Gaming machines with board game theme, apparatus and method

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6508707
  • Patent Number
    6,508,707
  • Date Filed
    Monday, August 27, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 21, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
Gaming machines are disclosed having a basic mode defining a plurality of reels and a bonus mode defining a plurality of stations about a game board (e.g., MONOPOLY board) traversable by a token identifier. The disclosure describes a plurality of play features for the basic and/or bonus modes including (1) a feature allowing the player to select a game token; (2) a feature allowing the player to predict and wager on landing position(s) of the token identifier; (3) a feature allowing the player to obtain deferred-execution instruction(s) which are exercisable by the processor to override later-issued instruction(s) otherwise to be executed by the processor; (4) a feature in which movements of the token identifier are determined according to movement tables corresponding to the various stations of the game board; (5) a feature in which escalating bonuses are awarded for reaching a designated bonus square (e.g., the ‘GO’ square); (6) a feature in which bonuses are awarded for completing groups of stations (e.g., color groups); and (7) a feature in which the gaming machine includes two bonus modes, each entered upon certain symbol combinations in the basic game. The first bonus game provides an award selected from a plurality of fixed values and multipliers, and the second bonus game moves a token identifier on a game board and provides an award determined by the landing station of the token identifier.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to gaming machines and, more particularly, to a gaming machine having various play features relating to a board game.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available, because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator.




One concept which has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is the concept of a “secondary” or “bonus” game which may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, which is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome of the basic game. Generally, bonus games provide a greater expectation of winning than the basic game and may also be accompanied with more attractive or unusual video displays and/or audio. Because the bonus game concept offers tremendous advantages in player appeal and excitement relative to other known games, and because such games are attractive to both players and operators, there is a continuing need to develop gaming machines with new types of bonus games to satisfy the demands of players and operators. The present invention is directed to satisfying this need.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine with a feature allowing the player to select a game token. The gaming machine comprises a processor, a selection element and a display. The processor is operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a game token. The selection element is operable to select, in response to player input, a game token for illustrating movement between the stations, and the display is operable to display, under control of the processor, the selected game token at one or more stations on the game board determined by execution of the game program.




In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a feature allowing the player to predict and wager on landing position(s) of the token identifier. The gaming machine comprises a processor operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier. The feature comprises selecting, in response to player input, a predicted position of the token identifier to be determined by execution of the game program, the predicted position corresponding to one of the stations on the game board. Then, the game program is executed under processor control to determine a true position of the token identifier. The processor compares the predicted position of the token identifier to the true position of the token identifier, and a payoff is awarded to the player if the predicted position corresponds to the true position. In one embodiment, a bonus payoff is made if the predicted position was reached in response to a target movement value.




In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine with a feature allowing the player to obtain deferred-execution instruction(s) which are exercisable by the processor to override later-issued instruction(s) otherwise to be executed by the processor. The gaming machine includes a processor operable in a basic mode and a bonus mode, respectively, to select basic game and bonus game outcomes. A display is provided for displaying indicia of the selected outcomes. The processor issues game control instructions associated with the respective indicia. The game control instructions include nominal executable instructions adapted for execution by the processor upon display of the respective indicia and at least one deferred executable instruction adapted for deferred execution by the processor. The deferred execution instruction might occur in the basic game and be exercised in the bonus game. In one embodiment, the game control instructions include an end-bonus instruction (e.g., GO TO JAIL) which nominally cause the processor to end the bonus game, and the deferred executions include an override command (e.g., GET OUT OF JAIL, FREE) executable to override the end-bonus instruction.




In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a feature in which movements of the token identifier are determined according to movement tables corresponding to the various stations of the game board. The gaming machine includes a processor and a game memory. The processor is operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier. Movements of the token identifier about the game board are determined according to movement tables stored in the game memory. Each of the movement tables correspond to one of the stations of the game board and define a set of possible movement outcomes from that station. After identifying the position (station) of the token identifier on the game board, the processor consults the movement table corresponding to that position to select a movement outcome. Then, the processor moves the token a number of steps on the game board corresponding to the selected movement outcome.




In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a feature in which escalating bonuses are awarded for reaching a designated bonus square on the game board. The gaming machine includes a processor operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier, one of the stations being designated as a bonus station. As the token identifier is advanced along the game board, payoff(s) are made to the player when the token identifier reaches the bonus station, the payoffs escalating in value each successive time the token identifier reaches the bonus station.




In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a feature in which bonuses are awarded for completing groups of stations (e.g., color groups) on the game board. The gaming machine includes a processor operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier, the plurality of stations having at least one discernible subset defining a station group (e.g., a color group). As the token identifier is advanced along the game board, the processor identifies respective landing stations occupied by the token identifier. If the landing station is a member of a station group, the processor designates the landing station as a “completed” station. Then, the processor evaluates the station status of the other stations in the group. If each of the other stations in the group are also completed, the processor designates the group as a completed group and provides a reward to the player, which might comprise an extra “spin” or play of the game, or might increase the award otherwise associated with the station.




In accordance with a still yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine with a processor operable in a basic mode and two bonus modes. In the basic mode, the processor is operable to display a basic game outcome defining a symbol group. If the symbol group includes a first bonus combination, the processor enters the first bonus mode and, if the symbol group includes a second bonus combination, the processor enters the second bonus mode. In the first bonus mode, the processor sets up the first bonus game by defining a plurality of first bonus selection elements including fixed values and multipliers. Then, the processor operates to select one of the selection elements and the player is awarded a credit based on the value of the selected selection element. In the second bonus mode, the processor operates to define a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier. Then, the processor executes a movement of the token identifier to determine a landing station, and the player is awarded a credit based on the value of the landing station.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a video gaming machine with a board game theme according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a block diagram of the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

shows the top box glass of the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is an illustration of a five-reel, nine-line video gaming machine basic game which may be implemented on the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is an illustration of a “Pick Token” screen which appears on the video display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 6

is an illustration of a bonus round play screen which may appear on the video display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is an illustration of a “Build Houses” screen which appears on the video display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a perspective view of a video gaming machine with a board game theme according to another embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 9

is a block diagram of the gaming machine of

FIG. 8

;





FIG. 10

shows the top box glass of the gaming machine of

FIG. 8

;





FIG. 11

is an illustration of a five-reel, five-line video gaming machine basic game which may be implemented on the gaming machine of

FIG. 8

;





FIG. 12

is an illustration of a “Pick Token” screen which appears on the video display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 8

according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 13

is an illustration of a bonus round play screen which may appear on the video display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 1

according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 14

is a perspective view of a spinning reel gaming machine with board game theme according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 15

is a block diagram of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 16



a


shows a portion of the top box glass of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 16



b


shows a game board portion of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 17

is an illustration of three reel strips associated with a basic game which may be implemented on the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 18

is an illustration of a CHANCE bonus screen which may appear on the dot matrix display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 19

is an illustration of a WATER WORKS screen which may appear on the dot matrix display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 20

is an illustration of an ELECTRIC COMPANY screen which may appear on the dot matrix display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 21

is an illustration of a FREE PARKING screen which may appear on the dot matrix display of the gaming machine of

FIG. 14

;





FIG. 22

is a perspective view of a spinning reel gaming machine with board game theme according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 23

is a block diagram of the gaming machine of

FIG. 22

; and





FIG. 24

shows a portion of the top box glass of the gaming machine of

FIG. 22

;





FIG. 25

is an illustration of three reel strips associated with a basic game which may be implemented on the gaming machine of FIG.


22


.











While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.




DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS




Turning now to the drawings and referring initially to

FIG. 1

, there is depicted a gaming machine


10


with a board game theme. In one embodiment, the gaming machine


10


is operable to play a game entitled MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™, based on the popular MONOPOLY™ board game. MONOPOLY™ is a registered trademark owned by and used with permission by Hasbro, Inc. and Hasbro International, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. Nevertheless, it will be appreciated that the gaming machine


10


may be implemented with any of several other board game themes other than MONOPOLY™.




The gaming machine


10


includes a video display


12


and a top box display


32


. The video display


12


may comprise a dot matrix, CRT, LED, LCD, electro-luminescent display or generally any type of video display known in the art. The top box display


32


has a facing surface


60


comprising a partially translucent material such as glass, plastic, Plexiglas or the like which includes an adaptation of a game board


62


(e.g., MONOPOLY) displayed thereon. The game board


62


is backlit by a number of lights


66


(not visible in

FIG. 1

) in the top box display


32


. A pair of mechanical dice


64


are displayed near the top of the top box display


32


.





FIG. 2

is a block diagram of a control system suitable for operating the slot machine


10


. Coin/credit detector


82


signals a CPU


70


when a player has inserted a number of coins or played a number of credits. Then, after the player has activated a switch


84


(e.g., by pulling a lever or pushing a button), the CPU


70


operates to display reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


on the video screen


12


. Then, the player activates one or more selected paylines


72


-


80


and presses the “Spin Reels” button


36


or “Max Bet Spin” button


37


to “spin” the reels, as will be described in greater detail in relation to FIG.


4


. The CPU


70


randomly selects a game outcome and causes the video display


12


to display indicia (e.g., symbols on reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


) corresponding to the pre-selected game outcome. In one embodiment, the symbols displayed on the reels define the basic game outcome.




A system memory


86


stores control software, operational instructions and data associated with the gaming machine


10


. In one embodiment, the memory


86


comprises a separate read-only memory (ROM) and battery-backed random-access memory (RAM). However, it will be appreciated that the memory


86


may be implemented on any of several alternative types of memory structures or may be implemented on a single memory structure. A payoff mechanism


88


is operable in response to instructions from the CPU


70


to award a payoff of coins or credits to the player in response to certain winning combinations stored in memory


86


. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the payoff amounts corresponding to certain combinations is predetermined according to a pay table stored in system memory


86


. A separate I/O controller


71


coupled to the CPU


70


operates the mechanical dice


64


and top box lights


66


.




The gaming machine


10


is operable to play a “basic” game and a secondary or “bonus” game. The basic game is implemented on the video display


12


on five video simulated spinning reels,


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


(hereinafter “reels”) with nine paylines


72


-


80


, as best observed in FIG.


4


. Generally, game play is initiated by inserting a number of coins or playing a number of credits, causing the CPU


70


(

FIG. 2

) to activate a number of paylines corresponding to the number of coins or credits played. After activation of the paylines, the reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


are set in motion by either pulling a lever (not shown), pressing a push button, or touching a touch screen “key” on the video display


12


.




In the embodiment of

FIG. 4

, each of the paylines


72


-


80


extend through one symbol on each of the five reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


. Payline


72


starts at the upper left symbol (e.g., “DOG”) on reel


14


, extends through the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


16


, the lower symbol (e.g., “CHANCE”) on reel


18


, the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


20


and terminates at the top symbol (e.g., “ELECTRIC CO.,” hereinafter “LIGHT”) on reel


22


. Payline


73


starts at the upper left symbol (e.g., “DOG”) on reel


14


, extends through the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


16


, the upper symbol (e.g., “SHOE”) on reel


18


, the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


20


and terminates at the top symbol (e.g., “LIGHT”) on reel


22


. Payline


74


extends through the top symbol on each reel (e.g., “DOG” on reel


14


, “COMMUNITY CHEST,” hereinafter “CHEST” on reel


16


, “SHOE” on reel


18


, “CAR” on reel


20


and “LIGHT” on reel


22


.) Payline


75


starts at the center symbol (e.g., “FREE PARKING,” hereinafter “PARK”) on reel


14


, extends through the lower symbol (e.g., “SHOE”) on reel


16


, the center symbol (e.g., “RING”) on reel


18


, the lower symbol (e.g., “RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS,” hereinafter “PENNY”) on reel


20


and terminates at the center symbol (e.g., “DOG”) on reel


22


. Payline


76


extends through the center symbol on each reel (e.g., “PARK” on reel


14


, “DICE” on reel


16


, “RING” on reel


18


, “DICE” on reel


20


and “DOG” on reel


22


.) Payline


77


starts at the center symbol (e.g., “PARK”) on reel


14


, extends through the upper symbol (e.g., “CHEST”) on reel


16


, the center symbol (e.g., “RING”) on reel


18


, the upper symbol (e.g., “CAR”) on reel


20


and terminates at the center symbol (e.g., “DOG”) on reel


22


. Payline


78


extends through the lower symbol on each reel (e.g., “TRAIN” on reel


14


, “SHOE” on reel


16


, “CHANCE” on reel


18


, “PENNY” on reel


20


and “DICE” on reel


22


.) Payline


79


starts at the lower symbol (e.g., “TRAIN”) on reel


14


, extends through the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


16


, the lower symbol (e.g., “CHANCE”) on reel


18


, the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


20


and terminates at the lower symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


22


. Payline


80


starts at the lower symbol (e.g., “TRAIN”) on reel


14


, extends through the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


16


, the upper symbol (e.g., “SHOE”) on reel


18


, the center symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


20


and terminates at the lower symbol (e.g., “DICE”) on reel


22


.




