THE FULL COLOR® SOLITAIRE PATENT FILINGS
On October 4, 2010, David W. Mahon (“Mahon”), the sole inventor of Full Color® Games, Full Color® Cards, and the Full Color® Gaming System, retained a law firm to file a patent application for Full Color® Solitaire with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The application was not properly prosecuted and was ultimately abandoned. As a result, Mahon filed a legal malpractice action in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada (Case No. A-18-779686-C) on August 19, 2019. Newman was accused in the Complaint of running a patent ponzi scheme of sorts.
This matter is one of several legal proceedings involving the protection of Mahon’s intellectual property. These cases are matters of public record and will be referenced and updated over time to provide transparency regarding the development timeline and the challenges encountered.
The Full Color® Solitaire patent was not issued. This outcome was not due to a lack of novelty or merit, but rather the failure of prosecution. The underlying system, including its means and methods, remains unique, proprietary, and not found in prior art.
Due to the procedural posture created by abandonment and the applicable USPTO framework, the application could not be revived.
Patent protection is generally limited to approximately 20 years from filing. While the patent was not issued, Mahon secured copyright protection for the Full Color® Cards, which provides long-term protection under international frameworks, including the Berne Convention, for the life of the author plus 70 years.
Mahon pursued appellate relief, and the matter reached the Nevada Supreme Court. The Court confirmed that the misconduct or fraud of an attorney cannot be imputed to the client. The decision is available in the public record under Mahon v. Richard H. Newman, Howard & Howard, PLLC.
The matter was ultimately resolved through settlement.
Although the core concept for Full Color® Solitaire was developed rapidly, bringing the system to market required extensive development, validation, and legal resolution over many years.
The result is the system presented today.
The original patent filings and related materials are available for review through the USPTO and supporting case records, although a complete understanding of the history may require reference to the associated exhibits and court filings.
When engaging intellectual property counsel, it is critical to evaluate their prosecution history and track record. Proper handling of a patent application is essential, as procedural failures can have permanent consequences.
"Lawsuits are the suicide of time" - Thomas Edison.
GAMING ELEMENTS AND GAME PLAY METHODS
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to US non-provisional Patent Application Serial No.12/776,273 filed May 7, 2010 and US Provisional Application Serial Nos. 61/215,684; 61/215,695; and 61/321,768 filed May 7, 2009 and US Provisional Application Serial No. 61/321,971 filed April 8, 2010, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention generally relates to games and more particularly to games involving game pieces and game play.
[0003] This invention generally relates to variations of card games, such as those known as Solitaire, which generally refers to games involving the sorting of conventional playing cards by a single player in a specified manner according to preset rules. Games of Solitaire begin with dealing cards from a shuffled “deck” of cards into a prescribed arrangement on a tabletop, from which the player attempts to reorder the deck using the color of the suit and rank (e.g., from Ace to King) of the conventional cards as a distinguishing method to sort the cards through a series of moves transferring cards from one place to another under prescribed methodical restrictions. Some games allow for the reshuffling of the deck(s) which create availability or unavailability, and/or the placement of cards into new or "empty" locations of tabeleaus, “freecells” or “foundation” piles which also have restrictions or conditions upon them which ultimately determines if a game can be solved or otherwise reach a winning condition.
[0004] Despite there being many versions of Solitaire, all are limited to the same 13 ranks and most games require the reorder of the “deck” in the sequential build of cards to alternate between classes (colors), e.g. red/black/red/black/red etc. These limitations can cause many of the games to become undesirably unsolvable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In some embodiments, the invention is directed to a device for playing games, which includes a plurality of game elements, wherein each game element is associated with a plurality of features, each feature of the plurality of features being selected from a discrete category of features, each game element including a feature from each discrete category of features, whereby the plurality of game elements are capable of being arranged into a plurality of subsets of game elements by features within the discrete category of features, wherein the discrete categories of features are selected from the group consisting of colors, alphabetic characters, ideographic characters and numerical values.
[0006] In some embodiments, the game elements may be playing cards, game tiles or virtual representations of cards.
[0007] In some embodiments, each game element includes a color and a numerical value. The game elements may be of different colors and each subset of game elements of different colors may include the same set of numerical values.
[0008] In some embodiments, the invention is directed to methods of playing games, such as those described herein and in the accompanying materials, with the game elements.
ENABLING DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Some embodiments relate to a game device or system having a plurality of unique game elements, such as for example, cards, tokens, tiles, and balls, as well as virtual or graphical representations thereof, which may be configured and adapted for use in a variety of game methods.
[0010] The game elements may each include features which are selected from one or more discrete categories of features. For example, each game element may include a feature relating to a specific color, such as blue, red, purple, white, etc. Other features included on each game element may be selected from discrete categories such as numerical values, alphabetic characters, ideographic characters, pictographs, names, symbols graphics or any other indicia having a common attribute or connection that enables categorization thereof. It should be readily apparent that the game elements are not limited to any specific features or categories thereof. [0011] In some embodiments, the game elements include similar combinations of features, including one or more identical features from one or more discrete categories. The features may be disposed all on one side or face of the game element, with none on the opposing face. However, at least one feature on each game element is selected to differentiate game elements so that all game elements are unique and there are no fully identical game elements. For example, in some embodiments, the distinct features include integers and letters, and may include game elements having the same letters or integers or both. Additionally, the letters may be selected to form words of any language. For example, Chinese characters may be used instead. Game elements with matching features also have at least one distinct additional feature which distinguishes these game elements, such as color or symbol.
