This invention relates to^ a game set, to a method of playing a game, and to a novel board particularly suitable for the game.

It is well known to provide board game sets which utilize magnet-containing playing pieces in association with boards having laminates of magnetic material. Such game sets are especially useful as travel games and are generally of a class requiring stepwise movement of the pieces on a horizontally disposed board, as for example in draughts, chess and the like.

Also proposed have been games in which the board is generally upright and the player projects towards the board playing pieces which are magnetically adherent to the board. Such equipment is disclosed, in United States patents 2,477,531 to Volman, 2,562,089 to Fishlove, 2,683,037 to Riiczynski et al and 2,928,677 to McAdam. A difficulty with such games as previously proposed has been failure of the playing pieces to adhere at impact with the board, notwithstanding magnetic attraction, unless the forward face of the magnetic component of the playing piece was substantially parallel to the impact face

of the board. The aforementioned patent 2,683,037 to Ruczynski et al addresses this problem of "bounce-off" by forming each playing piece as a snub-nosed dart with a magnetic head and a body portion having tapered stablizing surfaces, wherein the head and body portion are joined by a flexible neck which permits the head to pivot into full face contact with the board at impact.

United States patent 2,145,434 to Rubin discloses a game utilizing an upright board having a tacky coating, and projectiles of varying 'shapes (discs, coins, balls and cubes are specifically suggested) which thereby adhere to the tacky coating when thrown at the board. It is an object of the invention to provide a game which utilizes the preferred magnetic adherence but in which the problem of bounce-off is at least to an extent alleviated in a novel and advantageous manner. The invention accordingly provides, in one aspect, a game set comprising a board and plural playing pieces of such materials that the pieces can magnetically adhere at a fixed position to the board when the board is upright and the pieces are projected towards the board by a player, wherein the face of the board bears a multiplicity of targets, to which are assigned differing scores in accordance with the rules of a game utilizing the targets, and wherein the playing pieces comprise wafers each of sufficient flexibility to flex on being projected against the board with its plane oblique to the board whereby the wafer generally moves closer to the board after impact therewith.

The invention also provides a method of playing a game requiring a board and plural playing pieces of such materials that the pieces can magnetically adhere at a fixed position to the board when the latter is 5 upright, comprising: utilizing as said board a board which bears a multiplicity of targets to which are assigned differing scores in accordance with the rules of the game, and as said playing pieces wafers each of sufficient flexibility to flex on being projected

10 against the board with its plane oblique to the board whereby the wafer generally moves closer to the board after impact therewith; successively projecting one or more of the wafers towards the board; and scoring as determined by the targets on or near which the wafers

■ _j _5 adhere.

The invention further provides a preferred playing piece for the aforesaid game set and game comprising a wafer, advantageously a disc, of divided magnetized material embedded in a plastics medium (a

2 _Q so-called plastic-bonded magnet) ,. which disc is of sufficient flexibility to flex on being projected against a board with its plane oblique to the board.

It is preferred that the playing pieces be magnetized and the board be of a suitable metallic

25 material, but the converse may be employed, i.e. the board is magnetized, and the playing ^" pieces are of magnetic material.

Each playing piece is advantageously a thin disc of a convenient diameter for easy manipulation. The

_3Q aforementioned flexibility of the wafer playing pieces facilitates face-to-face adherence to the board, since the flexible wafers will flex at impact to bring the board and wafer faces closer together and increase the

area of face-to—face contact, so strengthening their magnetic attraction, and to absorb energy of impact, both effects tending to minimise the incidence of bounce-off by the pieces. The thickness of the wafer will need to be small enough to achieve this flexibility but adequate to ensure sufficient magnetic adherence to the upright board on projection against the board. It is also advantageous to achieve playing pieces of sufficient weight that they will travel predictably through the air as aimed, rather than be randomly and unpredictably buffeted and deflected by air friction or air movements.

For disc playing pieces of plastic-bonded magnet, the preferred diameter is between 25 and 75mm, most preferably between 40 and 60mm, and the preferred thickness between 0.5 and 3.0mm, most preferably about 1.5mm. The game set is preferably packaged in a suitable box when being offered for sale or when not in use. The invention still further provides a board, especially advantageous as the board of the aforedescribed game set, comprising a layer of divided magnetic material adhered to a substrate. The magnetic material may be a powder such as iron or ferrite powder, and the layer of magnetic material is preferably laminated to a printable overlap, e.g. paper.

