Patent Application
20110218026
This invention relates to gaming devices, such as slot machines, and, in particular, to a secondary game that grants awards to a player based upon the player's guessing of a number combination.
Common slot machines randomly select and display an array of symbols on a video screen, then grant an award to a player based on the occurrence of certain symbol combinations across paylines. Typically, the game ends after the symbols are displayed and the award, if any, is granted. Although these types of games are highly successful, it is advantageous to provide additional special games that infrequently occur to make the game more interesting to a player. A more interesting game will generate increased revenue to the casino by its increased play.
Bonus games are common, where, upon a certain outcome of the main game, the bonus game is initiated. Typically, the player does not participate in the bonus game. The bonus game would be more enjoyable for the player if the player could participate. What is needed is such a bonus game.
Additionally, bonus games are typically reset at the end of a single bonus game. There is typically no carrying over of bonus game results throughout the player's entire gaming session. Therefore, such bonus games do not motivate a player to keep playing the gaming machine. What is needed is a bonus game that entails player involvement, for added enjoyment of the game, and a bonus game that motivates the player to keep playing the gaming machine.
In a first embodiment, upon the player achieving a bonus game trigger, such as a special combination of symbols in a primary game, the player is presented with a bonus game display where the player must guess a safe combination of, for example, five digits. The 5-digit safe combination is randomly generated by the gaming machine before each bonus game. The player is given five tries to guess the 5-digit combination. If the player guesses the combination on the first try, the player is awarded a large progressive jackpot. If the player guesses on the second through fifth tries, the player is awarded a lesser prize generally proportional to the chances of guessing the combination. After each guess, the correct numbers are held, and the incorrect numbers are extinguished and no longer available.
In one embodiment, the available digits for selection by the player are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the same digit may be used in different positions. With five digits and a 5-digit combination, the chances of guessing the combination on the fourth try is about 1 in 4, and the chances of guessing the combination on the fifth try is about 1 in 1.5, so there is a good probability the player will win a bonus prize. The player gets no prize, or a consolation prize, if there was no correct guess after five guesses.
Although there is no skill involved in guessing the combination, the player feels more involved in the game, making it a more exciting experience.
There are many possible variations in themes of the first embodiment, and any size combination can be used. After an extensive mathematical analysis, it has been concluded that guessing a 5-digit number, using digits 1-5 in five tries is optimal since the player is likely to win by the fifth guess. Any of the prizes can be progressive pots or fixed prizes.
In a variation of the first embodiment, there are five safes associated with five different levels of a progressive award. Each safe has a different 5-digit combination lock. The player first tries to guess the combination of the highest award safe using digits 1-5. If the player correctly guesses the combination, the player wins the largest jackpot. If the player does not correctly guess the combination but guesses, for example, three of the five digits, the player moves down to the next highest award safe, and three correct digits in the combination to that next safe are automatically filled in by the computer due to the player correctly guessing three digits in the previous safe. The player now only can use digits 1-4 to guess the combination, making the guessing easier. If the player then, for example, correctly guesses one of the remaining two digits in the combination (four out of five digits are now correct), the player moves down to the next highest award safe, and four correct digits in the combination to that safe are automatically filled in by the computer due to the previous safe having four correct digits filled in. The player now only can use digits 1-3 to guess the combination, making the guessing even easier. This progression continues until the player correctly guesses a combination to a safe. Since the fifth safe will have a combination of all ones, because the only available digit will be a one, the player is guaranteed to open the lowest value safe. The lowest award value may be a fixed consolation prize. In one embodiment, any win of a progressive pot will reallocate the awards for all the progressive pots to keep their ratios related to the hit ratio for each safe. In one embodiment, if the player opens the first safe, all the remaining combinations are also revealed to the player so the player wins the awards in all five safes. Many variations of this embodiment are envisioned.
In another variation, the player is presented with the challenge of guessing a 3-digit code for winning a single progressive jackpot. The available digits are 0-9 for each position. The player only gets one guess per bonus game. After the single guess, the correctly guessed digits are held, and the incorrectly guessed digits are extinguished. The results of the bonus game are saved in a memory and are applied to the next bonus game when there is another trigger event, such as a special symbol combination. The 3-digit code does not change until the bonus game is won or the player cashes out. The player then tries to guess the 3-digit code again, using the results from the first game. It gets easier and easier to correctly guess the 3-digit code, and eventually the player will guess the code. The player is motivated to continue playing the gaming machine to achieve the trigger events. Once the player cashes out, the saved bonus game will be extinguished. Any size codes and number of selectable digits can be used.
In a variation, the player may select the size of the pot from a displayed selection of pots, which then determines the number of digits in the code. In another embodiment, the gaming machine computer determines the number of digits in the code, depending on the size of the pot in order to control the size of the pot. The gaming machine may dynamically select the size of the code to achieve the optimal pot size and win frequency. For example, the computer may select a shorter length code during slow hours to increase the frequency of wins during the slow hours. The progressive pots will be lower due to the pots being won more often. In another embodiment, the gaming machine randomly selects the size of the code.
