U.S. patent application number 12/015079 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-17 for method of gaming and a gaming system.
Invention is credited to Christer Hutchinson-Kay.
Application Number | 20080171583 12/015079 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39618193 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080171583 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hutchinson-Kay; Christer |
July 17, 2008 |
METHOD OF GAMING AND A GAMING SYSTEM
Abstract
A gaming system comprising a plurality of player terminals, each
comprising a player display and a player instruction input
mechanism, and a game controller coupled to the player terminals
and arranged to cause each player display to display at least a
starting portion of a task for completion by a player associated
with the player terminal independently of a player or players
associated with one or more other player terminals, whereby each
player may seek to complete the task independently of each other
player by operating their respective player instruction input
mechanism, receive one or more player instructions related to
completion of the task from at least one of the players, and
process the player instructions to determine a winning player based
on one or more criteria.
Inventors: |
Hutchinson-Kay; Christer;
(Taby, SE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MCANDREWS HELD & MALLOY, LTD
500 WEST MADISON STREET, SUITE 3400
CHICAGO
IL
60661
US
|
Family ID: |
39618193 |
Appl. No.: |
12/015079 |
Filed: |
January 16, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/7 ;
463/40 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/7 ;
463/40 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 17, 2007 |
AU |
2007900215 |
Claims
1. A method of gaming comprising: displaying on each player display
of a plurality of player displays at least a starting portion of a
task for completion by a player associated with the player display
independently of a player or players associated with one or more
other player displays; receiving one or more player instructions
related to completion of the task from at least one of the players;
and processing the player instructions to determine a winning
player based on one or more criteria.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a criterion is the time
taken to complete the task.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the task displayed on
each display is identical to each other task.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tasks displayed on
at least two displays are different.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the different tasks are
arranged to be equivalent in difficulty.
6. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the different tasks are
arranged to be of different difficulties.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising awarding a
prize to the winning player.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising displaying the
starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event.
9. A method as claimed in claim 8, comprising displaying the
starting portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a
trigger event in a base game played by at least one of the
players.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9, comprising determining which
player triggered the bonus game and providing the player who
triggered the bonus game with an advantage to complete the
task.
11. A method as claimed in claim 10, comprising providing the
triggering player with a clue to provide the advantage.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10, comprising providing a time
adjustment or an adjusted starting time and employing the time
adjustment or adjusted starting time as an additional criterion to
determining a winning player.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising displaying a starting
instruction to each player at the same time.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sole criterion is
which player takes the least time to complete the task.
15. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the task is to complete
a memory game.
16. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the task is to complete
a labyrinth game.
17. A gaming system comprising: a plurality of player terminals,
each comprising a player display and a player instruction input
mechanism; and a game controller coupled to the player terminals
and arranged to: cause each player display to display at least a
starting portion of a task for completion by a player associated
with the player terminal independently of a player or players
associated with one or more other player terminals, whereby each
player may seek to complete the task independently of each other
player by operating their respective player instruction input
mechanism; receive one or more player instructions related to
completion of the task from at least one of the players; and
process the player instructions to determine a winning player based
on one or more criteria.
18. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein a criterion is
the time taken to complete the task.
19. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the task
displayed on each display is identical to each other task.
20. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the game
controller is arranged to allocate different tasks to at least two
player terminals.
21. A gaming system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the different
tasks are equivalent in difficulty.
22. A gaming system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the different
tasks are of different difficulties.
23. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the game
controller is arranged to award a prize to the winning player.
24. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the game
controller is arranged to cause each display to display the
starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event.
25. A gaming system as claimed in claim 24, wherein the game
controller is arranged to cause each display to display starting
portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a trigger event
in a base game played by at least one of the players.
26. A gaming system as claimed in claim 25, wherein the game
controller is arranged to determine which player triggered the
bonus game and provide the player who triggered the bonus game with
an advantage to complete the task.
27. A gaming system as claimed in claim 26, wherein the game
controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a clue
to provide the advantage.
28. A gaming system as claimed in claim 26, wherein the game
controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a time
adjustment or an adjusted starting time and employing the time
adjustment or adjusted starting time as an additional criterion to
determining a winning player.
29. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the game
controller is arranged to cause each display to display a starting
instruction to each player at the same time.
30. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the sole
criterion is which player takes the least time to complete the
task.
31. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the task is to
complete a memory game.
32. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the task is to
complete a labyrinth game.
33. A gaming system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the game
controller is constituted by a processor executing program code
stored in a memory.