In one embodiment, the player selects the number of paylines (between one and nine) to play by pressing one of the five buttons in the top row


28


or by using the “Select Lines” key


34


on the video display


12


. The player then chooses one of the five buttons in the bottom row


30


that correspond to the number of coins or credits to bet on each of the nine paylines. Selecting one of the buttons in the bottom row


30


sets the five video reels,


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


in “motion”. As an alternative, the player may touch the “Bet Per Line” key


35


on the video display


12


until the desired bet is displayed and then touch the “Spin Reels” key


36


on the video display


12


to begin the game. As another alternative, if the player wishes to bet the maximum amount of lines and the maximum bet per line, the player may touch the “Max Bet Spin” key


37


on the video display


12


to begin the game. In one embodiment, the game can be set for a maximum bet of 5 or 10 credits on each payline for a maximum total bet of 45 or 90 credits per game. The CPU


70


assigns an equal amount of credits bet for each payline and then spins all five reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


.




The CPU


70


uses a random number generator (not shown) to select a game outcome (e.g., “basic” game outcome) corresponding to a particular set of reel “stop positions”. The CPU


70


then causes each of the video reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


to stop at a preselected stop position. Video symbols (see

FIG. 4

) are displayed on the reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


to graphically illustrate the reel stop position and indicate whether the stop position of the reels represents a winning game outcome. Winning “basic” game outcomes (e.g., symbol combinations resulting in payment of coins or credits) are identifiable by a pay table (see Table A-1). In one embodiment, the pay table is affixed to the machine


10


and/or displayed by the video display


12


in response to a command by the player (e.g., by pressing the “PAY TABLE” button


45


). The pay table enables the player to view the winning combinations and their associated payoff amounts. If the displayed symbols stop in a winning combination, the game awards the player the award corresponding to the award in the pay table for that combination multiplied by the amount of credits bet on the winning payline.












TABLE A-1











MONOPOLY - ONCE AROUND






BASIC GAME




















9 LINE




5 REEL





# OF





MaxBet




9/18/45/90























TYPE




WIN COMBINATIONS




R #1




R #2




R #3




R #4




R #5




HITS




PAY




TOTAL




PROB




EV




























PENNYBAGS








1




2




2




2




4











penny




penny




penny




penny




penny




1




2




2




2




4




32




20000




640000




0.000000




0.25%






penny




penny




penny




penny





1




2




2




2




44




352




1000




352000




0.000001




0.145






penny




penny




penny






1




2




2




46




48




8552




200




1710400




0.000034




0.67%






penny




penny







1




2




40




48




48




178080




20




3561600




0.000699




1.40%






DICE






dice




dice




dice




dice




dice




4




4




7




6




7




4704




250




1176000




0.000018




0.46%






dice




dice




dice




dice





4




4




7




6




41




27552




50




1377600




0.000108




0.54%






dice




dice




dice






4




4




7




42




48




225792




10




2257920




0.000886




0.89%






dice




dice







4




4




41




48




48




1511424




5




7557120




0.005932




2.97%






CAR








4




4




4




4




6






car




car




car




car




car




4




4




4




4




6




1536




600




921600




0.000006




0.36%






car




car




car




car





4




4




4




4




42




10752




125




1344000




0.000042




0.53%






car




car




car






4




4




4




44




48




125952




50




6297600




0.000494




2.47%






car




car







4




4




36




48




48




1327104




5




6635520




0.005208




2.60%






DOG








4




4




4




4




6






dog




dog




dog




dog




dog




4




4




4




4




6




1536




500




768000




0.000006




0.30%






dog




dog




dog




dog





4




4




4




4




42




10752




100




1075200




0.000042




0.42%






dog




dog




dog






4




4




4




44




48




125952




30




3778560




0.000494




1.48%






dog




dog







4




4




36




48




48




1327104




3




3981312




0.005208




1.56%






SHOE








4




4




4




4




6






shoe




shoe




shoe




shoe




shoe




4




4




4




4




6




1536




500




768000




0.000006




0.30%






shoe




shoe




shoe




shoe





4




4




4




4




42




10752




100




1075200




0.000042




0.42%






shoe




shoe




shoe






4




4




4




44




48




125952




30




3778560




0.000494




1.48%






shoe




shoe







4




4




36




48




48




1327104




3




3981312




0.005208




1.56%






ANY TOKEN






anyt




anyt




anyt




anyt




anyt




12




12




12




12




18




359424




50




17971200




0.001411




7.05%






anyt




anyt




anyt




anyt





12




12




12




12




30




552960




20




11059200




0.002170




4.34%






anyt




anyt




anyt






12




12




12




36




48




2654208




5




3981312




0.010417




5.21%






RING








6




4




6




4




1






ring




ring




ring




ring




ring




7




6




8




6




5




10040




300




3012000




0.000039




1.18%






ring




ring




ring




ring





7




6




8




6




43




85656




70




5995920




0.000336




2.35%






ring




ring




ring






7




6




8




42




48




669312




20




13386240




0.002627




5.25%






TRAIN








6




6




5




5




2






train




train




train




train




train




7




8




7




7




6




16416




250




4104000




0.000064




1.61%






train




train




train




train





7




8




7




7




42




114072




60




6844320




0.000448




2.69%






train




train




train






7




8




7




41




48




743904




15




11158560




0.002920




4.38%






FREE PARKING








7




8




5




4




1






park




park




park




park




park




8




10




7




6




5




16760




200




3352000




0.000066




1.32%






park




park




park




park





8




10




7




6




43




143448




50




7172400




0.000563




2.81%






park




park




park






8




10




7




42




48




1100736




10




11007360




0.004015




4.32%






ELECTRIC CO.








8




8




9




11




11






light




light




light




light




light




8




8




9




11




11




69696




100




6969600




0.000274




2.74%






light




light




light




light





8




8




9




11




37




234432




40




9377280




0.000920




3.68%






light




light




light






8




8




9




37




48




1022976




7




7160832




0.004015




2.81%




















73.05%

















SCATTERED PAYS












COMMUNITY CHEST




2




2




1




2




2

























chest




chest




chest




chest




chest




6




6




3




6




6




3888




200




777600




0.000015




0.03%






chest




chest




chest




chest





6




6




3




6




42




27216




20




544320




0.000107




0.02%







chest




chest




chest




chest




42




6




3




6




6




27216




20




544320




0.000107




0.02%








chest




chest




chest




48




42




3




6




6




217728




7




1524096




0.000854




0.07%







chest




chest




chest





42




6




3




6




42




190512




7




1333584




0.000748




0.06%






chest




chest




chest






6




6




3




42




48




217728




7




1524096




0.000854




0.07%






CHANCE








2




2




1




2




2






chance




chance




chance




chance




chance




6




6




3




6




6




3888




200




777600




0.000015




0.03%






chance




chance




chance




chance





6




6




3




6




42




27216




20




544320




0.000107




0.02%







chance




chance




chance




chance




42




6




3




6




6




27216




20




544320




0.000107




0.02%








chance




chance




chance




48




42




3




6




6




217728




7




1524096




0.000854




0.07%







chance




chance




chance





42




6




3




6




42




190512




7




1333584




0.000748




0.06%






chance




chance




chance






6




6




3




42




48




217728




7




1524096




0.000854




0.07%




















0.54%










TOTAL




48




48




48




48




48




15515136





198635008





73.60%














Table A-1 is a pay table identifying various winning combinations of symbols in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ basic game and their mathematical probabilities and expected values. The various symbols used in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ basic game include: “RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS” (“PENNY”), “DICE,” “CAR,” “DOG,” “SHOE,” “RING,” “TRAIN,” “PARK,” “LIGHT,” “CHEST” and “CHANCE.” The “WIN COMBINATIONS” column identifies the various win combinations which may occur by symbols stopping on an active payline. Generally, winning combinations require that at least two of five corresponding symbols be displayed, left to right, starting on reel


14


(designated “R #1” in Table A-1) on an active payline. For example, two “PENNY” symbols displayed on adjacent reels


14


(“R #1”) and


16


would be a winning combination. The “ANY TOKEN” combination is satisfied by any combination of three or more “CAR,” “DOG” and “SHOE” symbols stopping on an active payline, left to right, starting on reel


14


(“R #1”). For example, a “DOG” symbol on reel


14


(“R #1”), followed by a “SHOE” symbol on reel


16


(“R #2”) and another “DOG” symbol on reel


18


(“R #3”) would be a winning “ANY TOKEN” combination.




In one embodiment, the “PENNY” symbol acts as a wildcard for the “RING,” “TRAIN,” and “PARK” symbol combinations. Thus, for example, the combination of “RING,” “PENNY” and “RING” on adjacent reels


14


(“R #1”),


16


(“R #2”) and


18


(“R #3”) is a winning combination.




The “SCATTERED PAYS” column identifies the various win combinations which may occur by symbols which are not necessarily aligned with an active payline. A winning combination of the scatter-pay type occurs when scatter-pay symbols are displayed, in any position, on the appropriate reels. In the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ basic game, the “CHEST” and “CHANCE” symbols are scatter-pay symbols and winning combinations occur when three or more of these symbols are displayed on consecutive and adjacent interchangeable reels. For example, three “CHEST” symbols displayed on adjacent reels


16


(“R #2”),


18


(“R #3”) and


20


(“R #4”), is a winning scatter-pay combination in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game.




The “# OF HITS” column of Table A-1 identifies, for each winning combination, the product of the number of symbols on each reel supporting the combination. For example, consider the combination of five “PENNY” symbols. This combination is the highest value combination in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ basic game because there are relatively few “PENNY” symbols on each reel and, consequently, the probability of hitting a “PENNY” symbol on each reel is very low. Specifically, in the embodiment of Table A-1, there is one “PENNY” symbol on reel


14


(“R #1”), two “PENNY” symbols on reel


16


(“R #2”), two “PENNY” symbols on reel


18


(“R #3”), two “PENNY” symbols on reel


20


(“R #4”) and four “PENNY” symbols on reel


22


(“R #5”). Thus, the “# OF HITS” for the combination of five consecutive “PENNY” symbols is 32 (i.e., 1×2×2×2×4).




The “PAY” column of Table A-1 identifies the amount of coin(s) or credit(s) awarded for the various winning combinations in the basic game, per unit wagered. Thus, for example, the “PENNY,” “PENNY” combination appearing on reels


14


,


16


(“R #1, R #2”) will pay 20 coins or credits with one coin played; that same combination will pay 100 coins or credits with five coins played.




The “TOTAL” column of Table A-1 lists, for each winning combination, the product of the “# OF HITS” value and the “PAY” value. The five “PENNY” combination, for example, having 32 hits each paying 20,000 coins or credits, has a “TOTAL” value of 640,000.




In one embodiment, each of the reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


and


22


have 48 symbol positions, thus the odds of hitting each unique combination relative to a single active payline is one in about 254 million (i.e., 1÷(48)


5


). The “PROB” column identifies the probability of hitting the various winning combinations in a single spin. For example, there are only 32 symbol combinations out of about 250 million symbol combinations that will result in the combination of five consecutive “PENNY” symbols. Thus, the probability of hitting that combination is 32÷254 million or about 1.25×10


−7


.




The “EV” column of Table A-1 identifies the expected value of the various winning combinations, which is computed as the product of the “PAY” and “PROB” values. Thus, for the five “PENNY” combination, the expected value is 0.0025 (20,000×1.25×10


−7


). The payout rate of the basic game, identified at the bottom of the “EV” column, is computed by summing each of the expected values. In the embodiment of Table A-1, the payout rate of the basic game is 73.60%




The Bonus Game




The bonus game is triggered when a special “start-bonus” outcome occurs in the basic game. In the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game, a winning combination of three or more “DICE” symbols in the basic game represents a “start-bonus” outcome which causes the CPU


70


to execute a game control instruction which enters the bonus game. In one embodiment, the bonus game has a board-game (e.g., MONOPOLY) theme and is implemented on the top box game board


62


and video display


12


. The board game defines a plurality of stations or squares about a game board traversable by a game token, or token “identifier” indicating the position of a token, or player. For example, a token “identifier” comprises in one embodiment an illuminated station of the top box game board


62


indicating the position of a token, or player otherwise not displayed on the top box game board


62


. Hereinafter, references to displaying the position of a token, or player, shall be understood to mean the display of either an actual game token or a token identifier on a game board or portion thereof.




Upon initially entering the bonus game, the CPU


70


operates to replace the display of reels


14


,


16


,


18


,


20


,


22


on video display


12


with a token selection screen (

FIG. 5

) offering a selection of board game tokens


40


. In the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game, the token selection screen displays an animated Rich Uncle Pennybags symbol


38


above a selection of MONOPOLY tokens


40


(e.g., “CAR,” “DOG,” “HORSE,” “SHOE” and “HAT”), and the player is prompted to select one of the game tokens


40


. In one embodiment, the video display


12


comprises a touch-screen display and the selection of a game token


40


is accomplished by touching the desired token on the display


12


. It will be appreciated, however, that any of several known player control devices may be used to implement the selection of a token


40


. In another embodiment, the player scrolls through the tokens


40


and selects a particular token by depressing a designated “select” button on the gaming machine


10


when the desired token


40


is highlighted. Scrolling through the tokens


40


prior to the selection of the desired token may also be accomplished automatically according to the game program or may be controlled by the player pressing various buttons. Once the player selects a token


40


, the CPU


70


operates to display a portion of the game board on the video display


12


with the selected token on a starting station of the game board. The CPU


70


also signals I/O controller


71


to illuminate the starting station on the top box game board


62


. For example, in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game, the starting station is the ‘GO’ square. The CPU


70


operates to display the selected MONOPOLY token on the GO square of a scrolling video MONOPOLY board on the video display


12


, and also signals I/O controller


71


to illuminate the GO square on the top box MONOPOLY board


62


.




