Game with moveable play space

Abstract

Provided is a game with moveable play space that allows a player to modify the play space. Spaces within the play space may be wildcard spaces that initiate modification. Game play space modifications include manipulations such as column shuffling, rotating, and flip-flopping. The selection of which portion of the game play space to modify may be made by the players of the game, by the space on which a game piece resides, or by the particular type of game piece that is moved or used. In some embodiments, different types of players govern modification to the game play space. In volumetric games, certain volumetric portions are exchanged with one another during the modification. Modification of the game play space is performed along various surfaces within the volumetric game play space, or within certain individual game sub-volumes that together integrate to form the entire volumetric game play space.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A game having a portion of a game play space that is movement-capable, comprising: 
 a game play space comprising a plurality of tiles in a first arrangement; and    a selected portion of the game play space that is operable to be modified during the course of a game, thereby changing the first arrangement of the plurality of tiles within the game play space to a second arrangement.    
     
     
         2 . The game of  claim 1 , wherein the modification is a rotation.  
     
     
         3 . The game board of  claim 1 , wherein the modification is a flip-flop.  
     
     
         4 . The game board of  claim 1 , wherein the modification is a column shuffle.  
     
     
         5 . The game board of  claim 1 , wherein the modification is a combination of different modifications.  
     
     
         6 . The game of  claim 1 , the game further comprising: 
 a plurality of game modification types; and    a plurality of game player types, wherein a non-null subset of the plurality of game modification types is only performed by a non-null subset of the plurality of game player types.    
     
     
         7 . The game of  claim 1 , wherein each of a plurality of players is able to perform a modification of the game play space a predetermined number of times during the course of a game.  
     
     
         8 . A computer program product for playing a game, comprising: 
 logic, stored on a computer-readable memory, for generating a game play space comprising a plurality of tiles; and    logic, stored on the computer-readable memory, for performing a modification at least once during the course of a game, wherein a modification is changing a portion of the plurality of tiles from a first arrangement to a second arrangement.    
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the modification is one of a rotation, a flip-flop, and a column shift.  
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the modification is a combination of modifications.  
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least two non-null subsets of the plurality of tiles are capable to be interchanged; and 
 the modification is an interchange of the at least two non-null subsets of the plurality of tiles.    
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the modification is initiated by at least one of a player of the game, a type of game piece used by the player of the game, a type of game and a location of the player in the game play space.  
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the game play space is a three-dimensional game play space.  
     
     
         14 . A method to modify a game play space of a game, the method comprising: 
 selecting a first portion of a game play space; and    modifying the selected first portion of the game play space during the course of a game, wherein the modification is initiated by one of a type of game piece used by a player of the game, a type of game and a location of the player in the game play space    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the modification is one of a rotation, a flip-flop and a column shift.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the modification is a combination of different modifications.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 selecting a second portion of the game play space, wherein the modification is an interchange between the first portion and the second portion.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the game play space is at least one of a two-dimensional game play space and a three-dimensional game play space.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the selected portion of the game play space comprises at least two volumes within a three-dimensional game play space.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 defining a number corresponding to the number of times the player may initiate a modification during the course of the game.