Game expansion

Abstract

Familiar games are enhanced by expansion equipment which adds strategic possibilities, player interactions, and twists not found in original game rules. Games suitable for expansion include board games, card games, dice games, tile games, and parlor games, for example. Game-agnostic mechanism instructions function to alter one or more of: hand size, discards, draws, seating, turn count, turn order, rounds, scores, winning conditions, item ownership, item visibility, item possession, team membership, equipment in play, action targets, and other categories. Multiple games may be yoked together. Instructions injecting game mechanisms may be followed at specified times, even after an original game ends, to determine an ultimate winner. Game-agnostic mechanism instructions may be embodied in cards, spinners, and/or software, and may apply to all turn-based games, or to games in a particular category, or to a particular branded familiar game, for example.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A game expansion comprising a set of game expansion cards and a plurality of game-agnostic mechanism instructions, each game expansion card having a back side and a front side, the game expansion cards adapted to be placed face down in at least one draw pile in a sequence which is at least partially random, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions being game-agnostic in that they each apply to multiple games rather than being game-specific, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions imprinted on the game expansion card front sides, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions when read consecutively from game expansion cards which are pulled from the draw pile functioning to inject at least a first game play mechanism into a first game in a plurality of games while the first game is played and also functioning to inject at least a second game play mechanism into a second game in the plurality of games while the second game is played, the first game play mechanism not being part of the first game prior to its injection, the second game play mechanism not being part of the second game prior to its injection, the first game and the second game not necessarily played at the same time, the first game and the second game belonging to different respective game categories in the following list: tile games, board games, dice games, or card games. 
     
     
         2 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , comprising at least six different game-agnostic mechanism instructions which collectively belong to at least three of the following instruction categories: Item Ownership, Full Swap, Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, Turn Order, Winning Condition, Final Round, Item Count, Draw Pile, Hidden Hand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, In/Out of Play, Merge Team, Seating, Yoked Game, or Sayings Card. 
     
     
         3 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , wherein the game expansion cards comprise at least three cards which function collectively in a multi-card combination to give at least one extra turn to a player who redeems the multi-card combination. 
     
     
         4 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , wherein the game expansion cards comprise at least one card which functions to reflect back at a player any of a plurality of game actions originated by that player. 
     
     
         5 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , wherein the game expansion cards comprise at least one card which functions to prohibit winning despite a winning outcome in the first game. 
     
     
         6 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , wherein the game expansion cards comprise at least one card which functions to impose a final round of play in the first game. 
     
     
         7 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , wherein the first game is a tile game and the second game is a board game. 
     
     
         8 . The game expansion of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the game expansion cards has at least two imprinted game-agnostic mechanism instructions, including one game-agnostic mechanism instruction which functions to give an extra turn or take away a turn, and one game-agnostic mechanism instruction which functions to alter a status of a game item by changing at least one of the following: ownership of the game item, visibility of the game item. 
     
     
         9 . A game expansion comprising a set of game expansion cards and a plurality of game-agnostic mechanism instructions, each game expansion card having a back side and a front side, the game expansion cards adapted to be placed face down in at least one draw pile in a sequence which is at least partially random, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions imprinted on the game expansion card front sides, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions when read consecutively from game expansion cards which are pulled from the draw pile functioning to inject at least a first game play mechanism into a tile game while the tile game is played and also functioning to inject at least a second game play mechanism into a board game while the board game is played, the tile game and the board game not necessarily played at the same time, the first game play mechanism not being part of the tile game prior to its injection, the second game play mechanism not being part of the board game prior to its injection. 
     
     
         10 . The game expansion of  claim 9 , wherein a game-agnostic mechanism instruction also functions to inject the first game play mechanism into the board game. 
     
     
         11 . The game expansion of  claim 9 , comprising game-agnostic mechanism instructions which collectively belong to at least five of the following instruction categories: Item Ownership, Full Swap, Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, Turn Order, Winning Condition, Final Round, Item Count, Draw Pile, Hidden Hand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, In/Out of Play, Merge Team, Seating, Yoked Game, or Sayings Card. 
     
     
         12 . The game expansion of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the game expansion cards has a front side which also displays a time segment in which the game-agnostic mechanism instruction will be followed. 
     
     
         13 . The game expansion of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the game expansion cards has a game-agnostic mechanism instruction which functions to return a game item of the board game to a location and status which it had at the beginning of board game play. 
     
     
         14 . A game expansion comprising a set of game expansion cards and a plurality of game-agnostic mechanism instructions, each game expansion card having a back side and a front side, the game expansion cards adapted to be placed face down in at least one draw pile in a sequence which is at least partially random, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions imprinted on the game expansion card front sides, the game-agnostic mechanism instructions when read consecutively from game expansion cards which are pulled from the draw pile functioning to inject at least a first game play mechanism into a first game in a plurality of games while the first game is played and also functioning to inject the first game play mechanism into a second game in the plurality of games while the second game is played, the first game play mechanism not being part of the first game prior to its injection, the first game play mechanism also not being part of the second game prior to its injection, the first game and the second game not necessarily played at the same time, the first game and the second game belonging to different respective game categories in the following list: tile games, board games, dice games, or card games. 
     
     
         15 . The game expansion of  claim 14 , comprising game-agnostic mechanism instructions which collectively belong to at least seven of the following instruction categories: Item Ownership, Full Swap, Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, Turn Order, Winning Condition, Final Round, Item Count, Draw Pile, Hidden Hand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, In/Out of Play, Merge Team, Seating, Yoked Game, or Sayings Card. 
     
     
         16 . The game expansion of  claim 14 , comprising at least fifteen game expansion cards, and also comprising game-agnostic mechanism instructions which collectively belong to at least nine of the following instruction categories: Item Ownership, Full Swap, Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, Turn Order, Winning Condition, Final Round, Item Count, Draw Pile, Hidden Hand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, In/Out of Play, Merge Team, Seating, Yoked Game, or Sayings Card. 
     
     
         17 . The game expansion of  claim 14 , wherein the game expansion cards comprise at least one of the following: (a) at least three cards which function collectively in a multi-card combination to give at least one extra turn to a player who redeems the multi-card combination; or (b) at least one card which functions to reflect back at a player any of a plurality of game actions originated by that player. 
     
     
         18 . The game expansion of  claim 14 , wherein the game expansion cards comprise at least one of the following: (a) at least one card which functions to prohibit winning despite a winning outcome in the first game; or (b) at least one card which functions to impose a final round of play in the first game. 
     
     
         19 . The game expansion of  claim 14 , wherein a game-agnostic mechanism instruction of the game expansion functions to inject a given game play mechanism into a tile game, into a board game, and into a dice game. 
     
     
         20 . The game expansion of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the game expansion cards has at least two imprinted game-agnostic mechanism instructions, including one game-agnostic mechanism instruction which functions to give an extra turn or take away a turn, and one game-agnostic mechanism instruction which functions to alter a status of a game item by changing at least one of the following: ownership of the game item, visibility of the game item, location of the game item relative to a game board, location of the game item relative to a draw pile, location of the game item relative to a discard pile, scoring value of the game item, or whether the game item is in play.