1. Field

[0001 ] The present invention relates to a word game.

2. State of the Art

[0002] Various word games are known in which players compete by making, finding, or completing words. Examples of some common word games include crossword puzzles, Scrabble (a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. of Pawtucket, Rhode Island), Boggle (a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. of Pawtucket, Rhode Island), and Jumble (a registered trademark of Tribune Media Services of Chicago, Illinois). Such word games only allow a player to make words using a fixed number of known letters (as in the case of Scrabble, Boggle, and Jumble) or of a predetermined size (as in the case of crossword puzzles).

Moreover, such games generally do not offer players many options for altering the pace of game play, the potential to lose points based on playing performance, or options for modifying risk/reward tolerance.

SUMMARY

[0003] In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, further details of which are described below, a word game is provided. Each game may be played between at least two players. The object of the word game is for players to accumulate at least a predetermined number of points. Each game may be logically divided into a series of word challenges played among the players. Each word challenge may be logically divided into one or more rounds in which some players may opt in or out of participation in some rounds of the word challenge. To score points in each round, all players participating in the round must attempt to form words using at least the same group of letters. That is, the words must incorporate the letters based on their position. For example, each letter will be designated according to its position in the word, such as a first letter, last letter, and intermediate letter (the latter located anywhere between the first and last letter in the word). Thus, words generated by players must use the first letter as the first letter of the formed word, the last letter as the last letter of the formed word, and the intermediate letter anywhere between the first and last letter. Intermediate letters may not be used in all rounds of a word challenge. In each round, the player or players making the longest valid word using all of the required letters win(s) the round. As used herein, valid words can include properly spelled words that have not been previously used in prior rounds or prior word challenges. Use of plural, past tense, and other modifications are not permissible, e.g., if the word "divide" has been played, then modified forms of the word such as "divided", "divides" "dividing", etc. cannot be played. Also, any two or more players who use the same word lose all their points in a given word challenge: e.g., if one player submits "divide" and another player "divides" both players get zero points for that word challenge. Invalid words can include proper nouns, slang, and misspelled words. Whether a word is properly spelled may be determined by reference to a dictionary. Other players in each round that make valid words with all of the required letters in the appropriate positions, but which are not the longest, can also earn points for the round. However, any player participating in a given round who is unable to make a valid word with all of the required letters in the corresponding positions, can lose points, such as all points they have earned up to that point in that word challenge (but not any prior word challenge). Thus, in each round of play of a word challenge, a player risks losing all of their points earned in the word challenge in order to have the opportunity to earn more points to more rapidly reach a winning score.

[0004] Points may be scored based on the length of the words, but only if the word is a valid word and includes all of the required letters (first, last, and intermediate letter(s)) in the correct positions. Thus, longer words may account for more points. All points earned at the end of any word challenge can be secured and, thus, cannot be lost as a result of further play in subsequent word challenges. At the end of each round of a word challenge, any player that has a non-zero score in the word challenge may opt in to playing a "bonus" round to earn more points or may opt out of playing the bonus round to safeguard their points from being lost in the event of being unable to form a valid word in the bonus round. Any player who has a zero score at the end of any round may not opt in (i.e., they are excluded) to playing the bonus round. In the bonus round(s), an intermediate letter is introduced as another required letter for forming valid words in the bonus round of the word challenge. The bonus round(s) therefore become more challenging (and risky) for those players who have accumulated points and who opt in to the bonus round in that the words generated must not only include the first and last letters from a preceding round (as well as all previously played intermediate letters from earlier bonus rounds of the word challenge), but also the additional new intermediate letter. The "bonus" in making words with the additional intermediate letter comes from the fact that it potentially increases (e.g., multiplies) the point score for words formed in the bonus rounds if, for example, the winner of the bonus round has won one or more prior rounds of the word challenge. However, as noted above, there is also risk for all of the players that opt in to a bonus round that any player that fails to generate a valid word using all of the required letters loses all of the points they have earned in the current word challenge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figs. 1 A to 1C illustrate a workflow of a word game in accordance with an aspect of the invention.

[0006] Fig. 2 is a schematic view of some equipment used to play the word game of Fig. 1.

[0007] Fig. 3 is a schematic of the equipment shown during a first round of a word challenge in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0008] Fig. 4 is a schematic of the equipment shown during a second round of a word challenge in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0009] Fig. 5 is a schematic of the equipment shown during a third round of a word challenge in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0010] Fig. 6 is a graphical display showing a welcome screen of a computer- implemented word game in accordance with an aspect of the invention.

[0011] Fig. 7 shows various fields in a display screen used in a computer-implemented word game.

[0012] Fig. 8 shows the status of the word game at the end of a first round of a word challenge.

