Lobster abstract
A game having a gameboard depicting a coastal harbor with lobster
boat player pieces, lobster trap indicia markers, and chance means
for determining the amount of lobsters caught when the lobster trap
indicia markers are set on designated spaces of the ocean area of
the gameboard.
Lobster claims
I claim:
1. A game for at least two players comprising the steps of:
providing a board having a portion thereof depicting water with
a grid of lines interposed thereover defining a plurality of spaces
with a portion of said board further depicting around at least three
edges shoreline with at least one dockage area;
providing at least one player piece in the shape of a lobster boat
including means for carrying lobster trap indicia for movement on
the spaces of water between said grid lines;
providing lobster trap indicia for placement on preselected of
said spaces of water;
providing indication means for determining the weight of lobsters
to be caught in said lobster trap indicia
providing rock indicia means on selected of said spaces of water;
providing high and low tide time indication means and means for
determining the fate of a player piece positioned on a space having
rock indicia means during low tide;
providing lobster trap position indicator means on preselected
spaces;
providing a timer as said indication means for indicating periods
of high tide and low tide, chance number selection means, and money
indicia;
receiving by a player of a predetermined amount of money indicia;
determining by a player by said chance number selection means the
price of lobster;
activating by a player said timing means to indicate the period
of high tide;
determining by a player by said chance number selection means the
number of spaces his lobster boat shall move;
moving by a player said lobster boat to said space starting on
the first move from said dock;
depositing by a player a lobster trap indicia if desired upon a
space having lobster trap receipt means if such space is adjacent
to the space said lobster boat is on;
returning said lobster boat by a player by said chance selected
number of moves to said dock after setting all of said traps;
recovering by a player all of said traps by moving in a desired
direction said chance-selected number of moves; at the end of the
period of high tide, each player whose lobster boat is on a space
having rock indicia means thereon being assigned a fate through
actuation of the fate determining means;
determining the weight of lobster in each trap after returning
it to said dock by selecting one of said weight indication means;
and
determining the price of the lobster in each trap by comparing
the weight of the lobster therein and the determined price of lobster.
2. The game as described in claim 1 further including resetting
said timing means at the end of said high tide period to a new time
period for low tide.
Lobster description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The game of this invention resides in the area of board games and
more particularly relates to a game depicting a coastal harbor and
having player pieces adapted to set lobster traps in order for a
player to catch by a combination of skill and chance the greatest
poundage of lobsters.
2. History of the Prior Art
While games do exist depicting sailing ships moving across ocean
areas depicted on gameboards, the inventor herein is unaware of
any games which depict the commercial catching of lobsters.
SUMMARY
It is an object of the game of this invention to depict commercial
lobstering practices and to provide an exciting game using both
skill and chance to allow competing players to see who can catch
the greatest poundage of lobsters.
A game board is utilized having a portion thereof designating ocean
area with a grid interposed thereover designating spaces into which
one lobster boat may be moved upon chance selection of a number
of spaces by utilization of number selection means such as dice.
Along the edges of the game board are depicted land areas and at
one end is depicted six docking areas for the lobster boat pieces.
Further within certain spaces are depicted rocks which during low
tide can, in some instances, strand a lobster boat thereon if it
is positioned on such space when a timer goes off at a preselected
time indicating a changing of the tides. Further seen on the gameboard
is a breakwater and a number of designations of lobster trap receipt
areas. These receipt areas can be in the form of apertures adapted
to receive colored lobster trap indicia representative of lobster
traps so that a player will know when he has placed his trap by
the color of the flag inserted in the lobster trap receipt area.
In practice each player is given $1030.00 in play money and one
of them is designated the banker and the time keeper. At the start
of play the timer is set at 15 minutes during which 15 minutes the
tide is high and the lobster boats may be moved to any space on
the gameboard. The timer is placed out of view of the players so
that they must rely on their instincts as to when the time will
run up and the tide change. A player rolls one of the dice in order
to determine the market price per pound of lobster. This price determination
must be done at each high tide. One of the players is designated
to start the game by chance selection means usually by rolling the
dice. To start, each player must roll a pure six in order to start
to move his boat away its dock which means that some boats will
move out before others. For each boat that leaves the dock, its
owner must pay the bank a $30.00 bait fee. This fee is paid at the
beginning of each trip that a boat makes. The player then rolls
the dice and can only move in one direction. The player may have
three choices of the number of spaces he moves. For instance, if
the dice thrown is a 3 and a 4 the player may move either 3 spaces,
4 spaces or 7 spaces. A player cannot skip his move. The lobster
boat player pieces in some embodiments can be only moved vertically
and/or horizontally while in other embodiments of the gameboard,
the players may also move diagonally. The type of movement depends
on the grid design of the surface of the gameboard as will be discussed
below. In order to set a lobster trap, a player must land on an
adjacent space to where a lobster trap receipt area is located.
