GB2360950A - Noughts and crosses game - Google Patents

Abstract

A game of the noughts and crosses type comprises a plurality of blocks of square cross section and a length three times that of the length of the sides of said cross section, the surfaces of the blocks include indicia which enable players to play said game by stacking the blocks in juxtaposition. Preferably the game may be played with 9 or 15 blocks and the indicia printed thereon comprise noughts and crosses (figs. 1a-e) or coloured markings. Optionally the blocks may be made from wood or plastics material.

Description

2360950 1 Games This invention concerns games of the "noughts and crosses

type In general, games of the "noughts and crosses type" require two players to take alternate turns to try to complete rows, columns or diagonals of a particular index, often a "'0" or a "X", by adding their particular index to a playing board. The winner is then the player who completed a row, column or diagonal of their index.

The traditional game simply uses a piece of paper with two pairs of parallel lines intersecting at right angles to define nine regions in which the players take turns to insert their "'0" or "X", and the winner is the player to have inserted three of one or other of the respective letters.

Three dimensional variants of this game can also be played by having three playing boards, with the players attempting not only to form rows, columns or diagonals of three of their particular index in one plane, but also in the notional third dimension which would be formed by stacking the three boards one on top of the other.

2 - According to the present invention there is provided a game of the "'noughts and crosses type" comprising a plurality of blocks each of substantially square cross-section and of a length substantially three times that of the length of the sides of said cross-section, the surfaces of the said blocks including indicia which enable the respective players to play said game by positioning two or more of said blocks in juxtaposition relative to each other.

A preferred embodiment of game in accordance with the present invention consists of fifteen of said blocks which will in general be stacked during the course of the game to produce a cuboid with a square base with each side the length of the individual blocks and a rectangular side five times the cross-sectional dimension of the individual blocks.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the indicia are arranged to follow the arrangement of noughts and crosses shown in Figs. la-e of the accompanying drawings. Whilst noughts and crosses are one form of indicia which can be used, it will be appreciated that other indicia can be used, for example coloured markings on the blocks.

The blocks can me made from a variety of materials, for example wood or a plastics material.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figs. la-e show five different arrangements of indicia on the set of blocks used to play the game; Fig. 2 shows the first move at the start of the game: and Fig. 3 shows the blocks prior to completion of the last move with the set of blocks.

The distribution of ""noughts" and "'crosses" on each of the surfaces of the five types of blocks forming the preferred set of blocks. The complete set of blocks is formed by three of each of the blocks having the arrangement of indicia shown in Figs. la-c, five of the blocks having the distribution of indicia shown in Fig. ld, and one block having the distribution of indicia shown in Fig. le. The complete set is therefore fifteen blocks.

As will be seen from Fig. le, one block, which is used at the start of the game, has no indicia on one surface for reasons which will become apparent. All other surfaces of this block have indicia as shown, one on each end and three on each visible surface when the block is placed with its blank surface down, except that the central position of the upper surface of the block shows both types. As illustrated, this central position has both a "'nought" and a ""cross".

At the start of the game, with two players sat opposite one another, the block shown in Fig. le is placed on the playing area with the blank face down and the block positioned diagonally so that both players can see the top surface, one side and one end of the block. The index on the end of the block which is visible to the respective players is then assigned to that player.

The remaining fourteen blocks are then shared between the two players by each drawing one in turn from a bag or other container.

Play then commences by the players in turn laying blocks on those on the playing area to form five layers each of three blocks arranged into a stacked series of squares. There is no requirement to follow any particular order or alignment of blocks.. For example, the first layer can be completed by placing two of any of the blocks shown in Figs. la-d with two on one side.or one on either side of the block shown in Fig. le. The second layer can then be formed with the blocks 4 - perpendicular to or parallel with the blocks in the first layer. Play then continues with subsequent layers being formed with blocks again arranged either perpendicular to or parallel with the blocks in the second layer, and so on until all of the blocks have been used up.

In placing the blocks on the growing stack, each player has the objective of forming rows, columns or diagonals of at least three of their respective indices whilst at the same time trying to minimise their opponent's score.

Scoring will usually be carried out once the stack of blocks has been completed. In a preferred method of scoring each player counts the number of rows of three of their indicia around the whole stack, scoring one point for each, and then the number of rows of four of their indicia scoring two points for each, and finally the number of rows of five of their indicia, scoring three for each around the whole stack. Thereafter, the scores for the top surface of the stack are added to the scores already counted as each layer of the stack is removed. The higher score then wins.

The way in which the game is played and/or scored can obviously be varied, and in one variant the game can be played with only nine blocks starting with the starter block shown in Fig. le. The remaining eight blocks can then be taken at random from the fourteen used to play the game as shown in the drawings. As will be appreciated, in this variant the length of the rows which are formed is limited to three.

The blocks can be made of any of a variety of materials, for example wood or a plastics material, and the indicia can take various forms, for example letters or other symbols and/or coloured regions on the surfaces of the blocks.

Claims (7)

Claims

1. A game of the "',noughts and crosses type" comprising a plurality of blocks each of substantially square cross-section and of a length substantially three times that of the length of the sides of said crosssection, the surfaces of the said blocks including indicia which enable the respective players to play said game by positioning two or more of said blocks in juxta-position relative to each other.

2. A game according to claim 1, which includes fifteen of said blocks.

3. A game according to either of the preceding claims, wherein the blocks have indicia thereon according to the arrangement of noughts and crosses shown in Figs. la-e of the accompanying drawings.

4. A game according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the indicia comprise noughts and crosses.

5. A game according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the indicia comprise coloured markings on the blocks.

6. A game according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the blocks are made of wood or of a plastics material.

7. A game of the "noughts and crosses type" comprising a plurality of blocks and being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.