A game apparatus

Abstract

A game apparatus comprising a housing 20 and at least two drawers 30, 40, 50, 60, which are openable from opposing ends and their interior is not visible when closed. The bidirectional drawers may or

Description

The present invention relates generally to a game apparatus and finds particular, although not exclusive, utility in role playing games. Role playing games, such as war games, dungeons and dragons, etc, are known to use planar / flat boards, representing a landscape or other scenario, on which to move playing pieces. Even if the landscape or scenario (such as a building) has more than one level, the boards are still typically located adjacent to each other on a common plane, such as a table top. A known drawback with this type of playing apparatus is that it is difficult to check “line of sight” between playing pieces when they are on different levels in the same building. Also, the “unreal” location of different levels adjacent one another on the same level may lead to so-called “immersion breaking” whereby a player's or audience's sense of being involved in the story, world, or game is interrupted. Although it is known to have playing apparatus which may take the form of a multi-level arena, or scenario, such as a building, such apparatus either has to be dismantled when checking “line of sight” between playing pieces when they are on different levels, or they are limited to the type of structures where the interior is visible, such as ruinous buildings. Having to dismantle buildings mid-game, again, may lead to immersion breaking, and may also lead to problems of playing pieces being accidentally moved. Furthermore, restricting the type of structures to ones where the interior is visible may exclude many different types of scenarios and settings. In a first aspect, the present invention provides a game apparatus comprising a housing and at least two drawers arranged to be movable relative to the housing between open and closed positions, the apparatus arranged such that the interiors of the at least two drawers are not visible with the drawers in the closed position, wherein the at least two drawers each have opposing ends and the apparatus is arranged such that each of the at least two drawers is openable from either opposing end. In this way, multi-level landscapes, structure or scenarios are arranged to be physically and visually present. Playing pieces may be moved between the drawers during play, and thus between he different levels of the structure. This allows for greater “immersion” on the part of the players and / or audience. To view a particular level, a drawer is simply slid out from the housing. If a “line of sight” check needs to be made between two different levels, then the two relevant drawers may be slid out. Afterwards, they may be pushed back in and the game recommenced. In this regard, the “line of sight” check may be from the upper drawer to the lower drawer via an opening, such as a lift shaft, stairway, or other feature. Although “line of sight” checks have been discussed, it should be understood that other criteria may be checked more easily in this manner. For example, distances between playing pieces may be more accurately measured. Another advantage of the game apparatus is that a relatively large playing area may be provided within a relatively small footprint. A further advantage of the game apparatus is that players may not be able to see certain levels before they reach them. Moreover, even once reached it allows for scenarios where the level has no light such that the playing piece is moving in the dark. A yet further advantage of the game apparatus is that drawers may be replaceable mid-game. This may allow for a pre-arranged drawer to be introduced or swapped for an existing drawer depending on how the game is proceeding. With the drawers being openable from either opposing end, they may be slid out in either direction thus allowing players located opposite one another to see, and manage, the level which they are on, but without the opposing player being able to observe their actions. Likewise, with the interiors of the drawers not being visible with the drawers in the closed position, players are unable to anticipate the level before the drawer is opened. The game apparatus may further comprise drawer dividers, which may act as view blocking means, arranged so that the interior of any drawer is hidden from view with an adjacent drawer, located above, in the open position. Such dividers may comprise a sheet of material located within the housing and against which the upper edges of a drawer may be located with the drawer in the closed position. This may be necessary, to prevent one player seeing the inside of the drawer below the drawer pulled open by the opposingly positioned player. The opposing ends of the at least two drawers may be aligned vertically, in use. For instance, if the housing has a cuboid appearance, all of the opposing ends may be arranged on two opposing sides of the housing. However, the opposing ends of the at least two drawers may be out of alignment vertically, in use. For instance, if the housing has a cuboid appearance, at least one opposing end may be arranged on each of the four sides of the housing. The game apparatus may further comprise a turntable at its base for rotation of the housing. This may provide greater flexibility in that the ends of the drawers may be more closely aimed at players for ease of their opening and to prevent other players seeing what they are doing during their turn. For instance, if there are four players, the apparatus may be rotated each turn so that each player may have access to an end of the drawer for ease of opening it. Also, the game rules may allow for a player to be able to open a drawer from only one end, or both ends, depending on how the game proceeds. The game apparatus may further comprise at least two doors, each of the at least two doors covering the opposing ends of the at least two drawers. These doors may allow for a player to shield his drawer when it is open from adjacent players so that they cannot see what the player is doing during their turn. The doors may be opposed double doors. At least one, of the at least two drawers, may comprise a grid covering at least part of the base of the interior. The individual grid squares may represent positions on which playing pieces may be placed. The housing may have the shape of any one of a building, a spaceship, a space station, and a ship. Other shapes are contemplated. In this way, games may have greater “immersive character” as opposed to known planar boards. The above and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attached drawing. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a game apparatus. The present invention will be described with respect to certain drawing but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawing described are only schematic and are non-limiting. Each drawing may not include all of the features of the invention and therefore should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. In the drawing, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention. Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other sequences than described or illustrated herein. Likewise, method steps described or claimed in a particular sequence may be understood to operate in a different sequence. Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other orientations than described or illustrated herein. It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It is thus to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B. Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment” or “an aspect” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect is included in at least one embodiment or aspect of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in an aspect” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or aspect, but may refer to different embodiments or aspects. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics of any one embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner with any other particular feature, structure or characteristic of another embodiment or aspect of the invention, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments or aspects. Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Moreover, the description of any individual drawing or aspect should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in fewer than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention. Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination. In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description. In the discussion of the invention, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper or lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter, coupled with an indication that one of said values is more highly preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying between the more preferred and the less preferred of said alternatives, is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each value lying between said less preferred value and said intermediate value. The use of the term “at least one” may mean only one in certain circumstances. The use of the term “any” may mean “all” and / or “each” in certain circumstances. The principles of the invention will now be described by a detailed description of at least one drawing relating to exemplary features. It is clear that other arrangements can be configured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the underlying concept or technical teaching, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims. In Figure 1, a game apparatus 10 is shown in the form of a cuboid set of drawers. The apparatus 10 comprises a housing 20 which includes a top, bottom and two sides. The housing 20 includes no back panel, as would typically be found in a set of drawers. Four drawers 30, 40, 50, 60 are shown but it will be understood that there may be any number of drawers, including only one. Each drawer has means for opening it. In Figure 1, knobs 70 are provided to enable the drawers to be moved. Knobs 70 may be provided on each end of the drawers so that they can be moved in either direction relative to the housing 20. In use, two players 120, 130 may be located opposite one another either side of the apparatus 10. Each drawer may slide in either direction relative to the housing such that they may slide towards each player 120, 130. Each drawer may include a setting for game play. For instance, a grid of squares may be included in the interior, together with walls defining rooms and corridors, etc. Playing pieces such as treasure, weapons etc. may be placed in the drawers to be found and possibly used by players during game play. Stairways may be included which extend up into drawers above through appropriately places holes cut into the base of the drawers. Other means of connection between drawers may be included such as teleportation portals, lift shafts, trapdoors, etc. The top drawer 30 is shown in the open position having been slid towards the player indicated by reference “130”, away from the player indicated by reference “120”. The interior 90 of the drawer 30 is thus visible to the player indicated by reference “130”. If the other player, indicated by reference “120”, has their head at a level which is not too high relative to the apparatus 10, then they are not able to see the interior 90 of drawer 30. This may occur if the apparatus 10 is arranged on a table (not shown) and the two players 120, 130 sit on chairs adjacent the able. Drawer dividers 80 are provided between each adjacent pair of drawers 30, 40, 50, 60. These dividers 80 are sheets of material integral with the housing 20 and arranged to closely cover the top of each of the three lower drawers 40, 50, 60, when the drawers are in their closed positions. In Figure 1, the top drawer 30 is shown as having been opened and moved towards the player indicated by reference “130”. If the divider 80 was not present then the player indicated by reference “120” would be able to see the interior of the drawer 40 below the top drawer 30. To explain, in role playing games, it is sometimes important that a player does not see the details of a playing area which their character (or avatar) has not yet reached, hence why it may be important to have these drawer dividers 80 obscuring a drawer’s interior. It is to be understood that the dividers may include holes to represent openings between floors, such as lift shafts, stairways and the like. One or more of the dividers may be removably replaceable such that holes may be located as desired for different scenarios. In this regard, the one more dividers may be slidably engageable with the housing. The apparatus 10 may include a turntable (not shown) on its base on which the housing 20 may be rotated in either direction 110 about a vertical axis 100 passing through the centre of the housing 20. This may allow players (not shown) located at 90 degrees to the two players indicated by references “120” and “130”, to turn the apparatus towards themselves such that the ends of the drawers are openable towards them. This allows for a smooth rotation avoiding the risk of playing pieces within the drawers becoming accidentally moved. The height, or depth, of each drawer, in the sense of the height of the sides of each drawer from the base, may be the same for each drawer. However, it is contemplated that the heights may not all be the same.

Claims

1. A game apparatus comprising a housing and at least two drawers arranged to be movable relative to the housing between open and closed positions, the apparatus5 arranged such that the interiors of the at least two drawers are not visible with thedrawers in the closed position, wherein the at least two drawers each have opposing ends and the apparatus is arranged such that each of the at least two drawers is openable from either opposing end; the apparatus further comprising means of connection between drawers comprising appropriately placed holes cut into the10 base of the drawers.

2. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein the opposing ends of the at least two drawers are aligned vertically, in use.15 3. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein the opposing ends of the at least twodrawers are out of alignment vertically, in use.

4. The game apparatus of any preceding claim, further comprising a turntable at its base for rotation of the housing.

205. The game apparatus of any preceding claim, further comprising drawer dividers arranged so that the interior of any drawer is hidden from view with an adjacent drawer, located above, in the open position.25 6. The game apparatus of any preceding claim, further comprising at least two doors,each of the at least two doors covering the opposing ends of the at least two drawers.

7. The game apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein at least one, of the at least two 30 drawers, comprises a grid covering at least part of the base of the interior.

8. The game apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the housing is in the shape of any one of a building, a spaceship, a space station, and a ship.