Electronic word puzzle game

• US 5,921,864 A
• Filed: 03/20/1996
• Issued: 07/13/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zynga Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Walker Asset Management Limited Partnership
• Inventors: Jorasch, James, Walker, Jay S.
• Primary Examiner(s): MANUEL, GEORGE C
• Application Number:
  US08/618,947
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 463/9, 463/10, 273/272, 273/273, 273/429, 273/430, 273/431, 273/299, 434/159, 434/160, 434/167
• US Class Current: 463/9
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/0421 Electric word or number games

Abstract

An electronic word puzzle game, the game playable on a game computer having a processor for executing at least one program from associated memory, a display and an I/O interface, comprising: at least one puzzle phrase in the associated memory; a game program in the associated memory executable by the processor for randomly or determininistically choosing a solution phrase from the associated memory, the solution phrase comprising at least one of letters, spaces and punctuation marks; the I/O interface adapted for enabling the player to select at least one of letters, spaces and punctuation marks from a selection of entry keys associated with the I/O interface; the game computer generating and displaying a plurality of solution phrase constituent display areas, wherein each of said solution phrase constituent display areas corresponds to each letter, blank space, and punctuation mark of the solution phrase, on the display screen; the game program executable by the processor for comparing the at least one selected letter to the letters in the solution phrase and displaying on the display screen the selected letter in each grid box corresponding to a letter of the solution phrase for each player selected letter found in the solution phrase; and the game computer displaying in the corresponding grid box at least one of blank spaces and punctuation marks of the solution phrase adjacent to a selected letter found in the solution phrase. In an alternative embodiment, the electronic word puzzle game capable of being played at a user terminal over a data network in accordance with the invention.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a word puzzle game, comprising the steps of:

initializing score data representing a score;

determining a puzzle phrase, the puzzle phrase comprising a plurality of characters, each of the plurality of characters being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

displaying a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to one of the plurality of characters of the puzzle phrase;

receiving a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

updating the score data, thereby decreasing the score based on an elapsed time;

comparing the player selection to at least one character of the puzzle phrase to determine whether the player selection matches any of the at least one character of the puzzle phrase; and

displaying each character of the puzzle phrase determined to match the player selection.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining a puzzle phrase includes the step of receiving a transmitted puzzle phrase.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining a puzzle phrase includes the step of receiving a category identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of updating the score data includes the step of decreasing the score data based on a point value corresponding to the player selection.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:

initializing point data representing a plurality of point values, each point value corresponding to one of the plurality of player selectable characters; and

updating at least a portion of the point data based on an elapsed time.

6. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:

receiving a request to display a clue corresponding to the puzzle phrase; and

displaying the clue.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of displaying the clue includes the step of displaying at least one character of the puzzle phrase.

8. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:

determining, for each character of the puzzle phrase selected from the group consisting of spaces and punctuation marks, whether the character is adjacent to a character of the puzzle phrase that has been determined to match the player selection; and

displaying each character of the puzzle phrase selected from the group consisting of spaces and punctuation marks that has been determined to be adjacent to a character of the puzzle phrase that has been determined to match the player selection.

9. A method for conducting a word puzzle game comprising the steps of:

receiving initialized score data representing a score;

displaying the score based on the initialized score data;

receiving display area data representing a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to a character of a puzzle phrase, each character being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

displaying the plurality of display areas;

receiving a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

transmitting the player selection to a central server;

receiving updated score data representing the score;

displaying the score based on the updated score data;

receiving a solution character corresponding to at least one display area; and

displaying the solution character.

10. An apparatus for conducting a word puzzle game, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory connected to the processor storing a program to control the operation of the processor;

the processor operative with the program in the memory to;

initialize score data representing a score;

determine a puzzle phrase, the puzzle phrase comprising a plurality of characters, each of the plurality of characters being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

display a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to one of the plurality of characters of the puzzle phrase;

receive a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

update the score data, thereby decreasing the score based on an elapsed time;

compare the player selection to at least one character of the puzzle phrase to determine whether the player selection matches any of the at least one character of the puzzle phrase; and

display each character of the puzzle phrase determined to match the player selection.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to receive a transmitted puzzle phrase.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to receive a category identifier.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to decrease the score data based on a point value corresponding to the player selection.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to:

