Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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GAME FOR TWO OR MORE PLAYERS INVOLVING A PSYCHOLOGICAL OR SOCIAL EVALUATION OF
THE OTHER PLAYERS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a game for two or more players.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the fields of education and psychology, there are various and different
types of games which are used to entertain or to provide the players with
information regarding human personality needs. Some games grant the players
with points or other rewards for answering questions correctly and some are
aimed at stimulating the players' minds and sharpen their social skills.
Educational games may take on various forms and levels of complexity
such as those broadcast on television. These types of games have gained
popularity as the winning party usually is awarded a prize of a substantial
value.
The very nature of these games suggests wining or losing instead of education.
Personality type games tend to mirror human experiences and most often
offer choices and involve risk taking. US Patent No. 4,216,971 to Lyke,
discloses
a competitive game apparatus that stimulates human life and the psychological
effects of different human experience. The player is required to travel along
a
route and accumulate buttons and personality token that represent personality
enrichment.
US Patent NO. 4,216,594 to Farley et al., discloses a psychotherapeutic
testing board game comprising a game apparatus for providing a game playing
atmosphere between a tester and a player. A plurality of cards for selection
by the
game selection device contains information to elicit a personal psychological
response of a player whereby the player upon giving the response is given an
award.
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Games, which induce players' expression of emotions, are less common.
One such board game which is designed to induce such an expression or to
m a
display verbal dexterity in reading a tongue twister expression is disclosed
in US
Patent No. 4,966,371 to Sherman. Each player moves a long a path, from one
field to another, along which path the player is required to comply with
instructions to aCt out certain emotions, e.g., sadness, a smile of joy, a
hilarious
laugh or a tearful cry, which are not specifically associated with any one
true
feeling the player experiences while playing the game.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a novel game for two or more players. In
this game the players advance through a succession of missions that include
such
in which the player is required to convey a true, real-life emotion o~
expe~ienee
related thereto. According to one embodiment the player receives a score
according to the manner in which the emotions were expressed. The game of the
invention may be a board game, may be played on a computer, may be played
between players connected to one another through a computer or other
communication network, etc.
In accordance with one embodiment the invention provides a game for two
or more .players comprising game stages in which the player needs to fulfill a
mission that relates to a specific type of basic emotion through description
or
reflection on a real-life experience that has any bearing to the basic
emotion.
In accordance with another embodiment, the fulfilling of a mission
comprises describing or reflecting on a real-life personal occurrence and the
game then advances through a game routine that gives each player the
opportunity to pass through a different type of such missions. According to
this
embodiment the invention provides a game for two or more players comprising
game stages in which a player needs to fulfill a mission to describe or
reflect on a
real-life personal occurrence that is related to a specific basic type of
emotion and
the game advances through a routine that provides each player with an
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opportunity to pass through stages that require him to fulfill one or more of
such
missions.
According to another embodiment the player needs to achieve a goal in the
game and advances through the different steps on the basis of a set of game
rules.
The rules include such that .require a player to complete a certain mission
that
involves a description of a real-life experience and he is given a score by
other
participants in the game based on the manner he fulfills the mission. Thus,
provided by this embodiment is a game for two or more players in which each
player needs to achieve a goal; comprising a set of rules by which each player
advances towards achieving the goal, wherein said set of rules comprise. one
or
more rules requiring a player to complete a mission involving describing a
real-
life experience that has bearing to a specific type of basic emotion and
wherein
his score for fulfilling the mission is given to the player by the other
participants
in the game.
In accordance with yet another embodiment the invention provides a
method for playing any one of the above games. This embodiment thus provides
a method of game playing for two or more players, comprising advancing through
game steps and carrying out missions defined for these steps, the missions
comprise describing or conveying to other players of the game a real-life
experience that relates to a defined basic emotion.
In essence, when playing the game of the invention, the player needs to
"collect" emotions, namely complete missions that relate to one of a variety
of
such emotions that he/she needs to collect. Such emotions which he/she needs
to
collect may be one or more of "basic emotions" of the group consisting of
fear,
anger, pretense, joy, love, concern, anxiety or jealousy. As will no doubt be
appreciated, this group of emotions is but an example and the set of emotions
that
needs to be "collected " may be only a few of this group or may include also
such
which are not belonging to the aforementioned group.
