Maze tag game

Abstract

Marble Tag is a lively and highly interactive game played in, on, and above a board or maze with marbles guided by sticks. The game may be played either indoors or outdoors. Players of all ages from four years old to more than eighty-four are attracted to participate. Much of the excitement and exercise common to the age-old game of tag are included in the game, however the game requires both less vigor and less space than tag. A certain dexterity to manipulate the sticks and marbles is advantageous, but not necessary. The existence of various strategies of play gives multiple levels of interest to the game. Three qualitatively different ways to play Marble Tag are: as individuals, as partnerships, and with handicaps. Furthermore, other games can be played with the same Marble Tag apparatus or on mazes with minor modifications.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There is a need for a moderately active game that can involve all ages, that can be played in a small space, that requires a minimum of skill, where no player must stand idle waiting for others to take a “turn,” where no player will be a loser, and where the object is to chase and be chased, and just have fun. DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART All earlier games are the “prior art.” The “need” expressed in the preceding paragraph is not succinctly met by the “prior art.” Some examples of where the “need” is not met are that other games: 1. require large spaces or special places, as: baseball, bowling, billiards, and boccie ball; 2. are sedentary, as: bridge, bingo, and computer games; 3. are too active, as: ping-pong and volley ball (not a drawback for some); 4. have an order of play so that players must wait their “turns,” as: chess and horseshoes (not always a drawback, as often it is fun to watch others perform); 5. develop one or more winners and therefo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Stick diameter and shape are important (see FIG. 6). A round dowel slightly smaller than the marble diameter (see FIG. 7) with flat ends and about 7″ long is ideal (that is, a cylindrical shape). A shaped guiding edge and / or end is not as good, since a shaped stick continually requires orientation to properly guide a marble, and the shape may inhibit or enhance the marble-flicking ability of the stick and thereby detract from the balance among areas of play; that is, when play is in good balance, it occurs mostly in the maze, yet often on the maze, and less often above the maze (indeed, the cylindrical shaped stick provides the best balance among these areas of play). 7″ long is about ideal because a longer stick is unwieldy and a shorter stick lacks the reach and leverage. There is no loss in time to determine which end of the stick to use in guiding one's marble, if the stick has symmetrical ends.

Part of the beauty of playing Marble Tag is that rules do not have to be rigidly obeyed. For example: one overlooks young children using fingers on occasion. 1. Partnerships of two or more may play against partnerships and / or individuals. 2. One or more players may be required to guide more than one marble (a handicap when trying to evade, yet a benefit when in pursuit). Handicap or benefit can be eliminated by having to control more than one marble only when “it” (no more handicap) or more marbles only when not “it” (no more benefit). 3. Clearing B may be declared a safe area (Furthermore, safety may be limited to last [or first] arriving marble). Observing both rules 9 and 10 in the last section, a player may try to push other marbles from this safe area. 4. To gain practice (or just for fun) Marble Tag may be played alone. 5. Special “sticks” may be shaped for carrying the marble (not a good variation). 6. The maze may be one large, clear open space which may or may not have movable blocks. This was the first version of Marble Tag. 7. Irregularly shaped passageways & clearings are possible. Passageways may be shaped to be “one-way.” Passageways forming closed loops with no branch passageways leading in or out and no “corners” or jumping places are very difficult to escape from. 8. The “maze” may be overlaid with additional layers and chutes in a 3-D array. 9. A smaller sized maze is suitable for children playing on the floor inside or on the ground outside. 10. A smaller sized maze is also suitable for people seated around a table.

Problems solved by technology

Moreover, none of the game boards look like the Marble Tag game board (a maze), nor are any of the patented games like Marble Tag.

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