[0012] The distribution of features among game elements allows the game elements to be arranged into subsets of game elements that share a common attribute. For example, in some embodiments discussed in detail herein, the game elements may be separately classified into subsets of game elements having the same color and/or the same number.
[0013] In an illustrative example shown in Fig. 1a, a game device 10 includes game elements 12 which generally resemble a physical deck of cards having a front face 13 and rear face 15, but may also be configured as virtual representations thereof. Deck 12 includes one hundred and twenty five cards having features which may be generally categorized as colors and numbers. The colored gaming elements (e.g., green, orange, purple, blue and white or non-colored) are capable of being arranged into twenty-five card subsets identified by arrows 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22, respectively. The colors are represented in this figure by various distinguishable patterns on front face 13 of cards 12, which is also included within the spirit and scope of the invention. Cards 12 in subsets 14 through 22 include consecutive integers from 1 to 25.
[0014] It should be understood that game device 10 is a non-limiting example of the many variations of a game device according to the invention. For example, deck 12 may have a different number of game elements, such as fifty. Also, other colors and numbering schemes may be employed in the spirit and scope of this invention. Moreover, other indicia, such as letters or words may also be added to the game elements to form subsets. In addition to game devices such as those described herein, the invention is also directed to game play methods that may utilize game devices according to the invention.
[0015] Exemplary game methods involve the random dealing of game elements. In some of the embodiments herein, the game elements are dealt into preset arrangements. The preset arrangements may be formed by systemically placing randomized game elements into multiple piles of game elements, with one or more game elements being placed face down or face up. Some game elements may be used to form a reserve pile or stack. The final or top element in any pile is typically allowed to be manipulated or moved from its initial position to another position in a different pile, free position, waste pile, foundation position or tableaux, for example, in order to expose an element in the pile thereunder, which may further assist in achieving the ultimate goal of the game.
[0016] By way of an illustrative example, the preset arrangements may be similar to the arrangements of standard playing cards in one or more versions of the game of solitaire, such as klondike, pyramid, spider or freecell, for example. Fig. 1b illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which game elements 12 have been randomly dealt into eleven piles 109, foundation positions 104, 105, 106, 107 and 108, which are to receive sequential elements from each of the various colors or patterned subsets 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22, and waste stack 103 containing the remaining undealt elements, thus somewhat resembling the klondike version of conventional solitaire. [0017] Upon dealing the game elements, resolution of the game or game play will involve the manipulation of one or more game elements according to a preset criteria or code from this initial condition of random game elements into a winning condition. The preset criteria thus set forth the relationship between the game elements, among other things, within the confines of the preset arrangements, which must be satisfied in order to change the condition of the game by repositioning game elements.
[0018] For example, the preset criteria may set forth that a first element from a first pile may be non-permanently moved by placing the first element on or over a second element in a second pile if the first element is of a different color than the second element and if the number on the first element is sequentially numbered one less than the second element game. In the above example, the first element would then be included with the second element in the second pile.
[0019] Alternative exemplary preset criteria which must be satisfied in order to move a first element include: if the first element is of the same color and has a number which is one more than the second element, then the first element may be placed on or over the second element; if the first element is of a different color and has a number which is one more (or any number more or less) than the second element, then the first element may be placed on or over the second element; if the first element is of a different color and has a number which is either even (or odd) as compared with the second element, then the first element may be placed on or over the second element; and if the first element and the second element are adjacent and include numbers which may be combined together (or subtracted from each other) to achieve a particular value, then both the first element and second element may be moved to a third pile. It should be readily apparent that the above are non-limiting alternative examples, and many other variations may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention.
[0020] In an embodiment of the invention, one or more of the subsets of elements may be manipulated according to second criteria different from the preset criteria. For example, in one embodiment, the non-colored or white elements may be moved immediately upon being exposed to a separate foundation for such elements. In this embodiment, the white elements are randomized and dealt with the other elements and affect game play but are not subject to the same preset criteria. In other embodiments, the non-colored elements (or a colored element) may be “wild” in that it can substitute for any other element, or may have other functions which differ from the other subsets.
[0021] Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of playing a game using a game device according to the invention, such as game device 10. It should be understood that steps recited herein may be carried out in a variety of ways, such as by physically using game elements, via an electronic gaming machine (EGM) in a gaming establishment, through a home gaming system, computer or portable device, such as a mobile phone, capable of communicating via the Internet, global telecommunication network or world wide web.
[0022] Players may select from a plurality of game variations which utilize various versions of a game device according to the invention. Game elements 12 are dealt according to a preset layout that depends on the selected game and may then be individually manipulated according to preset criteria. The total amount of time spent in resolving the game may be recorded for comparative or competition purposes.
[0023] Embodiments of the invention are directed to a game device referred to hereinafter as the Full Color™ Cards which includes game elements such as those shown in the attached documents. Although the elements are referred to as “cards,” it should be understood that the system may be played in a computerized setting with virtual representations of the elements or cards.
[0024] The cards have identical small and large numerical markings which facilitates identifying the card rank when stacking cards on top of each other. One embodiment of a deck of Full Color™ Cards includes a total of 125 cards, divided in 5 sets of green, orange, purple, blue and white, wherein each set includes cards numbered sequentially 1 through 25, as shown the attached documents.