In a mission that relates to or has bearing to a specific emotion, an
individual is given a task to answer a question that relates to a specific
real-life
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experience. For example, in a mission that relates to a specific basic emotion
of
joy, the individual may be asked to describe a musical piece, a geographical
location, a certain food, identity of a specific individual, or a situation
that brings
him/her (or brought him/her in the past) to express j oy. Where the basic
emotion
is, for example, anger, the individual may be asked to describe a situation at
work, at home, specific circumstances, etc., that brings him/her (or brought
him/her in the past) to anger.
In accordance with one embodiment, the game is played with all
individuals being at one location. Within the framework of such an embodiment,
the game may be a board game, but may also be a game that is managed through
a computer. In the latter case, by one embodiment, a computer station may
serve
all players or alternatively, each player may have his own terminal, e.g. one
including a screen, a keyboard and a mouse, for playing the game.
In accordance with another embodiment, the game is played with all
players being remotely located from one another. The players may then
communicate with one another electronically or through a voice communication.
The game in accordance with this embodiment may be played over a local or
wide area network, e.g. over the Internet. Voice communication, if needed, may
be either through hand-held voice communication devices or, by another
example, by means of voice over IP, etc. It is of course possible also to play
the
game electronically without voice, e.g. through the conveying of written text
between the players.
Where the players are remotely located from one another, one of a variety
of software known per se ensuring that all individuals' computers are properly
synchronized, should be employed.
In another embodiment of the invention, the game is played as a televised
game wherein the players are located at the studio and the game is coordinated
by
a host who does not take active part in the game. Alternatively, the televised
game may be played with the participants being remotely located, for example,
in
their homes, and the game is played over a communication line.
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In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, one of the
participants may take the role of a coordinator of the game. In accordance
with
another embodiment, there is no coordinator and the game proceeds through a
defined set of rules. One reason for having a coordinator is that it permits
some
flexibility in the manner in which the game proceeds according to the
coordinator's personality and objectives. Thus, a group of individuals
regularly
playing with one another may change the coordinator each time they play and in
essence play a game which proceeds in a slightly different manner according to
the chosen coordinator's personality. For example, if the coordinator is a
therapist, he/she may. instruct the players to play the game in a manner
suitable
for the players treatment. This may be another factor in the game rules.
In a typical mode of implementation of the game, the player advances
through a defined path with different fields each field requiring to perform a
specific mission, at least some of which are associated with basic emotions.
The advancement through the different fields may be one at a time, may be
defined in random manner, e.g. through one or more real or virtual dice.
In accordance with one embodiment of playing the game, it advances at
least until one player completes the set of missions. A winner may then be
declared which may, for example, be an individual having the highest score
(e.g.
the score given for the manner of performance of his mission by the other
players) or may be the individual who managed to complete the set of missions.
The game may be actively played by only one of the players. The other
player may for example be a therapist. The game may be played as part of a
psychological or social evaluation of one or more of the other players and may
also be played in combination with any therapy.
The invention will now be further illustrated below with reference to a
specific embodiment in which the game is implemented as a board game with
physical mission cards, presented in the annexed drawings. As will be
appreciated, this specific embodiment is an example and should be regaxded as
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illustrating the example and eventually is not intended to be limited to this
specific embodiment.
a
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a general illustration of the game board played according to the
present invention.
Fig. 2 shows a detailed segment of the game board showing the route (54)
with some of the fields (12) and the instructions contained therein.
Fig. 3 depicts one specific non-limiting design of the positions on which
the stacks of emotion cards would be placed, face down.
Figs. 4A-4E are illustrations of the different emotion cards in accordance
with the invention.