initialize point data representing a plurality of point values, each point value corresponding to one of the plurality of player selectable characters; and

update at least a portion of the point data based on an elapsed time.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to:

receive a request to display a clue corresponding to the puzzle phrase; and

display the clue.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to display at least one character of the puzzle phrase.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further operative with the program in the memory to:

determine, for each character of the puzzle phrase selected from the group consisting of spaces and punctuation marks, whether the character is adjacent to a character of the puzzle phrase that has been determined to match the player selection; and

display each character of the puzzle phrase selected from the group consisting of spaces and punctuation marks that has been determined to be adjacent to a character of the puzzle phrase that has been determined to match the player selection.

18. An apparatus for conducting a word puzzle game, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory connected to the processor storing a program to control the operation of the processor,

the processor operative with the program in the memory to;

receive initialized score data representing a score;

display the score based on the initialized score data;

receive display area data representing a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to a character of a puzzle phrase, each character being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

display the plurality of display areas;

receive a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

transmit the player selection to a central server;

receive updated score data representing the score;

display the score based on the updated score data;

receive a solution character corresponding to at least one display area; and

display the solution character.

19. An apparatus for conducting a word puzzle game, the apparatus comprising:

means for initializing score data representing a score;

means for determining a puzzle phrase, the puzzle phrase comprising a plurality of characters, each of the plurality of characters being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

means for displaying a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to one of the plurality of characters of the puzzle phrase;

means for receiving a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

means for updating the score data, thereby decreasing the score based on an elapsed time;

means for comparing the player selection to at least one character of the puzzle phrase to determine whether the player selection matches any of the at least one character of the puzzle phrase; and

means for displaying each character of the puzzle phrase determined to match the player selection.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising means for receiving a transmitted puzzle phrase.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising means for receiving a category identifier.

22. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the means for updating the score data includes means for decreasing the score data based on a point value corresponding to the player selection.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 further comprising:

means for initializing point data representing a plurality of point values, each point value corresponding to one of the plurality of player selectable characters; and

means for updating at least a portion of the point data based on an elapsed time.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 further comprising:

means for receiving a request to display a clue corresponding to the puzzle phrase; and

means for displaying the clue.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the means for displaying the clue includes means for displaying at least one character of the puzzle phrase.

26. The apparatus of claim 22 further comprising:

means for determining, for each character of the puzzle phrase selected from the group consisting of spaces and punctuation marks, whether the character is adjacent to a character of the puzzle phrase that has been determined to match the player selection; and

means for displaying each character of the puzzle phrase selected from the group consisting of spaces and punctuation marks that has been determined to be adjacent to a character of the puzzle phrase that has been determined to match the player selection.

27. An apparatus for conducting a word puzzle game, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving initialized score data representing a score;

means for displaying the score based on the initialized score data;

means for receiving display area data representing a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to a character of a puzzle phrase, each character being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

means for displaying the plurality of display areas;

means for receiving a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

means for transmitting the player selection to a central server;

means for receiving updated score data representing the score;

means for displaying the score based on the updated score data;

means for receiving a solution character corresponding to at least one display area; and

means for displaying the solution character.

28. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method for conducting a word puzzle game, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:

initializing score data representing a score;

determining a puzzle phrase, the puzzle phrase comprising a plurality of characters, each of the plurality of characters being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

displaying a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to one of the plurality of characters of the puzzle phrase;

receiving a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

updating the score data, thereby decreasing the score based on an elapsed time;

comparing the player selection to at least one character of the puzzle phrase to determine whether the player selection matches any of the at least one character of the puzzle phrase; and

displaying each character of the puzzle phrase determined to match the player selection.

29. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method for conducting a word puzzle game, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:

receiving initialized score data representing a score;

displaying the score based on the initialized score data;

receiving display area data representing a plurality of display areas, each display area corresponding to a character of a puzzle phrase, each character being selected from the group consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

displaying the plurality of display areas;

receiving a player selection, the player selection being selected from a plurality of player selectable characters consisting of letters, spaces and punctuation marks;

transmitting the player selection to a central server;

receiving updated score data representing the score;

displaying the score based on the updated score data;

receiving a solution character corresponding to at least one display area; and

displaying the solution character.