[0025] It should be understood that the technology described herein may be implemented as logical operations and/or modules in one or more systems. The logical operations may be implemented as a sequence of processor-implemented steps executing in one or more computer systems and as interconnected machine or circuit modules within one or more computer systems. Likewise, the descriptions of various component modules may be provided in terms of operations executed or effected by the modules. The resulting implementation is a matter of choice, dependent on the performance requirements of the underlying system implementing the described technology. Accordingly, the logical operations making up the embodiments of the technology described herein are referred to variously as operations, steps, objects, or modules. Furthermore, it should be understood that logical operations may be performed in any order, unless explicitly claimed otherwise or a specific order is inherently necessitated by the claim language.
[0026] One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the computer system can include code that is loaded from a hard drive to be run on the processor. Alternatively, the system can be saved on a suitable storage medium such as a diskette, a CD, or like devices. [0027] The system can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In one embodiment, the system is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.
[0028] Furthermore, the system can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0029] The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium comprise a semiconductor or solid-state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks comprise compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.
[0030] A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code comprises at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code is retrieved from bulk storage during execution.
[0031] Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. [0032] Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.
[0033] Described above, aspects of the present application are embodied in a World Wide Web ("WWW") or ("Web") site accessible via the Internet. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the term "Internet" refers to the collection of networks and routers that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP") to communicate with one another. The internet can include a plurality of local area networks ("LANs") and a wide area network ("WAN") that are interconnected by routers. The routers are special purpose computers used to interface one LAN or WAN to another. Communication links within the LANs may be wireless, twisted wire pair, coaxial cable, or optical fiber, while communication links between networks may utilize 56 Kbps analog telephone lines, 1 Mbps digital T-1 lines, 45 Mbps T-3 lines or other communications links known to those skilled in the art.
[0034] Furthermore, computers and other related electronic devices can be remotely connected to either the LANs or the WAN via a digital communications device, modem and temporary telephone, or a wireless link. It will be appreciated that the internet comprises a vast number of such interconnected networks, computers, and routers.
[0035] The Internet has recently seen explosive growth by virtue of its ability to link computers located throughout the world. As the Internet has grown, so has the WWW. As is appreciated by those skilled in the art, the WWW is a vast collection of interconnected or "hypertext" documents written in HTML, or other markup languages, that are electronically stored at or dynamically generated by "WWW sites" or "Web sites" throughout the Internet.
Additionally, client-side software programs that communicate over the Web using the TCP/IP protocol are part of the WWW, such as web browsers, SOAP clients, JavaScript, Java Applets, instant messaging, e-mail, browser plug-ins, Macromedia Flash, chat and others. Other interactive hypertext environments may include environments such as those provided in America Online or other online service providers, as well as the "wireless Web" provided by various wireless networking providers, especially those in the cellular phone industry. It will be appreciated that the present application could apply in any such interactive communication environments, however, for purposes of discussion, the Web is used as an exemplary interactive hypertext environment with regard to the present application.
[0036] A website is a server/computer connected to the Internet that has storage capabilities for storing hypertext documents and that runs administrative software for handling requests for those stored hypertext documents as well as dynamically generating hypertext documents. Embedded within a hypertext document are a number of hyperlinks, i.e., highlighted portions of text which link the document to another hypertext document possibly stored at a website elsewhere on the Internet. Each hyperlink is assigned a URL that provides the name of the linked document on a server connected to the Internet. Thus, whenever a hypertext document is retrieved from any web server, the document is considered retrieved from the World Wide Web. Known to those skilled in the art, a web server may also include facilities for storing and transmitting application programs, such as application programs written in the JAVA.RTM. programming language from Sun Microsystems, for execution on a remote computer. Likewise, a web server may also include facilities for executing scripts and other application programs on the web server itself.
[0037] A remote access user may retrieve hypertext documents from the World Wide Web via a web browser program. A web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, is a software application program for providing a user interface to the WWW. Upon request from the remote access user via the web browser, the web browser requests the desired hypertext document from the appropriate web server using the URL for the document and the hypertext transport protocol ("HTTP"). HTTP is a higher-level protocol than TCP/IP and is designed specifically for the requirements of the WWW. HTTP runs on top of TCP/IP to transfer hypertext documents and user-supplied form data between server and client computers. The WWW browser may also retrieve programs from the web server, such as JavaScript or JAVA applets, for execution on the client computer. Finally, the WWW browser may include optional software components, called plug-ins, that run specialized functionality within the browser.
[0038] In other embodiments, game devices of the invention can be played on a hand held device such as a mobile phone or tablet computer. As depicted, the device can be used to challenge other players on an online system.
[0039] It should be understood that a game according to the present invention may be incorporated in a fully or partially automated or interactive, computerized platform supporting multiple player positions. It should be readily apparent that additional computerized or manual systems may be employed in accordance with the present invention in order to achieve its full implementation.
[0040] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the method described above may be incorporated in an electronic gaming machine or system in accordance with the invention. Such system or machine may include various computer and network related software and hardware, such as programs, operating systems, memory storage devices, input/output devices for data or monetary transfers, display devices, processors, servers with links to data communication systems, wireless or otherwise, and data transceiving terminals. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the precise types of software and hardware used are not vital to the full implementation of the present invention so long as players and operators of the present invention are provided with useful access thereto as described in exemplary embodiments herein.
[0041] While exemplary methods and applications of the methods of the present disclosure, have been described herein, it should also be understood that the foregoing is only illustrative of exemplary embodiments, as well as principles of the invention, and that various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the described embodiments should not be considered as limiting of the invention in any way. Accordingly, the invention embraces alternatives, modifications and variations which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as described herein and in the attached documents.
[0042] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the relevant art to practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, and generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown and described herein. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.
