locations and a standby comprising a second plurality of player marker locations and each player position having a step-up position for entry to the turntable.

5. The game claimed inclaim 1 wherein:

there are a plurality of locations on said board adjacent said turntable whereby each player may move through said locations prior to entry onto said turntable.

6. The game claimed in claim 5 wherein each player has a plurality of marbles.

7. The game claimed inclaim 1 wherein:

said board home position comprises a home location for each of said players and a standby location for each of said players and each of said home locaresponding to the color of the marbles.

Claims (9)

1. In a game: a. a multi-sided game board having a plurality of player positions indicated thereon, b. a turntable mounted inside said player positions on said game board for manual movement relative to said game board, c. a plurality of individual player markers for each of said players and a home position at which said markers are located, said home position being outside said turntable on said board, d. individual marker locations on said turntable to which each of said player markes may be moved and from which said player markers may be moved from one location to another, e. a plurality of numbers on said game board beneath said turntable and a window on said turntable through which one of said numbers is visible as an index depending upon a chance selection by a player, said turntable moving past each player position to carry a player marker thereon and therewith when said marker advances from home position to said turntable.

2. The game in claim 1 wherein said home position comprises a plurality of home player marker locations and also a standby position in conjunction with said home locations whereby said markers stand by for possible entry to said turntable.

3. The game in claim 1 wherein said turntable is circular and said marker locations on said turntable are depressions, said player markers being marbles which drop into said depressions to remain on said turntable.

4. The game in claim 1 wherein: each player''s home position comprises a first plurality of player marker locations and a standby comprising a second plurality of player marker locations and each player position having a step-up position for entry to the turntable.

5. The game claimed in claim 1 wherein: there are a plurality of locations on said board adjacent said turntable whereby each player may move through said locations prior to entry onto said turntable.

6. The game claimed in claim 5 wherein each player has a plurality of marbles.

7. The game claimed in claim 1 wherein: said board home position comprises a home location for each of said players and a standby location for each of said players and each of said home locations and standby locations have a plurality of player marker positions thereon through which said player marker may move, a step-up location on said game board from which said players move from said Home or standby position to said turntable.

8. The game claimed in claim 7 wherein: said player positions, home, standby, step-up location and individual marker locations are depressions and said player markers are marbles of different colors for each of said players.

9. The game in claim 8 wherein said game board has colors for said home location and standby location corresponding to the color of the marbles.

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