[0013] Fig. 9 shows the status of the word game at the end of a second round of a word challenge.

[0014] Fig. 10 shows the status of the word game at the end of a third round of a word challenge.

[0015] Fig. 11 is an alternate workflow of a computer program word game. [0016] Fig. 12 shows an example computing system that can be used to implement the workflow of Fig. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Each game may be played between at least two players. The object of the word game is for players to accumulate at least a predetermined number of points. Each game may be logically divided into a series of word challenges played among the players. Each word challenge may be logically divided into one or more rounds in which some players may opt in or out of participation in some rounds of the word challenge. To score points in each round, all players participating in the round must attempt to form words using at least the same group of letters and use the letters in the words in positions corresponding to the letters. That is, the words must incorporate the letters based on their position. For example, each letter will be designated according to its position in the word, such as a first letter, last letter, and intermediate letter (which can be played anywhere between the first and last letter in the word). Thus, words generated by players must use the first randomly chosen letter as the first letter of the formed word, the last randomly chosen letter as the last letter of the formed word, and the intermediate randomly chosen letter(s) which must be found somewhere between the first and last letter. Intermediate letters may not be used in all rounds of a word challenge, for example in the first round of any word challenge. In each round, the player or players making the longest valid word using all of the required letters win the round. As used herein, valid words can include properly spelled words that have not been previously used by players in prior rounds or word challenges. Invalid words can include proper nouns, slang, and misspelled words.

[0018] Whether a word is properly spelled may be determined by reference to a dictionary. Other players in each round who make valid words with all of the required letters in the appropriate positions, but which are not the longest, can also earn points for the round. However, any player who is unable to make a valid word with all of the required letters in the corresponding positions, can lose points, such as all points they have earned up to that point in that word challenge (but not any prior word challenge). Thus, in each round of play of a word challenge, a player risks losing all of their points earned in the word challenge in order to have the opportunity to earn more points to reach a winning score.

[0019] Points may be scored based on the length of the words, but only if the word is a valid word and includes all of the required letters (first, last, and intermediate letter(s)) in the correct positions. Thus, longer words may account for more points. All points earned at the end of any word challenge can be secured and, thus, cannot be lost as a result of further play in subsequent word challenges. At the end of each round of a word challenge, any player who has a non-zero score may play the "bonus" round or opt out of playing the bonus round to safeguard their points from being lost in the event of being unable to form a valid word in the bonus round. Any player who has a zero score at the end of any round may not play the bonus round. In the bonus round(s) (second, third, etc. rounds), an intermediate letter is introduced as another required letter for forming valid words. The bonus round therefore becomes more challenging (and risky) for those players who participate in the bonus round in that the words generated must not only include the first and last letters and any previously played intermediate letters from earlier bonus rounds of the word challenge, but also the additional new intermediate letter. The "bonus" in making words with the additional intermediate letter comes from the fact that it potentially increases (e.g., multiplies) the point score for words formed in the bonus rounds if, for example, the winner of the bonus round has won one or more prior rounds of the word challenge.

However, as noted above, there is also risk for all of the players who participate in a bonus round that any player who fails to generate a valid word using all of the required letters loses all of the points they have earned in the word challenge.

[0020] Figs. 1 A to 1C illustrate a workflow of a word game that may be played using physical equipment schematically shown in Fig. 2. It will be appreciated that the workflow may also be applicable to a computer program, which when executed by a computer, may interact with one or more players to carry out a word game workflow. An example of a computing system 1201 A is shown in Fig. 12 and described in greater detail below with reference to a workflow 1100 in Fig. 11. For purposes of the following discussion, reference will be made to the physical equipment shown in Fig. 2, though it will be appreciated that in a computer implementation of the game, graphical depictions of some of the physical equipment may be used as a substitute for the physical equipment. The game is played with three sets of letters, which are shown as being indicia applied to corresponding discrete tiles disposed in a plurality of containers 201, 202, and 203. The three sets of letters may be different and each set may not include all of the letters of the alphabet. For example, letters that are rarely found as first letters (e.g., letter X) or last letters (e.g., letter Q) of words may be excluded respectively from the sets of first and last letters. A first letter container 201 contains letter tiles 201 A bearing a set of first letters. The first letters are randomly chosen and are used as the first letter of the words to be formed during the game play. A last letter container 202 contains letter tiles 202A bearing a set of last letters. The last letters are used as the last letter of the words to be formed during the game play. An intermediate letter container 203 contains letter tiles 203 A bearing a set of intermediate letters. The intermediate letters are optionally used as intermediate letters in the words to be formed during the game play and are positioned between the first and last letter of the words. The letter tiles 201 A, 202A, and 203A may be color coded to identify their corresponding position in the words to be formed in the game. As shown in Fig. 2, letter tiles 201 A are colored green, letter tiles 202A are colored red, and letter tiles 203A are colored yellow. While it is described as one way to distinguish the tiles from each other, it will be appreciated that other distinguishing indicia may be on the tiles as well, such as letters "F" for first letter, "L" for last letter, and "I" for intermediate letter. A clock or timer 204 may be provided to count a certain amount of time for each round. For example, a one- minute timer 204 or one-minute hourglass may be provided to count one minute for each round.