ATTACHED DOCUMENTS DESCRIBING EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0043] The below description refers to the attached document which discloses a non-limiting embodiment of the invention and gaming methods as recited in this application. Furthermore, multiple embodiments are described therein including a variety of sorting and scoring schemes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0044] In the descriptions that follow, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and certain figures may be shown in exaggerated or generalized form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
[0045] FIGURE 1 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment of a deck Full Color™ Cards with five unique colored suits for a total of one hundred and twenty five Full Color™ Cards 10, and the top of each card 12, used within the Full Color™ Solitaire game in accordance to a multitude of aspects of the present application. The deck may have more or less than 13 sequentially ranked cards in a suit and should not be considered limiting.
[0046] FIGURE 2a thru 2e depicts a flow diagram illustrating exemplary processes performed in the Full Color™ Solitaire game in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0047] FIGURE 3 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Klondike with a total of five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards of one through thirteen for a total of sixty-five cards 10 from FIGURE 1 and then identifying all of the tabletop components 14; including a stock pile 16; a waste pile 18; a white suit foundational pile 20; a green suit foundational pile 22; an orange suit foundational pile 24; a purple suit foundational pile 26; a blue foundational suit 28; a first tableau 30 with one card dealt face up; a second tableau 32 with one card dealt up 34 and one card dealt face down; a third tableau 36 with one card dealt up and two cards dealt face down 38; a fourth tableau 40 with one card dealt up and three cards dealt face down 42; a fifth tableau 44 with one card dealt up and four cards dealt face down 46; a sixth tableau 48 with one card dealt up and five cards dealt face down 50; a seventh tableau 52 with one card dealt up and six cards dealt face down 54 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0048] FIGURE 4 is an exemplary illustration showing the card sorting of all of the face up with white card 56 being moved into the white card foundational pile 20 exposing face a downturned card 58 in the seventh tableau 52 with its top most downturned card in 54 that can now be turned up in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0049] FIGURE 5 is an exemplary illustration showing the seventh tableau 52 with the top card that was previously downturned 58 in Figure 4 is now turned up 60 and eligible for game play leaving only five cards left downturned 62 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0050] FIGURE 6 is an exemplary illustration showing the lowest sequentially ranked card in a particular suit 64 being moved into its corresponding color foundational pile 26 from its origin in tableau 30 to begin to start building it up in identical suit and sequential rank leaving the first tableau 30 empty allowing the highest sequentially ranked card available to be moved to it in order to begin to start building the a tableau down in sequential rank in alternating suits in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0051] FIGURE 7 is an exemplary illustration showing the highest sequentially ranked card in a particular suit 66 being moved into the empty tableau 30 from tableau 48 to begin to start building it down in sequential rank with alternating suits leaving the sixth tableau 48 exposing a downturned card 58 ready to be turned up in 68 which will leave only four cards downturned in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0052] FIGURE 8 is an exemplary illustration showing a tableau 48 being built down with sequentially ranked cards being moved on top of it in alternating suits 70 that were moved from other tableaus 32, 36, 40, 44 and 52 exposing a downturned card 58 in each of them ready to be turned up in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0053] FIGURE 9 is an exemplary illustration showing a card 72 from the waste pile 74 being moved on top of a sequentially higher ranked card of a different suit in 48 tableau to create a new sequence 76 leaving only two cards left in the waste pile 74 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0054] FIGURE 10 is an exemplary illustration showing an unrestricted white card 78 from the waste pile 80 being moved to its respective white card foundation pile 20 leaving only one card left in the waste pile 80 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0055] FIGURE 11 is an exemplary illustration showing a group of sequentially ranked cards in alternating suits 82 from the sixth tableau 48 being moved to the fifth tableau 44 with a top card with a higher sequentially ranked card with a different suit to create a new stack of sequentially ranked cards of alternating suits 84 leaving more downturned cards exposed in the sixth tableau 48 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0056] FIGURE 12 is an exemplary illustration showing that no more cards can be moved in the tabletop 14 forcing more cards to be drawn from the stock pile 16 into the progressive waste pile 86 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application. The player will continue to draw from stock pile 16 if no current top card can be played as illustrated herein.
[0057] FIGURE 13 is an exemplary illustration showing the green card foundational pile 22 being stacked with a higher a sequentially card of the same suit of green 88 from the seventh tableau 52 as seen in Figure 12 to build up the foundation. It further shows that all cards in the waste pile 90 have been played leaving none left whereby more cards will be dealt out of stock pile 16 in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0058] FIGURE 14 is an exemplary illustration showing all cards have been turned over from all tableau piles and all cards have been dealt out of stock pile 92 and they have all been sorted into tableaus 30, 32, 36 and 40 built down in sequential card ranking order in alternating suits ready to be moved to each suit’s foundational piles in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0059] FIGURE 15 is an exemplary illustration showing all from all tableau piles and the entire stock pile 92 have been dealt out, sorted and sequentially built up into their respective suit color foundation piles 22, 24, 26 and 28 and all white cards have been placed in their respective foundation pile 20 completing the game in accordance with the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0060] FIGURE 16 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire FreeCell with total five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards of one through thirteen for a total of sixty-five cards 10 from FIGURE 1 further identifying all of the tabletop components 100; including a 3 freecell slots 102; a white suit foundational pile 104; a green suit foundational pile 106; an orange suit foundational pile 108; a purple suit foundational pile 110; a blue foundational suit 112; an eight tableaus 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126 and 128 each with all cards in the entire ”card system” 10 from FIGURE 1 all dealt face up until all cards are dealt out in accordance with the FreeCell aspect of the present application. [0061] FIGURE 17 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Spider 1 Suit with total five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards 10 from FIGURE 1 utilizing of one through thirteen in which one suit is white and there are four copies of the same suit of blue for a total of 65 cards and then 2 copies or a double deck of the cards for a total of 130 cards in the game, identifying all of the game components in tabletop 200; one stock pile 202; a white suit foundational pile 204; 8 blue suit foundation piles 206; an ten tableaus 208, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224 and 226. Initially the current embodiment 55 cards are dealt out face down into the 10 tableaus except for the top card of each one having a card face up. The tableau piles build down by rank, and in-suit sequences can be moved together. The 75 remaining cards are dealt to the tableau ten at a time when none of the top cards or piles can be moved any further. Once an in-suit sequence reaches its entire rank of all sequenced cards (in the current embodiment a total of 13 cards) all cards are then moved into the foundation pile freeing up the tableau for other cards to move to it or the top card above the 13 furthering the game play. The player will move all 8 in-suit sequences of 13 to each of the 8 foundational piles to win the game. The degree of difficulty in this game can be increased by adding more cards to the suit rank sequence, be it 16, 19, 22, 25 and more as well as turning on or off the capacity to undo the card moves. The number of tableaus, cards dealt out to them and cards in the leftover stockpile increase proportionally to the total number of cards in the initial deal.