Next, in one embodiment, the CPU


70


selects an integer movement value defining a number of stations or steps which the token is to be moved from the GO square. In one embodiment, the integer movement value is selected from a plurality of movement values corresponding to the sum of two dice. In this case, the selection of the movement value might comprise selecting two integer values, each corresponding to a possible outcome of one of the dies, then summing the integer values. For example, in one embodiment, the CPU


70


selects a first integer value, from one to six, corresponding to the faces of a six-sided first die, then selects a second integer value, from one to six, corresponding to the faces of a six-sided second die. The CPU


70


sums the two values to define the integer movement value, comprising a number from two to twelve. Alternatively, the CPU


70


might select an integer movement value from two to twelve without selecting and summing intermediate values.




In one embodiment, the player “rolls” a pair of dice by touching a “Roll Dice” key


41


or “Auto Roll” key


42


on the video display


12


. The outcome of each roll (e.g., the integer movement value) is selected by the CPU


70


which then issues game control instructions to display indicia of the pre-determined “roll.” In one embodiment, the displayed indicia comprise mechanical dice


64


and a pair of “video” dice


43


on the video display


12


(FIG.


6


). In one embodiment, the mechanical dice


64


are driven by I/O controller


71


, in response to game control instructions from the CPU


70


, to mechanically rotate and then stop to reveal the predetermined outcome of the roll. The video dice


43


similarly “rotate” and then stop to reveal the predetermined roll in response to instructions from the CPU


70


. The outcome of the roll of dice


43


(

FIG. 6

) and


64


(

FIG. 1

) determines how many spaces the token will be moved from its previous position on the game board. On the top box display


32


, movement is illustrated by the illumination, in step-wise fashion, of the appropriate stations (squares) on the game board


62


(e.g., MONOPOLY board) from the previous position to the position determined by the roll of dice. On the video display


12


, movement is illustrated by the selected game token


40


(e.g., “SHOE” in

FIG. 6

) moving, one space at a time, a corresponding number of spaces on a scrolling portion of the game board.




In one embodiment, when the token


40


stops moving for each roll, an animated character icon (e.g., Rich Uncle Pennybags, in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game) announces the name of the station (square) landed on by the token


40


. The player is awarded the amount indicated on the station multiplied by the line bet. In one embodiment, the player might be awarded an additional amount resulting from a side bet, if any, associated with the station (which will be described in relation to FIG.


7


). In one embodiment, the bonus game continues with consecutive rolls of the dice, with the player collecting various amounts corresponding to the landing stations determined by the rolls of dice, until the player's token has completed one trip around the game board. If the rolls are initiated by pressing the “Roll Dice” key


41


, the game will pause between rolls until the player touches the key


41


or


42


. If the rolls are initiated by the “Auto Roll” key


42


, the CPU


70


causes the dice to roll automatically after a small delay following the previous roll.




In the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game, if the game token


40


lands on a “Chance” or “Community Chest” station (square) during the bonus round, the CPU


70


triggers an animation on video display


12


which shows the top card of a pile of cards flipping up to reveal the “Chance” or “Community Chest” outcomes. The art on the cards resembles the cards in an actual MONOPOLY™ game. Generally, the “Chance” and “Community Chest” outcomes comprise awards of fixed coin values (e.g., “BANK ERROR IN YOUR FAVOR, $100), or they can move the player to a new space (e.g., GO BACK ONE SPACE). If the player is moved to a property, the movement is indicated on the top box board


62


and the video display


12


. The possible outcomes of the “Chance” and “Community Chest” squares in one embodiment of the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ bonus game is shown in Table A-2, below.












TABLE A-2











CHANCE & COMMUNITY CHEST OUTCOMES














Community Chest




Pay




Chance




Pay

















Beuty Contest




5




3rd Place in Dance Contest




7






Life Insurance Matures




25




Horse Wins the Derby




35






XMAS Fund Matures




15




You Win State Lottery




100






You Inherit Money




60




You Win at Roulette Table




25






Income Tax Refund




25




You Win at Blackjack




20








Table






Bank Error in Your Favor




100




Lawsuit in your Favor




40






Receive Payment for




12




Find Lost Dog




10






Services






Stock Increases in Value




40




Building and Loan Matures




30






Grand Opera Opening




9




Bank Pays You Dividend




12






Go Back One Space




0




Sell Rare Painting




70






Average




32.33




Average




34.9






Average with Go Back




29.10






1 Space














In one embodiment of the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game, if the game token


40


lands on station(s) other than “Chance” or “Community Chest,” the CPU


70


causes the player to be awarded an amount of credits corresponding to the product of the coins or credits wagered per line in the basic game and a multiplier value associated with the respective station(s). Four of the stations (e.g., “INCOME TAX,” “IN JAIL,” “GO TO JAIL” and “LUXURY TAX”) have zero value in the bonus game, that is, they are associated with zero multiplier amounts. All other stations have positive integer multiplier values which generally increase as the token progresses farther along the board. The multiplier values associated with the respective stations are shown in FIG.


3


and Table A-3, below.












TABLE A-3











MONOPOLY BONUS SQUARES




















MONOPOLY BONUS






SNAKE






Cost/




House




W/Snake







SQUARE




MULT




PROB




EYES




Exp Pay




Exp Value




House




Pay




Eyes




EV























Mediterranean Ave.




4




0.0028




 0.002778




0.01




0.001%




 5




75




1750 




97.22%






Community Chest




29.10




0.0278%




 0.027778




0.81




0.082%






Baltic Avenue




5




0.0556




0.00008




0.28




0.028%




 5




75




2500 




87.19%






Income Tax




0




0.0843




0.00077




0.00




0.000%






Reading Railroad




10




0.1144




0.00155




1.14




0.116%






Oriental Avenue




10




0.1469




0.00234




1.47




0.149%




 5




25




400




91.03%






Chance




34.9




0.1826




0.00318




6.37




0.646%






Vermont Avenue




10




0.1669




0.00408




1.67




0.169%




 5




25




150




93.63%






Connecticut Avenue




12




0.1560




0.00507




1.87




0.190%




 5




25




175




93.21%






In Jail




0




0.1482




0.00463




0.00




0.000%






St. Charles Place




15




0.1417




0.00433




2.13




0.215%




10




50




600




94.67%






Electric Company




12




0.1346




0.00412




1.62




0.164%






States Avenue




15




0.1251




0.00394




1.88




0.190%




10




50




800




92.06%






Virginia Avenue




18




0.1389




0.00374




2.50




0.253%




10




50




700




93.76%






Pennsylvania Railroad




10




0.1462




0.00347




1.46




0.148%






St. James Place




20




0.1488




0.00386




2.98




0.301%




10




50




500




91.74%






Community Chest




32.33




0.1483




0.00406




4.80




0.486%






Tennessee Avenue




20




0.1461




0.00413




2.92




0.296%




10




50




500




91.64%






New York Avenue




22




0.1433




0.00412




3.15




0.319%




10




50




600




94.30%






Free Parking




10




0.1412




0.00406




4.80




0.486%






Kentucky Avenue




25




0.1411




0.00398




3.53




0.357%




15




75




900




92.46%






Chance




34.9




0.1419




0.00392




4.95




0.502%






Indiana Avenue




25




0.1429




0.00392




3.57




0.362%




15




75




900




93.01%






Illinois Avenue




28




0.1436




0.00394




4.02




0.407%




15




75




900




93.51%






B & O Railroad




10




0.1440




0.00397




1.44




0.146%






Atlantic Avenue




30




0.1441




0.00399




4.32




0.438%




15




75




900




93.98%






Ventnor Avenue




30




0.1436




0.00400




4.31




0.436%




15




75




900




93.81%






Water Works




12




0.1432




0.00400




1.72




0.174%






Marvin Gardens




35




0.1429




0.00399




5.00




0.507%




15




75




900




93.40%






Go to Jail




0




0.1429




0.00298




0.00




0.000%






Pacific Avenue




50




0.1430




0.00397




7.15




0.724%




20




100 




1200 




93.36%






North Carolina Avenue




50




0.1432




0.00397




7.16




0.7255




20




100 




1200 




93.45%






Community Chest




32.33




0.1434




0.00397




4.64




0.469%






Pennsylvania Avenue




60




0.1434




0.00398




8.60




0.871%




20




100 




1200 




93.58%






Short Line Railroad




10




0.1434




0.00398




1.43




0.1455






Chance




34.9




0.1433




0.00398




5.00




0.506%






Park Place




100




0.1432




0.00398




14.32 




1.451%




20




100 




1200 




93.52%






Luxury Tax




0




0.1432




0.00398




0.00




0.000%






Boardwalk




300




0.1432




0.00398




42.96 




4.351%




20




100 




1200 




93.48%






Go




5




1.0000




0.00298




5.00




0.506%






Total Spaces




39




6.2192






Average




29.78




0.16






Expected Value







167.60




16.97%














In one embodiment, the bonus game gives the player the opportunity to make side bets, apart from the coins or credits wagered in the basic game, on the stations of the game board which the player predicts will be landed on during the bonus game. The increments of the side bets which may be made on the various stations may be varied according to the game program. For example, in the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ bonus game, the player has the opportunity to “build” houses (make side bets) on the properties of the MONOPOLY board which the player predicts will be landed on during the bonus game. The amount of the side bet corresponds to the “cost” of the houses built on the various properties, which generally varies according to the property selected.




If the player wishes to build house(s), the player touches the “Build Houses” key


46


on the video display


12


(

FIG. 5

) which appears at the beginning of the bonus round. If the “Build Houses” key


46


is selected, the CPU


70


operates to display a “Build Houses” screen (

FIG. 7

) on the video display. In one embodiment, the video display


12


comprises a touch-screen display and the player bets (builds houses) on a property by touching the desired property. It will be appreciated, however, that any of several alternative player control devices may be used to implement the selection and building of houses.




After selection of a property, the CPU


70


operates to display a property deed


54


corresponding to the selected property on the video display


12


. In

FIG. 7

, the property deed shown on the video display


54


is “Baltic Avenue,” thus indicating that the player has elected to build houses on Baltic Avenue. More specifically, the player has identified the “Baltic Avenue” station as a predicted landing position of the token, to be determined by execution of the game program. The player builds houses on the selected property by touching the property again, by touching the deed


54


, or by touching the “Build Houses” key


46


. Up to five bets (houses) may be placed on each property. In one embodiment, the houses on the bottom side of the MONOPOLY™ board (from Mediterranean Ave. to Connecticut Ave.) cost 5 credits each, the houses on the left side of the board (St. Charles Place to New York Ave.) cost 10 credits each, the houses on the top side of the board (Kentucky Ave. to Marvin Gardens) cost 15 credits each and the houses on the right side of the board (Pacific Ave. to Boardwalk) cost 20 credits each.




The cost of the houses are subtracted from the credits previously earned or paid into the machine by the player. In one embodiment, the player may insert coins or bills into the machine 10 at any time during display of the “Build Houses” screen as desired to increase the credits available for building houses. If the player, having selected a property and placed house(s) on the property, wants to clear the house(s) on the selected property, the player touches a “Clear Property” key


48


on the display


12


. If the player wants to clear houses (side bets) placed on the entire board, the player touches a “Clear All Houses” key


50


on the display


12


.




In one embodiment, the video display


12


displays a number of house and hotel icons corresponding to the number of houses built on each selected property. In

FIG. 7

, for example, the video display


12


shows four green house icons and a red hotel icon adjacent to the Baltic Avenue property deed, thus indicating that the player has placed five bets on Baltic Avenue. The four house icons represent the first four bets and the hotel icon represents the fifth bet placed on Baltic Avenue. The displayed property deed


54


identifies the cost per house (e.g., 5 credits for Baltic Avenue) and the pay value of landing on the property (e.g., 125 credits for Baltic Avenue, with five houses).




In one embodiment, the game program defines a target integer movement value and a bonus is awarded to the player if the player “rolls” the target integer movement value to land on the selected property. The bonus comprises a higher value award, greater than the award which would otherwise be awarded by landing on the selected property. In the illustrated embodiment, the target integer movement value is two, corresponding to a roll of “Snake Eyes” (double ones). The displayed property deed


54


indicates the pay value of the “Snake Eyes” bonus, 2000 credits for Baltic Avenue (with five houses). The cost per house, pay value per house and Snake Eyes bonus value per house for the various properties in one embodiment of the MONOPOLY ONCE AROUND™ game is identified in Table A-3.