[0021] A letter board 205 may also be provided having spaces to place the tiles being used during play. As shown in Fig. 2, the board has a single space 205A for a letter tile 201A, multiple spaces 205B for intermediate tiles 203A, and a single space 205C for a letter tile 202A. While the clock or timer 204 is shown separated in Fig. 2, the board 205 and clock 204 may be integrated together so that players can easily review the letters being used during each round of play along with the time left for the round. A dictionary (not shown) may be provided to determine misspelling of words if agreement among the players cannot be reached. Each player may also be provided with a writing instrument (not shown) and a pad (not shown) to write on and preferably work privately to conceal their work during the game.

[0022] In Fig. 1 A at block 101 a first word challenge begins. For sake of discussion, the first word challenge will be described at which time all players have a score of zero points. Also, in the example, three players are playing against each other for three rounds of the first word challenge. The status of the equipment of Fig. 2 will be shown during each round of play in Figs. 3 to 5.

[0023] At block 102 the first round of the first word challenge commences by selecting one player to choose one letter tile 201 A from the first letter container 201 and one letter tile 202 A from the last letter container 202. At block 103 the selected player blindly chooses the tiles 201 A and 202 A and places them on corresponding spaces of the board 205 so all of the players can see the chosen first and last letters. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the first letter chosen is "D" and the last letter chosen is "D".

[0024] At block 104 the timer 204 is started to count a minute of play time while all of the players attempt to form the longest valid word that begins with the chosen first letter and the chosen last letter. At block 105, after the expiration of the play time, the players reveal to each other their words. The player with the longest valid word wins the round and each letter of the formed word is multiplied by the default value per letter, which may be one point per letter. If there is a tie for the longest word in any round, each of the tied players wins the round. As noted above, invalid words include misspelled words, proper nouns, slang. All of the other players who also have formed valid words also earn points for their words at the default value per letter. Any player that fails to form a valid word does not receive any points for the first round. In another variation the first round winner may receive more points per letter than the other players with valid but non-winning words. For example, the winner of round 1 may receive 2 points per letter, with the non-winners with valid words receiving the default of 1 point per letter. The next win by the first winner could award 3 points per letter, while the default award remains at 1 point per letter.

[0025] Fig. 3 shows the submitted words of each of the three players of Round 1.

Player 1 is the only winner, having formed a word with eight letters, while Player 2 and Player 3 both formed valid words with six letters. Since all of the players formed valid words in Round 1, all of the players earn points for their respective words at the default value per letter, e.g., one point per letter. Thus, at the end of Round 1, the scores are Player 1 - 8 points, Player 2 - 6 points, Player 3 - 6 points.

[0026] At block 106 all players with non-zero scores may participate in the bonus round. By opting in to playing the bonus round, any player who cannot find a valid word in the bonus round loses all of their points gained in the present word challenge. Thus, players may opt out to secure their points from loss in the event that they cannot form a valid word in the bonus round. If a player has a score of zero points at the end of a round, they cannot participated in the bonus round if at least one other player opts to play a bonus round.

However, if all of the players at the end of a round opt out of the next round, then the current word challenge ends and a new word challenge begins.

[0027] If conditions are met to play the bonus round (i.e., YES at block 106), i.e. at least one player with a valid word opts in to another round, then the players of the bonus round commence Round 2 of the first word challenge at block 107 (Fig. IB). Otherwise, if conditions are not met to play a bonus round, i.e., no player with a valid word opts in to a next round, or all of the players have a score of zero (i.e., NO at block 106), then Round 1 ends, as does the first word challenge, and a new word challenge begins at block 101. At the end of each word challenge, all of the tiles 201 A, 202A, and 203A used in the word challenge are returned to their respective containers 201, 202, and 203, or, alternatively, are set aside and are not replayed.

[0028] Ending a word challenge secures all of the points earned by players in all previous rounds of the word challenge. The secured points cannot be lost due to invalid words in any subsequent rounds of play in any subsequent word challenges. A player's total score is determined by adding the points earned from all completed word challenges plus the points earned in a current word challenge. As noted above, the player who earns the winning score is the winner of the game.

