GB2130105A - Brick games - Google Patents

Abstract

A plurality of bricks for enabling at least one player to play a game as such as to provide an assembly thereof wherein at least one brick is removable by pulling and/or pushing without collapse of the assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality of courses (or layers) of bricks (1-51), each said course (or layer) comprising a plurality of bricks, wherein all said bricks are such that: (a) the width of a brick is substantially equal to the product KL wherein K is a fractional number (optionally constant for a said brick) in the range 0.31 to 0.35; (b) the depth of a brick is substantially equal to the product VL wherein V is a fractional number (optionally constant for a said brick), preferably in the range 0.18 to 0.25 (c) L is the longitudinal length of any brick characterised by KL and VL, KL and/or VL being the same or different for at least two said bricks. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Brick games There is continuing demand for games for various purposes, e.g. for pleasure, education, or therapy. It can be desirabie for a game to be capable of being embodied in various ways so as to give different degrees of difficulty, e.g. a child's game or a game played between at least two contestants. It has now been found in accordance with the present invention that block members (herein calied "bricks") can be constituted to enable at least one game to be played for various purposes and be capable of embodiment with different degrees of game playing difficulty.

According to a first aspect of the invention, bricks for enabling at least one player to play at least one game comprise: bricks for providing an assembly thereof wherein at least one brick is removable by pulling and/or pushing without collapse of said assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality of courses (or layers) of bricks, each said course comprising a plurality of bricks, wherein all said bricks are such that: (a) width of any said brick is substantially equal to (preferably equal to) the product KL wherein K is a fractional number (preferably constant for at least that brick) in the range 0.31 to 0.35 (e.g.

substantially 0.31, 0.32, 0.33, 0.34 or 0.35); (b) depth of any said brick is substantially equal to (preferably equal to) the product VL wherein V is a fractional number (preferably constant for at least that brick) preferably in the range 0.18 to 0.25 (e.g. substantially 0.18, 0.19, 0.20, 0.21, 0.22, 0.23, 0.24 or 0.25); (c) L is the longitudinal length of any said brick characterised by KL and VL, KL and/or VL being the same or different for at least two said bricks.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a said assembly.

In the complete assembly of bricks, at least one brick will have sufficient capability or degree of movement as to permit its removal without collapse of the assembly. The total number of bricks removable without collapse of the assembly will depend on the distribution of brick mass in the assembly. That distribution will depend on the nature of how the bricks are packed to constitute length, width, and depth of the complete assembly. The nature of such packing can be embodied in various ways to provide different degrees of game playing difficulty. The conformity of the bricks with said relationships (a) and (b) will enable the bricks to be embodied in various ways to provide different degrees of game playing difficulty. The relationships (a) and (b) and the packing relationship are relevant to probability of collapse after at least one brick is removed.In some embodiments of the bricks, the bricks are embodied so as to conform with a predetermined said collapse probability determined by e.g.

computer analysis. There can be voids in the complete assembly, the nature and number of those voids depending on said relationships. In the complete assembly, adjacent complete courses of bricks can have the same or different numbers of bricks. In any said course, the bricks can have any suitable distributions, e.g. a longitudinal face of a brick can be adjacent a width face of a brick. A plurality of courses of bricks can be such that at least two courses can have the same or different distributions of bricks. Any boundary face of the complete assembly can be constituted in any suitable manner(s); e.g., that assembly can comprise at least two brick faces disposed substantially coplanarly. Preferably, the whole of any said boundary face is substantially planar in the complete assembly.

The number of identical or different bricks can conform to at least one predetermined relationship relevant to at least one game.

Examples of those relationships are: (i) the probability of how likely the assembly is to collapse in relation to the total height of the complete assembly, for instance in relation to the total number of courses constituting that height, and/or the total number of bricks constituting that height; and (ii) the probability of how likely at least one face of said assembly is likely to have a predetermined appearance after removal of at least one brick.

Any said brick can have any suitable shape(s).

Any said brick can have a plurality of faces, e.g. an even or odd number of faces, for instance six faces when the brick is an oblong cube. Preferably, any said brick has a plurality of faces wherein at least one width face is substantially square in cross section. Preferably, such a brick is substantially uniform for that cross section along the longitudinal length of the brick, for instance when the brick is a regular oblong cube. The appearance of any said brick (e.g. of at least one said face thereof) can be adapted to provide at least one predetermined signification (e.g. of shape, configuration, pattern, or ornament) when the brick is or is not part of the assembly. Such signification(s) can be constituted in any suitable manner(s) relevant to at least one game.Any signification can be chosen to conform with a probability relationship of whether or not a predetermined appearance will be had by at least one face of the assembly when at least one brick has been removed therefrom without producing collapse of the assembly. Examples of said signification(s) are: colours; illuminations; indicia (e.g. devices, letters, words, numbers, ideograms (for instance Chinese or Japanese), music notes, pictures; plain appearances; profiles; reflections; textures; translucencies; transparencies. Said predetermined appearance(s) can constitute a display of predetermined information that was not distinct in the complete assembly. Textures of brick surfaces can constitute any suitable frictional properties, for instance frictional properties for enabling the bricks to be embodied so as to permit different degrees of game playing difficulty.At least a portion of any said brick can be rigid or resilient. Brick material(s) can be any suitable material(s), e.g. glass, metals, woods, plastics.

Any suitable number of players can participate in at least one game, e.g. 4 to 6 players. The player(s) can be children (e.g. 10 years old) and/or adults.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows an assembly of bricks.

In the drawing, there is a complete assembly or tower of bricks 1 to 51, each brick having the same or substantially the same length L. KL (or VL) can be the same or different for at least two of those bricks. Each of the 1 7 courses of bricks contains 3 bricks.