[0062] FIGURE 18 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Spider 2 Suit with total five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards 10 from FIGURE 1 utilizing one through thirteen in which one suit is white and there are two copies of the one suit of blue and two copies of a second suit of orange for a total of 65 cards and then 2 copies or a double deck of the cards for a total of 130 cards in the game, identifying all of the game components in tabletop 300; one stock pile 302; a white suit foundational pile 304; 4 blue suit foundation piles 306; 4 orange suit foundation piles 308; an ten tableaus 310, 312, 314, 316, 318, 320, 322, 324, 326 and 328. Initially the current embodiment 55 cards are dealt out face down into the 10 tableaus except for the top card of each one having a card face up. The tableau piles build down by rank, and in-suit sequences can be moved together. The 75 remaining cards are dealt to the tableau ten at a time when none of the top cards or piles can be moved any further. Once an in-suit sequence reaches its entire rank of all cards (in the current embodiment a total of 13 cards) all cards are then moved into the foundation pile freeing up the tableau for other cards to move to it or the top card above the 13 furthering the game play. The player will move all 8 in-suit sequences of 13 to each of the 8 foundational piles to win the game. The degree of difficulty in this game can be increased by adding more cards to the suit rank sequence, be it 16, 19, 22, 25 and more as well as turning on or off the capacity to undo the card moves. The number of tableaus, cards dealt out to them and cards in the leftover stock pile increase proportionally to the total number of cards in the initial deal.
[0063] FIGURE 19 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Spider 4 Suit with total five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards 10 from FIGURE 1 utilizing one through thirteen in which one suit is white and there are one suit of green, one suit of orange, one suit of purple and one suit of blue for a total of 65 cards and then 2 copies or a double deck of the cards for a total of 130 cards in the game, identifying all of the game components in tabletop 400; one stock pile 402; a white suit foundational pile 404; 2 green suit foundation piles 406; 2 orange suit foundation piles 408; 2 purple suit foundation piles 410; 2 blue suit foundation piles 412, an ten tableaus 414, 416, 418,
420, 422, 424, 426, 428, 430 and 432. Initially the current embodiment 55 cards are dealt out face down into the 10 tableaus except for the top card of each one having a card face up. The tableau piles build down by rank, and in-suit sequences can be moved together. The 75 remaining cards are dealt to the tableau ten at a time when none of the top cards or piles can be moved any further. Once an in-suit sequence reaches its entire rank of all cards (in the current embodiment a total of 13 cards) all cards are then moved into the foundation pile freeing up the tableau for other cards to move to it or the top card above the 13 furthering the game play. The players will move all 8 in-suit sequences of 13 to each of the 8 foundational piles to win the game. The degree of difficulty in this game can be increased by adding more cards to the suit rank sequence, be it 16, 19, 22, 25 and more as well as turning on or off the capacity to undo the card moves. The number of tableaus, cards dealt out to them and cards in the leftover stock pile increase proportionally to the total number of cards in the initial deal.
[0064] FIGURE 20 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Golf with total five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards of one through thirteen in which one suit is white and there are one suit of green, one suit of orange, one suit of purple and one suit of blue for a total of 65 cards, identifying all of the game components in tabletop 500; one stock pile 502; a foundational pile 504; seven tableaus 506, 508, 510, 512, 514, 516 and 518. In the current embodiment, 35 cards are dealt out into the 7 tableaus all face up. The goal of the game is to place all the cards in the 7 tableau into the foundation by resorting the colored suited cards in a +1 or -1 sequential ranking order regardless of their suit however, all cards with a white suit are unrestricted and when they reach the top card position in the tableau or are dealt into the foundation from the stockpile 502, they are automatically discarded from play. The current embodiment shows how the player begins the game with an empty foundation 504 and the player can choose which card they want to start it with. Initially a card must be placed into the foundation from either the stockpile 502 or the top of one of the tableau columns. The player will strategically choose a card to start a domino effect of connecting cards in sequential order higher or lower to the top most foundation card. Once a card is in the foundation 504, cards may be moved from the tableau into the foundation if their face value is one more or one less than that of the card on top of the foundation. A 1 card is the lowest in Golf and only a 2 may be played on it when it is on top of the foundation. In the current embodiment, 13 is highest card and no card may be played on top of the highest card in the sequence in the foundation. If you place the highest card into the foundation, you must draw a card from the stock. If you can't make any more moves from the tableau, you may also draw a card from the stock. Once the stock is empty and no more moves are possible, the game is over. In other embodiments of the game game the 1 or the 13 can be built upon by restarting at the top or bottom of the sequence with a 1 on top of a 13 or a 12 on a 13 or a 13 on a 1.
