Game apparatus

Claim 2

Game apparatus, the game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing locations at each of which is rotatably mounted a playing piece, each playing piece having an indicium thereon so that rotation of a playing piece to a selected orientation presents said indicium to a player; retaining means for retaining each playing piece in a selected orientation, wherein the retaining means comprises at least one elastic member biased into engagement with the playing pieces; and, reset means operable to reset the playing pieces for a new game by disengaging said at least one elastic member from the playing pieces, thereby allowing the playing pieces to be reset.

Claim 3

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the center of mass of each playing piece is offset from its axis of rotation, the reset means being operable to release the retaining means from retaining the playing pieces to allow the playing pieces to rotate under gravity and thereby reset the playing pieces.

Claim 4

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each playing piece has a plurality of faces, at least one of said faces having an indicium thereon to distinguish that face from other faces of the playing piece.

Claim 5

Game apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein each playing piece includes at least one rotation indicium thereon, said rotation indicium being smaller than the first indicium.

Claim 6

Game apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein each face having an indicium thereon also includes at least one rotation indicium thereon.

Claim 7

Game apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein each face having an indicium thereon also includes plural rotation indicium thereon.

Claim 8

Game apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein each playing piece includes at least one rotation indicium thereon, each of said rotation indicium being adapted to indicate to a player the direction of rotation of the playing piece about its axis of rotation to display a corresponding one of the faces.

Claim 9

Game apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein each face having an indicium theron also includes at least one rotation indicium thereon.

Claim 10

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one elastic member comprises plural spring wires which are biased into engagement with respective ones of said playing pieces.

Claim 11

Game apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein each playing piece has an abutment, the spring wires engaging the abutments of the respective playing pieces to retain the playing pieces in a selected orientation.

Claim 12

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the retaining means are carried by a carriage which is displaceable to allow the playing pieces to be reset.

Claim 13

Game apparatus according to claim 11 , comprising biasing means for biasing the carriage so that the playing pieces are normally retained in a selected orientation by the retaining means, the carriage being displaceable against the bias of the biasing means to allow the playing pieces to be reset.

Claim 14

Game apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the carriage is adapted to be displaced downward from the playing pieces.

Claim 15

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a lattice grid having a plurality of walls defining the plurality of playing locations and supporting the playing pieces.

Claim 16

Game apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the playing pieces are rotatably mounted on respective axles supported by the grid.

Claim 17

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each playing piece is captively mounted in said apparatus.

Claim 18

Game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each playing piece is a triangular prism having three faces selectively presentable to a player by rotation of the playing piece.

Claim 19

Game apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein a first face of each playing piece has a first indicium thereon indicating a first game counter and a second face of each playing piece has a second indicium thereon indicating a second counter.

Claim 20

Game apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the face of each playing piece bears an indicium indicating the direction of rotation of the playing piece required to present a desired first or second indicium to a player.

Claim 21

Game apparatus, the game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing locations at each of which is rotatably mounted a playing piece, each playing piece having a plurality of faces, at least one of said faces of each playing piece having an indicium thereon to distinguish that face from other faces of the playing piece so that rotation of a playing piece to a selected orientation presents said indicium to a player; a carriage carrying plural spring wires which are biased into engagement with respective ones of said playing pieces for retaining each playing piece in a selected orientation; and, biasing means for biasing the carriage so that the playing pieces are normally retained in the selected orientation by the spring wires, the carriage being displaceable against the bias of the biasing means to disengage the spring wires from the playing pieces thereby to allow the playing pieces to be reset for a new game.

Claim 22

Game apparatus, the game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing locations at each of which is rotatably mounted a playing piece, each playing piece having a plurality of faces, at least one of said faces of each playing piece having an indicium thereon to distinguish that face from other faces of the playing piece so that rotation of a playing piece to a selected orientation presents said indicium to a player; a carriage carrying plural spring wires which are biased into engagement with respective ones of said playing pieces for retaining each playing piece in a selected orientation; and, biasing means for biasing the carriage so that the playing pieces are normally retained in the selected orientation by the spring wires, the carriage being displaceable against the bias of the biasing means to disengage the spring wires from the playing pieces thereby to allow the playing pieces to be reset for a new game.

Claim 23

Game apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the center of mass of each playing piece is offset from its axis of rotation in a direction opposite a predetermined face of said playing piece, the playing pieces rotating under gravity to present said predetermined faces to a player thereby to reset the playing pieces when the spring wires are disengaged from the playing pieces.

Claim 24

Games apparatus of claim 20 , wherein each playing piece includes at least one rotation indicium thereon adapted to indicate to a player the direction of rotation of the playing piece about its axis of rotation to display a corresponding one of the faces.

Claim 25

Game apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein each face having an indicium thereon also includes at least one rotation indicium thereon.

Claim 26

Game apparatus according to claim 20 , comprising a lattice grid having a plurality of walls defining the plurality of playing locations and supporting the playing pieces.

Claim 27

Game apparatus according to claim 24 , wherein the playing pieces are rotatably mounted on respective axles supported by the grid.

Claim 28

Game apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein each playing piece is captively mounted in said apparatus.

Claim 29

Game apparatus, comprising: a base including a depressible carriage; at least one mechanism adapted to bias the carriage away from the base; a plurality of rotatable playing pieces having axes of rotation, each playing piece including a plurality of faces that are selectively revealable to a player by rotating the playing pieces about their axes of rotation; indicium on at least one of the faces of each playing piece; and at least one second bias mechanism normally adapted to engage the plurality of playing pieces to prevent unintentional rotation of the playing pieces, wherein upon depression of the carriage toward the base, the playing pieces are freed from engagement by the at least one second bias mechanism.

Claim 30

Game apparatus, comprising: a base including a depressible carriage; at least one mechanism adapted to bias the carriage away from the base; a plurality of rotatable playing pieces having axes of rotation, each playing piece including a plurality of faces that are selectively revealable to a player by rotating the playing pieces about their axes of rotation; indicium on at least one of the faces of each playing piece; and at least one second bias mechanism normally adapted to engage the plurality of playing pieces to prevent unintentional rotation of the playing pieces, wherein upon depression of the carriage toward the base, the playing pieces are freed from engagement by the at least one second bias mechanism.

Claim 31

Game apparatus of claim 27 , wherein each of the plurality of playing pieces has a center of mass offset from its axis of rotation, thereby biasing the playing pieces to rotate under gravity to a determined orientation when the carriage is depressed toward the base.

Claim 32

Game apparatus of claim 27 , wherein each of the plurality of playing pieces includes a least one first indicium on a first face and at least one second indicium on a second face.

Claim 33

Game apparatus of claim 29 , wherein each of the plurality of playing pieces further includes rotation indicium adapted to indicate to a player the direction of rotation of the playing piece to reveal a corresponding one of the plurality of faces.

Claim 34

Game apparatus, the game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing locations at each of which is rotatably mounted a playing piece, each playing piece having a plurality of faces, wherein at least one of said faces has an indicium thereon so that rotation of a playing piece to a selected orientation presents said indicium to a player, and further wherein each face having an indicium thereon also includes at least one rotation indicium thereon adapted to indicate to a player the direction of rotation of the playing piece about its axis of rotation to display a corresponding one of the faces; retaining means for retaining each playing piece in a selected orientation; and, reset means operable to reset the playing pieces for a new game.

Claim 35

Game apparatus, the game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing locations at each of which is rotatably mounted a playing piece, each playing piece having a plurality of faces, wherein at least one of said faces has an indicium thereon so that rotation of a playing piece to a selected orientation presents said indicium to a player, and further wherein each face having an indicium thereon also includes at least one rotation indicium thereon adapted to indicate to a player the direction of rotation of the playing piece about its axis of rotation to display a corresponding one of the faces; retaining means for retaining each playing piece in a selected orientation; and, reset means operable to reset the playing pieces for a new game.

Claim 36

Game apparatus according to claim 31 , wherein the center of mass of each playing piece is offset from its axis of rotation, the reset means being operable to release the retaining means from retaining the playing pieces to allow the playing pieces to rotate under gravity and thereby reset the playing pieces.

Claim 37

Game apparatus according to claim 31 , wherein each face having an indicium thereon also includes plural rotation indicium thereon.

Claim 38

Game apparatus according to claim 31 , wherein the retaining means are carried by a carriage which is displaceable to allow the playing pieces to be reset.

Claim 39

Game apparatus according to claim 35 , comprising biasing means for biasing the carriage so that the playing pieces are normally retained in a selected orientation by the retaining means, the carriage being displaceable against the bias of the biasing means to allow the playing pieces to be reset.

Claim 40

Game apparatus according to claim 34 , wherein the carriage is adapted to be displaced downward from the playing pieces.

Claim 41

Game apparatus according to claim 31 , comprising a lattice grid having a plurality of walls defining the plurality of playing locations and supporting the playing pieces.

Claim 42

Game apparatus according to claim 37 , wherein the playing pieces are rotatably mounted on respective axles supported by the grid.

Claim 43

Game apparatus according to claim 31 , wherein each playing piece is captively mounted in said apparatus.