In all embodiments of the secondary game, the gaming machines can be linked machines or stand-alone machines. In a linked system, even though the pots are common to all players, the secondary games are preferably independently generated and played on each machine so there is no benefit in any potential player sitting out until most of the code has been broken and no benefit in one player viewing another player's screen for viewing partial combinations.
In one embodiment of a linked system, all players try to break the same code, randomly generated by the system. Any guesses from players are made “public” and are utilized by all other players in guessing the shared code, so that the timing of achieving a trigger event to play the secondary game is critical to winning In another embodiment, a player's guesses are only known to the player making the guesses. The first player that correctly guesses the code wins the common progressive jackpot.
Additional variations of the games are described herein.
The term bonus game and secondary game are both used to describe the inventive game. In an alternative embodiment, the inventive game is the main game played on a gaming machine.
Although the invention can typically be implemented by installing a software program in most types of modern video gaming machines, one particular gaming machine platform will be described in detail.
A top display 14 is a video screen, which may be identical to the display 12, that displays the secondary game, described below. The display 14 is preferably a touch screen to allow the player to make a digit selection by touching a particular area on the display 14.
A coin slot 16 accepts coins or tokens in one or more denominations to generate credits within the machine 10 for playing games. An input slot 18 accepts various denominations of banknotes or machine-readable tickets, and may output printed tickets for use in cashless gaming. A coin tray 20 receives coins or tokens from a hopper upon a win or upon the player cashing out. Player control buttons 22 include any buttons needed for the play of the particular game or games offered by machine 10 including, for example, a bet button, a spin reels button, a cash-out button, and any other suitable button. Buttons 22 may be replaced by a touch screen with virtual buttons.
The game controller board 30 transmits and receives signals to and from a network 56 via a communications board 58. The network 56 includes servers and other devices that monitor the linked gaming machines 10 and GM1-GM-N and provide communications between the machines 10 and GM1-GM-N.
In an embodiment where the secondary game is shared by multiple players playing the linked machines, the network 56 processes the secondary game so that the same game appears on the displays of the eligible linked gaming machines, enabling all players to interact in the same game. In one embodiment, the network server determines when each player is allowed to participate in the secondary game.
In the below scenario, it is assumed that the software program for playing the primary game and secondary game is installed in a standalone gaming machine. The player plays the primary game in the normal manner by making wagers and spinning reels to achieve winning combinations of symbols.
The processor in the gaming machine monitors the wagering for the primary game. A percentage of the wagers is applied to various pots for winning in the secondary game.
In one embodiment, a trigger event must occur in order to play the secondary game. In one embodiment, the trigger event is a special combination of symbols in the primary game. In another embodiment, the trigger event is a progressive pot reaching a certain randomly selected threshold (to keep the pots within an optimal range). The triggering can also be a random number of plays or other criteria. A triggering event based on criteria unknown to a player is referred to as a mystery trigger.
In the example of the secondary game of
It is assumed that the gaming machine CPU randomly selected the hidden combination 23252 at the beginning of the secondary game.
After each player-selection of a digit, that digit will appear in the appropriate one of the five blocks 58 based on the sequence of selection, as shown in
In one embodiment, the number of digits in the combination may be reduced based on certain factors to increase the likelihood of any pot being won. For example, if the casino wants to increase the hit frequency during slow periods, a casino operator may control the gaming machine, via the network, to reduce the number of digits in the combination from five to four. Increasing the win frequency will lower the average pot values since the pots are reset after each win.
In step 66, the player makes a wager and plays the primary game.
In step 70, a percentage of the wagers is allocated to the four progressive pots (
In step 71, it is determined whether a trigger event has occurred, such as a special combination of symbols across a payline in the primary game. If not, the player plays the primary game again (step 66).
If the trigger event occurred, the secondary game (“Safe-Cracker”) is initiated in step 72.
In step 73, in the secondary game, the player selects a combination of digits, as shown in
In step 74, it is determined whether the combination was correct. If it was, the associated prize is granted, and the game and pots are reset in step 75. Resetting the game means that the selected digits and combination are all extinguished. When a displayed pot (
If the guessed combination was not correct, then it is determined in step 78 whether the player used up all her five guesses. If so, the game is reset in step 80 and the player plays the primary game again (step 66).
If the player has not used up all her guesses, then, in step 82, any correct digits are saved in their positions, and the incorrect digits are extinguished and disabled from further selection for those positions. The player then selects another combination by only selecting digits for the open positions (step 73).
In another embodiment, the number of guesses awarded to the player is based on her wager amount (player gets more guesses with a higher wager), the trigger event, or other criteria.