[0065] FIGURE 21 is an exemplary illustration that depicts one embodiment showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Pyramid with total five suits of thirteen sequentially ranked cards of one through thirteen in which one suit is white and there are one suit of green, one suit of orange, one suit of purple and one suit of blue for a total of 65 cards, identifying all of the game components in tabletop 600; one stock pile 602; a foundational pile 604; seven tableaus 606, 608, 610, 612, 614, 616 and 618 and a waste pile that has a first card draw 620 that moves to a second waste card 622 if it isn’t used in play. In the current embodiment the pyramid is built with 1 card in the 1st tableau, 2 in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd, 4 the 4th, 5 in the 5th, 6 in the 6th and 7 in the 7th for a total of 35 cards dealt face up leaving 30 remaining in the stock pile 602. In the current embodiment, the goal of the game is to place all the cards in the pyramid into the foundation. White cards have no restrictions and once they are on the top of a tableau or a waste pile they can be immediately discarded advancing the game play and freeing up more cards. Cards may be placed into the foundation in pairs by summing their card values to 13. A card is considered "in play" if it was just dealt as a face up card from the stock, it is the top card in the waste or it is a pyramid cards that is completely uncovered. A card can not be played if the card is covered by another card that it could be paired with, it is still not in play (since it is covered) and the cards may not be paired. The 13 card does not need to be paired with any other card and can be immediately moved to the foundation once it is in play. When a card in the first waste pile 620 can’t be played it moves to the second waste pile 622. If the next card in the stock is comes up and is played into 620, it can be paired with the card in 622. Any top card in play from the pyramid can be paired with any card from 620 or 622 at any time to for the purposes of uncovering buried cards in order to advance the game play. The game ends when a player complete makes one complete pass through the stock 602.
[0066] Although the games described herein are single player or individual games by design, electronic technology permits head to head competitions to occur whereby multiple players compete to see who can simultaneously solve identical games with an identical deal faster than their any other on linked electronic gaming platforms for a real or virtual prize, award or leader board recognition based on ending the game with the fastest time or best end score ranking. [0067] In one illustrative embodiment, the game utilizes a proprietary “card system” comprised of a new, unique and original set of playing cards that starts by dealing cards from a shuffled “deck” into a prescribed arrangement on a tabletop FIGURE 1 from which the player attempts to reorder the “deck” by “suit” and “rank” through a series of moves transferring cards from one place to another under prescribed methodical restrictions. Some games allow for the reshuffling of the deck(s), and/or the placement of cards into new or "empty" locations like “freecells” or “foundation” piles which also have restrictions or conditions upon them. Some games allow for a new and revolutionary new card gaming paradigm known as the “jumper card” method or the “bumper card” method depending on the method or skill level of game play that is chosen. [0068] In one illustrative embodiment, game play begins with a physical (or electronic) tabletop and a new "card system". In the first round of play, the player takes the new card system 10 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 and chooses a level of game play based on the desired degree of difficulty the player wishes to engage in. A level of game play is determined by a myriad of factors. The first factor is determined by how many cards in a game the player chooses to play with. The quantity of cards in each game will affect the final tabletop layout in FIGURE 3. [0069] In the current embodiment, the number of cards in the card system are from 1 through 13 in five suits making a total of 65 cards to start with for a total of 28cards dealt out in seven different tableaus 30, 32, 36, 40, 44, 48 and 50 and thirty seven in stock pile 16. The number of tableaus in FIGURE 3 along with their quantity of downturned cards in them will increase in direct proportion to the number of cards used in the card system 10, thusly creating more downturned cards to uncover, more tableaus to draw from while keeping the waste pile 18 and the foundational piles 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 the same. A card system 10 with 125 cards to start would result in eleven different tableaus with the 66 cards dealt out and 59 remaining in the stock pile 16.
[0070] The second selectable factor in the degree of difficulty is whether the player wants to allow moves to be tainted by allowing any number of moves to be undone.
[0071] The third selectable factor in the degree of difficulty is whether the player chooses to deal cards out of the stock pile 16 one at a time into the waste pile 18 or three at a time.
[0072] In some embodiments, the card system 10 may include more than 25 in each suit and continue to scale up in difficulty as well as in the quantity of cards dealt out at a time into the waste pile 18.
[0073] After a player has chosen their preferred level which is a combination of all of the player definable degrees of difficulty the player will deal out to the tabletop 14 from the card system 10 according to the Klondike aspect of the present application.
[0074] Although the game consists of individual play, in some embodiments, a player may engage in heads up competition against the house or against another live person for fun or for a wager based on a scoring system.
[0075] The current embodiment in FIGURE 3, shows a tabletop 14 where a player has chosen a game level that restricts the number of all cards in play to a total of 65 cards out of card system 10 starting with the 1 card and stopping at number 13 for all five suits.
[0076] In FIGURE 1, an exemplary deck of cards 10 are used within the tabletop game 14 as shown in FIGURE 3. The deck of cards have a top and a bottom side. In the current embodiment, the game uses a new, unique and proprietary deck of cards that are separated into a two part “card system”. One part is a “suit” of colors and the second part being a “rank” of sequentially based numbers.