[0029] In the example of Fig. 3, all of the three players in Round 1 earned points in Round 1, and, thus, have non-zero scores. Therefore, all of the players have the option to opt in or out of playing the bonus round, Round 2. In the example of Fig. 3, all of the players opt in to play Round 2, illustrated in Fig. IB. At block 108 one of the players of Round 2 (e.g., the winner of Round 1) blindly chooses an intermediate letter tile 203A from the intermediate letter container 203 and places it in an intermediate tile space 205B on the board 205 so it is visible to all of the players along with the first and last letter used to play Round 1. In the example of Fig. 4, the intermediate letter chosen is "M".

[0030] At block 109 the timer 204 is reset and started and all of the players playing Round 2 attempt to generate words within the allotted time having the chosen first, last, and intermediate letters, the goal being to generate the largest word possible with those three letters and in their corresponding positions. At block 110, the play time expires and all of the players reveal their longest words that they managed to form. As in Round 1, only valid words formed by the players earn any points. In addition to the types of invalid words discussed above, invalid words also include words that were used in previous rounds, i.e., Round 1. For example, even though "dormered" uses the first, last, and intermediate letters required for words in Round 2, it cannot be used by players in Round 2 because it was already used in Round 1. Thus, if any player attempted to reuse "dormered" in Round 2, it would be an invalid word and the player(s) using that word would receive zero points and lose all of their points earned in Round 1. [0031] The player(s) with the longest valid word(s) having all of the chosen letters in the required positions win(s) Round 2. The winner of Round 2 earns the default value per letter (e.g., one point per letter) if the winner has not won a previous round, or earns a multiple of the default value per letter if the winner has won previous rounds. The multiplier of the default value is equal to the number of total rounds won by the winning player. For example, if the winner of the round won two rounds, e.g., Rounds 1 and 2 in the above example, then the multiplier of the default value per letter is two. While Rounds 1 and 2 are consecutive, winning consecutive rounds is not required for a winning player to have their points multiplied. Instead, the total number of rounds won is used as the multiplier. All other non-winning players with shorter valid words earn points based on the length of the words they formed at the default value per letter, e.g., one point per letter.

[0032] Fig. 4 shows the state of the game when the players of Round 2 reveal their words to each other at the expiration of the timer. Player 3 formed the longest, and thus, the winning word having nine letters. While Player 3 is the winner of Round 2, Player 3 did not win a previous round (e.g., Round 1), so Player 3 only earns points at the default value per letter for each letter of the winning word, e.g., one point per letter. The points earned in Round 2 add to Player 3's points earned in Round 1.

[0033] Player 1 formed an invalid (misspelled) seven letter word "dammned" and so earns zero points in Round 2. In addition, because Player l 's word is invalid, Player 1 also loses all of the points earned in all prior rounds of the word challenge (e.g., Round 1), which in this example, are only the seven points earned in Round 1. Furthermore, because Player 1 lost all of their points in Round 2, they are ineligible to play any subsequent rounds for the rest of the first word challenge. Player 2 formed a valid five letter word and so earns five points in Round 2, which are added to the six points Player 2 earned in Round 1.

Therefore, at the end of Round 2, the cumulative score is as follows: Player 1 - 0 points; Player 2 - 11 points; Player 3 - 15 points.

[0034] At the end of Round 2, at block 111, a determination is made as to whether any of the players have attained the winning score (e.g., 250 points). If one of the players has attained the winning score (i.e., YES at block 111), then the game ends at block 112.

However, if none of the players have attained the winning score (i.e., NO at block 111), then the game continues to block 113. At block 113 a decision is made as to whether to continue the first word challenge by playing another bonus round of the word challenge, e.g., Round 3. In the example of Fig. 4, since Player 1 has zero points at the end of Round 2, Player 1 cannot play Round 3. However, because Players 2 and 3 both retain points at the end of Round 3, those players may either opt in to playing a further round to secure their points. If no eligible player opts in to play Round 3 (i.e., NO at block 113), then the first word challenge ends and play returns to block 101 (Fig. 1 A) to begin a second word challenge. As discussed above, at the end of each word challenge, all of the tiles 201 A, 202A, and 203 A used in the challenge are returned to their respective containers (or set aside) and any points earned by players are secured and added to points they earned in prior word challenges.

[0035] If one or more eligible players opts to play another bonus round, e.g., Round 3, (i.e., YES at block 113), then the players commence Round 3 at block 114, as illustrated in Fig. 1C. In the example of Fig. 4, at the end of Round 2, Players 2 and 3 opt in to play the bonus round, while Player 1 has zero points, and is thus ineligible to play the bonus round. At block 115 one of the players of Round 3 (e.g., the winner of Round 2) blindly chooses another intermediate letter tile 203 A from the intermediate letter container 203 and places it in another intermediate letter tile space 205B on the board 205 so it is visible to all of the players along with the first, last, and any intermediate letter used to play Round 2. At block 116 the timer is reset and started and all of the players playing Round 3 attempt to generate words within the allotted play time having the first, last, and intermediate letters, the goal being to generate the largest word possible using at least those four letters in their corresponding positions. The two intermediate letters can be used in any order and do not have to be adjacent in the words.