In one embodiment, a “Help” key


44


is displayed on the “Build Houses” screen. If touched by the player, the “Help” key


44


allows the player to access various information and instructions associated with the build houses feature. For example, in one embodiment, the information associated with the “Help” key


44


may allow the player to determine how much the Snake Eyes bonus is worth for the various properties.




After the player has placed the desired number of side bets, the player touches a “Return to Game” key


52


on the display


12


, causing the CPU


70


to replace the “Build Houses” screen with a display of the MONOPOLY board screen (

FIG. 6

) with the token starting on the GO square. Then, the player presses the “Roll Dice” button


41


or “Auto Roll” button


42


to roll the dice and commence the bonus game.




Then, the CPU


70


executes a game program, selecting integer movement values corresponding to a roll of dice to advance the game token, or token identifier along the game board. The landing station(s) of the token identifier determined by execution of the game program define “actual” or “true” position(s) of the token identifier, as opposed to the predicted positions selected via the “Build Houses” screen. After each “roll,” the CPU


70


compares the true position to the predicted position(s) and, if the true position matches any of the predicted position(s), the player is paid an amount of coins or credits, as appropriate, corresponding to the cost of building the house(s) on that property. In one embodiment, the amount paid upon landing on an improved property is five times the cost of building houses on that property. The “Build Houses” award(s), if any, are supplemental to the awards given as a result of landing on the properties in the regular bonus game.




The award of coin(s) or credit(s) for the “Build Houses” feature or the regular bonus game may occur immediately upon the token


40


landing on a particular property or may be deferred until completion of the bonus game. In one embodiment, the animated Rich Uncle Pennybags will celebrate on the display


12


during all large bonus awards. After the bonus game is complete, the bonus screen will fade and the video reels screen will then be displayed on the display


12


so the player may resuming playing the basic game.




Now turning to

FIG. 8

, there is depicted another gaming machine


110


with a board game theme. In one embodiment, the gaming machine


110


is operable to play a game entitled MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™, based on the MONOPOLY™ board game. MONOPOLY™ is a registered trademark owned by and used with permission by Hasbro, Inc. and Hasbro International, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. Alternatively, the gaming machine


110


may be implemented with any of several other board game themes other than MONOPOLY™.




The gaming machine


110


includes a video display


112


and a top box display


132


. The video display


112


may comprise a dot matrix, CRT, LED, LCD, electroluminescent display or generally any type of video display known in the art. The top box display


132


has a facing surface


160


comprising a partially translucent material such as glass, plastic, Plexiglas or the like which includes an adaptation of a game board


162


(e.g., MONOPOLY) displayed thereon. The game board


162


is backlit by a number of lights


166


(not visible in

FIG. 1

) in the top box display


132


.





FIG. 9

is a block diagram of a control system suitable for operating the slot machine


110


of FIG.


8


. Coin/credit detector


182


signals a CPU


170


when a player has inserted a number of coins or played a number of credits. Then, after the player has activated a switch


184


(e.g., by pulling a lever or pushing a button), the CPU


170


operates to display reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


(see

FIG. 11

) on the video screen


112


. The player activates one or more selected paylines


172


,


174


,


176


,


178


,


180


and presses the “Spin Reels” button


136


or “Max Bet Spin” button


137


to “spin” the reels, as will be described in relation to FIG.


11


. The CPU


170


randomly selects a game outcome and causes the video display


112


to display indicia (e.g., symbols on reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


) corresponding to the pre-selected game outcome. In one embodiment, the symbols displayed on the reels define the basic game outcome.




A system memory


186


stores control software, operational instructions and data associated with the gaming machine


110


. In one embodiment, the memory


186


comprises a separate read-only memory (ROM) and battery-backed random-access memory (RAM). However, it will be appreciated that the memory


186


may be implemented on any of several alternative types of memory structures or may be implemented on a single memory structure. A payoff mechanism


188


is operable in response to instructions from the CPU


170


to award a payoff of coins or credits to the player in response to certain winning combinations stored in memory


186


. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the payoff amounts corresponding to certain combinations is predetermined according to a pay table stored in system memory


186


. A separate I/O controller


171


coupled to the CPU


170


operates the top box lights


266


.




The gaming machine


110


is operable to play a basic game and a bonus game. The basic game is implemented on the video display


112


on five video simulated spinning reels,


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


(hereinafter “reels”) with five paylines


172


,


174


,


176


,


178


and


180


, as best observed in FIG.


11


. Generally, game play is initiated by inserting a number of coins or playing a number of credits, causing the CPU


170


(

FIG. 9

) to activate a number of paylines corresponding to the number of coins or credits played. After activation of the paylines, the reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


are set in motion by either pulling a lever (not shown), pressing a push button, or touching a touch screen “key” on the video display


112


.




In the embodiment of

FIG. 11

, each of the paylines


172


,


174


,


176


,


178


and


180


extend through one symbol on each of the five reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


. Payline


172


starts at the upper left symbol (e.g., “TRAIN”) on reel


114


, extends through the center symbol (e.g., “WATER WORKS,” hereinafter “WATER”) on reel


116


, the lower symbol (e.g., “WATER”) on reel


118


, the center symbol (e.g., “TRAIN”) on reel


120


and terminates at the top symbol (e.g., “HAT”) on reel


122


. Payline


174


extends through the top symbol on each reel (e.g., “TRAIN” on reel


114


, “ELECTRIC COMPANY,” hereinafter “LIGHT” on reel


116


, “COMMUNITY CHEST,” hereinafter “CHEST” on reel


118


, “RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS,” hereinafter “PENNY” on reel


120


and “HAT” on reel


122


.) Payline


176


extends through the center symbol on each reel (e.g., “FREE PARKING,” hereinafter “PARKING” on reel


114


, “WATER” on reel


116


, “DOG” on reel


118


, “TRAIN” on reel


120


and “LIGHT” on reel


122


.) Payline


178


extends through the lower symbol on each reel (e.g., “PENNY” on reel


114


, “CHANCE” on reel


116


, “WATER” on reel


118


, “CAR” on reel


120


and “PARKING” on reel


122


.) Payline


180


starts at the lower symbol (e.g., “PENNY”) on reel


114


, extends through the center symbol (e.g., “WATER”) on reel


116


, the upper symbol (e.g., “CHEST”) on reel


118


, the center symbol (e.g., “TRAIN”) on reel


120


and terminates at the lower symbol (e.g., “PARKING”) on reel


122


.




In one embodiment, the player selects the number of paylines (between one and five) to play by pressing one of the five buttons in the top row


128


or by using the “Select Lines” key


134


on the video display


112


. The player then chooses one of the five buttons in the bottom row


130


that correspond to the number of coins or credits to bet on each of the five paylines. Selecting one of the buttons in the bottom row


130


sets the five video reels,


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


in “motion”. As an alternative, the player may touch the “Bet Per Line” key


135


on the video display


112


until the desired bet is displayed and then touch the “Spin Reels” key


136


on the video display


112


to begin the game. As another alternative, if the player wishes to bet the maximum amount of lines and the maximum bet per line, the player may touch the “Max Bet Spin” key


137


on the video display


112


to begin the game. In one embodiment, the game can be set for a maximum bet of 5, 9 or 18 credits on each payline for a maximum total bet of 25, 45 or 90 credits per game. The CPU


70


assigns an equal amount of credits bet for each payline and then spins all five reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


.




The CPU


170


uses a random number generator (not shown) to select a game outcome (e.g., “basic” game outcome) corresponding to a particular set of reel “stop positions”. The CPU


170


then causes each of the video reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


to stop at a preselected stop position. Video symbols (see

FIG. 11

) are displayed on the reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


to graphically illustrate the reel stop position and indicate whether the stop position of the reels represents a winning game outcome. Winning “basic” game outcomes (e.g., symbol combinations resulting in payment of coins or credits) are identifiable by a pay table (see Table B-1). In one embodiment, the pay table is affixed to the machine


110


and/or displayed by the video display


112


in response to a command by the player (e.g., by pressing the “PAY TABLE” button


145


). The pay table enables the player to view the winning combinations and their associated payoff amounts. If the displayed symbols stop in a winning combination, the game awards the player the award corresponding to the award in the pay table for that combination multiplied by the amount of credits bet on the winning payline.












TABLE B-1









Pay Table for REEL ESTATE Basic Game




























TYPE: 5 REEL











Win Combinations




R #1




R #2




R #3




R #4




R #5























PENNYBAGS








1




1




1




1




1






PENNY




PENNY




PENNY




PENNY




PENNY




1




1




1




1




1






PENNY




PENNY




PENNY




PENNY





1




1




1




1




24






PENNY




PENNY




PENNY






1




1




1




22




26






PENNY




PENNY







1




1




17




26




26






PENNY








1




17




26




26




26






CAR








1




2




2




2




1






CAR




CAR




CAR




CAR




CAR




2




3




3




3




2






CAR




CAR




CAR




CAR





2




3




3




3




24






CAR




CAR




CAR






2




3




3




23




26






CAR




CAR







2




3




23




26




26






CAR








2




23




26




26




26






HAT








3




3




3




1




1






HAT




HAT




HAT




HAT




HAT




4




4




4




2




2






HAT




HAT




HAT




HAT





4




4




4




2




24






HAT




HAT




HAT






4




4




4




24




26






HAT




HAT







4




4




22




26




26






DOG








3




3




3




3




1






DOG




DOG




DOG




DOG




DOG




4




4




4




4




2






DOG




DOG




DOG




DOG





4




4




4




4




24






DOG




DOG




DOG






4




4




4




22




26






DOG




DOG







4




4




22




26




26






TRAIN








4




4




3




4




4






TRAIN




TRAIN




TRAIN




TRAIN




TRAIN




4




4




3




4




4






TRAIN




TRAIN




TRAIN




TRAIN





4




4




3




4




22






TRAIN




TRAIN




TRAIN






4




4




3




22




26






PARKING








4




4




4




5




4






PARKING




PARKING




PARKING




PARKING




PARKING




4




4




4




5




4






PARKING




PARKING




PARKING




PARKING





4




4




4




5




22






PARKING




PARKING




PARKING






4




4




4




21




26






WATER








4




4




4




4




5






WATER




WATER




WATER




WATER




WATER




4




4




4




4




5






WATER




WATER




WATER




WATER





4




4




4




4




21






WATER




WATER




WATER






4




4




4




22




26






LIGHT








4




3




4




4




6






LIGHT




LIGHT




LIGHT




LIGHT




LIGHT




4




3




4




4




6






LIGHT




LIGHT




LIGHT




LIGHT





4




3




4




4




20






LIGHT




LIGHT




LIGHT






4




3




4




22




26











SCATTERED PAYS




















CHEST








1




1




1




1




1






CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




3




3




3




3




3






CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




CHEST





3




3




3




3




23







CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




23




3




3




3




3






CHEST




CHEST




CHEST






3




3




3




23




26







CHEST




CHEST




CHEST





23




3




3




3




23








CHEST




CHEST




CHEST




26




23




3




3




3






CHANCE








1




1




1




1




2






CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




3




3




3




3




6






CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE





3




3




3




3




20







CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




23




3




3




3




6






CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE






3




3




3




23




26







CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE





23




3




3




3




20








CHANCE




CHANCE




CHANCE




26




23




3




3




6










TOTAL




26




26




26




26




26




















# of






MaxBet:




25/45/90







HITS




PAY




TOTAL




PROB




EV









PENNYBAGS






PENNY




1




10000




10000




8.417E−08




0.08%






PENNY




24




1000




24000




2.02E−06




0.20%






PENNY




568




100




56600




4.764E−05




0.48%






PENNY




11492




10




114920




0.0009672




0.97%






PENNY




298792




2




597584




0.0251479




5.03%






CAR






CAR




107




1000




107000




9.006E−06




0.90%






CAR




1272




150




190800




0.0001071




1.61%






CAR




10166




50




508300




0.0008556




4.28%






CAR




77740




5




388700




0.006543




3.27%






CAR




404248




2




808496




0.0340237




6.80%






HAT






HAT




254




500




127000




2.138E−05




1.07%






HAT




3048




100




304800




0.0002565




2.57%






HAT




39312




30




1179360




0.0033087




9.93%






HAT




223080




2




446160




0.0187756




3.76%






DOG






DOG




510




300




153000




4.292E−05




1.29%






DOG




6048




60




362880




0.000509




3.05%






DOG




36036




20




720720




0.003033




6.07%






DOG




223080




2




446160




0.0187756




3.76%






TRAIN






TRAIN




768




120




92160




6.464E−05




0.78%






TRAIN




4224




40




168960




0.0003555




1.42%






TRAIN




27456




15




411840




0.0023108




3.47%






PARKING






PARKING




1280




100




128000




0.0001077




1.08%






PARKING




7040




30




211200




0.0005925




1.78%






PARKING




34944




12




419328




0.0029411




3.53%






WATER






WATER




1280




80




102400




0.0001077




0.86%






WATER




5376




25




134400




0.0004525




1.13%






WATER




36608




10




366080




0.0030811




3.08%






LIGHT






LIGHT




1152




60




69120




9.696E−05




0.58%






LIGHT




3840




20




76800




0.0003232




0.65%






LIGHT




27456




5




137280




0.0023108




1.16%











74.60%











SCATTERED PAYS
















CHEST











CHEST




243




50




12150




2.045E−05




0.10%






CHEST




1863




10




18630




0.0001568




0.16%







1863




10




18630




0.0001568




0.16%






CHEST




16146




2




32292




0.0013589




0.27%







14283




2




28566




0.0012021




0.24%







16146




2




32292




0.0013589




0.27%






CHANCE






CHANCE




486




50




24300




4.09E−05




0.20%






CHANCE




1620




10




16200




0.0001363




0.14%







3726




10




37260




0.0003136




0.31%






CHANCE




16146




2




32292




0.0013589




0.27%







12420




2




24840




0.0010453




0.21%







32292




2




64584




0.0027179




0.54%










0.9867%




2.88%






TOTAL




1604434





9206084





3.42%














Table B-1 is a pay table identifying various winning combinations of symbols in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ basic game and their mathematical probabilities and expected values. The various symbols used in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ basic game include: “RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS” (“PENNY”), “CAR,” “HAT,” “DOG,” “TRAIN,” “PARKING,” “WATER,” “LIGHT,” “CHEST” and “CHANCE.”