Figs. SA-SD depict illustrations of the score tokens (38-44) which are
granted to the player holding the board in an appreciation of his conveying of
a
real-life experience.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The novel game of the present invention may be played by various groups
of people and is typically played by two or more participants. In the context
of the
present inventions, the term "two or more players" refers to a group of two or
more persons of all ages which play the game in accordance with its rules or
in
line with the spirit of the game as detailed herein. The game, for example,
may be
played by two persons, one of which being a therapist, a psychiatric, a
psychologist, a teacher, a friend, a family member or the like who does not
actively participate in the game but rather acts to assist the other at least
one
participant in playing the game, advancing through the missions and expressing
the player's real-life experiences. In such cases the game is actively played
by a
single person, with the leading and assistance of a second, as for example
part of
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a psychological or social evaluation or treatment. The game may also be played
without being part of or associated with such a psychological or social
intent.
The term "actively played" refers to a player which plays the steps of the
game, namely, throws the dice, collects cards, expresses emotions and advances
through the missions. The player who does not "actively play" the game, for
example a therapist, will not typically need to acticvely play the game.
However
he/she may choose to take part in expressing his/her own emotions and may also
choose to describe or detail his/her own real-life experiences if they believe
such
an expression would assist the active player in playing the game.
The term "a true, real life emotion or experience" relates to an
experience which the person participating in the game has actually undergone,
which is true and which is associated with one or more human emotion. Such
experiences may be related for example to such which result from human
interaction, behavior, belief, everyday exposure to other peoples'
experiences,
interactions with animals, interactions with the municipalities and the like.
The
term also encompasses those experiences which involved late or retrospective
expression of emotions.
The term emotion or basic emotion as used and described hereinbefore
refers also to so-called responsive emotions which may arise from expression
of
the player's own self emotion or someone' else's emotions. Such responsive
emotions may for example be rage brought about as a result of deep sadness,
sadness brought about as a result of being involved with someone else's agony,
anger evolved from the sadness of losing a family member, happiness from
someone else's suffering and the like.
Attention is now directed to Fig. 1 which shows a game board (10) that
may be used in playing the game of the present invention. The game board (10)
comprises a plurality of fields (12), a chance device (14), game pieces (16),
emotion cards (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and stacks thereof (18A, 20A, 22A, 24A,
26A), specialty cards (28, 30, 32, 34, 36) and stacks thereof (28A, 30A, 32A,
34A and 36A), score tokens (38, 40, 42, 44, 46), instructions (48) how to play
the
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game and Player's dictionary of emotion (60). The plurality of fields (12)
comprised within the 'game board have instructions (50) for directing a player
(52) whose game piece lands thereon. The instruction (50) may direct the
player
(52) to a specific mission, such as to pick an emotion card or to perform an
act.
The movement of the game piece (16) from one field to another is determined by
the player's use of a chance device (14), such as one or more rolling dice,
spinner
on a card divided into numbered segments or any electronic chance device.
The board (10) may be rectangular and may be designed to be folded along
at least one line across its center. It may alternatively take on any other
geometrical shape. It may be made of any rigid or semi-rigid material. The
board
(10) in accordance with the present embodiment is constructed such that the
player (52) travels along an outer peripheral route (54) of the board. This
route
(54) includes numerous fields (12), each of which includes instructions (50)
such
as and not limiting to:
-Pick up a "What is a Feeling? " cas°d,
-Pick up a card, fi~orvt ANGER,
-Piek up a card fi°om FEAR,
-You have to pay 75 points or tell a stogy about a cef°tain feeling,
It's your tu~~n to receive a kiss, from each of the players.
Fig. 2 shows a segment of the route (54), which includes several of the
numerous fields (12); which include said instructions (50). The player (52)
will
have to act in accordance with the instructions and pick a card from the stack
relating to the specific emotion, such as ANGER (18), FEAR (20), SADNESS .
(22), WORRY (24) and PRETENCE (26). The different stacks (18A-26A) are
placed face down in special locations (19, 21, 23, 25 and 27) as shown in Fig.
1,
in the inner part (56) of the board (10), within the peripheral boarders (54).