The game may be played on a stand-alone machine or on a linked machine. Progressive pots are much larger for linked machines, since all gaming machines contribute to the same pots, and any linked machine has an equal chance of winning the common pots. In one embodiment, each player playing the secondary game on a linked machine uses an independently generated safe combination selected by the gaming machine so there can be no collusion between players. If a player wins a pot during the time that other players are playing the secondary game, the pot values are redistributed to be proportional to the hit ratio.
In step 86, the player or a computer selects the length of the random code to guess. If the player is offered the option of selecting the code, the player will normally make her decision based on the tradeoff between an increased likelihood of guessing the code and the reduced award amounts. If only the computer selects the code length, the computer may be programmed to make the selection based on whether it is desirable to display larger average pots for attracting more players by selecting a longer code length. Conversely, if the pots are growing too large, the computer may select a shorter code to cause a player to win quicker. The computer may decrease the size of the code based on the time of day to increase the win frequency to attract more players during a slow time. The computer may be in the gaming machine or be a network computer that makes the selection for all linked gaming machines.
In another embodiment, there are eligibility requirements that determine which code lengths are available for selection by the player or the computer. Eligibility may be determined by wager amount, accumulated wager, the trigger event, or other criteria.
The player makes wagers to play the primary game (step 66). During this time, percentages of the wagers of the linked machines are allocated to five different safes (safe #s 1-5) in the secondary game, where each safe is associated with a different progressive pot level, and each safe has a different randomly selected 5-digit combination lock.
After a trigger event is detected (step 84), the secondary game is initiated (step 85), and the player is shown five safes (safes #1-5), as shown in
In
Since the number of available digits eventually goes to 1, it is guaranteed that the player will win at least the award in safe #5.
In a variation of the game of
In the secondary game illustrated in
In the example of
After the single guess, the secondary game is over, and the player plays the primary game again, waiting for another trigger event.
In
By continuing the secondary game until the player wins or cashes out, the player is motivated to keep playing the gaming machine. Since it is guaranteed that the player will eventually guess the combination if the player played long enough, the player will want to play a long time. For linked gaming machines, the pot will normally be won several times by multiple players during another player's playing session. Therefore, the pot does not continually grow. Winning the secondary game at a time when the pot is high adds a second level of excitement to the game since each player of a linked machine sees the same pot amount.
The secondary game may also be played on a stand-alone machine, so the pot continually increases until a player playing that machine wins the pot.
In a variation, similar to steps 84 and 86 in
In one embodiment of a linked system, any guesses from players are made “public” and are used by all other players in guessing a common correct code. In another embodiment, a player's guesses are only known to the player making the guesses. The first player that correctly guesses the code wins the common progressive jackpot. Therefore, in the embodiment where a shared bonus game is played by all the players and the player's guesses are private, the players that have been playing longer than other players statistically have an advantage in winning the jackpot. Therefore, players are motivated to keep playing.
In the embodiment where the guesses are made public and a single common code is used, to prevent potential players sitting out until almost all of the digits are correctly guessed, there may be restrictions on new players. In one embodiment, new players are required to buy-into an on-going bonus game. In another embodiment, new players can only receive a reduced award for correctly guessing the code.
In step 90, the player makes a wager and plays the primary game. If the secondary game is played by linked machines, a percentage of all wagers builds up the pot, and the first player to win, wins the pot.
In step 92, a percentage of the wagers is allocated to the progressive pot (
In step 93, it is determined whether a trigger event has occurred, such as a special combination of symbols across a payline in the primary game. If not, the player plays the primary game again (step 90).
If the trigger event occurred, the secondary game (“Code Breaker”) is initiated in step 94.
In step 95, in the secondary game, the player selects a combination of digits, as shown in
In step 96, it is determined whether the combination was correct. If it was, the pot is awarded to the player, and the game and pot are reset in step 97. Resetting the game means that the selected digits and combination are all extinguished. Resetting the pot means that the pot is set to a starting value, such as a fixed low value or the value of a hidden progressive pot, as previously described with respect to
If the guessed combination was not correct, then, in step 98, the status of the secondary game is saved until the player achieves another trigger event and plays the secondary game again. Saving the status of the game means the correctly selected digits are saved in their code positions and the incorrectly selected digits are extinguished and disabled. In one embodiment, the status of the secondary game is saved by a server and tagged to the player's tracking card ID or other account upon the player cashing out, so the secondary game can be reinstated on another participating gaming machine, or on the same gaming machine at a later time, when the player uses her player tracking card.
In step 99, it is determined whether the player cashed out sometime after the secondary game ended. If so, in step 100, the saved game is reset, so that a new secondary game is initiated after the next trigger event.
In another embodiment, the player is awarded all of the pots when she wins the top jackpot.
The term gaming machine or gaming device also applies to home computers, PDAs, cell phones, and other computer devices that carry out the game.
The term “random” as used herein includes pseudo-random.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.