The “WIN COMBINATIONS” column identifies the various win combinations which may occur by symbols stopping on an active payline. Generally, winning combinations can occur when one to five corresponding symbols are displayed, left to right, starting on reel


114


(designated “R #1” in Table B-1) on an active payline. For example, one “PENNY” symbol displayed on reel


114


is a winning outcome, as is two “PENNY” symbols displayed on adjacent reels


114


(“R #1”) and


116


(“R #2”).




In one embodiment, the “PENNY” symbol acts as a wildcard for combinations of game tokens “CAR,” “HAT” and “DOG.” Thus, for example, the combination of “CAR,” “PENNY” and “CAR” on adjacent reels


114


(“R #1”),


116


(R #2) and


118


(R #3) is a winning combination.




The “SCATTERED PAYS” column identifies the various win combinations which may occur by symbols which are not necessarily aligned with an active payline. A winning combination of the scatter-pay type occurs when scatter-pay symbols are displayed, in any position, on the appropriate reels. In the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ basic game, the “CHEST” and “CHANCE” symbols are scatter-pay symbols and winning combinations occur when three or more of these symbols are displayed on adjacent reels. For example, three “CHEST” symbols displayed on adjacent reels


116


(“R #2”),


118


(R #3) and


120


(R #4), is a winning scatter-pay combination in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game.




The “# OF HITS” column of Table B-1 identifies, for each winning combination, the product of the number of symbols on each reel supporting the combination. For example, consider the combination of five “PENNY” symbols. This combination is the highest value combination in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ basic game because there are relatively few “PENNY” symbols on each reel and, consequently, the probability of hitting a “PENNY” symbol on each reel is very low. Specifically, in the embodiment of Table B-1, there is one “PENNY” symbol on each of reels


114


(“R #1”),


116


(“R #2”),


118


(“R #3”),


120


(“R #4”) and


122


(“R #5”). Thus, the “# OF HITS” for the combination of five consecutive “PENNY” symbols is 1 (i.e., 1×1×1×1×1).




The “PAY” column of Table B-1 identifies the amount of coin(s) or credit(s) awarded for the various winning combinations in the basic game, per unit wagered. Thus, for example, the “PENNY,” “PENNY” combination appearing on reels


114


,


116


(“R #1, R #2”) will pay 10 coins or credits with one coin played; that same combination will pay 50 coins or credits with five coins played.




The “TOTAL” column of Table B-1 lists, for each winning combination, the product of the “# OF HITS” value and the “PAY” value. The five “PENNY” combination, for example, having 1 hit paying 10,000 coins or credits, has a “TOTAL” value of 10,000. As another example, the four “PENNY” combination, having 24 hits paying 1,000 coins or credits, has a “TOTAL” value of 24,000.




In one embodiment, each of the reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


have 26 symbol positions, thus the odds of hitting each unique combination relative to a single active payline is one in about 12 million (i.e., 1÷(26)


5


). The “PROB” column identifies the probability of hitting the various winning combinations in a single spin. For example, there is only 1 symbol combination out of about 12 million symbol combinations that will result in the combination of five consecutive “PENNY” symbols. Thus, the probability of hitting that combination is 1÷12 million or about 8.4×10


−8


.




The “EV” column of Table B-1 identifies the expected value of the various winning combinations, which is computed as the product of the “PAY” and “PROB” values. Thus, for the five “PENNY” combination, the expected value is 0.08% (10,000×8.4×10


−8


). The payout rate of the basic game, identified at the bottom of the “EV” column, is computed by summing each of the expected values. In the embodiment of Table B-1, the payout rate of the basic game is 74.6%




The Bonus Game




The bonus game is triggered when a special “start-bonus” outcome occurs in the basic game. In one embodiment of the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game, the bonus game is triggered when three or more “CHEST” or “CHANCE” symbols are displayed in scatter-pay format on adjacent ones of the reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


. Alternatively, depending on the game program, the bonus game might be triggered when the “CHEST” or “CHANCE” symbols are displayed on an active payline on the reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


and


122


. The bonus game has a board-game (e.g., MONOPOLY) theme and is implemented on the top box game board


162


and video display


112


.




Upon initially entering the bonus game, the CPU


170


operates to replace the display of reels


114


,


116


,


118


,


120


,


122


on video display


112


with a token selection screen (

FIG. 12

) offering a selection of board game tokens


140


. In the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game, the token selection screen displays an animated Rich Uncle Pennybags symbol


138


above a selection of MONOPOLY tokens


140


(e.g., “CAR,” “DOG,” “HORSE,” “SHOE” and “HAT”), and the player is prompted to select one of the game tokens


140


. In one embodiment, the video display


112


comprises a touch-screen display and the selection of a game token


140


is accomplished by touching the desired token on the display


112


. It will be appreciated, however, that any of several known player control devices may be used to implement the selection of a token


140


. In another embodiment, the player scrolls through the tokens


140


and selects a particular token by depressing a designated “select” button on the gaming machine


110


when the desired token


140


is highlighted. Scrolling through the tokens


140


prior to the selection of the desired token may also be accomplished automatically according to the game program or may be controlled by the player pressing various buttons. Once the player selects a token


140


.




Once the player selects a token


140


, the CPU


170


signals the I/O controller


171


to illuminate a starting station on the top box game board


162


and then illuminate successive stations around the board in step-wise fashion, rapidly at first and then, after a couple of revolutions, slowing down and stopping on an indicated station. Generally, the indicated station is randomly determined by the CPU


170


prior to the illumination of successive stations on the top box game board


162


. At a certain point, as the light on the top box game board


162


begins slowing down, the CPU


170


operates to generate a corresponding display on the video display


112


, in which the selected token


140


“moves” on a scrolling portion of the game board before ultimately stopping on the indicated station. The movement of the game token


140


on the video display


112


corresponds exactly to the illumination of stations on the top box game board


162


.




For example, in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game, once the player selects a token, the stations (squares) of the top box MONOPOLY board


162


are illuminated in step-wise fashion, starting with the GO square. The illumination of stations starts rapidly, then slows down and stops to reveal an indicated station of the MONOPOLY board. On the corresponding video display


112


(FIG.


13


), the selected MONOPOLY token


140


(e.g., “HORSE”) is shown advancing on a scrolling MONOPOLY board and then stopping on the indicated station (e.g., the “GO” square in FIG.


13


).




In one embodiment, when the token


140


“lands” on the indicated station, an animated character icon (e.g., Rich Uncle Pennybags, in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game) announces the name of the indicated station and the player is awarded an amount associated with the station. If the game token


140


lands on a “Chance” or “Community Chest” square, the CPU


170


triggers an animation on video display


112


which shows the top card of a pile of cards flipping up to reveal the “Chance” or “Community Chest” outcome. The art on the cards resembles the cards in an actual MONOPOLY™ game. Generally, the “Chance” and “Community Chest” outcomes comprise awards of fixed coin values (e.g., “LIFE INSURANCE MATURES, $12), or they move the player to a new space (e.g., ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK). If the player is moved to a property, the movement is indicated on the top box board


62


and the video display


12


. The possible outcomes of the “Chance” and “Community Chest” squares in one embodiment of the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ bonus game is shown in Table B-2, below.












TABLE B-2











Chance and Community Chest






Outcomes/Pay Values














Community Chest




Pay




Chance




Pay

















Beauty Contest




3




Your Win 3rd Place in Dance




4








Contest






Life Insurance




12




Your Horse Wins the Derby




12






Matures






XMAS Fund Matures




8




You Win State Lottery




25






You Inherit Money




15




Your Number Hits at Roulette




15








Wheel






Income Tax Refund




9




Lawsuit in your Favor




12






Bank Error In Your




25




Find Lost Dog




3






Favor






Receive For Services




6




Your Build and Load Matures




10






From Sale of Stock You




10




Bank Pays You Dividend




8






Get






Grand Opera Opening




5




Sell Rare Painting at Auction




10






Advance to Boardwalk




50




Advance to Park Place




30






Average




14.30




Average




12.90














In one embodiment of the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game, if the game token


140


lands on station(s) other than “Chance” or “Community Chest,” the CPU


170


causes the player to be awarded an amount of credits corresponding to the product of the coins or credits wagered in the basic game and a multiplier value associated with the respective station(s). All of the stations have positive integer multiplier values which generally increase as the token progresses farther along the board. The multiplier values associated with the respective stations are shown in FIG.


10


and Table B-3, below.












TABLE B-3











MONOPOLY BONUS SQUARES














Number of Scatter Symbols in Win



















MONOPOLY BONUS




Mult




No monos




Weight






EV




EV w/Bonus





















Mediterranean




3




0.667




1




1





0.02%




0.03%






Community Chest




14.30




0.967




2






0.24%




0.27%






Baltic




3




0.667




1




1





0.02%




0.03%






Income Tax




2




1.000




2






0.03%




0.04%






Reading Railroad




10




1.000




2






0.16%




0.19%






Oriental




4




0.818




2




2





0.07%




0.07%






Chance




12.90




0.967




2






0.215




0.24%






Vermont




4




0.818




2




2





0.07%




0.07%






Connecticut




5




0.818




2




2





0.08%




0.09%






Jail




2




1.000




2





18




0.03%




0.04%






St. Charles




6




0.818




2




2





0.10%




0.11%






Electric Company




12




1.000




2






0.20%




0.22%






States Ave




6




0.818




2




2





0.10%




0.11%






Virginia Avenue




7




0.818




2




2





0.12%




0.13%






Pennsylvania RR




10




1.000




2






0.16%




0.19%






St. James Place




8




0.818




3




3





0.20%




0.22%






Community Chest




14.30




0.967




2






0.24%




0.27%






Tennessee Ave




8




0.818




3




3





0.20%




0.22%






New York Ave




9




0.818




3




3





0.22%




0.25%






Free Parking




4




1.000




2





23




0.07%




0.07%






Kentucky Ave




10




0.818




3




3





0.25%




0.28%






Chance




12.90




0.967




1






0.11%




0.12%






Indiana Ave




10




0.818




3




3





0.25%




0.28%






Illinois Ave




12




0.818




3




3





0.30%




0.34%






B & O Railroad




10




1.000




3






0.25%




0.28%






Atlantic Ave




15




0.818




4




4





0.49%




0.56%






Ventor Ave




15




0.818




4




4





0.49%




0.56%






Water Works




12




1.000




4






0.395




0.45%






Marvin Gardens




18




0.818




4




4





0.59%




0.67%






Go to Jail




2




1.000




4





33




0.07%




0.07%






Pacific Ave




20




0.818




4




4





0.66%




0.75%






North Carolina Ave




20




0.818




4




4





0.66%




0.75%






Community Chest




14.30




0.967




4






0.47%




0.53%






Pennsylvania Ave




25




0.818




4




4





0.82%




0.93%






Short Line




10




1.000




5






0.41%




0.47%






Chance




12.90




0.967




5






0.53%




0.60%






Park Place




30




0.667




5




5





1.23%




1.40%






Luxury Tax




2




1.000




5






0.08%




0.09%






Boardwalk




50




0.667




5




5





2.06%




2.34%






Go




10




1.000




5




0.55




46




0.41%




0.47%






Total Spaces




40





120




Total





13.05%




14.83%






Expected Value




13.05%




0.115






Bonus Spins





1




2




3




4




Extra Spins




Total






Chance of Bonus Spins




1.0000




0.1202




0.0144




0.0017




0.0002




1.1365






Expected Value of Bonus




13.0459%




1.5675%




0.1883%




0.0226%




0.0027%




1.78%




14.83%






Spins














The bonus game nominally consists of only one indicated outcome (“spin”) resulting in a single bonus award, after which the CPU


170


returns to the basic game. In one embodiment, an animated Rich Uncle Pennybags will celebrate on the video display


112


during all large bonus awards. After the bonus game is complete, the CPU


170


causes the bonus screen to fade and the video reels to be displayed so the player may resume playing the basic game.




