The invention relates to a game assembly for playing a "Rummy"-like game.
What is known at present is the card-game "Rummy" or "Gin Rummy". For this game two complete sets of playing cards, including two jokers, are used, that is to say 106 cards. The aim of this game is to obtain series of at least three cards by means of cards of the same rank, or by means of cards of consecutive rank but of a different sign or colour. In the first case, one could for instance have four cards (spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts) with rank 10 and in the second case for instance a series of hearts with ranks 2, 3, 4 and 5.
For some years now, an attractive variant to the card-game "Rummy" has been available, in which the cards have been replaced by two sets of pieces bearing the numbers 1-13 and the colours black, red, yellow and blue. This game, generally known as "Rummikub" (registered trademark) has an attractive appearance and is easy to handle, especially for children. For those reasons the game is so successful that, among the younger generations, the term "Rummikub" has become better known even than the game, from which it is derived: "Rummy".
Intensive use of "Rummikub" however, regularly leads to the loss of one of the many (106, including two joker pieces) pieces. This in turn will lead to a loss in game potential and, if the defects are experienced as being too great, the set will have to be replaced.
Another property of the "Rummikub" game with the pieces is that playing the game itself requires quite a lot of room. Every individual player should have sufficient room for the "hand", for the "sets played" as well as for the "supply of pieces". Furthermore, the game assembly requires a fairly large box to be put away in, thus interfering with easy transportation of the game, especially when travelling.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a new game assembly for a game "Rummy"-like game, which is easy to handle, requires little playing room and yet offers a wide, well-balanced range of possibilities for play.
This object is according the invention obtained by a game assembly for playing a "Rummy"-like game, characterized in that, said game assembly comprises nine dice, each dice having six faces providing the game assembly with fifty-four faces in total, fifty-two of said fifty-four faces together possess four series of the numbers 1 through 13 and the other two faces of the fifty-four faces each comprise one character in the form of a joker, said four series of numbers differ from each other in colour, each dice being provided with six different numbers, each dice containing a set of numbers which is different from the numbers of another dice and in that numbers belonging to one of the series which are present on one dice are not consecutive. The game according to the invention offers a new variant for playing a "Rummy"-like game. It has the advantage of being handy, of moving in a way that is familiar to the players, of offering the players a quick overview of the situation in the game and of making it possible to form thirteen different rows of characters of the same rank. The game assembly according to the invention is moreover easy to take along when travelling. By using this game assembly one can form either a series of figures of the same "colour" that are consecutive, also called a "run", or a series of the same figures, of different colours, also called a "group", or both. A "run" consists of at least three units and a "group" consists of at least three or, if preferred, at least four units. It is also possible to combine a "group" and a "run".
Preferably each dice is provided with numbers of each of the colours.
The invention will be explained more fully hereafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The dice A-I represented in figures 1A and 1B are essentially cubical and so form fiftyfour faces. These fifty-four faces are occupied by four series of characters of figures 1-13 and two jokers, here represented by faces, on the dice E and G. The series of figures from 1-13 have been executed in colours that have not been represented here, for instance red, yellow, black and blue, which colours have here been schematically indicated by means of an empty round, a black round, a triangle and a square.
The following may be seen:
With the cubical dice represented in figures 1A and 1B, each dice possess figures in four different "colours". There will never be two consecutive figures of the same "colour" on any dice. Moreover, none of the dice is provided with identical figures.
The depicted nine dice offer four possibilities per "colour" to form a series of nine consecutive figures. It is possible, moreover, to form series of four identical figures of different "colours", for each of the thirteen figures.
Playing with the game assembly represented in figures 1A and 1B may be done in the following way. A first player throws all nine dice simultaneously and, after having studied the nine upturned faces, he uses the characters concerned to form either a series of figures of the same "colour" that are consecutive, also called a "run", or a series of the same figures, of different colours, also called a "group", or both. A "run" consists of at least three units and a "group" consists of at least three or, if preferred, at least four units. It is also possible to combine a "group" and a "run", as is represented in the accompanying figure 2.
After the first "groups", "runs" or combinations thereof have been formed, the same player throws the remaining dice again and, if possible, adds the upturned characters of the recently thrown dice to the played sets that had already been formed. Then, the same player may throw the remaining dice one last time to try and further expand the played sets on the table.
Then the score is added up, wherein the score for a "group" or "run" is determined by the number of dice used, the score for a combined set is determined by adding up the number of dice used to form the "group" and the "run" concerned. If however, in the latter case, all nine dice have been used, 15 points are awarded (figure 2). If all nine dice are used to form a "run", 25 points are awarded, and if all nine dice are used for two "runs" of different colours, 20 points are awarded. Finally, the use of all nine dice in three "groups" yields 20 points. In forming the played sets, the jokers, if they ended up on an upturned face of a dice, may be used as a substitute for any required character.
After the score of the player has been added up, all nine dice are passed on to the next player and the above procedure is repeated. After the agreed number of rounds has been played, the total score can be added up so as to determine the winner of the game.