The
locations (19-27) may be designated in any shape and/or color indicating the
correct position of each stack (18A-26A). The five different locations (19-27)
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may each be shaped as hands, as shown in Fig. 3, or in any other fashion. In
the
case the positions are shaped as hands, each finger is differentiated from the
other
by a differentiating means such as color, texture markings, etc. The
differentiating means of the forgers should match the differentiating means of
the
specific emotion card. For example, one finger may be colored red for ANGER
(18); another finger would be colored yellow for FEAR (20), etc.
Each of the emotion cards (18-26) comprises missions, as shown in Fig. 4,
which the player (52) has to fulfill in order to receive points from each of
the
other players. Such missions may for example be:
SADNESS card:
1. What type of music do you prefer listening to when you are sad?
2. What such type of music makes you feel?
3. Which is the most dominant feeling that may be associated with what
you're telling us?
Alternative instructions for SADNESS cards:
"I was asked to do something and T was led to feel that they didn't trust
me..."
1. From 1 to 10 how strong did you feel about this?
2. Tell us about such an incident.
3. Which is the most dominant feeling that may be associated with what
you're telling us?
ANGER cards:
"Think of someone that angers you..."
1. Tell us who the person is and the reason he/she angers you.
2. Give us one good reason to continue being angry at this person.
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3. Which is the most dominant feeling that may be associated with what you
are telling us?
Each of the players may grant the individual holding the board (52) points
based on his ability to convey a true real-life experience and touch the
hearts of
the other players. The points may also be granted based on any other parameter
the player granting the points may consider to be relevant to the way the
player
(52) has managed to convey the experience. In such a way, 25 points are
granted
if the individual's presentation was "interesting"; 50 points if the
presentation
was "surprising"; 75 points for a "touching" presentation and 100 points
granted
if the presentation was "emotional". No points are granted if the presentation
was "uninteresting". The points granted may be announced by each of the
players, or by giving the player (52) a token or a card (38-44) such as those
depicted in Fig. 5. A player whose presentation of the emotion is
"uninteresting"
may be granted a blank token or no token at all. The token or cards may be
embedded thereon with markings, as shown in Fig. 5 or may be colored
differently in such a way that each colored represents a different number of
points.
The game is monitored by one of the players who takes on a role of a
WIZARD and who makes sure that the game is played by the rules. The
WIZARD may actively participate in the game or may only act as a coordinator
as described hereinbefore. As Fig. 1 shows, the route starts at the WIZARD' S
HOUSE (58) and continues through the various fields (12) along the periphery
of
the board (54). The player holding the board (52) determines how many fields
(12) to move his playing piece (16) by the use of said chance device (14).
The game may be played by as many as five players and as few as two, as
described hereinbefore. The order by which the game is played is decided upon
by all of the players or randomly by using the chance device (14). Each of the
players receives a game piece (16) from the WIZARD and places it on the field
called WIZARD' S HOUSE (58). The game piece (16) may be any moveable
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element which may be fabricated from a lightweight material and take on any
shape. Each of the pieces (16) should be colored differently or take on a
different
shape so it may be personalized and easily identified by the players. A game
piece
(16) may be distributed to each of the players by the WIZARD or picked out by
the players themselves from an opaque container, e.g. a box, a wool bag.
The first player roles the dice (14) and advances his playing piece (16)
forward a number of fields (12) to a new field in accordance with the dice.
Once
positioned at .the new field, the player (52) reads out the instructions
outlined
thereon and proceeds to fulfill them.
The player (52) may land on fields categorized in one of two groups: basic
emotion fields and specialty fields. If for example the new field is an
emotion
field, the instructions therein may read: "FEAR: Pick Up A Cas°d, 50
points". The
player (52) will be granted 50 points and will be required to collect a card
from
the FEAR stack (20A), read the mission printed thereon, and carry it out. In
addition to the points granted to the player in accordance with the
instructions at
the new field, once the player (52) carries out the mission, the remaining
players
may grant him additional points as described hereinabove.
Alternatively, the player may land on a specialty field which reads: "All
Players: 25 points". At this field, each of the players is granted 25 points,
the
player holding the board proceeds to pick a card from the ALL PLAYERS stack
(34) and carries out the mission outlined therein. Additional points may be
granted to the player by the other participants as before.