34. A game controller arranged to: cause each display of a
plurality of player displays to display at least a starting portion
of a task for completion by a player associated with the player
terminal independently of a player or players associated with one
or more other player terminals, whereby each player may seek to
complete the task independently of each other player by operating
their respective player instruction mechanism; receive one or more
player instructions related to completion of the task from at least
one of the players; and process the player instructions to
determine a winning player based on one or more criteria.
35. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein a criterion
is the time taken to complete the task.
36. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the task
displayed on each display is identical to each other task.
37. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the game
controller is arranged to allocate different tasks to at least two
player terminals.
38. A game controller as claimed in claim 37, wherein the different
tasks are equivalent in difficulty.
39. A game controller as claimed in claim 37, wherein the different
tasks are of different difficulties.
40. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the game
controller is arranged to award a prize to the winning player.
41. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the game
controller is arranged to cause each display to display the
starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event.
42. A game controller as claimed in claim 41, wherein the game
controller is arranged to cause each display to display starting
portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a trigger event
in a base game played by at least one of the players.
43. A game controller as claimed in claim 42, wherein the game
controller is arranged to determine which player triggered the
bonus game and provide the player who triggered the bonus game with
an advantage to complete the task.
44. A game controller as claimed in claim 43, wherein the game
controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a clue
to provide the advantage.
45. A game controller as claimed in claim 43, wherein the game
controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a time
adjustment or an adjusted starting time and employing the time
adjustment or adjusted starting time as an additional criterion to
determining a winning player.
46. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the game
controller is arranged to cause each display to display a starting
instruction to each player at the same time.
47. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the sole
criterion is which player takes the least time to complete the
task.
48. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the task is
to complete a memory game.
49. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, wherein the task is
to complete a labyrinth game.
50. A game controller as claimed in claim 34, constituted by a
processor executing program code stored in a memory.
51. Computer program code which when executed by a computer causes
the computer to carry out a computer implemented method of gaming
in accordance with the method of claim 1.
52. A computer readable medium comprising the program code of claim
51.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Australian Patent
Application No. AU2007900215, having an international filing date
of Jan. 17, 2007, entitled "A Method of Gaming And A Gaming
System", which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
FIELD
[0002] This application relates to a method of gaming, a gaming
system, and a game controller.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In general electronic gaming machines are played
individually by players for the opportunity to be awarded prizes
based on the game outcomes on the machine they are playing.
However, there have been proposed some ways in which players may
interact with one another.
[0004] For example, some venues host tournaments where players of
individual machines compete against each other by seeking to obtain
the largest score in the tournament on the gaming machine they are
playing (for example, as reflected by their credit balance).
[0005] Some electronic gaming machines are linked to provide each
of a plurality of players with a chance to play a bonus game
individually. For example, each player plays a base game and may be
awarded a chance to play a bonus game having a progressive jackpot
contributed to by the machines of all participating players.
[0006] There is a need for other gaming systems where players can
interact with one another.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In a first aspect, there is disclosed a method of gaming
comprising:
[0008] displaying on each player display of a plurality of displays
at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a player
associated with the player display independently of a player or
players associated with one or more other player displays;
[0009] receiving one or more player instructions related to
completion of the task from at least one of the players; and
[0010] processing the player instructions to determine a winning
player based on one or more criteria.
[0011] Thus, players compete against one another while completing
the task independently.
[0012] In an embodiment, one criterion is the time taken to
complete the task.
[0013] Thus, players may obtain enjoyment by seeking to complete
the displayed task in the shortest period of time.
[0014] In an embodiment, the task is identical. In another
embodiment, each player's task is different. In an embodiment, the
different tasks may be arranged to be equivalent in difficulty.
[0015] In an embodiment, the method comprises awarding a prize to
the winning player.
[0016] In an embodiment, the method comprises displaying the
starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event.
[0017] In an embodiment, the method comprises displaying the
starting portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a
trigger event in a base game played by one of the players.
[0018] In an embodiment, the method comprises providing the player
who triggered the bonus game with an advantage to complete the
task. For example, clue data, a time adjustment or an adjusted
starting time. In the case of a time adjustment or an adjusted
starting time, at least one of these may be an additional criteria
to determining a winning player.
[0019] Thus, while each player can win the bonus game, the player
who triggered the bonus game is provided with an advantage over
other players.
[0020] In an embodiment, the method comprises displaying a starting
instruction to each player at the same time.