[0036] At block 117, the play time expires and all of the players reveal their longest words that they managed to form. The player(s) with the longest valid word(s) having all of the chosen letters in the required positions win(s) Round 3. The winner(s) of the round can multiply their points by the total number of rounds won in the word challenge, as discussed above, as long as they have not lost all of their points in a prior round due to an invalid word. For example, a player that wins Rounds 1, 2, and 3 may triple his or her points earned in Round 3. All other players with shorter valid words earn points at the default value per letter.

[0037] Fig. 5 shows the state of the word game in the above example when the players of Round 3 reveal their longest words to each other at the expiration of the one-minute play time. Player 3 again formed the longest, and thus, the winning word having eleven letters. Since Player 3 was also the winner of Round 2, and has not lost all points in previous rounds, Player 3's points earned for Round 3 are doubled. Thus, instead of only earning one point per letter, Player 3 earns two points per letter for the winning word, i.e., twenty- two points for Round 3. The points earned by Player 3 in Round 3 are added to Player 3 ' s cumulative points earned from Rounds 1 and 2. Player 2 formed a valid eight letter word and so earns eight points in Round 3, which are added to Player 2's cumulative points earned. Therefore, at the end of Round 3, the cumulative point score is as follows: Player 1 - 0 points; Player 2 - 19 points; Player 3 - 37 points.

[0038] At the end of Round 3, at block 118, a determination is made as to whether any of the players have attained the winning score. If one of the players has attained the winning score (i.e., YES at block 111), then the game ends at block 119. However, if none of the players has attained the winning score (i.e., NO at block 111), then the game continues to block 120. At block 120 the players can decide whether to continue the first word challenge by playing another bonus round, Round 4 of the word challenge or ending the first word challenge. If the players do not decide to play Round 4 (i.e., NO at block 120), then the first word challenge ends and play returns to block 101 (Fig. 1 A) to begin a second word challenge. However, if the players decide to play Round 4 (i.e., YES at block 113), then those players playing the bonus round commence Round 4 and repeat blocks 114 to 120 until either the game ends by a player attaining the game winning score or the players decide to end the first word challenge or until the game ends by a player attaining the winning score.

[0039] As discussed above, when each word challenge ends, all points earned by the players in all of the rounds of play of the respective word challenge are secured and cannot be lost during play of any rounds in subsequent word challenges. Thus, some players who wish to play with less risk may opt out of bonus rounds in favor of playing more word challenges with fewer rounds per challenge, while some players wanting to accept more risk and accumulate points faster may wish to play fewer word challenges with more bonus rounds per challenge. Owing to the feature of opting in and out of bonus rounds, players have some freedom to adjust their game strategy in accordance with their risk preference.

[0040] Many variations and adaptations to the workflow 100 of the game may be made. For example, to lengthen the duration of the game, the number of points needed to win may be increased, such as from 250 to 500 points. To reduce the duration of the game, the number of points needed to win may be reduced from 250 to 100 or to 50. Also, to make the game more challenging, rules may be added or changed. For example, a rule may be added to require that the intermediate letters selected must be used in a certain order, such as the order in which they are introduced into the game during the word challenge. For example, in the above example the intermediate letter "M" was introduced in Round 2, and the intermediate letter "A" was introduced in Round 3. Thus, based on the afore-mentioned added rule, players in Round 3 in the above example would have to form words in which the letter "M" is positioned before the letter "A", but not necessarily consecutively.

[0041] Also, to slow the game down, the multiplier of the default value of points per letter may be equal to the number of consecutive wins in a word challenge, instead of all wins in a word challenge. Also, to make the game more challenging, the conditions needed to end the game can be made more exacting. For example, rather than a player having to meet or exceed the predetermined winning point value (e.g., whoever reaches 250 or more points wins), the game can be modified to require that a player reach exactly the predetermined winning point value without going over. If the player' s score exceeds the predetermined winning point value, that player's score may automatically go to zero.

Further, instead of allowing each player to use the entire one minute to form a letter, the rules of the word game may be changed to provide up to one minute, but to allow any player to cut that time short for all of the other players by calling "time" before the one minute is up. When the player calls "time" all players must reveal their longest words. This feature adds pressure on the players to not only come up the longest word with all of the required letters, but to also do so efficiently.