[0077] FIGURE 2, shows a flowchart of the order of game play in block sequences. The game play begins in block 1002. If a player is engaged in a competition or a wager, block 1004 depicts how a player will make a wager against the house or another player in heads up play. The game begins after the deck of cards 10 have been randomly shuffled in block 1006. If a competition is play against other players in a remote electronic format, a computer system will deal identical cards to all players as seen in block 1008.
[0078] In some embodiments, cards are dealt out in accordance with block 1010 with one card up in the 1st tableau 30 of in FIGURE 3 and 6 more are dealt one at a time downturned in tableaus 2 through 7 in 32, 36, 40, 44, 48 and 52 respectively as illustrated in FIGURE 3.
[0079] The game play continues whereby block 1012 depicts how an upturned card is dealt on the left most down turned pile of 32, with subsequent cards dealt down until all piles 30, 32, 36, 40, 44, 48 and 52 have an upturned card as depicted in the tabletop 14 of FIGURE 3.
[0080] FIGURE 3 depicts how all remaining cards from the card system 10 are placed face down into the stock pile 16.
[0081] In the current embodiment, FIGURE 3 depicts five foundation piles, 20, 22, 24, 26 and
28. All foundational piles start out empty. Foundational pile 20 is a unique foundation pile that has no restrictions on it. It is known as the “white card” foundation and block 1014 continues the game play by depicting how any white card that becomes a top card in any waste pile 18 or any of the seven tableaus can instantly be moved to it in any order, thusly freeing up the tableau stacks and cards in the stock pile 16.
[0082] The game play at block 1014 further depicts how the white card 56 in FIGURE 4 is being moved into the white card foundational pile 20 exposing a downturned card 58 in the seventh tableau 52 with its top most downturned card in 54 that can now be turned up. The unrestricted movements of the “white cards” accelerates the ability to empty a tableau, alter the recycled order of the stock pile creating a new way to facilitate game development, accelerate and a complete a game.
[0083] Game play continues at block 1018 where a player turns over the downturned cards to become upturned card 60 and make it available for movement. as illustrated in FIGURE 5. This is done in every tableau when a downturned card becomes exposed at any point in the game. [0084] Game play continues at block 1020 when player moves all cards that will build a foundational pile up in 26 with card 64 in a sequential order starting with the lowest number (if any) as illustrated in FIGURE 6.
[0085] Game play continues at block 1022 if any tableau becomes empty and the highest ranking card is a top card from any other tableau or the waste pile whereby a player may choose to move it to fill that empty space to begin building a tableau down in sequential rank in alternating suits (if any such possibilities exists) as illustrated in FIGURE 7. A player may choose not to fill that space and move a card from the waste pile in order to change the sequence of recycled cards in the stock pile in order to free up other relevant cards.
[0086] Game play continues at block 1024 when a player may choose to move top cards from any or all tableaus to build a sequentially ranked stack of cards in alternating suits to free up downturned cards (if any such possibilities exists) as illustrated in tableau 48 of FIGURE 8. [0087] Game play continues at block 1026 when a player may choose to move any top card from the waste pile 74 and place it on top of a higher sequentially ranking card in any tableau that has an alternating suit and may repeat the process until no other cards to or from any tableau can be moved (if any such possibilities exists) as illustrated in tableau 48 of FIGURE 9.
[0088] Game play continues at block 1028 when a player may or may not choose to move a white card from the waste pile 80 to the white card foundation pile 20. A player may choose not to move that top card in an attempt to alter the outcome of a recycled stock pile in order to get a relevant card to end up on the top of a waste pile 80 in order to progress the game as a strategic move (if any such possibilities exists) as illustrated in FIGURE 10.
[0089] Game play continues at block 1030 when a player may choose to move or not move any stack of sequentially ranked cards 82 from any tableau 48 to the top card of any other tableau 44 when the top card of a stack being moved is one number lower than the top card 84 of the other tableau in an alternating suit in order to free up more downturned cards (if any such possibilities exists) as illustrated in FIGURE 11.
[0090] Game play continues at block 1032 when no more top cards can be moved from the waste, any foundation or tableau pile to any other foundation or tableau, the player may draw more cards from the stock pile 16 (if any exist) and deal more to the waste pile 86 to progress the game as illustrated in FIGURE 12.
[0091] If after all cards in the stock pile 16 have been cycled through and played and then recycled through and no more cards can be moved anywhere in block 1034, then the game ends at block 1036.
[0092] If the game play continues to block 1038 the player will draw from the stock 16 pile yielding some or all cards that can be moved from waste pile 90. If all the cards are moved from the waste pile 90, the player will draw more from the stock pile and continue to repeat the game play as defined in blocks 1014 through 1036 as illustrated in FIGURE 13.
[0093] If after all cards in the stock pile 16 have been cycled through and played and then recycled through and no more cards can be moved anywhere in block 1034, then the game ends at block 1036.
[0094] If the game play continues to block 1040 the player will continue to draw cards from the stock pile 92 and build tableaus down 30, 32, 36 and 40 with sequential ranking cards of alternating suits until all cards are played out allowing for the foundational piles to be built up and ultimately finish the game as illustrated in FIGURE 14.
[0095] If after all cards in the stock pile 16 have been cycled through and played and then recycled through and no more cards can be moved anywhere in block 1034, then the game ends at block 1036.
[0096] If the game play continues to block 1042 the play may move cards to and from the tableau 30, 32, 36 and 40 and foundation piles 22, 24, 26 and 28 to build up to the complete foundation piles in sequentially ranked order of identical suits to finish the game as illustrated in FIGURE 15.
