Various educational devices have been employed throughout the years to teach particular subject matter. These educational devices consist primarily of charts, tables, flash cards and the like. Such prior art devices mainly provide instruction on a single subject matter area. Although these educational devices provide an adequate treatment of the subject matter, they provide little in the form of amusement.
Educational devices employing game situations having religious themes are known in the art. These educational devices utilize a playing board, game pieces and cards, wherein individual players complete with each other by question and answer testing, having as their object the educating of the player in religious subject matter. Typical of such educational games are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,121,823 (Educational Device Employing a Game Situation) and 4,934,709 (Memory Game Apparatus and Method of Play).
Another known popular game involving competing playing teams is the game of "Trivial Pursuit" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,956. The "Trivial Pursuit" game utilizes a game board, game pieces, and game cards containing multiple inquiries, each requiring a a specific single answer, and the correct answer to the inquiries. The playing board surface includes a circular playing path containing symbols which serve as indicia to the multiple inquiries on the game cards. The playing path symbols represent different specialized fields of knowledge. A playing team member moves it's game piece to a particular position on the playing path based on the roll of a die. The field of knowledge the playing team is to be tested on is determined by the symbol on which the game piece is located after the move is completed. The playing member of the playing team draws a game card and shows the game card to the opposing team for answer verification. The playing member then reads the question aloud to the other members of the playing team. The playing team has a designated period of time to provide the correct answer to the question. If the playing team provides the correct answer, it is awarded a scoring marker. The object of the game is to be the first team to reach the center of the playing board after collecting the required number of scoring markers.
Those educational devices employing question and answer as the sole means of player interaction lack the necessary animation to sustain interest and provide stimulation to reinforce the repeat use of such devices.
Games involving teams competing with each other in which members of each playing team are required to present certain game details to the playing team are well known in the art. One such example of a game of this type is known as "Charades". Accordingly in the game of "Charades", before the actual play begins, familiar sayings, quotes and the like are placed on individual slips of paper which are then folded and collected into a central area. Each playing team, in turn, designates a team presenter. When a particular playing team's turn arrives, the designated presenting player draws one of the folded slips from the central area. The presenting player, according to the rules which restrict audible communication with the other team players, must silently convey to the other members of the playing team the saying, quote or the like contained on the slip.
Another game known in the art which involves competing playing teams is the game "Star Struck" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,667. It includes a playing board containing a star shaped playing path, game pieces and cards. The game "Star Struck" requires the performing player of the playing team to provide an audition which is typical of an audition required from a performing artist in a number of known performing arts fields. Incorporated with the audition requirement is the concept of observation by the remaining members of the playing team to determine specific information from the performance in order to develop multi-part answers to specific team questions. Movement is determined initially by the roll of a die and subsequently by game cards and correct answers to multi-part team questions. The game "Star Struck" is based upon a performing player's use of verbal and acting skills, personal experience, and knowledge to perform an impromptu audition. It also relies on the playing team's general and specific knowledge of the performing arts fields, as well as the playing team member's ability to interpret the performing player's audition performance. The object of game is to be the first team to make a complete circuit around the board clockwise returning to the start position.
These prior art educational devices promote competition amongst the individual players or teams using the devices. No attempt is made by the prior art to promote mutual cooperation amongst the individual players to maximize the learning experience such that the focus is on how the game is played instead of winning or losing.
Finally, the majority of the prior art educational devices provide instruction on a single subject matter area and can not readily be changed to expand the teaching to other subject matter areas thereby limiting the utility of such devices.