[0042] Also, as discussed above, the word game may be played by one or more players interacting with an individual computer system computing system that may be

communicatively coupled to one or more other computers and players, (i.e., a multiplayer game). One or more of the computers in a computing system, such as computing system 1200 (Fig. 12) may execute a workflow of a word game, such as workflow 1100 of Fig. 11, described in greater detail below.

[0043] Fig. 12 shows an example of the computing system 1200 that can be used to implement the workflow 1100 of the word game. The computing system 1200 can be an individual computer system 1201A or an arrangement of distributed computer systems. The computer system 1201 A includes one or more analysis modules 1203 (a program of computer-executable instructions and associated data) that can be configured to perform various tasks according to some embodiments, such as the tasks described above. To perform these various tasks, an analysis module 1203 executes on one or more processors 1205, which is (or are) connected to one or more storage media 1207. The processor(s) 1205 is (or are) also connected to a network interface 1209 to allow the computer system 1201 A to communicate over a data network 1211 with one or more additional computer systems and/or computing systems, such as 1201B, 1201C, and/or 1201D. Note that computer systems 1201B, 1201C and/or 1201D may or may not share the same architecture as computer system 1201 A, and may be located in different physical locations. Computer systems 1201B to 1201D may include personal computers, smart phones, and tablets, for example.

[0044] The processor 1205 can include at least a microprocessor, microcontroller, processor module or subsystem, programmable integrated circuit, programmable gate array, digital signal processor (DSP), or another control or computing device.

The storage media 1207 can be implemented as one or more non-transitory computer- readable or machine-readable storage media. Note that while in the embodiment of Figure 12, the storage media 1207 is depicted as within computer system 1201A, in some embodiments, storage media 1207 may be distributed within and/or across multiple internal and/or external enclosures of computing system 1201A and/or additional computing systems. Storage media 1207 may include one or more different forms of memory including semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic or static random access memories (DRAMs or SRAMs), erasable and programmable read-only memories

(EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs) and flash memories; magnetic disks such as fixed, floppy and removable disks; other magnetic media including tape; optical media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital video disks (DVDs); or other types of storage devices. Note that the computer-executable instructions and associated data of the analysis module(s) 1203 can be provided on one computer- readable or machine-readable storage medium of the storage media 1207, or alternatively, can be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media distributed in a large system having possibly plural nodes. Such computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium or media is (are) considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article of manufacture can refer to any manufactured single component or multiple components. The storage medium or media can be located either in the machine running the machine-readable instructions, or located at a remote site from which machine-readable instructions can be downloaded over a network for execution. [0045] It should be appreciated that computing system 1200 is only one example of a computing system, and that computing system 1200 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine additional components not depicted in the embodiment of Fig. 12, and/or computing system 1200 may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components depicted in Fig. 12. The various components shown in Fig. 12 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits. Further, the operations of the workflow described above may be implemented by running one or more functional modules in information processing apparatus such as general purpose processors or application specific chips, such as ASICs, FPGAs, PLDs, SOCs, or other appropriate devices. These modules, combinations of these modules, and/or their combination with general hardware are all included within the scope of the disclosure.

[0046] In the electronic versions of the game, the physical equipment of Fig. 2 is not needed. However, graphical depictions of such equipment may be shown on a display screen of one or more computer systems 1201B, 1201C and/or 1201D to evoke the same physical concepts of letter containers and tiles, described above. Alternatively, electronic versions of the game may output only some of the graphical depictions of the physical equipment shown in Fig. 2, or may omit them entirely and instead employ text to denote to all players the status of the game (e.g., cumulative scores, number of word challenge, number of rounds in current word challenge, and the letters used in the current round of play).

[0047] Figs. 6 to 9 illustrate graphical output of one or more computer systems 1201B, 1201C and/or 1201D during various times of the word game. For example, Fig. 6 shows a welcome screen 600 which may be displayed after the workflow is initialized. In the welcome screen 600, a field 601 is labeled "Difficulty" and a drop down menu is provided for a player to input a selection of a difficulty setting for the game. As noted in the welcome screen text, the difficulty settings limit the maximum length of the words that the computer program can generate for use during the word game. After a player selects one of the desired difficulty settings from the drop down list, the user instructs the program to start the game by clicking on a "start game" button 602, which automatically transitions the display to display the game screen 700 in Fig. 7.

