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Patent application title:

Low Probability Dice

Publication number:

US20250387698A1

Publication date:
Application number:

18/751,228

Filed date:

2024-06-22

Smart Summary: Low Probability Dice are a new type of gaming dice designed for board games and role-playing games. They have special landing surfaces that make certain results less likely to show up when rolled. This adds an element of surprise and strategy to games, as players can't always predict the outcome. The dice can make gameplay more exciting by introducing rare results. Overall, they offer a fresh twist to traditional dice games. 🚀 TL;DR

Abstract:

This is a novel gaming dice invention that incorporates low probability results, called “Low Probability Dice,” invented by Benjamin M. Timp for the purposes of board games, role-playing games, or other dice playing games of chance. By combining different sizes of landing planes, some of the results have lower probabilities of landing face up.

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Classification:

  1. Human necessities
  2. Sports; games; amusements

A63F9/0415 »  CPC main

Games not otherwise provided for; Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices Details of dice, e.g. non-cuboid dice

A63F2009/0426 »  CPC further

Games not otherwise provided for; Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices; Details of dice, e.g. non-cuboid dice six-sided non-cuboid

A63F2009/0431 »  CPC further

Games not otherwise provided for; Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices; Details of dice, e.g. non-cuboid dice eight-sided

A63F2009/0435 »  CPC further

Games not otherwise provided for; Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices; Details of dice, e.g. non-cuboid dice ten-sided

A63F2009/0437 »  CPC further

Games not otherwise provided for; Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices; Details of dice, e.g. non-cuboid dice twelve-sided

A63F2009/044 »  CPC further

Games not otherwise provided for; Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices; Details of dice, e.g. non-cuboid dice fourteen-sided

A63F9/04 IPC

Games not otherwise provided for Dice ; Dice-boxes; Mechanical dice-throwing devices

Description

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure is directed to gaming dice and more particularly to gaming dice that use a combination of incongruent sides in order to produce lower probability results on 2, 4, 6, or 8 corners.

Dice have been created that have incongruent sides and are practically fair, incorporating balanced landing planes, such as the dice of expired U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,754A that, with other dice, forms the modern basic set for role-playing games and many board games.

Dice have been created with incongruent sides that have varying landing probabilities such as abandoned U.S. Pal. No. 201090282890A1. That patent details how different probabilities on a single gaming die would result from its shape without citing potential usefulness.

It would be useful to have dice that have potential for different probabilities on its various planes, affecting either positively or negatively the outcomes for the player(s) during game play. Furthermore, by incorporating low probability results to dice-rolling games of chance, players can introduce novel and surprising results to game play or incorporate modifiers to change rules and/or results to characters, outcomes, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The truncated or chamfered corners of this novel gaming dice design are generally in balance opposite each other to produce lower probability results on 2, 4, 6, or 8 of the planes while always having a balanced core of six practically fair planes of relative higher probability.

Therefore, the gaming dice becomes 8 sided, 10 sided, 12 sided, or 14 sided dice with lower probability results on 2, 4, 6, or 8 of the sides.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an example showing a truncated octahedron with six practically fair planes and two smaller planes of lower landing probability than the base six.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an example showing a truncated decahedron with six practically fair planes and four smaller planes of lower landing probability than the base six.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an example showing a dodecahedron with six practically fair planes and six smaller planes of lower landing probability than the base six.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an example showing a tetra decahedron with six practically fair planes and eight smaller planes of lower landing probability than the base six.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the octahedron die body has a base cubic form of six planes and two truncated or chamfered corners that result in two additional landing planes that are smaller than the base six. The die body is composed of plastic or another suitable material that is substantially rigid and lightweight. The die body can be shaped in its final form and manufactured through a 3-D printing, plastic molding, or other suitable process. The die body can also be shaped from its intermediate base form of a cube and reduced into its final form by removing excess portions of material from the corners or points.

To test the overall fairness and ensure different possibilities of probability combinations, each die variation requires accurate prototyping and testing. For example, by removing material from the two corners or points of a gaming die (as in FIG. 1) that is a standard 14 mm cube so that two corners have triangular landing planes measuring 10 mm×10 mm×10 mm, there is an average landing probability of 3.11% on either two corners, and an average of 15.63% on the base sides 1-6 after 10,000 rolls. Different sizes of landing planes at the corners can be accomplished and made with different probabilities, but the concept of the invention remains the same.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. This novel invention is specifically for the use of gaming dice that incorporate different size landing planes to incorporate low probability results during games involving dice. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.

SIMILAR DOCUMENTS
Publication Publication Date Title
USD718819S1 2014 Dec. 2 Die
USD436635S1 2001 Jan. 23 Game Playing Die
U.S. Pat. No. 1991 Feb. 5 Dice having eight faces and
4,989,875A process of producing same
USD314018S 1991 Jan. 22 Game Die
USD246004S 1977 Oct. 4 Dodecahedron astrological die
U.S. Pat. No. 1965 Sep. 28 Dice Game with a Tetrahedron
3,208,754A Die
USD1001901S1 2023 Oct. 17 Game Ball
USD890266S1 2020 Jul. 14 Fourteen Sided Die with Poker
Pattern
U.S. Pat. No. 1965 Jul. 20 Word game apparatus
3,195,895A comprising die and score card
U.S. Pat. No. 1877 Jan. 2 Improvement in game devices
185,934A
US20190282890A1 2019 Sep. 19 Gaming Die with Incongruent
Sides and More Sides than
Outcomes
U.S. Pat. No. 2011 Dec. 13 Set of five, fourteen sided
8,074,986B1 poker dice

Claims

1. Gaming dice comprising:

A main die body of cubic form;

Having six sides of balanced landing planes when rolled;

An additional 2, 4, 6, or 8 sides of lower probability landing planes when tested against the base six planes of the base cubic form;

Having numbers, letters, pips, or characters that have meaning during game play.

2. The gaming dice of claim one wherein the die body has the shape of a truncated or chamfered cube at 2, 4, 6, or 8 corners.

3. The resulting die body of claim two is therefore an octahedron of six balanced landing planes and two landing planes of lower probability as compared to the base six of the original cubic form;

Or a decahedron of six balanced landing planes and four landing planes of lower probability as compared to the base six of the original cubic form;

Or a dodecahedron of six balanced landing planes and six landing planes of lower probability as compared to the base six of the original cubic form;

Or a tetra decahedron of eight balanced landing planes and four landing planes of lower probability as compared to the base six of the original cubic form.

4. The ultimate result is therefore gaming dice in which six planes have balanced and equal landing probability that is higher than the truncated or chamfered corners.

Resources

Images & Drawings included:

Fig. 01 - Low Probability Dice
Fig. 01
Fig. 02 - Low Probability Dice
Fig. 02
Fig. 03 - Low Probability Dice
Fig. 03
Fig. 04 - Low Probability Dice
Fig. 04
Fig. 05 - Low Probability Dice
Fig. 05

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