In one embodiment, certain of the stations of the game board


162


have characteristics which identify them as members of a discernible subset or group of the stations. For example, in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game, as in the actual MONOPOLY board game, the various properties of the game board are associated with color groups: Mediterranean Ave. and Baltic Ave. define a purple color group, Oriental Ave, Vermont Ave. and Connecticut Ave. define a light blue color group and so forth. In one embodiment, additional spins may be awarded by “completing” all the stations of a particular color group. Upon each play of the bonus game, if the token


140


lands on a station (e.g., property square) that is part of a color group, the CPU


170


identifies the station as a “completed” station and stores the outcome of that spin in game memory. Then, in one embodiment, the CPU


170


causes the I/O controller


171


to light an indicator light associated with that property on the game board


162


, thereby indicating that the property is a “completed” property.




After each movement of the token, or token identifier, on the game board


162


, the CPU


170


assigns a “completed” status to the landing station, as appropriate, then evaluates the status of the other stations in the group. If the other stations in the group also have been completed, the CPU


170


identifies that group as a completed group and provides a reward to the player. The reward might comprise an additional bonus game “spin” or an enhanced payoff relative to the base value of the property landed on. For example, if the token lands on Mediterranean Ave., which is a member of the purple color group, the CPU


170


assigns a completed status to the Mediterranean Avenue station and then evaluates the status of the other purple station, Baltic Avenue. Continuing the present example, if Baltic Avenue were also “completed,” the CPU


170


would identify the purple group as a completed group and reward the player as appropriate, with perhaps an additional bonus game “spin.” Alternatively or additionally, other incentives might be provided for completing color groups. For example, in one embodiment, if a player's token


140


lands on a property space that completes a color group, the player might be awarded double the value otherwise associated with that property. For instance, Mediterranean Avenue in one embodiment is associated with a “3×” multiplier, and the CPU


170


might cause the payoff to be doubled, effectively to a “6×” multiplier upon the game token landing on Mediterranean Avenue and completing the purple color group.




In one embodiment, once a station is completed, it retains its completed status (and its indicator light remains lit) when the bonus round ends and throughout additional bonus rounds until such time as all of the stations in that group are completed, thus defining a completed group. The bonus game might be played several times, by several players, before completing any station groups. Upon the completion of a group, the CPU


170


rewards the player as appropriate and then removes the completed status of the stations in the station group, causing the indicator lights to be extinguished.




For example, in the MONOPOLY REEL ESTATE™ game, a first player might enter the bonus game five times landing, respectively, on Illinois Ave. (red), Ventnor Ave. (yellow), Community Chest (no color), St. James Place (orange) and Pacific Ave. (green), causing the CPU


170


to assign completed status and illuminate indicator lights associated with those properties. A second player might then enter the bonus game three times, landing respectively on North Carolina Ave. (green) and Tennessee Ave. (orange), again causing the CPU


170


to assign completed status and illuminate indicator lights associated with those properties. A third player might then enter the bonus game and land on New York Ave. (orange), thus completing the orange color group. After identifying that New York Ave. is completed and that it completes the orange color group, the CPU


170


might then award the player a free bonus spin and clear or remove the completed status and extinguish the indicator lights on the orange properties. If the player were to land on Pennsylvania Ave. (green) in the free spin, thus completing the green color group, the CPU


170


would award the player another free bonus spin, clear the completed status and extinguish the indicator lights on the green properties. Otherwise, any other outcome would cause the CPU


170


to end the bonus game and return to the basic game.




In one embodiment, the free spin feature has a relatively low total payback of 1.9%, so that players will not feel compelled to keep playing the game until completing a color group (or conversely, to immediately leave the game after completing a color group), and so that other players will not be enticed to “sit out” and wait for machines which have a large proportion of lit properties.




Now turning to

FIG. 14

, there is depicted another gaming machine


210


with a board game theme. In one embodiment, the gaming machine


210


is operable to play a game entitled MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™, based on the MONOPOLY™ board game. MONOPOLY™ is a registered trademark owned by and used with permission by Hasbro, Inc. and Hasbro International, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. Alternatively, the gaming machine


210


may be implemented with any of several other board game themes other than MONOPOLY™.




The gaming machine


210


includes a display window


270


through which a player may observe three mechanical reels,


214


,


216


and


218


. The gaming machine


210


includes a top box


232


which includes a graphics display


212


and an adaptation of a game board


262


(e.g., MONOPOLY). The graphics display


12


may comprise a dot matrix, CRT, LED, LCD, electro-luminescent display or generally any type of video display known in the art. The game board


262


comprises a partially translucent material such as glass, plastic, Plexiglas or the like which is backlit by a number of lights


266


(not visible in

FIG. 14

) in the top box


232


. As best observed in

FIG. 16



a


, the facing surface


260


of the top box is imprinted with various artwork, symbols and text associated with the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game, including a pay table


250


and instruction table


252


.





FIG. 15

is a block diagram of a control system suitable for operating the slot machine


210


of FIG.


14


. Coin/credit detector


282


signals a CPU


270


when a player has inserted a number of coins or played a number of credits. Then, after the player has activated a switch


284


(e.g., by pulling a lever or pushing a button), the CPU


270


initiates game play by setting reels


214


,


216


,


218


in motion, randomly selecting a game outcome and, using technology well known in the art, causes a reel motor and step controller


290


to stop the reels


214


,


216


,


218


at a stop position corresponding to the pre-selected game outcome. A rotational position detector


292


provides feedback to the CPU


270


to ensure that the reels


214


,


216


,


218


are stopped at the correct stop position.The symbols displayed on the reels at the preselected stop position define indicia of the pre-selected game outcome. In one embodiment, the symbols displayed on the reels define the basic game outcome.




A system memory


286


stores control software, operational instructions and data associated with the gaming machine


210


. In one embodiment, the memory


286


comprises a separate read-only memory (ROM) and battery-backed random-access memory (RAM). However, it will be appreciated that the memory


286


may be implemented on any of several alternative types of memory structures or may be implemented on a single memory structure. A payoff mechanism


288


is operable in response to instructions from the CPU


270


to award a payoff of coins or credits to the player in response to certain winning combinations stored in memory


286


. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the payoff amounts corresponding to certain combinations is predetermined according to a pay table stored in system memory


286


. A separate I/O controller


271


coupled to the CPU


270


operates the graphics display


212


and top box lights


266


.




The gaming machine


210


is operable to play a basic game and a bonus game. In the embodiment of

FIG. 14

, the basic game is implemented on the three mechanical reels,


214


,


216


,


218


with a center payline


276


. In one embodiment, the player can observe three symbol positions (e.g., an upper, center and lower display position) on each reel


214


,


216


,


218


thus defining a symbol group of nine symbols visible through the display window


270


. Payline


276


extends through the center display position on each reel.




In one embodiment, the symbol group displayed on reels


214


,


216


,


218


may indicate any of four possible basic game outcomes, including (1) a standard winning outcome causing the CPU


270


to award the player a predetermined amount of coin(s) or credit(s) corresponding to a displayed pay table; (2) a surprise winning outcome causing the CPU


270


to award the player a predetermined amount of coin(s) or credit(s) corresponding to a “surprise” winning outcome not identified on a displayed pay table; (3) a start-bonus outcome causing the CPU


270


to enter a bonus game; and (4) a losing outcome causing the processor


40


to continue operation in the basic mode without awarding any coin(s) or credit(s).




Generally, both the standard and surprise winning outcomes are characterized by the display of one or more predefined combinations of symbols. The symbols and payoffs defining the standard and surprise winning combinations are stored in the game memory


286


. In one embodiment, the symbols and payoffs defining the standard winning combinations are shown in the pay table


250


(

FIG. 16



a


) on the face of the slot machine


210


so that they may be observed by the player, whereas the symbols defining the surprise winning combinations are not shown on the top box


232


and hence will likely “surprise” the player when they result in a payoff. In the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game, the symbols defining the surprise winning combinations are identified only generally on the top box


232


as a “mystery blank combination” which starts the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ bonus game. The specific combination of BLANK symbols which define the “mystery blank combination” is predefined and stored in game memory


286


.




The symbols defining the start-bonus combinations are preferably identified on the pay table or other portion(s) of the top box display


232


. For example, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game has two bonus features: a CHANCE bonus feature and an ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK bonus feature. In the embodiment of

FIG. 16



a,


the CHANCE bonus feature and the symbols (i.e., start-bonus combinations) which trigger the CHANCE bonus feature are explained in the text underlying the CHANCE icon at the center-left of the top box display


232


. Specifically, the display


232


includes the following description of the CHANCE bonus feature in the illustrated embodiment:




CHANCE SYMBOL matches only


7


's and BARS on the payline. When CHANCE symbol is in a winning combination, the CHANCE BONUS FEATURE starts in the display. The CHANCE BONUS is a randomly awarded multiplier from 2-10 or 2-25 bonus coins. CHANCE SYMBOL does not substitute for WILD.




The ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK bonus feature and the symbols (i.e., start-bonus combinations) which trigger the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK bonus feature are explained in the field


252


at the lower-right of the top box display


232


, as follows:




THREE RICH UNCLE MONEYBAGS in any position starts the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK GAME. Player starts on ‘GO’. A random number shown on the display will move the player around the board. Player collects the displayed coins on each space landed upon. Player continues accumulating coins until the player lands on a ‘GAME OVER SPACE’, or has been awarded the ‘6th PASS GO’ BONUS. Drawing a ‘GO TO JAIL’ CARD from CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST will send the player to the ‘IN JAIL’ space, ENDING the BONUS BOARD GAME. GOING TO JAIL does not award ‘PASS GO’ Bonuses. CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST board squares award 5-50 credits. Mystery blanks combination start the Advance to Boardwalk Game. PASS GO SIX TIMES AND WIN OVER 2,100 COINS.





FIG. 17

shows a set of reel strips for use with the slot machine


210


to implement the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game. The reel strips correspond to the reels


214


,


216


,


218


in FIG.


14


and will be identified by corresponding reference numerals


214


,


216


,


218


. Each of the reel strips


214


,


216


,


218


include twenty-four symbols (including blanks) corresponding to twenty-four available reel stopping positions. The symbols include WILD, SEVEN, CHANCE, 3-BAR, 2-BAR, 1-BAR, BLANK and CHERRY which, if displayed in certain predefined combinations relative to payline


22


, define the standard and surprise winning combinations. Three of the BLANK symbols on each reel define mystery blanks which, if aligned on the payline, will trigger a “surprise” winning outcome Also shown on the reel strips


214


,


216


,


218


are small RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS (hereinafter “PENNY”) symbols which are displayed on top of (and thereby share the same reel stopping position as) some of the other symbols. In one embodiment, the PENNY symbols do not form the basis of standard winning combinations in the basic game define start-bonus combination(s), if displayed in scatter-pay format on the reels


214


,


216


,


218


.




Specifically, the symbols which appear on reel strip


214


include, in sequence 3-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, SEVEN, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 3-BAR/PENNY, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 3-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR/PENNY, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR and Blank. The symbols which appear on reel strip


216


include, in sequence, 3-BAR, Blank, Blank/PENNY, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, SEVEN, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, WILD/PENNY, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, CHERRY, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, CHANCE, Blank, 1-BAR and Blank. Finally, the symbols which appear on reel strip


218


include, in sequence, 3-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, SEVEN/PENNY, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, 2-BAR and Blank.












TABLE C-1











Pay Table for ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK Basic Game
















1st COIN




2nd COIN




3rd COIN




4th COIN





















SEVEN




WILD




SEVEN




200




400




1000




3 RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS in






SEVEN




SEVEN




SEVEN




70




140




210




any position






3BAR




3BAR




3BAR




40




80




120




starts the ADVANCE TO






2BAR




2BAR




2BAR




20




40




60




BOARDWALK bonus game.






1BAR




1BAR




1BAR




10




20




30




(further disclaimers below)






anyBAR




anyBAR




anyBAR




5




10




15











CHERRY









2




4




6











WILD









1




2




3














Table C-1 is a pay table identifying various winning combinations of symbols in the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game. The winning combinations include various standard symbol combinations (e.g., SEVEN, WILD, SEVEN) and start-bonus combinations (e.g., “Three Rich Uncle Pennybags Starts the Advance to Boardwalk Bonus Game). In one embodiment, the game accepts from one to four coins. The winning standard combinations can occur for any number of one to four coins played if the indicated symbols are displayed on reels


214


,


216


,


218


in alignment with the center payline


276


. For example, three “1-BAR” symbols displayed on reels


214


,


216


,


218


on the center payline


276


is a standard winning combination which will pay 10 credits for 1 coin played, 20 credits for 2 coins played and 30 credits for 3 or 4 coins played. The “Any Bar” combination is satisfied by any combination of three or more “1-BAR,” “2-BAR” and “3-BAR” symbols stopping on the center payline


276


.




In one embodiment, the “WILD” symbol acts as a wildcard for all of the BAR combinations. Thus, for example, the combination of “2-BAR,” “WILD” and “2-BAR” is a standard winning combination which would pay the same as the combination of three “2-BAR” symbols, corresponding to the number of coins played. In one embodiment, the “CHANCE” symbol acts as a wildcard for “SEVEN” and “BAR” combinations and also triggers the CHANCE bonus feature (to be described later) if it is in a winning combination. Thus, for example, the combination of “2-BAR,” “CHANCE” and “2-BAR” is a standard winning combination which would pay the same as the combination of three “2-BAR” symbols, corresponding to the number of coins played and also is a start-bonus combination which starts the CHANCE bonus feature.