[0048] The game play screen 700 includes a plurality of data fields related to the status of the game. The screen 700 includes a field 701 labeled "Computer Score" that displays the current total score for the computer program. At the beginning of the game the computer program has a score of zero points. Also, the screen 700 includes a field 702 labeled "Your Score" that displays the current total score for the player, which is also zero points at the beginning of the game. Another field 703 "Starting Letter" is also shown in the screen 700 and displays the starting letter randomly selected by the computer program for the current word challenge. The computer program randomly generates the starting letter from among a set of predetermined starting letters stored in non-transient computer memory. Also, an "ending letter" field 704 is provided that displays the ending letter for the current word challenge. The computer program randomly generates the ending letter from among a set of predetermined ending letters stored in non-transient computer memory. A "time left" field 705 is provided that displays the status of a one-minute count down timer. A text input field labeled "Enter your Word Here" is provided on the screen 700 for the player to enter a word, such as by keyboard entry. A submit button 707 is clicked to submit the players input word into memory. When a word is submitted, the word is validated and the letters are counted for comparison with the letters of the computer generated word, which is displayed in a field 708 labeled "Computer's Answer". If the computer program determines that the submitted word is invalid, the display will display the text "word invalid" and reset the "Your Score" field to zero. Another field 708 is labeled "Computer's Answer" and displays the word generated by the computer based on the starting letter, ending letter, and any intermediate letter played for the round. The computer's generated answer may be a word that is not familiar to other players. A button 708a (Fig. 8) labeled "What does that mean?" may be located near field 708. When button 708a is clicked by a player, a definition of the computer's answer will be displayed to the player so as to educate the player about the unfamiliar word. Although not shown in Fig. 7, another field that may be provided on the screen 700 is a field 709 (Fig. 8) labeled "Current Middle Letters" that displays one or more current middle layers that have been randomly generated by the computer program from among a set of predetermined intermediate letters stored in non-transient computer memory.

[0049] The workflow 1100 of the word game computer program is very similar to that described above with respect to Figs. 1 to 5. Accordingly, only deviations from that workflow are described below. In the embodiment of the computer program, the computer program plays as Player 1 and the human player plays as Player 2. In the case of the electronic version, Player 2 enters a word in the text box 706 and submits the word by clicking on the submit button 707 before the expiration of the timer. However, when the player submits the word before the expiration of the timer, the play time of Player 1, is cut short and Player 1 may or may not reveals a computer generated word based on the starting letter, ending letter, and any intermediate letters for the round. In some instances, the computer program may be unable to generate a valid word, in which case the "Computer Score" field 701 is reset to zero. In this embodiment, Player 1 cannot cut short Player 2's play time. However, in another embodiment, to make the game more challenging, both players may have the ability to submit their words at any time during the play time to cut short the other player's play time. As noted on the Welcome Screen 600, if either Players 1 or 2 is unable to submit a valid word before the end of the play timer, their respective scores for that word challenge reset to zero. One difference between the electronic version of the game is that in bonus rounds, non-winners of bonus rounds may still have their points multiplied as long as their words are valid, an example of which will be described below. Also, another important difference is that points are not secured at the end of word challenges. Thus, all of a player's earned points may be lost in any round of play. Of course, the electronic version of the game may correspond more closely to that described above with respect to Figs. 1 to 5. For example, the electronic version of the game may be modified so that players cannot, in a current word challenge, lose points earned in prior word challenges.

[0050] A modified workflow to that shown in Figs. 1 A to 1C is shown in Fig. 11 and an example of the modified workflow is shown with reference to Figs. 7 to 10. At block 1101 a new word challenge is begun by Player 2. As described above, a new word challenge is started automatically after Player 2 clicks on the "Start Game" button 602 in the welcome screen 600 in Fig. 6. At block 1102 the computer program automatically transitions from screen 600 to screen 700 in Fig. 7 and commences Round 1 of the first word challenge. At block 1103 a first letter and a last letter are automatically and randomly retrieved from sets of first and last letters stored in non-transient memory and the countdown timer is started to count down from one minute. At block 1104 Player 2 attempts to form a valid word using the first and last letters before running out of time. If Player 2 inputs and submits a word before running out of time, Player l 's time is cut short and must reveal its automatically generated word, if any. At block 1105 a counter "i" is indexed to 1. At block 1106 all players that have formed valid words earn points at "i" x the default value per letter (e.g. one point per letter). Thus, if the default value per letter is 1, then during the first round of the word challenge, all of the players earn one point per letter for their words. Also, any player who fails to make a word, or makes an invalid word, earns no points and is ineligible to play subsequent bonus rounds in the current word challenge. Any player with a non-zero score is eligible to play a bonus round.

[0051] At block 1107 a determination is made about whether or not at least one player chooses to play a new word challenge at the end of Round 1 instead of a bonus round. If at least one player chooses to play a new word challenge at the end of Round 1 instead of a bonus round (i.e., YES at block 1107), then play returns to block 1101 to start a new word challenge. However, if at least one player chooses not to play a new word challenge at the end of Round l(i.e., NO at block 1107), then play moves to block 1108, where the counter "i" is incremented, and a bonus round, Round 2, commences.

[0052] Fig. 8 illustrates the state of the game at the end of Round 1 of a word challenge. As shown in Fig. 8, starting letter "i" and ending letter "s" are automatically selected.