[0021] In an embodiment, the sole criteria is which player takes
the least time to complete the task.
[0022] In an embodiment, the task is to complete a memory game.
[0023] In an embodiment, the task is to complete a labyrinth
game.
[0024] In a second aspect, there is disclosed a gaming system
comprising:
[0025] a plurality of player terminals, each comprising a player
display and a player instruction input mechanism; and
[0026] a game controller coupled to the player terminals and
arranged to:
[0027] cause each player display to display at least a starting
portion of a task for completion by a player associated with the
player terminal independently of a player or players associated
with one or more other player terminals, whereby each player may
seek to complete the task independently of each other player by
operating their respective player instruction input mechanism;
[0028] receive one or more player instructions related to
completion of the task from at least one of the players; and
[0029] process the player instructions to determine a winning
player based on one or more criteria
[0030] In a third aspect there is disclosed a game controller
arranged to:
[0031] cause each display of a plurality of player displays to
display at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a
player associated with the player terminal independently of a
player or players associated with one or more other player
terminals, whereby each player may seek to complete the task
independently of each other player by operating their respective
player instruction mechanism;
[0032] receive one or more player instructions related to
completion of the task from at least one of the players; and
[0033] process the player instructions to determine a winning
player based on one or more criteria.
[0034] In a fourth aspect, there is disclosed computer program code
which when executed by a computer causes the computer to carry out
a computer implemented method of gaming comprising:
[0035] displaying on each player display of a plurality of displays
at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a player
associated with the player display independently of a player or
players associated with one or more other player displays;
[0036] receiving one or more player instructions related to
completion of the task from at least one of the players; and
[0037] processing the player instructions to determine a winning
player based on one or more criteria.
[0038] In a fifth aspect, the invention provide a computer readable
medium comprising the program code of the fourth aspect.
[0039] In a sixth aspect, the invention provide a data signal
comprising the program code of the fourth aspect.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0040] Certain exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be
describe in relation to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0041] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gaming system;
[0042] FIG. 2 is a perspective drawing of an electronic gaming
machine; and
[0043] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the method of an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0044] Referring to the drawings, there is shown a gaming system of
an embodiment arranged such that during a bonus game, the same task
is presented to each player of the bonus game and the players
compete to see who can complete the task in the shortest amount of
time.
[0045] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the gaming system
100 comprising a plurality of player terminals 110A, 110B, 110C,
110D in data communication with a game controller 120 over a data
network. Players operate the individual player terminals to play a
base game.
[0046] A terminal in the gaming system may take the general form of
an electronic gaming machine 10 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The
gaming machine 10 includes a console 12 having a display 14 on
which is displayed representations 16 of a base game and the bonus
game that can be played by a player. A mid-trim 20 of the gaming
machine 10 houses a bank of buttons 22 for enabling a player to
interact with the gaming machine, in particular during game play.
The mid-trim 20 also houses a credit input mechanism 24 which in
this example includes a coin input chute 24A and a bill collector
24B. Other credit input mechanisms may also be employed, for
example, a card reader for reading a smart card, debit card or
credit card. A reading device may also be provided for the purpose
of reading a player tracking device, for example as part of a
loyalty program. The player tracking device may be in the form of a
card, flash drive or any other portable storage medium capable of
being read by the reading device.
[0047] A top box 26 may carry artwork 28, including for example pay
tables and details of bonus awards and other information or images
relating to the game. Further artwork and/or information may be
provided on a front panel 29 of the console 12. A coin tray 30 is
mounted beneath the front panel 29 for dispensing cash payouts from
the gaming machine 10.
[0048] The display 14 shown in FIG. 2 is in the form of a video
display unit, particularly a cathode ray tube screen device.
Alternatively, the display 14 may be a liquid crystal display,
plasma screen, or any other suitable video display unit. The top
box 26 may also include a display, for example a video display
unit, which may be of the same type as the display 14, or of a
different type. In one embodiment, the bonus game is displayed on
the top box.
[0049] The display 14 may be a touch screen display on which are
displayed icons that may be touched by the player to issue player
instructions. Thus, depending on the specific nature of the
terminal or the features of the game being played on the gaming
machine, buttons 22, a touch screen component of display 14, or a
combination thereof provide the player instruction input mechanisms
114 shown in FIG. 1.