The purpose of one game utilising the tower is to remove an intermediate brick from the tower, and place the removed brick on the top of the tower without the tower collapsing. Preferably, the tower is constructed on a firm, even surface, about which each player has enough room to move without causing accidental collapse of the tower before, during, or after the removal of a brick whose removal would not of itself cause the assembly to collapse. The tower is erected by laying the bricks in courses, each course containing 3 bricks; each overlying course is set at right angles to the adjacent course underlying it.

The tower is built by one player, who starts the game, and whose playing turn is to remove a single brick. (That player in another game could continue to remove bricks from the tower until the removal collapses the tower.) The player who collapses the tower rebuilds the tower so as to be identically configured with the original tower (but it is not essential that bricks occupy their original places in the configuration, when at least two bricks are sufficiently identical). Each further player repeats single brick removal, in the turn of that player, During brick removal, only one hand's finger(s) are allowed to touch at least one brick of the assembly, but the finger(s) of successive hands of the player can be allowed to touch the single brick during the brick's removal. The player is allowed to "poke" and touch any number of bricks before selecting the one he/she wishes to remove.If a brick is pushed out of alignment, it has to be realigned before another brick is attempted. Bricks may be taken from any course in the tower, except the penultimate top course when the actual top course has not been fully completed. Once a brick has been removed from the tower, the removed brick must be placed on top of the tower at right angles to the underlying brick(s) of the adjacent course. The top course must consist of three bricks before a new top course is started. No part of the player's body may touch the tower, other than the arm portion between the elbow and the hand. A player's turn is to be completed within a predetermined time (e.g.

10 seconds), that period starting from e.g. when the player has placed a removed brick onto the top of the tower (or when a player has touched the tower).

A more competitive game is one when the player who collapses the tower must retire from the game. The winer of this game is the player not to collapse the tower.

In general, the bricks shown in the drawing can be embodied in any suitable manner(s) in accordance with the description given above before the first reference to the accompanying drawing, e.g. a brick face can have at least one said signification. The drawing shows 1 7 courses of bricks. Preferably, there are 1 5 to 20 courses, 17 courses being one example. The courses can alternate in disposition, e.g. an 18th course can be disposed similarly to the 16th course comprising bricks 46, 47, 48.

In embodying the present invention, L can have any suitable value(s). One example of a range of values for L is 60 to 80 mm, e.g. substantially 60, 61,62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80.

Claims (26)

1. Brick(s) for enabling at least one player to play at least one game, said bricks being for providing an assembly thereof wherein at least one brick is removable by pulling and/or pushing without collapse of said assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality of courses (or layers) of bricks, each said course (or layer) comprising a plurality of bricks, wherein all said bricks are such that: (a) width of any said brick is substantially equal to the product KL wherein K is a fractional number (optionally constant for a said brick) in the range 0.31 to 0.35; (b) depth of any said brick is substantially equal to the product VL wherein V is a fractional number (optionally constant for a said brick); (c) L is the longitudinal length of any said brick characterised by KL and VL, KL and/or VL being the same or different for at least two said bricks.

2. Brick(s) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said relationships (a) and (b) and packing relationship of said bricks in said assembly are predetermined as to probability of collapse of said assembly after at least one brick is removed from said assembly.

3. Brick(s) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said bricks are embodied so as to conform with a predetermined said collapse probability determined by computer analysis.

4. Brick(s) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the number of identical or different bricks conforms to at least one predetermined relationship that is the probability of how likely the assembly is to collapse in relation to the total height of the complete assembly.

5. Brick(s) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the number of identical or different bricks conforms to at least one predetermined relationship that is the probability of how likely at least one face of the complete assembly is likely to have a predetermined appearance after removal of at least one brick therefrom.

6. Bricks as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein K is substantially 0.31,0.32 0.33, 0.34 or 0.35.

7. Bricks as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein V is a fractional number in the range 0.18 to 0.25.

8. Bricks as claimed in claim 7, wherein V is substantially 0.18, 0.19, 0.20,0.21, 0.22, 0.23, 0.24 or 0.25.

9. Bricks as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein L is in the range 60 to 80 mm.

10. Bricks as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein any said brick has an even number of faces.

11. Bricks as claimed in claim 10, wherein said even number of faces is six.

12. Bricks as claimed in claim 11, wherein at least one said brick is an oblong cube.

13. Bricks as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein at least one said brick has a plurality of faces wherein at least one face of that brick is substantially square in cross section.

14. Bricks as claimed in claim 13, wherein any said brick has a plurality of faces wherein at least one face is substantially square in cross section, and is substantially uniform for that cross section along the longitudinal length of that brick.

1 5. Brick(s) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, when comprising glass, metal, wood, or plastic.

16. Brick(s) as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawing.

1 7. An assembly of bricks for enabling at least one player to play at least one game, said bricks being as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16.

1 8. An assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein at least one brick will have sufficient capability or degree of movement as to permit its removal without collapse of said assembly.

19. An assembly as claimed in claim 17 or 18, wherein there is a plurality of courses (or layers) of said bricks such that at least two courses (or layers) will have the same or different distributions of bricks.

20. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 7 to 1 9, wherein said assembly comprises at least two brick faces disposed substantially coplanarly.

21. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein said assembly has at least one boundary face thereof that is substantially planar.

22. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 7 to 21, wherein there are substantially 51 said bricks.

23. An assembly as claimed in claim 22, wherein said assembly comprises 1 7 courses (or layers) of said bricks, each said course (or layer) containing 3 said bricks.

24. An assembly as claimed in claim 17, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawing.

25. A game, comprising a plurality of bricks each as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, or an assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 7 to 24.

26. A game as claimed in claim 25, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawing.