Board game of geopolitical and related knowledge
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to board games, and more particularly to board games in which players may demonstrate and learn geographical, political, historical, sociological and related knowledge for advancement during the course of the game. The game is particularly directed toward facts and knowledge relating to the United States of America, but the general rules and principles of the game may be applied to other nations and geopolitical areas as well. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many professional educators and academic experts have concluded that such subjects as geography, history, political science, and sociology and the like have been neglected to a great extent in the educational system. There may be many reasons for this neglect of such important subjects, such as the need for more time for various other academic subjects in the school environment as other subjects demand more attention in this increasingly complex world. The above subjects are also often perceived as relatively uninteresting, perhaps due to the requirement for memorization of various facts associated with the subjects. 
     For whatever reasons, the knowledge of the average student and citizen related to the above subject areas has been shown to be in need of improvement. Due to the circumstances noted above, however, such improvement has been difficult to achieve. The above noted obstacles may be overcome in many ways, but perhaps the most obvious would be through additional time spent on the subjects in a non academic environment, allowing the use of academic time for other subjects, and/or a method of instilling such knowledge in a way which would be enjoyable to those persons participating. 
     The need arises for a game capable of being played by two or more persons in an academic or non academic environment, in which knowledge of the subjects of geography, history, and sociology and the like is learned and/or taught. Such a game should be capable of instilling facts relating to the above subject areas in players of the game and also testing their knowledge of such facts. The game should include means for scorekeeping in order to provide for competition among players and therefore provide an enjoyable and interesting game, and also to provide for a method of grading students on their knowledge displayed during the course of the game when it is played in an academic environment. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     Various patents disclosing games relating to the subjects of geography, history, sociology and other similar subject areas are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 1,346,826 issued to Huggins is an example. While this game does incorporate methods and rules of play which do indeed test and teach knowledge of geography, the game is directed to a simulation of travel across a map of the United States or other country. As will be seen, the present invention also incorporates the movement of pieces upon a game board, but rather than using the map incorporated with the board, uses the perimeter of the board for travel. 
     Sakanashi U.S. Pat. No. 1,492,339 also discloses a geographical board game in which a map is used as the playing surface for the advancement of the playing pieces. In this game, lettered rather than numbered dice are used in order to determine player advancement across the board. As the game is based upon the use of the lettered dice, the amount of geographical knowledge required to successfully play the game is relatively limited. In this game as well as others known in the art, players must start from a predetermined point, an arrangement which further limits the versatility of the game. 
     None of the above listed patents, either singly or in combination, are seen to disclose the specific construction and method of play disclosed in the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     By the present invention, an improved board game incorporating means for the teaching and testing of geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, is disclosed. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, in which the starting point for each player is to a great extent determined individually by that player. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, which allows a plurality of paths of travel for playing pieces around the perimeter of the board, such paths of travel being ranked according to the level of play of the individual players during the course of the game. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, in which playing pieces may be moved either forward or backward along the path of travel, according to the desires of the individual players causing such moves. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, in which the completion of the game is determined by the attainment of a given score, rather than the reaching of a given location on the board representing a geographical location. 
     It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, in which the completion of the game may be determined by the passage of a given time interval. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, in which the completion of the game may be determined by the completion of a given number of laps around the perimeter of the board by the playing pieces. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a board game using geographical, historical, political and sociological knowledge, and the like, in which individual playing pieces may be used to represent given geographical or political areas, the movement of such pieces having based upon the responses of the players to questions relating to those areas. 
     With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed with reference being made to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a view of the game board used with the game, including playing pieces used in the game. 
     FIG. 2a is a view of the front surface of a card used in the game, showing examples of questions used in the play of the game. 
     FIG. 2b is a view of the reverse surface of the card of FIG. 2a, showing examples of answers for the questions on the card of FIG. 2a. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the game board and a game piece, showing their relationship. 
     FIG. 4 is a table of the categories of questions used in the play of the game. 
     FIG. 5 is a view of the scoresheet used in the game. 
     Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIG. 1, the present invention will be seen to relate to a board game incorporating the teaching and learning of geographical, historical, political and sociological information, and the like, by players. The board 10 used in the playing of the game contains a map of the United States 12, spacers 14, 16, and 18 for red, white, and blue cards respectively, an inner border 20, and an outer border 22. Other geographical or political maps and/or areas may also be used for other versions of the game. 
     Outer border 22 comprises a series of fifty individual rectangular areas 24, each containing a representation of one of the fifty states arranged in alphabetical order from the upper left corner of the board 10. Inner border 20 comprises a series of segments containing stars 26 alternatingly colored red, white and blue and marked with question categories. These colors correspond to question and answer cards 28, an example of which is shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b as front view 28a and back view 28b respectively. These cards 28 of the appropriate red, white or blue color are placed in the corresponding colored spaces 14, 16, and 18 of the board 10 prior to the beginning of the game. 
     Game playing pieces are of two types: State markers 30, more clearly shown in FIG. 3, and individual player position markers 32, top views of which are shown in FIG. 1. Markers 32 may be of any suitable shape, size and/or color. State markers 30 comprise an easily graspable upper portion 34 and a base 36 patterned to fit within corresponding depressions 38 which are located within each state on the map 12. State markers 30 are installed within the depressions 38 on the map 12 prior to the beginning of the game, and replaced in other depressions 38 within the outer border 22 during the course of the game. The base portion of each marker 30 is sufficiently large to conceal the name of the state over which it is installed, thus requiring the player to correctly name the state before the removal of the appropriate marker 30 from each depression 38 within each state on the map 12 during the course of the game, as more fully described below. 
     Red, white, or blue cards 28 as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b contain questions 40a and answers 40b to be used by the players during the course of the game. Each card 28 contains four questions 40a as shown on the front surface 28a of the card 28 of FIG. 2a, and the correct answers 40b to those questions 28a on the reverse side 28b of the card 28, as shown in FIG. 2b. The questions 40a are defined by categories, as shown in the table of FIG. 4. Thus, each red card 28 installed in space 14 of the board 10 contains questions and answers relating to important cities, the Revolutionary War, authors and/or other artists, and national parks, monuments and battlefields; each white card 28 contains questions and answers relating to bodies of water and other geographical landmarks and areas, the Civil War, the English language and spelling, and the political and governmental system and persons associated with the system; and each blue card 28 contains questions and answers relating to the Washington, D.C. area and nicknames and superlatives, early Americans or other historical figures, the space age, and sport. These categories are flexible and may be adjusted for more specific users or needs, such as different school grades or age groups, etc. 
     Answer sheets as shown in FIG. 5 are provided, one answer sheet for each color of cards 28. Each answer sheet provides space for six answers to questions contained in each of the four categories as listed on the respectively colored cards 28, or twenty four answers, which provides space for a total of seventy two answers on the three answer sheets to be used by each player during the game. 
     Order and progression of play are determined by the tossing of dice, not shown. Each die is a solid cube comprising six sides, each side marked with a number of dots from one through six, as is well known. One or two dice may be used. To begin play, each player tosses the die or dice. The highest resulting number allows that player to play first, the next highest to play second, and so on. Ties may be broken by a subsequent toss of the die or dice by the tied players. 
     The first player begins the game by choosing a state contained within one of the rectangular areas 24 forming the outer border 22 of board 10. The states within this outer border 22 are not marked with their respective names, and at this point in the play of the game the states comprising the map 12 of the game have their names concealed by state markers 30. Thus, players must be able to identify the state they chose on the outer border 22 by shape and corresponding location on the map 12. Having done so, the player then removes the state marker 30 from the chosen state on the map 12 and verifies the proper identification of that state. If the player is correct, state marker 30 is placed upon the corresponding state chosen by the player in the outer border 22. Otherwise, marker 30 is replaced upon its original location on map 12, and the next player in the order of play takes his or her turn. 
     Assuming that a player provides the correct name of the state chosen and is thus allowed to move the state marker 30 from the map 12 to the corresponding state on the outer border 22, that player may take a second turn by tossing the die or dice and moving his or her playing piece from the state identified on the outer border 22 to another state on the outer border 22 of his or her choosing. If that player successfully identifies five consecutive states, he or she may then move to the inner border 20 and begin the second level of play of the game. In any case, no player is allowed more than five consecutive plays. At the end of five consecutive correct plays on any level, the player must surrender play to the next player in the playing order. This rule precludes the possibility of a &#34;sweep&#34; by any one player. 
     An alternative method of accomplishing play around the outer border 22 of the board 10 may be performed using the die or dice to control player position. This alternative removes the element of a player who may know a few certain states and requires that player to accept landing upon whichever state on the outer border 22 as determined by the toss of the die or dice. In this alternative, players may start at the first state at the upper left corner of the board 10 and proceed clockwise around the outer border 12 until accomplishing the identification of the required five states to proceed to the inner border 20. If the die or dice indicate that a player is to land upon a previously identified state, the player may advance to the next unidentified state. 
     Advancement to the inner border 20 is accomplished by moving the player piece to the most nearly adjacent star 26 on the inner border 20 after the player has correctly identified five states on the outer border 22. A player must now move a corresponding number of stars 26 according to the toss of the dice, but has the option of moving either clockwise or counterclockwise around the inner border 20. A player moving along the inner border will land upon either a red, white or blue star 26 and must then select a card 28 from the similarly colored space 14, 16 or 18. Each star 26 also contains a question category corresponding to those categories shown in FIG. 4 and described above for cards 28. The player must then correctly answer the question 40a contained on the top card 28 of the appropriately colored stack contained on space 14, 16 or 18 relating to the category named on the star 26 upon which he or she has landed. The players answer may be checked by referring to the answer side 28b of the card 28. When a player has correctly answered the question as described above, he or she may fill out the appropriate scoresheet as shown in the example of FIG. 5 and take another turn as described above, up to the limit of five consecutive turns. 
     As an example of the above, assume a player has landed upon a star 26 which is colored red and has the category &#34;important cities&#34; contained upon its surface. The player must then select the top card 28 of the appropriate stack, i.e., red, contained upon space 14 of the board 10 and answer the question 40a pertaining to the subject of important cities which is printed upon the front side 28a of that card. Such a question might state, &#34;What is the capitol of Colorado?&#34; If the player correctly answers the question (&#34;Denver&#34;) he or she may fill out the scoresheet as shown in FIG. 5 by noting the answer in the appropriate space, i.e., space 1 of the red card scoresheet, corresponding to the numbers and categories shown in the table of FIG. 4. 
     The scoresheet of FIG. 5 contains six answer spaces for each question category. The example shown in FIG. 5 is an answer sheet for a white card which would contain questions numbered five through eight; hence, the corresponding numbers are used on the white card answer sheet shown. Thus, a total of six questions must be correctly answered in each question category. When a player has completely filled in a category by correctly answering six questions in that category, he or she may not accept a move to any star 26 which would refer the player to a question in the filled category. The player may alternatively move in the opposite direction around the inner border 20, i.e., counterclockwise rather than clockwise or vice versa, or may select a star 26 as closely adjacent as possible to the chosen direction of travel which displays the name of an unfilled category. 
     As noted above, in the play of the standard game a player must correctly answer a total of seventy two questions in order to complete the scoresheet. The first player to complete the scoresheet is the winner of the game. Such a requirement may result in a prohibitively long time span requirement to complete play, particularly if the game is played as a teaching aid in the classroom. Alternative means of completing the game may also be used if desired. Should time prove to be a limiting factor, the  game may be played for a predetermined time period with the player correctly answering the greatest number of questions and thus completing the greatest percentage of his or her scoresheet being the winner. 
     Alternatively, a shortened version of the game may require correctly answering only one, two, three, four, or five of the questions in ech category, the winner being determined as the first player to correctly answer the predetermined number of questions in each of the categories and fill out his or her scoresheet accordingly. 
     In any of the versions described above, the use of the scoresheet may have advantages in the academic or classroom setting. After the completion of the game, a teacher may collect the scoresheets from the students and use them for determining grades. Thus, the present invention provides an enjoyable means for students to establish their retention of knowledge, unlike most tests of such knowledge retention. 
     Yet another alternative would allow play without the use of scoresheets. This alternative may be preferable in a more casual non academic environment. In this alternative, a predetermined number of laps of the board may be used as the goal, the player first reaching that number of laps being declared the winner. 
     The present invention is not limited to play using a physical playing board and playing pieces and components as described above, but may also be played by means of a computer and appropriate programming. Appropriate graphics programming may be used to produce renditions of the game board on a computer monitor, while the questions may be called up along the top, bottom or other portion of the screen. Responses may be typed in using a standard keyboard or other suitable means, and the program may also store correct and/or incorrect responses and thus provide means of score keeping during the course of the game. 
     In many scools computer workshops and computerized teaching are becoming established, and thus a computerized version of the game utilizing a plurality of computers each interconnected to a mainframe computer and program will enable many more students or players to participate in the game simultaneously than otherwise. Such a system will save time needed to teach the subjects noted above, provide computer skills for the participants involved, enable many more players to participate, and make the learning of both the above noted subject matter associated with the game of the present invention and the associated computer skills more enjoyable to learn. 
     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.