Play game

r - ~ a3 S P E C I F I C A T I O N IMPROVED PLAY GAME This invention relates -to an improved gameboard, play pieces and score keeping members for use in playing an interesting game of skill and chance.

In the past khere have been numerous types of game~ boards and this invention is of a gameboard which includes a dish shaped central playing zone recess within which there are catch holes for spherical balls to be rolled from a peripheral zone at which there are stations in which the balls are located so that the balls may be flicked downwardly into the central zone under the influence of gravity and the pushing force so that they come to rest in one of the holes which are arranged in concentric rings and assigned values which requires the players exercise some skill and judgment with a knowledge of the forces cf gravity and geometry in order to score highly.

It is, generally speaking, an object of this invention to provide an improved gameboard which provides an i-nteresting and educational game to be played with spherical -~ balls which re~uires a skill and knowledge of geometry and the effects of gravity forces on rolling balls in order to score high and a score keeping arrangement of pegs and holes wherehy the players can keep score conveniently.

It is a general object of khis invention to provide an improved highly educational inkeresting game of chance which is simple in construction, ine~pensive to manufacture and well adapted for -the purposes for which it is intended.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the play game of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reerence characters designate like or corresponding parts -throughout the several views, there is shown a dish shaped gameboard 12 having a dish shaped central zone which is circular as seen in plan and is designated ~y the numeral 14.

The vertical centerline of the dish shaped central zone is .illustrated and designated by -the numeral 16.

The dish shaped central zone is defined by a surface having a relatively constant radius of curvature from a center on the central line and in the playing zone there are a plurality of holes arranged in concentric rings of diminishing radii between the outermost ring 20 and the innermost rin~ 18.

For each ring indici.a indicate a ~uanti-tative value as will be explained hereinafter.

About the central zone there is a play piece station peripheral zone which is annular and which is designated by the numeral 24.

Within this ring -there are a plurality of holes, preferably somewha-t smaller in size than the holes in the central zone, which holes are designated by the numeral 30, 3~, fox example.

Sphe:ri- cal balls are placed in each of the holes of the play piece station. The balls being designated by the numerals 50, 52, 54, for example. A player flicks one of the balls into the dish shaped central recess, where it will roll downwardly under the influence of gravity and the pushing force to ultimately come to rest in one of the holes which will represent, by its location and the indicia of the ring in which the hole is located, a ~uantitative value. Abou-t the gameboard, peripherally located, there is a ring 56 which is segmented into a plurality of arcuate sections 58, in each of which there is at least one hole 60 and indicia 62 indicating quantitative values.

Alternatively, there may be two rows of holes 60.

The players keep score by moving game pegs 64 from one hole to another as the game progresses, with the hole in which the peg is located representing the total value which has been earned by the player.

Different colored pegs are used by each player.

Additionally, indicia 66 may be provided in the outer part of the play station zone to indicate whether the score of the player is "fair," "good," or "outstanding." It will thus be seen that there is provided a simple and inexpensive game which is highly useful for playing a game of chance wherein the skill of -the player is a factor and wherein an understanding of the forces of gravity and geometry are re~uired in order to master the same.

In the preferred embodimen-t, there is a downwardly extending skir-t 68 which extends from the upper surface of the gameboard to a lower foot surface 70.

While the invention has been shown and described in a preferred embodiment, it is recognized that the gameboard as a whole may be solid or that the same may be hollow within the skirt and be made of plastic, wood, or any other suitable ma-terial.

While the instant invention has been shown and described with indicia in the form of numbers representing the holes in the central playiny zone, it will be understood that, in addition -to those indicia additional symbols may be utilized, for example, the deck of cards may be represented by symbols representing the King, Queen, Jack and Ace, etc. In any event, there has been provided an interestiny and inexpensive game which is highly educational and provides a unique combination of skill and chance.