[0050] That is, each player terminal comprises a player instruction
input mechanism 114 operable by the player to play the base game
and the bonus game and a display 112 on which the base and bonus
games are displayed. Players play the base game independently using
player terminals. Depending on the embodiment, the base game may be
implemented on the terminals 110 with each terminal 110 being
provided with a respective game controller, on the game controller
120 (or on another game controller) or a combination thereof. In
the embodiment, the player terminals are clients and the game
controller 120 is embodied on a server. That is, all game outcomes
are calculated by the game controller 120 in response to player
instructions input by the players of terminals 110 and communicated
to game controller 120. To this end, game controller 120 is
configured to run a plurality of separate base game instances, one
for each player terminal 110 that is being operated. Thus, the base
game instances are in effect separate game controllers for each
terminal 110.
[0051] It will thus be appreciated that in this embodiment, the
game controller 120 is constituted by the processor or processors
of the server executing program code stored in a memory accessible
by the processor to thus carry out the various functions of the
base game controller 125 and bonus game controller 140. Person
skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments, the
game controller could be constituted differently, for example, in
or more of the components 142, 144, 146, 148 could be provided by a
dedicated circuit. It will also be appreciated that each terminal
has a processor arranged to execute code in a memory to implement
the functions required of the terminal. Persons skilled in the art
will appreciate that the terminals and the server will have other
standard computing and/or gaming machine components to enable the
embodiment to be put into effect, such as network cards, power
supplies etc.
[0052] Rules for communication between the server and the gaming
machines enable the bonus system to operate within a "machine time
scale" and a "player perceptible time scale". In the machine time
scale the system is capable of detecting events and determine
consequences for the different players in the base game mode as
well as in the bonus game mode before events or player actions have
occurred in the player perceptible time scale. For example, this
makes it possible to send messages to the gaming terminals and
prepare for selected actions before the player has come to the
actual stage in his player action.
[0053] The base game controller 125 has a bonus game monitor 130
that monitors each base game instance to determine whether the
specified criteria for initiating a bonus game are met. In the
embodiment, the criterion is that a particular game outcome occurs
in one base game instance. Persons skilled in the art will
appreciate that any appropriate criteria can be used to trigger the
bonus game, for example, an amount wagered, an amount contributed
to an elapsed time or the like. When the criterion is met, the
bonus game monitor 130 communicates to the bonus game controller
140 that the bonus game should be started. In some embodiments,
this may involve setting up the bonus game controller by executing
the bonus controller code. In other embodiments, the bonus game
controller may already exist in a wait state.
[0054] Bonus game controller 140 initiates the action required to
start the bonus game. This includes negotiating with the base game
controller 125 as to when the bonus game is to start. That is,
while one player has triggered the game and will be expecting the
bonus game to begin, the other players need to be "interrupted" in
a manner that does not unduly interfere with game play in their
base game instance. In the embodiment, the base game controller 125
instructs each base game instance that the base game is to be
paused and saved in a memory of the game controller at the end of
the next game round and the bonus game announced to the player by
displaying on each player display that a bonus game is about to
start.
[0055] Once each base game is paused and saved, the base game
controller 125 communicates data to the bonus game controller 140
specifying the identity of the participating player terminals and
that they are ready to begin, thus passing control to the bonus
game controller 140.
[0056] A bonus game generator of the bonus game controller 140
generates a bonus game instance for each participating player based
on bonus game data 144. The bonus game controller confirms that
each bonus game instance is ready to proceed, then starts the bonus
game by controlling each display 112 to display the starting
portion of the task to be completed by the player in the bonus game
at substantially the same time.
[0057] In the embodiment, the bonus game is a memory game. The
display controller 142 of bonus game controller 140 controls each
display to briefly display a number of symbols on each display 112,
there being two of each symbol. The symbols are then "covered" so
that they are not visible to the player but there is an icon
corresponding to each symbol. The players' task is to be the first
to pair all the symbols. That is, the player inputs player
instructions via instruction input mechanism 114 to specify two
symbols the player believes match. The instructions are processed
by instruction processor 146 and each symbol is "revealed" to the
player on display 112. If they match, the symbols are maintained in
a revealed state otherwise they are returned to a covered state and
the player may then select another two symbols. The player is
required to continue to try to select pairs of symbols until all
pairs have been revealed. Persons skilled in the art will
appreciate that in some cases not every player will input player
instructions. For example, one player may complete the task before
another has entered any instructions.
[0058] When a player matches all the pairs, a completion monitor
148 of the bonus game controller 140 determines that they are the
winning player for being the first to complete the task and awards
the player a prize, for example an amount of credits. The display
controller 142 controls each display 112 to display that the game
has been won before returning control to the base game controller
125 which restarts each base game instance.
