Game with inclined surfaces and interceptors

Abstract

A game which includes a downwardly inclined primary pathway or track. The track may be serpentine and a first player attempts to roll an object such as a marble down the track. One or more interception devices are positioned along the track. These devices may take the form of a movable striker which will move, when actuated, into the path of a marble moving down the track. The striker may be operated by the opposing player through a manually actuatable control mechanism. The second player attempts to intercept the ball of the first player and divert it into a secondary pathway. The scoring of the game may depend on the ball reaching the end of the primary track or being intercepted and diverted into a secondary pathway. Preferably, the apparatus includes a pair of the inclined primary tracks leading and inclined downwardly in opposite directions. Thus, each player is at one end of the apparatus and is both starting marbles down one primary track, and also operating a control mechanism to try to intercept and divert marbles from his opponent's track. In one form, each control mechanism may include an air system made up of a squeezable air bulb connected through an air line to an air cylinder-piston unit. When the piston is actuated, it strikes a captive ball which rolls and strikes a free-swinging striker that is thereby swung into the path of marbles moving down the associated primary track. This form of control mechanism imparts a momentary swing to the striker into the path of the marbles but prevents the striker from being held in that position.