U.S. Patent no. 10,322,346: Interactive collectible card games with defense and offence team formations

Issued June 18, 2019 to Gooody Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Priority Date April 14, 2017

Summary:
U.S. Patent No. 10,322,346 (the ‘346 Patent) relates to tower defense games. These games require a user to defend a territory or area from enemy attacks. These games can be both real-time strategy or turn-based strategy. The ‘346 Patent provides a system where networked computing devices enables two or more players to prepare for and play these tower defense games on a common battle area. Users can place and select units through the game interface and this interface includes images of home bases, battle areas, and menus. The game features elements of collectible card games where a player can collect new units and upgrade them through gameplay. These units can be arranged and selected before being deployed for gameplay. This invention iterates on popular game genres by combining aspects of prior games and further modifying them to allow for gameplay on new devices such as mobile phones.

Abstract:
An interactive system is built upon networked computing devices and cloud computing technologies that enables two or more players to prepare for and engage in a battle on a common battle ground. Prior to initiation of the battle, a player can select one or more stationary units and deploy them, as a defense team, in a home territory for the purpose of obstructing the movement or attack of the opponent. During the battle, the player can deploy attacking units that move without further player intervention, to attack the opponent. A garrisoning mode may be turned on by the player, allowing the player to form and organize an offense team of attacking units because they start to move on their own. The option of forming both defense teams and offense teams, which will carry out their mission without further player intervention presents an attractive gameplay strategy.

Illustrative Claim:
1. A method of conducting a computer-implemented battle between two or more players over a network each operating through a computing device, comprising: displaying a battle ground on a user interface presented on a user computing device for a host player, wherein the battle ground comprises a host base, a host territory, an opponent territory and an opponent base; allowing the host player to deploy one or more host stationary units in the host territory; allowing the host player to deploy a first plurality of host attacking units in the host territory; initiating a real-time battle between the host player and an opponent player, wherein the opponent player has deployed one or more opponent stationary units and a plurality of opponent attacking units in the opponent territory; entering, in response to a command from the host player, into a host garrisoning mode; allowing, during the host garrisoning mode, the host to place a second plurality of host attacking units on the battle ground, wherein according to the host garrisoning mode the first plurality of host attacking units deployed prior to the host garrisoning mode are able to move, while the second plurality of host attacking units deployed during the host garrisoning mode are not able to move while the one or more host stationary units and the first plurality of host attacking units are engaged in the real-time battle, until a moving mode, wherein during the host garrisoning mode, the first and second plurality of host attacking units are allowed to attack and defend regardless of whether they are able to move; entering, upon receiving a moving signal, into the moving mode; and allowing the second plurality of host attacking units, in the moving mode, to move and engage in the real-time battle, wherein each of the host attacking units is not allowed to be moved by the host player once the host attacking unit has started moving, each of the host attacking units being controlled based on one or more respective predetermined rules once the host attacking unit has started moving, wherein a first host attacking unit of the second plurality of host attacking units is controlled based on one or more first respective predetermined rules, and a second host attacking unit of the second plurality of host attacking units is controlled based on one or more second respective predetermined rules that are different from the one or more first respective predetermined rules.