The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 depicts, in front elevation, the face of a target board, and playing pieces, comprising

a preferred game set according to the invention, the board bearing targets for playing a particular game _? Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a playing piece;

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the target board, also showing a playing piece just after impact with the target board;

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the manner in which the target board is manufactured;

Figure 5 shows the face of the target board during the course of playing the game by two players; and

Figure 6 schematically depicts an alternative target board face for playing a different game.

The game set illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a target board 10 and multiple playing pieces consisting of discs 12, 13, in two subsets 14, 15 each of six identical discs. The subsets are distinguished by the colour of one face of each disc of the respective subsets.

Board 10 is of flocked laminated construction (Figure 3) , comprising a layer of divided magnetic material, viz hoganas iron powder 16, sandwiched between a cardboard substrate 17a and a paper overlay 17b. The three elements are bound by water based adhesive 19; a carbon adhesive may also be satisfactory. The board is mounted within a decorative frame 18. Paper overlay 17b is printed with a multiplicity of circular targets 20, on which are indicated different scores in accordance with the rules of the game to be played, in this case a modified version of hookey. Some of targets 20 are decorately joined by a rectilinear array of lines 21 and the whole printed

OMPI WIPO

surface is protected by a polyester or other suitable transparent finish. The board and frame may be hinged along a transverse centre line if desired for convenient storage.

Figure 4 schematically depicts the principal steps involved in making the board. A cardboard substrate 17a is conveyed (in the direction indicated by arrow 31) past a flocking station 30 immediately after its top surface is coated with glue 19 by a spray unit 32. The iron powder is held in an open bottomed hopper 34 on a phosphor-bronze wire mesh grid 36 which is electrostatically charged by a suitable device 37, to, say, 60kV. Rotating brushes 38 in the hopper continuously feed powder into the grid where the particles are charged ^" and immediately travel to earth at the glue-covered substrate passing underneath. A layer 16 of the iron powder adheres to the glue and the assembly is then passed to a drying tunnel 40 and onto a cutter 42. It is knocked and cleaned if and as required. The separate boards 10* are later coated again with glue and the paper overlayj. perhaps already printed as described, is then affixed.

Each playing piece 12, 13 (Figures 2 and 3) is a 50mm diameter, 1.5mm thick wafer disc of plastic-bonded magnet, i.e. a material known per se comprising divided magnetized material embedded in a layer of pliable plastics medium 24, laminated to a suitable paper, plastics or like overlay 26 providing the distinguishing colour. The divided magnetized material is conveniently magnetized ferrite powder or filings. Sheet 26 bears a printed central spot 28 for determining effective position on the board, a matter to be further explained hereinafter. Each disc is of

sufficient flexibility to flex on being projected against board 10 with the board upright and the plane of the disc oblique to the board, whereby the wafer generally moves closer to the board after impact therewith.

A pair of players may play hookey by each successively throwing the discs of his subset towards the board, suspended or supported in an upright position. If the discs are properly thrown, they magnetically adhere to the board, either in a direct face-to-face collision or on being aided to face-to-face contact from an oblique collision by flexing of the disc to bring the board and disc faces closer together and increase the area of face-to-face contact (Figure 3) , so strengthening their magnetic attraction. This flexure also absorbs energy of impact and further minimises the chances that bounce-off will occur.

A scoring hit occurs if any part of spot 28 overlies a target 20, the score being determined by the number indicated on the target. For this relatively simple game, the total score for the turn is the summation of the individual scores of the six throws: hence the aforementioned reference to the game as a modified version of hookey. Figure 5 shows the results of one player's turn, for- a total score of 34.

Spot 28 may be substituted by a hole through the playing piece, so that the disc is of annular form in plan.

Figure 6 schematically depicts a target face for a further game in accordance with the invention. The multiple targets are collectively representations of a

deck of cards for playing, e.g. poker. The cards may have the usual face of playing cards but are symbolically represented in Figure 6 using numbers for face values and letters as follows:

A Ace

J Jack

K King

Q Queen

C Clubs

D Diamonds

H Hearts

S Spades

The targets may also be representations of billiard balls, with which can be played a form of snooker. A further board may be employed to play a modified version of darts, in which wafer playing pieces are thrown instead of darts onto a score-marked rectangular board.