In some embodiments there may be some spaces where a player can
set two traps if he so desires. The player must set all six lobster
traps which are carried on the boat before returning to his home
dock. Once the lobster boat has docked, it can start out again to
pick up its traps. When a player retrieves each trap, he takes one
card from the Pot Luck Deck which indicates thereon the number of
pounds that are in the lobster trap that he has retrieved. The Pot
Luck Deck is comprised of a plurality of cards, each of which indicates
lobster weight recoveries from the trap so that it is solely determined
by chance the weight of lobsters in a retrieved lobster trap once
it is recovered. When the alarm timer goes off indicating the end
of high tide, and a lobster boat is on a space with a rock depicted
therein, the player whose boat piece is "on the rocks"
must take a card from the On The Rocks Deck which contains a plurality
of cards indicating the fate of the vessel. The On The Rocks Cards
may direct, for example, that the player go to the marine railway
to have the vessel repaired, that the boat float off the rocks or
that divers must examine the bottom of the boat for damage and indicate
the cost of each particular calamity which expense the player must
pay to the bank. A typical game can consist of three trips out of
the docking area, but it can be shortened to a lesser number of
trips or lengthened to a greater number of trips. The number of
trips is determined at the beginning of play. The price per pound
of lobsters caught changes at each high tide. At the end of the
game the player having the greatest poundage of lobsters caught
is declared the winner. Both decks of cards are shuffled after each
trip. It has been found that when playing a game of more than one
trip, a player may proceed to the docking area any time after pulling
up one or more of his traps and is then credited according to the
market price determined by the throw of a single dice as discussed
earlier times the pounds recovered and the total is then entered
on a Trip Sheet and is considered one trip. These traps must be
reset before any other traps are pulled. If one comes back to the
docking area with one trap at a time, the trap must be replaced
before any other traps can be pulled. If playing a one trip game,
one must set and pull all six traps before going back to the dock
for tallying. When a player has completed all his trips and pulled
up all his traps and returned to his docking area, then every player
must total his poundage of lobsters caught and whichever player
has the highest total that player wins the game. During low tide
which is the second time period which can be of 5 minutes duration
after the first 15 minutes, no one may set or pull a trap or travel
over a space which has a rock depicted on it. This low tide period
allows a player who landed on a rock to have a fair chance to have
his boat repaired and to catch up. Of course during low tide, a
player may proceed home if he has a catch. Further, spaces can be
designated on the other side of the breakwater furthest away from
the docks for low tide setting of lobster traps since the water
on the other side of the breakwater is deeper and a player could
set his lobster pots without running aground. No player at any time
may jump over another player's lobster boat. Players may attempt
to block the movement of another player nearby hoping that the blocked
player will run aground. The game can include three-dimensional
pieces of the board such as the lobster boats. In one embodiment
the buildings appearing on the board can be more realistically constructed
of plastic as can be the dock and the breakwater. The gameboard
in one embodiment can be of cardboard construction, but it also
can be a sheet of flexible vinyl plastic and of a large size to
assist in making the game more interesting. The flag lobster trap
indicia as illustrated is only symbolic of the type of lobster traps
that could be used and other embodiments of traps could be utilized.
For example the boats could be made larger and could utilize miniature
lobster traps which are placed on spaces designated as lobster trap
receipt areas on the vinyl sheet. In one embodiment wherein the
lobster trap flag indicia are used, the board should have sufficient
thickness so that the indicia can be inserted into the lobster trap
receipt apertures enabling a player to easily scan the gameboard
to locate his flags by their color. It is the practice in lobstering
for a lobsterman's lobster buoys to be of a single color to differentiate
them from another's traps. It should be noted that there is an island
in the middle of the gameboard between the breakwater and the docks
which holds the Pot Luck Cards and the On The Rocks Cards. It has
been found preferable to have the lobster trap receipt areas beyond
this island as in most natural situations lobster boats must leave
their docks and travel some distance before the lobstermen can set
their lobster pots and return back to their docks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of the gameboard of this invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view of the gameboard showing a
lobster boat piece, a space with a rock depicted thereon and the
placement of lobster trap indicia into lobster trap receipt areas.