[0059] In the embodiment, the player who triggered the bonus game
is provided with an advantage to complete the bonus game first. For
example, by having one or more symbols permanently revealed or a
first pair of symbols revealed.
[0060] This process is summarised in the flowchart of FIG. 3. The
process starts 310 when players begin playing the base game and
monitoring 320 occurs for triggering of the base game. Until the
base game is triggered, the bonus controller 140 waits 325 for a
trigger command. When a bonus game is triggered, it is determined
that all participants are ready 330 (if not the process waits 335),
a bonus game is generated 340 for each participant, and the bonus
game is started 350. The bonus game controller 140 monitor 360 then
determines whether a player has finished and waits 365 until a
player has finished. The bonus game controller awards 370 a prize
to the winning player.
[0061] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that in the above
embodiment, players compete in real-time to be the first to
complete the memory task thus making an exciting competition. Thus,
the first person to complete the game in real-time will be the
winner.
[0062] In other embodiments, implementation requirements may lead
to an off-set in starting time between players. This can be dealt
with by generating timing information corresponding to when each
player starts and finishes and determining a winning player to be
the player who took the least time.
[0063] In some embodiments other information may be displayed to
players during play of the bonus game, for example, the status of
other players, for example the top 5, can be displayed on each of
the displays of the gaming machines that participate in the bonus
game.
[0064] In some embodiments, other criteria may be used to determine
the winner as an alternative to, or in addition to time taken. For
example, a time adjustment may be awarded to the player who
triggered the bonus game (or this player's game may be started
first to give the player a head start). In another example,
accuracy (e.g. the fewest errors) may be the key criterion taken
into account or may be used as an additional criterion to, for
example by providing a time bonus to be used as a criteria for
deciding the game. In another example, players may be given a time
limit to complete the task and the criterion may be degree of
completion of the task in the time period.
[0065] In the above description it is assumed that players are
provided with the same task but it would also be possible to
provide the players with different tasks of equivalent difficulty
to prevent players from copying one another. It would also be
possible to provide an advantage by making one of these tasks
easier than the others such that at least tow of the terminals have
different tasks
[0066] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that a number of
different tasks can be employed. For example, an alternative memory
game where a set of symbols are presented to each player briefly
before being removed so that a player can learn the symbols. A
larger number of symbols can then be displayed, with the task being
to be the first to find and mark the originally displayed set of
symbols. Another example, is a labyrinth game, where a series of
alternative "doors" are displayed to the player and the player is
required to be the first to successfully navigate to the end
point.
[0067] It will be appreciated from the above that a distributed
architecture is provided wherein some of the components required
for implementing the game are present in a player operable gaming
machine and some of the components required for implementing the
game are located remotely relative to the gaming machine. The above
embodiment employs a "thin client" architecture wherein most of the
game is executed remotely by a gaming server and a player operable
gaming machine is used only to display audible and/or visible
gaming information to the player and receive gaming inputs from the
player. In an alternative embodiment, a "thick client" architecture
may be used wherein part of the game is executed on a player
operable gaming machine and part of the game is executed remotely,
such as by a gaming server.
[0068] However, it will be understood that other arrangements are
envisaged. For example, an architecture may be provided wherein a
gaming machine is networked to a gaming server and the respective
functions of the gaming machine and the gaming server are
selectively modifiable. For example, the gaming system may operate
in stand alone gaming machine mode, "thick client" mode or "thin
client" mode depending on the game being played, operating
conditions, and so on. For example, the base game may be executed
on the gaming machine with the bonus game executed by the
server--i.e. a base game controller could be provided on each of
the player terminals and a player terminal could communicate with
the base game controller once the bonus game is triggered Other
variations will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.
[0069] Persons skilled in the art will also appreciate that the
method of the embodiment could be embodied in program code arranged
to be executed by the game controller. The program code could be
supplied in a number of ways, for example on a computer readable
medium, such as a disc or a memory (for example, that could replace
part of memory 103) or as a data signal (for example, by
downloading it from a server).
[0070] Many other variations and modifications will be apparent to
persons skilled in the art and should be considered as falling
within the scope of the invention described herein.
[0071] In the claims which follow and in the preceding description
of certain embodiments of the invention, except where the context
requires otherwise due to express language or necessary
implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises"
or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the
presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or
addition of further features in various embodiments of the
invention.
[0072] It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is
referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission
that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge
in the art, in Australia or any other country.
* * * * *