[0097] Once the game is completed the player’s score is calculated in block 1044. In this embodiment, the sore is based on two factors. The first factor is an award of points based on how cards are moved. The scoring is simple. Waste to tableau card movement is a +10 for each card. Tableau to a foundation is a +10 points. The turnover of a downturned tableau card is a +5points. Moving a card from the foundation to a tableau is a -15. It should be noted that a player obtains 10 points when cards are moved directly from the waste stack to a foundation. However, if the card is first moved to a tableau, and then to a foundation, then an extra 5 points are received for a total of 15. Thus in order to receive a maximum score, no cards should be moved directly from the waste to foundation.
[0098] The second factor in the award of points is based on timed game play option. Every game starts out with the ability to win 10,000,000 bonus points. A player loses the opportunity to collect a bonus point with every second of time that it takes to complete the game. The bonus points are calculated with the formula of 10,000,000 divided by the total time in seconds to finish the game. If playing the hardest level takes 60 minutes to play the game the maximum bonus points that could be awarded would be 60 minutes x 60 seconds or 10,000,000/3600 = 2,777.78 bonus points in addition to the movement score.
[0099] If the game is a competition the game continues to block 1046 where a real or virtual prize or award is paid out or in the case of a non-wagering competition, the player’s score is posted to a leader board and the game ends at block 1036.
DESCRIPTION OF OTHER METHODS OF USE OF THE SOLITAIRE CARD SYSTEM
[00100] EMBODIMENT 2 utilizes FIGURE 16 for an exemplary illustration showing a randomly dealt out standard game of Solitaire FreeCell identifying all of the tabletop components including a multitude of freecells, a white card foundational pile, multiple color card foundational piles and an array of tableau piles in accordance with one aspect of the present application.
[00101] EMBODIMENT 3 utilizes FIGURE 17 for an exemplary illustration showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Spider 1 Suit in identifying all of the tabletop components including a stock pile, a white card foundational pile, multiple color card foundational piles, and an array of tableau piles in accordance with one aspect of the present application.
[00102] EMBODIMENT 4 utilizes FIGURE 18 for an exemplary illustration showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Spider 2 Suit in identifying all of the tabletop components including a stock pile, a white card foundational pile, multiple color card foundational piles, and an array of tableau piles in accordance with one aspect of the present application.
[00103] EMBODIMENT 5 utilizes FIGURE 19 for an exemplary illustration showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Spider 4 Suit in identifying all of the tabletop components including a stock pile, a white card foundational pile, multiple color card foundational piles, and an array of tableau piles in accordance with one aspect of the present application.
[00104] EMBODIMENT 6 utilizes FIGURE 20 for an exemplary illustration showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Golf identifying all of the tabletop components including a stock pile, a single universal foundational pile and an array of tableau piles in accordance with one aspect of the present application.
[00105] EMBODIMENT 7 utilizes FIGURE 21 for an exemplary illustration showing a randomly dealt out game of Solitaire Pyramid identifying all of the tabletop components including a stack of cards laid out in a cascading pyramid tableau, a stock pile, a waste pile and a single universal foundation pile in accordance with one aspect of the present application.
[00106] EMBODIMENT 8-2000 utilizes a multitude of variations of combinations of decks, stock, waste, white card, color foundation, tableau count, sequential ranking of identical suits, alternating suits, summing, sorting, desorting, build up and build down methods of utilizing the card system 10 in FIGURE 1.
[00107] Some embodiments utilize real money and some use virtual money, some use prizes, some use awards, some are competitions against the player themselves, some are against others remotely, some are just for fun. All employ a unique 2 part card system that is unique and proprietary that employs a unique suit that has restricted or unrestricted conditions that change the order of the deal, game development or game play that create new methods of playing Solitaire that are not possible with a traditional deck of 52 standard playing cards or any other deck in the world because no such deck has ever been invented or exists in the known commercial marketplace.
[00108] Other embodiments includes where one subset, such as the white cards, whereby once any card from this subset reaches a top card position anywhere in the game it can be instantly moved (or not moved into) to start its own foundation (regardless of its rank) thusly freeing up the stock, waste, cell or tableau card below it for other cards to move to, from or build on its vacated position to continue game development. Thus, the white cards can be removed from the flipped stock pile or the tableaus into its own foundation without having to be in any specific order.
[00109] Alternatively, once any card from this one subset reaches a top card position anywhere in the game it can be instantly moved (or not moved into) to continue building a foundation regardless of its own rank or the rank of the card in its own foundation thusly freeing up the stock, waste, cell or tableau card below it for other cards to move to, from or build on its vacated position to continue game development. Thus, the white cards can be removed from the flipped stock pile or the tableaus into its own foundation without having to be in any specific order. [00110] Alternatively, once any card from this one subset reaches a top card position anywhere in the game it can be instantly moved to any other tableau and create the equivalent of an free cell in a tableau to move any other cards from any other suits onto thusly freeing up the stock, waste, cell or tableau card below it for other cards to move to, from or build on its vacated position to continue game development. Thus, the white card becomes a solo jumper card prior to being moved into its foundation pile.
[00111] Alternatively, a card from the subset that is located anywhere in a tableau can move to the top card of any other tableau taking with it the entire group of cards regardless of the other suits or numerical order they are in to facilitate game development. Thus, the white card becomes a jumper card that takes its “children” with it prior to being moved into its foundation pile.
[00112] While the above represents some of the embodiments of the invention it should be readily apparent that additional embodiments may be formed with all or some of the features described above within the scope and spirit of the invention.