Player 2 inputs a valid eight letter word "insiders" and Player 1 automatically generates a valid four letter word "iwis". In Round 1, i = 1. Thus, at the end of Round 1, Player 1 earns 4 points (l x l point per letter x 4 letters) and Player 2 earns 8 points (l x l point per letter x 8 letters). Since both Players 1 and 2 have non-zero scores at the end of Round 1, the screen displays a button 710 labeled "Click Here For a New Middle Letter!" and a button 711 labeled "Next Round!", either of which may be selected by Player 2. If Player 2 selects button 710, then a bonus round, Round 2, commences with the introduction of an intermediate letter (Fig. 9). If Player 2 selects button 711, a new word challenge begins (i.e., the workflow moves to block 1101).

[0053] Returning to the workflow of Fig. 11, after the counter is incremented, at block 1109 Player 2 chooses to add one intermediate letter to the word challenge. At block 1110 one intermediate letter is automatically randomly selected from a set of intermediate letters stored in a non-transient memory. At block 1111 Player 2 attempts to form a valid word using the first, last, and any intermediate letters before running out of time. If Player 2 inputs and submits a word before running out of time, Player l 's time is cut short and must reveal its automatically generated word, if any. At block 1112 all players that have formed valid words earn points at "i" x the default value per letter (e.g. one point per letter). Thus, if the default value per letter is 1, then during the bonus round (Round 2) of the word challenge, all of the players earn two points per letter for their words. Also, any player who fails to make a word, or makes an invalid word, earns no points and is ineligible to play a bonus round.

[0054] At block 1113 a determination is made as to whether any of the players have earned a winning number of points. If any of the players has earned a winning number of points (i.e., YES at block 1113), then the game ends at block 1114. Otherwise, if no player has earned a winning number of points (i.e., NO at block 1113), then the game continues to block 1115.

[0055] At block 1115, a determination is made about whether or not at least one eligible player chooses to play a new challenge at the end of Round 2 instead of a bonus round. If no eligible player chooses to play a new bonus round challenge at the end of Round 2 or if there are no eligible players left to play a bonus round (i.e., YES at block 1115), then play returns to block 1101 to start a new word challenge. However, if at least one player is eligible to play a bonus round at the end of Round 2, and chooses not to play a new challenge at the end of Round 2 (i.e., NO at block 1115), then play returns to block 1108, where the counter "i" is incremented, and a bonus round, Round 3, commences. Blocks 1108 to 1112 are repeated until either the game ends at block 1114 or a new word challenge is started at block 1101.

[0056] Fig. 9 illustrates the state of the exemplary electronic word game during a bonus round, Round 2, of the word challenge started in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 9, starting letter "i" and ending letter "s" remain in play and intermediate letter "n" is automatically selected. Before the expiration of the timer Player 2 inputs and submits a six letter word "inlets" and Player 1 automatically generates a four letter word "ions". Since the bonus round is the second round of the word challenge, i = 2. Therefore, the default point values per letter in the bonus round in Fig. 9 are multiplied by two (e.g., 2 x 1 point per letter). Accordingly, in Round 2, Player 1 earns 8 points (2 x 1 point per letter x 4 letters) and Player 2 earns 12 points (2 x 1 point per letter x 6 letters). Since Players 1 and 2 have non-zero scores at the end of Round 2, buttons 710 and 711 are displayed for optional selection by Player 2. If Player 2 selects button 710 then another bonus round of the word challenge, i.e., Round 3, commences with the introduction of another intermediate letter "e" (Fig. 10). Alternatively, if Player 2 selects button 711, a new word challenge begins (i.e., the workflow moves to block 1101).

[0057] There have been described and illustrated herein several embodiments of a word game a method of playing a word game. While particular embodiments have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Thus, while particular devices for use in playing a word game have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that other devices may be used as well. In addition, while particular rules of the game have been disclosed, it will be understood that many variations of those rules can also be used, as described above. For example, one alternative rule may be that the winner of successive rounds in a respective word challenge will receive an increasing amount of points per letter for their winning words. Thus, the winner of first round may get 2 points per letter if they win the second round and may get 3 points per letter if they win the third round. Alternatively, the incremental point value may accrue to any player who wins. For example, the first round winner may get 1 point per letter for the first round, the second round winner may get 2 points per letter for the second round even if they did not win a previous round, and the third round winner may get 3 points per letter for the third round, etc. Further, while more than one player may win a round, an alternative rule may be that if multiple players submit the same word, those players will lose all of their points for the current word challenge. A third alternative rule could introduce "handicaps", i.e., a relatively strong player may start with a score of minus 50, whereas a weaker player may start at zero. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.