3 ms·

>Does that describe Laser Chess? Yes. Very much it does. It's been 35 years since I played Laser Chess, so perhaps there are some minor differences in the rule

>Does that describe Laser Chess? Yes. Very much it does. It's been 35 years since I played Laser Chess, so perhaps there are some minor differences in the rules. But it describes a game so close to Laser Chess that it immediately brought the game to mind.

shagie 2y ago
In laser chess, pieces have different movement rules. You can move a piece 1 or 2 spaces in a single direction (1 east, or 2 east, but not 1 north east unless that was used as two moves). You could also rotate on your turn. Firing a laser was optional. In Khet, you can move one piece 1 adjacent spot (any of the 8) or rotate (not both) and you always fired the laser. The rules are different - and the rules are patented. If you had different rules that weren't covered by the claims, it would be a different game. Laser strategy game board - https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080054563A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080054563A1/en - that's a different game that was patented after Khet. https://youtu.be/4nQaWJEBFNk https://youtu.be/4nQaWJEBFNk (and if you want to play a digital version https://store.steampowered.com/app/312720/Khet_20/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/312720/Khet_20/ ) vs https://archive.org/details/laserch https://archive.org/details/laserch or https://archive.org/details/msdos_Laser_Chess_1994 https://archive.org/details/msdos_Laser_Chess_1994 They are different games with different rules.
- wang_li 2y ago
  It seems to me like taking chess, same pieces, same game board, same movement, same rules except you can't en passant in the A or H file. Then patenting it. It doesn't seem novel enough qualify for a patent when there is something so similar 20 years prior.
  - shagie 2y ago
    Yep. Go for it. Strategic board game https://patents.google.com/patent/US6981700B2/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US6981700B2/en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa While that plays with animal pieces, there's a 1:1 mapping from traditional chess pieces to Arimaa pieces and it's played on the same board.

shagie 2y ago

In laser chess, pieces have different movement rules. You can move a piece 1 or 2 spaces in a single direction (1 east, or 2 east, but not 1 north east unless that was used as two moves). You could also rotate on your turn. Firing a laser was optional. In Khet, you can move one piece 1 adjacent spot (any of the 8) or rotate (not both) and you always fired the laser. The rules are different - and the rules are patented. If you had different rules that weren't covered by the claims, it would be a different game. Laser strategy game board - https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080054563A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080054563A1/en - that's a different game that was patented after Khet. https://youtu.be/4nQaWJEBFNk https://youtu.be/4nQaWJEBFNk (and if you want to play a digital version https://store.steampowered.com/app/312720/Khet_20/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/312720/Khet_20/ ) vs https://archive.org/details/laserch https://archive.org/details/laserch or https://archive.org/details/msdos_Laser_Chess_1994 https://archive.org/details/msdos_Laser_Chess_1994 They are different games with different rules.

wang_li 2y ago
It seems to me like taking chess, same pieces, same game board, same movement, same rules except you can't en passant in the A or H file. Then patenting it. It doesn't seem novel enough qualify for a patent when there is something so similar 20 years prior.
- shagie 2y ago
  Yep. Go for it. Strategic board game https://patents.google.com/patent/US6981700B2/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US6981700B2/en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa While that plays with animal pieces, there's a 1:1 mapping from traditional chess pieces to Arimaa pieces and it's played on the same board.