The player may also land on a specialty field called "Happiness Chest: 25
points". In this field, each of the players receives 25 points, and the player
holding the board (52) is allowed to grant each of the other players
additional
points according to how happy a specific player is. The player proceeds to
pick
up a card from the HAPPINESS stack (30), carries out the mission outlined
therein and optionally receives further points from the remaining players as
before.
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If landed on a field called "What is a Feeling?" the player (52) will be
required to pick up a card from the "WHAT IS A FEELING? stack (32) only in
the second round, after he has had a chance to communicate his emotions to the
other participants. The cards contained within this stack require the player
(52) to
describe his feelings towards the situation described in the card by utilizing
one
or more of the general feelings listed in the "Player.'s Dictionary of
Emotions"
(60), shown in Table 1. It is surely understood that the feelings listed in
the table
under "Player's true feelings" are only a small section of the spectrum of
feelings
that may be experienced by any one player. The player (52) will have to
associate
his feelings with one of the five basic feelings listed in the Dictionary
(60),
thereby attempting to understand his own feelings and organize them into a
more
basic format. If the feeling the player is experiencing is not listed in the
table, he
will have to associate his experience to the feeling most closely related to
one
listed in the table.
Basic EmotionPla er's true feelin s
Anger tendency to get angry, guilty, feeling of inferiority,
hatred,
im atience, hel lessness, a gression, ain
Fear Depression, criticism, judgment, frustration,
jealousy, guilt,
erfectionism, hatred, contem t
Sadness disa ointment, hurt, humiliation, inferiority
feelin s, ain
Worry obsession, anxiety, control
Pretence lack of self confidence, confusion, moralistic,
please others,
not interested
Tablel: Player's Dictionary of Emotions: The player may use this dictionary to
associate the feelings he describes and which have impact on his understanding
of the real-life experience he conveys with one of the five basic emotions.
The player is given a designated amount of time to fulfill the assigned
mission. When the player completes his mission, receives points from the
remaining players, the WIZARD proceeds to total the points and to write them
down on a board or on any other means visible to all participants. If the
player
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picked a card from one of the emotion stacks (18A-26A), the WIZARD instructs
the player to pick up a card from the~WIZARD stack (28), which the player
reads
a a
to himself and passes on to the WIZARD to read out loud. The WIZARD then
allows the next player to take over the game.
The WIZARD cards are such which contain general statements about a
person's emotional or social status and which may help the player himself
and/or
the other participants to better express their own feelings. This is the
reason why
the player (52) is required to read these statements to himself before they
are read
to the other participants. These statements may for example be: "When I love a
certain character in someone, it is because I love that same character in
myself',
or "Sometimes the fear from another's reaction is worse then the reaction
itself",
or "When you feel good about yourself, and your friend believes otherwise, be
true to your own feelings because they form your own personal truths."
The game ends when one of the players has collected at least one card
from each of the five emotion stacks (18A-26A). At this stage the WIZARD
totals the number of points granted to each of the players and announces the
winner as the player who received the highest number of points. It is possible
however that the player who. has collected cards from each of the five
emotions
has not gained enough points to win the game. In this case, said player may
choose to continue playing until such a stage when he is granted enough points
to
win the game, or alternatively until a different player has collected all five
basic
emotion cards and decides to end the game.
As it is clear from the aforementioned description, the objective of this
game is to stimulate the players to convey their true, real-life experiences,
and to
evaluate their own being through their own behavior, feelings and experiences
and further reflect thereon through the experiences of others. Therefore, each
of
the players may choose to continue playing the game until such a point each of
them has gained emotional strength or has conveyed his emotional experiences
to
the fullest. In such cases, the end of the game may be decided upon by some or
all
participants with no regard to the number of points gained by each one of
them.
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The winner, announced by the WIZARD, may now ask each of the
participants to grant him a non-materialistic wish of his choosing, e.g.
receive a
> >
hug from each of the other participants, or be given good testimony of his
character.