FIG. 3 illustrates a group of Pot Luck Cards, On The Rocks Cards
play money, dice, and a timer.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
FIG. 1 illustrates game board 10 of this invention. Disposed around
three sides of the gameboard is shoreline 11 on one side of which
is depicted a series of docks 12 usually six in number, which extend
out into the water area. Within one of the docks is seen a lobster
boat playing piece 26. A breakwater 18 extends from the side of
the gameboard out into the harbor-like area formed by shoreline
11 around three sides of the board. The fourth side of the gameboard
can be left open so that it appears to extend out toward the ocean.
A repair facility of a marine railway 20 is depicted on a section
of the gameboard. At the center of the board is an island 16 upon
which the Pot Luck Cards 30 and the On The Rocks Cards 34 are positioned.
A grid 14 is superimposed on the surface of the water area of the
gameboard. This grid can form rectangular spaces so as to allow
only for horizontal and vertical moves as is disclosed herein. In
an alternative embodiment a grid forming square spaces can be utilized
enabling diagonal moves to be made if the players of the game wish
such a full range of movement. The grid does not extend to the area
around the docks and this area is designated as a free area 13 from
which a player, when it is his turn to leave the dock, may leave
the dock and enter the grid spaces at any desired point along this
area. A plurality of rocks 22 are disposed within certain spaces
of the grid. These are usually designated near the lobster trap
receipt areas 24. Such areas may merely be spots on the board or
may be apertures formed within the gameboard itself for receipt
of lobster trap indicia 28 such as the indicia seen in FIG. 2 on
lobster boat 26. These indicia 28 are post indicia colored to match
the colors of the boats, each player having a particular color so
that he can recognize his lobster trap indicia 28. In the embodiment
illustrated, the lobster trap indicia are inserted within apertures
in the lobster boats and these lobster trap flag-like indicia may
be removed when the boat is adjacent to a lobster trap receipt area
24 and inserted into the lobster trap receipt area 24 as seen in
FIG. 2. Also visible in FIG. 2 is rock 22 as well as grid spaces
14. As discussed above, it should be noted that the lobster trap
indicia may have other forms and can even be in the shape of lobster
traps and be merely placed onto a designated spot on the board.
It has been found, however, that the embodiment depicted herein
works very well in actual playing. As in real-life lobstering, lobster
trap indicia resemble lobster buoys which also have a portion thereof
with a hightly colored float which sticks upwards out of the water.
As mentioned above, when one retrieves a lobster trap, one selects
a card from the Pot Luck Cards deck depicted in FIG. 3. Two of such
cards are illustrated in FIG. 3 showing what might be written thereon
such as "5 pounds of lobsters caught" or "25 pounds".
A certain amount of money 38 is distributed to each player to pay
for expenses arising during the game such as bait fees, fuel fees,
taxes, licenses, etc. The chance selection means utilized in this
game are dice, either used singly to determine the lobster price
per pound or in a pair to determine the length of movement of a
lobster boat playing piece. When a lobster boat playing piece becomes
stranded at a low tide on a rock when the timer 42 illustrated in
FIG. 3 runs for the 15 minute period, the stranded player must pick
a card from the On The Rocks Deck 34 to find out the fate of the
boat. Two of such cards 36 are also depicted in FIG. 3. For example,
the boat may have a damaged bottom and have to be towed by the Coast
Guard to the marine railway 20 and the player have to pay substantial
fees for repairs as stated on the card, or the boat may merely have
to have its bottom inspected by a diver and the player have to pay
a lower fee. These cards are also shuffled at the end of each trip
and designate many different fates for a lobster boat caught on
the rocks. The game continues for the number of trips determined
at the beginning of the game at which time a winner is declared.
Although the present invention has been described with reference
to particular embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled
in the art that variations and modifications can be substituted
therefor without departing from the principles and spirit of the
invention. |