In one embodiment, if the player wagers 4 coins, and if three Rich Uncle Pennybags (“PENNY”) symbols are displayed in scatter-pay format on reels


214


,


216


,


218


, the game starts the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK bonus feature (to be described later). In the scatter-pay format, the PENNY symbols are not required to be aligned with the center payline


276


. Rather, the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK bonus starts if reel


214


displays PENNY in either of the upper, center or lower display positions, reel


216


displays PENNY in either of the upper, center or lower display positions (which need not correspond to the display position of PENNY on reel


214


) and reel


218


displays PENNY in either of the upper, center or lower display positions (which need not correspond to the display positions of PENNY on reels


214


or


216


).












TABLE C-2









ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK Pay Information





























Pays




Pay/1 Coin




Pay/2 Coin




Pay/3 Coin




Pay/4 Coin




1-3 prob




4cn prob









non-win




0




0




0




0




0.83775




0.82928






1 Wild




1




2




3




3




0.03284




0.03154






1 Cherry




2




4




6




6




0.04167




0.04167






anybar




5




10




15




15




0.06496




0.06496






1 Bars




10




20




30




30




0.00904




0.00904






anybar/Ch




16.75385




33.50769




50.26154




50.26154




0.00564




0.00564






2 Bars




20




40




60




60




0.00434




0.00434






1 Bar/Ch




29.50385




59.00769




88.51154




88.51154




0.00181




0.00181






3 Bars




40




80




120




120




0.00043




0.00043






2 Bar/Ch




55.00385




110.0077




165.0115




165.0115




0.00109




0.00109






Sevens




70




140




210




210




7.2E−05




7.2E−05






3 Bar/Ch




106.0038




212.0077




318.0115




318.0115




0.00022




0.00022






Seven/Ch




182.5038




365.0077




547.5515




547.5115




7.2E−05




7.2E−05






7-Wild-7




200




400




1000




1000




7.2E−05




7.2E−05















1st to 3rd coin totals:




Hit Rate















0.16225


















Uncles




0




0




0




98.41212





0.00781






Surprise




0




0




0




98.41212





0.00195














4th Coin totals:




Hit Rate








0.17072







Pay/4 Coin




4 cn prob







2100+




1.3E−05


























4th coin







Pays




1 cn EV




2 cn EV




3 cn EV




4 cn EV




Pulls/Hit




Mx.Contr









non-win




0




0




0




0




1.205862




0






1 Wild




0.032841




0.032841




0.032841




0.023655




31.70642




0.025693






1 Cherry




0.083333




0.083333




0.083333




0.0625




24




0.067885






anybar




0.324797




0.324797




0.324794




0.243598




15.39421




0.264587






1 Bars




0.090422




0.090422




0.090422




0.067817




110.592




0.07366






anybar/Ch




0.094531




0.094531




0.070898




0.070898




177.2308




0.077007






2 Bars




0.086806




0.086806




0.086806




0.065104




230.4




0.070714






1 Bar/Ch




0.053356




0.053356




0.053356




0.040017




552.96




0.043465






3 Bars




0.017361




0.017361




0.017361




0.013021




2304




0.014143






2 Bar/Ch




0.059683




0.059683




0.059683




0.044762




921.6




0.048619






Sevens




0.005064




0.005064




0.005064




0.003798




13824




0.004125






3 Bar/Ch




0.023004




0.023004




0.023004




0.017253




4608




0.01874






Seven/Ch




0.013202




0.013202




0.013202




0.009901




13824




0.010755






7-Wild-7




0.014468




0.014468




0.024113




0.018084




13824




0.019643







Coin 1%




Coin 2%




Coin 3%





Pulls/Hit







0.898869




0.898869




0.908514





6.163174






Uncles







0.192211




128




0.208772






Surprise







0.048053




512




0.052193










Coin 4%




Pulls/Hit










0.920673




5.857627











Pulls/Hit











79701.54














Table C-2 summarizes payoffs, probabilities and expected values associated with various combinations of the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game. The combinations are designated, in order of appearance: “non-win,” “1 Wild,” “1 Cherry,” “anybar,” “1 Bars,” “anybar/Ch,” “2 Bars,” “1 Bar/Ch,” “3 Bars,” “2 Bar/Ch,” “Sevens,” “3 Bar/Ch,” “Seven/Ch,” “7-Wild-7,” “Uncles” and “Surprise.”




The “Pay/1 Coin,” “Pay/2 Coin,” “Pay/3 Coin” and “Pay/4 coin” columns identify payoff amounts associated with the respective combinations in Table C-2. In the case of the standard winning combinations, the payoff amounts are predetermined amounts stored in system memory. For example, the “1 Cherry” combination is a standard winning combination which will award 2 coins or credits in a 1-coin game, 4 coins or credits in a 2-coin game and 6 coins or credits in a 3- or 4-coin game.




In the case of the “start-bonus” combinations, the payoff amounts represent average payoff amounts which may be expected in the bonus game. For example, the “anybar/Ch” combination (i.e., a winning “anybar” combination with a CHANCE wildcard symbol) will start the CHANCE bonus and will pay, on average, 16.75 coins or credits in a 1-coin game, 33.5 coins or credits in a 2-coin game and 50.26 coins or credits in a 3- or 4-coin game. The “Uncles” and “Surprise” combinations represent combinations of RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS (“PENNY”) symbols and mystery blank symbols which trigger the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK bonus. Both of these combinations are available only with 4 coins played and will pay, on average 98.4 coins or credits.




The “1-3 prob” column identifies the probabilities of hitting the various outcomes of Table C-2 associated with a 1-coin, 2-coin and 3-coin game in a single spin. The “4cn prob” column identifies the probabilities of hitting the various outcomes of Table C-2 associated with a 4-coin game in a single spin. Where the reels each have twenty-four reel stop positions, as in the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game, there are 13,824 (24×24×24) possible symbol combinations. The probability of hitting any particular combination in a single spin is determined by dividing the number of possible “hits” associated with that combination (which is a function of the number of reel positions of the symbols supporting that combination) by the total number of possible combinations (i.e., 13,824). For example, consider the “7-Wild-7” combination. Because there is only one SEVEN symbol on reel


214


, one WILD symbol on reel


216


and one SEVEN symbol on reel


218


, there is only one “hit” associated with that combination. The probability of hitting that combination is therefore 7.2×10


−5


(i.e. 1÷13,824). In a 4-coin game, the probability of hitting an “Uncles” combination is 0.00781 and the probability of hitting a “Surprise” combination is 0.00195.




The “1 cn EV,” “2 cn EV,” “3 cn EV” and “4 cn EV” columns identify the normalized expected values of the outcomes of Table C-2 for a 1-coin game, 2-coin game, 3-coin game and 4-coin game, respectively. These values are computed for each outcome by taking the product of the pay value (or average pay value) associated with that outcome and the probability associated with that outcome, then dividing by the number of coin(s) played. Thus, for example, the “Sevens” outcome has a 1-coin expected value of 0.005064 (70×7.2×10


−5


÷1), a 2-coin expected value of 0.005064 (140×7.2×10


−5


÷2), a 3-coin expected value of 0.005064 (210×7.2×10


−5


÷3) and a 4-coin expected value of 0.003798 (210×7.2×10


−5


÷4). The “Uncles” outcome has a 4-coin expected value of 0.192211 (98.41212×0.00781÷4) and the “Surprise” outcome has a 4-coin expected value of 0.048053 (98.41212×0.00195÷4).




The payout rate of the basic game is computed independently for a 1-coin, 2-coin, 3-coin and 4-coin game by summing the normalized expected values in the respective “1 cn EV,” “2 cn EV,” “3 cn EV” and “4 cn EV” columns. In the embodiment shown in Table C-2, the payout rates for a 1-coin and 2-coin game are 0.898869 (89.89%), the payout rate for a 3-coin game is 0.908514 (90.85%) and the payout rate for a 4-coin game is 0.920673 (92.07%).




The “4th coin Pulls/Hit” column indicates how many pulls, on average, would be expected to hit the respective combinations in a 4-coin game. This is computed by taking the inverse of the probability values associated with a 4-coin game.




The “Max Contribution” column indicates, for a 4-coin game, the percentage contribution of the respective “4 cn EV” values to the total payout rate for a 4-coin game. Thus, for example, for the “Uncles” outcome, the contribution is 20.88% (0.192211÷0.920673). The remaining “Max Contribution” values are computed in similar fashion.




The CHANCE Bonus Feature




In the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game, if the “CHANCE” symbol is displayed on the payline and is included in a basic winning combination, the CHANCE bonus game begins. In one embodiment, there is only one “CHANCE” symbol on reel


216


(the center reel) and, according to the game rules, it matches only SEVENs and BARs on the payline, thus the combinations which would trigger the CHANCE bonus are: SEVEN, CHANCE, SEVEN; 3 BAR, CHANCE, 3 BAR; 2 BAR, CHANCE, 2 BAR; 1 BAR, CHANCE, 1 BAR; and ANYBAR, CHANCE, ANYBAR.




The Chance bonus game can be activated by playing from one-four coins. In one embodiment, the CPU


270


sets up the CHANCE bonus game by first selecting, from a weighted table, one of several possible sets of selection elements. Generally, the sets of selection elements comprise a combination of multiplier values and/or fixed coin amounts. The magnitude of the respective multiplier values and/or fixed coin amounts are unique to each particular set of selection elements. The selection elements themselves may be varied according to the game program. In one embodiment, each set includes 10 selection elements but otherwise the numbers and/or values of multipliers and fixed coin awards may be varied from set to set. For example, one of the sets of selection elements might include 2×, 3×, 4×, 5× and 10× multipliers, and 2, 5, 10, 20, and 25 coin awards, whereas another set might include 2×, 3×, 4×, 5× and 10× multipliers and 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 coin awards. Still another set might include 2×, 3×, 5× and 10× multipliers and 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 coin awards.




In one embodiment, as shown in

FIG. 18

, the CPU


270


causes the selected set of selection elements to be displayed on the graphics display


212


in roughly an oval shape around a center area where messages are displayed. In the illustrated embodiment, the message area prompts the player to “PRESS ‘SPIN REELS’ TO WIN THE CHANCE BONUS.” From the display screen shown in

FIG. 18

, the CHANCE bonus is initiated by the player pressing the “Spin Reels” button or pulling a lever (not shown). The CPU


270


then operates according to its game program (stored in system memory


286


) to randomly select one of the selection elements from the set. In one embodiment, the various selection elements have generally different probabilities of being selected, as determined by a table stored in system memory


286


. In one embodiment having a set of selection elements including 2×, 3×, 4×, 5× and 10× multipliers and 2, 5, 10, 20 and 25 coin awards, the probabilities of selecting the respective selection elements are: 0.219231 for the 2× multiplier; 0.153846 for the 3× multiplier; 0.061538 for the 4× multiplier; 0.053846 for the 5× multiplier; 0.069231 for the 10× multiplier; 0.126923 for the 2 coin award; 0.138462 for the 5 coin award; 0.076923 for the 10 coin award; 0.042308 for the 20 coin award; and 0.057692 for the 25 coin award.




In one embodiment, the selection of the CHANCE bonus award element is depicted on the graphic display


212


by highlighting, one at a time, consecutive selection elements in a clockwise sequence, quickly at first and then slowing down and stopping to reveal the selected award element, which might be a fixed coin amount or a multiplier. At this point, the message area will display the total amount of coins or credits won. For example, if the award from the basic game reels was 10 credits, and the highlight stopped on a 25 Coin amount, the message area will contain “10+25=35 COINS”. If, however, the award from the basic game reels was 10 credits, and the highlight stopped on a 4× multiplier, the message area will contain “10×4=40 COINS”. The game would then total the amount won on the win meter and show a total screen on the display


112


announcing how many coins were won in the CHANCE bonus game. If the amount won is over the selected handpay level, a jackpot display and animation will then be shown on the display


112


. In one embodiment, after the amount won is credited or payed out, the CHANCE bonus feature ends and the game returns to the basic game.




In one embodiment of a 4-coin game, the coin awards are multiplied by two for two coins bet and multiplied by three for three or four coins were bet. The fourth coin allows the player the opportunity to play the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ bonus game and does not increase the value of the CHANCE bonus.




The ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ Bonus Game




In one embodiment, the CPU


270


enters the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ bonus game when the player is betting four coins and a special “start-bonus” combination of three RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS (“PENNY”) symbols occurs on the reels


214


,


216


,


218


, in scatter-pay format, in the basic game. As described earlier, scatter-pay format means that the scatter pay symbols (e.g., “PENNY” symbols in the ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game) may be displayed in either the upper, lower or center position on the respective reels.




The ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ bonus game has a board-game (e.g., MONOPOLY) theme and is implemented on the top box game board


262


and graphics display


212


. Upon initially entering the bonus game, the CPU


70


causes an introductory animation to be displayed on the graphics display


212


with an audio fanfare and then signals I/O controller


271


to illuminate the GO square on the top box MONOPOLY board


262


. The player is prompted to spin the reels to to play the bonus game. Then, in one embodiment, the CPU


270


operates to select an integer-value movement indicator and causes the selected movement indicator to be displayed on the graphics display


212


.




In one embodiment, the movement indicator is not immediately shown on the graphics display


212


but is revealed slowly so as to heighten the player's anticipation of the indicator. In one embodiment, the graphics display


212


shows the movement indicator on a display field which is intentionally fuzzy or cloudy at first, so as to “hide” the indicator but which is slowly cleared up to reveal the selected indicator. In one embodiment of the MONOPOLY ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™ game, for example, the graphics display shows an animation of a Rich Uncle Pennybags character seated at a desk-type “control panel.” A message area on the control panel includes an animated computer or television-type monitor adapted to reveal the selected indicator. The monitor is filled with “static” at first so as to obscure the movement indicator. For example, the message area on the control panel might read, “YOU MOVE [blank] SPACES,” where the blank is filled in by the number to be displayed on the monitor. After a short time, the Rich Uncle Pennybags character twiddles dials and levers on the control board to clear up the static and reveal the selected indicator. At this point, for example, the message area might read “YOU MOVE [7] SPACES,” where the “7” is displayed on the animated monitor.




In one embodiment, the movement indicator (e.g., “7”) identifies an amount of spaces, from two to twelve, which the token will be moved from its previous position on the game board, in much the same manner as would a roll of dice. In one embodiment, the CPU


270


selects the movement indicator pseudo-randomly, that is, certain indicator values might occur more frequently than other indicator values, depending on the space the player is presently “on.” For example, the CPU


270


might be more likely to select a movement indicator of “7” if the player were on INDIANA AVENUE (thus landing the player on GO TO JAIL), than if the player were on ILLINOIS AVENUE. In one embodiment, a plurality of movement tables is stored in game memory, wherein each movement table corresponds to a particular square of the MONOPOLY board. The CPU


270


selects, from the movement table corresponding to present space, a movement indicator by first picking a random number, then consulting the movement table to determine the movement indicator corresponding to the random number.




In one embodiment, the movement tables define, for each square, a number of occurrences of each possible outcome from two to twelve. For example, one movement table might define a set of 46 possible occurrences, including 2 occurrences associated with a movement of 2 spaces, 2 occurrences associated with a movement of 3 spaces, 3 occurrences associated with a movement of 4 spaces, 5 occurrences associated with a movement of 5 spaces, 8 occurrences associated with a movement of 6 spaces, 6 occurrences associated with a movement of 7 spaces, 5 occurrences associated with a movement of 8 spaces, 7 occurrences associated with a movement of 9 spaces, 6 occurrences associated with a movement of 10 spaces, 1 occurrence associated with a movement of 11 spaces and 1 occurrence associated with a movement of 12 spaces.




The CPU


270


might select a movement indicator from the example table by selecting a random number from one to 46, then stepping through each occurrence until it finds the movement indicator corresponding to that random number. For example, for the example movement table above, a random number of 5 might indicate that the selected movement indicator would be “4,” since the first two “step throughs” are 2, the next two “step throughs” are 3 and the fifth step ends on an indicator of 4.




After the selection of a movement indicator number and display of the indicator on the graphics display


212


, the CPU


270


operates to illuminate, one space at a time, the appropriate squares on the game board


262


(e.g., MONOPOLY board) from the previous position to the position determined by the movement indicator.




In one embodiment, when the lights stops moving for each roll, an animated character icon (e.g., Rich Uncle Pennybags) on the graphics display


212


announces the name of the square landed on and the amount of coins or credits, if any, associated with the square. In one embodiment, the bonus game continues with consecutive selections of movement indicators, and corresponding movement around the game board, until the player “lands” on a designated square which ends the bonus game. In one embodiment, the CPU


270


will end the bonus game if the player lands on the IN JAIL, INCOME TAX or LUXURY TAX squares, otherwise will continue the bonus game.




If the player lands on an ELECTRIC COMPANY, WATER WORKS or FREE PARKING square during the bonus round, the CPU


270


selects a win amount from a plurality of possible win amounts associated with the square. In one embodiment, the CPU


270


triggers an appropriate animation on the graphics display


212


to illustrate the selection of a win amount.

FIGS. 19

,


20


and


21


, show exemplary displays which might occur in response to the player landing on WATER WORKS, ELECTRIC COMPANY or FREE PARKING, respectively.




Generally, each of the WATER WORKS, ELECTRIC COMPANY and FREE PARKING displays show a pre-selected award value and a number of other, different values at various graphical locations. The display animation appears to “select” an award value, which has already been pre-selected by the CPU


270


, by pointing to the pre-selected value or “erasing” the other values. In

FIG. 19

(WATER WORKS), for example, there are four possible award values (e.g., 5, 10, 25 and 50) displayed at four graphical locations (e.g., underneath four pipes). An animated Rich Uncle Pennybags character turns a valve, causing water to come out of one of the pipes and “wash away” the underlying displayed value. He will do this three times, causing three of the award values to be “washed away,” and the player will be awarded the remaining award value. In

FIG. 20

(ELECTRIC COMPANY), there are four possible award values (e.g., 5, 20, 25 and 50) displayed on four light bulbs. An animated Rich Uncle Pennybags character presses a button, causing one of the light bulbs to light up then explode, so as to erase the award value associated with the exploded bulb. As in

FIG. 19

, he will do this three times, causing three of the award values to be erased, and the player will be awarded the remaining award value. In

FIG. 21

(FREE PARKING), there are seven possible award values (e.g., 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100 and 200) displayed on an animated parking meter. A pointer in the parking meter moves back and forth, then slowly comes to a stop so as to point to one of the award values, and the player is awarded the indicated award value.




In one embodiment, the indicated award values for the ELECTRIC COMPANY, WATER WORKS and FREE PARKING squares are pre-selected by the CPU


270


from weighted tables of award values stored in game memory. The CPU


270


selects, from the award table corresponding to the ELECTRIC COMPANY, WATER WORKS or FREE PARKING space, an award by first picking a random number, then consulting the appropriate award table to determine the award corresponding to the random number.




Suppose, for example, an ELECTRIC COMPANY square has five possible awards: 5, 10, 20, 25 or 50 coins. An award table associated with the ELECTRIC COMPANY square might define a set of eight possible occurrences of the various awards: 2 occurrences associated with an award of 5 coins, 2 occurrences associated with an award of 10 coins, 2 occurrences associated with an award of 20 coins, 1 occurrence associated with an award of 25 coins and 1 occurrence associated with an award of 50 coins. The CPU


270


might select an award from the award table by selecting a random number from one to 8, then stepping through each occurrence until it finds the award corresponding to that random number. Continuing the above example, a random number of 5 might indicate that the selected award would be 20 coins, since the first two “step throughs” are 5 coins, the next two “step throughs” are 10 coins and the next step ends on an award of 20 coins.




Similarly, suppose the FREE PARKING square has seven possible awards: 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100 and 200 coins. An award table associated with the FREE PARKING square might define a set of nine possible occurrences of the various awards: 1 occurrence associated with an award of 10 coins, 1 occurrence associated with an award of 15 coins, 2 occurrences associated with an award of 20 coins, 2 occurrences associated with an award of 25 coins, 1 occurrence associated with an award of 50 coins, 1 occurrence associated with an award of 100 coins and 1 occurrence associated with an award of 200 coins. The CPU


270


might select an award from the award table by selecting a random number from one to 9, then stepping through each occurrence until it finds the award corresponding to that random number. Continuing the above example, a random number of 5 might indicate that the selected award would be 25 coins, since the first “step through” is 10 coins, the next “step through” is 15 coins, the next two “step throughs” are 20 coins and the next step ends on an award of 25 coins.




If the player lands on CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST, the CPU


270


triggers an animation on graphics display


212


which shows the top card of a pile of cars flipping up to reveal the “Chance” or “Community Chest” outcomes. The art on the cards resembles the cards in an actual MONOPOLY™ game. Generally, the “Chance” and “Community Chest” outcomes comprise awards of fixed coin values (e.g., “BANK PAYS YOU DIVIDEND OF 25 COINS), or move the player to a new space (e.g., ADVANCE TO NEAREST RAILROAD). If the player is moved to a property, the movement is indicated on the top box board


262


and an animation associated with the property is shown on the graphics display


212


.




If the player draws a GO TO NEAREST UTILITY card, the light will move to either ELECTRIC COMPANY or WATER WORKS clockwise (whichever is nearest). In one embodiment, if movement to the nearest utility causes the player to pass GO, the player will be awarded a “passing GO bonus,” in addition to the award, if any, associated with the nearest utility.




If the player draws a GO TO JAIL card, the game will play an animation of RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS going to jail, and the light will quickly move counter-clockwise to the IN JAIL space. If the player stops on LUXURY TAX, INCOME TAX or IN JAIL, the display


212


will show an appropriate animation including a display of the total coins won in the bonus game. The CPU


270


will cause the payoff mechanism


288


to award coins or credits as appropriate, corresponding to the amount won in the bonus game and then return to the basic spinning reel game.




In one embodiment, a bonus is awarded whenever the player passes, or lands on, the GO square. As best observed in

FIG. 16



b,


the bonuses are enumerated by a number of indicator lights


290


on the top box MONOPOLY board


262


. In the illustrated embodiment, there are seven indicator lights associated with escalating 5, 10, 25, 100, 150, 500 and 1,500 coin bonuses. When the game begins, the player receives an automatic 5 coin bonus for being on GO and, accordingly, the 5 COIN indicator is lit on the board


262


. If the player passes GO on his first cycle


1


around the board, the 10 COIN indicator will light, and the player will be awarded with 10 coins. If the player cycles around the board again, then the 25 COIN indicator will light, and the player will be awarded with 25 coins. If the player continues to pass GO a third, fourth, fifth and sixth time, the respective 100 COIN, 150 COIN, 500 COIN and 1500 COIN bonus indicators will become lit and the player will be awarded with 100 coins, 150 coins, 500 coins and 1500 coins respectively.




In one embodiment, the board may be cycled a maximum of six times. If a player successfully cycles the board six times, the bonus game will end and player will receive all accumulated awards, plus the 1500 coin bonus, plus the award, if any, associated with the final space. If the final space causes the player to move to another square (e.g., GO TO NEAREST UTILITY), the player will be awarded the bonus, if any associated with that other square. For example, suppose the player has completed five trips around the board and has accumulated 1754 coins or credits so far in the bonus game. Suppose further that the player is currently on PARK PLACE and Rich Uncle Pennybags selects a movement indicator of “5,” causing the player to pass GO and land on the COMMUNITY CHEST square. The player will be awarded the 1500 coin bonus for passing GO the sixth time plus an amount associated with the COMMUNITY CHEST square. Continuing the example, suppose Rich Uncle Pennybags selects a COMMUNITY CHEST card of GO TO NEAREST UTILITY. The player will move to the next utility, ELECTRIC COMPANY, and will be awarded a selected value, say 25 coins. The bonus game will end after displaying, and then paying (in the present example), a win amount of 3279 coins (e.g., 1754+1500+25).




Now turning to

FIG. 22

, there is depicted another gaming machine


310


with a board game theme. In one embodiment, the gaming machine


310


is operable to play a game entitled MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™, based on the MONOPOLY™ board game. MONOPOLY™ is a registered trademark owned by and used with permission by Hasbro, Inc. and Hasbro International, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. Alternatively, the gaming machine


110


may be implemented with any of several other board game themes other than MONOPOLY™.




The gaming machine


310


includes a display window


370


through which a player may observe three mechanical reels,


314


,


316


and


318


. The gaming machine


310


includes a top box


332


which includes a graphics display


312


, mechanical dice


364


and an adaptation of a game board


362


(e.g., MONOPOLY). The graphics display


312


may comprise a dot matrix, CRT, LED, LCD, electroluminescent display or generally any type of video display known in the art. The game board


362


comprises a partially translucent material such as glass, plastic, Plexiglas or the like which is backlit by a number of lights


366


(not visible in

FIG. 22

) in the top box


332


. As best observed in

FIG. 24

, the facing surface


360


of the top box is imprinted with various artwork, symbols and text associated with the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™ game, including a pay table


350


.





FIG. 23

is a block diagram of a control system suitable for operating the slot machine


310


of FIG.


22


. Coin/credit detector


382


signals a CPU


370


when a player has inserted a number of coins or played a number of credits. Then, after the player has activated a switch


384


(e.g., by pulling a lever or pushing a button), the CPU


370


initiates game play by setting reels


314


,


316


,


318


in motion, randomly selecting a game outcome and, using technology well known in the art, causes a reel motor and step controller


390


to stop the reels


314


,


316


,


318


at a stop position corresponding to the pre-selected game outcome. A rotational position detector


392


provides feedback to the CPU


370


to ensure that the reels


314


,


316


,


318


are stopped at the correct stop position. The symbols displayed on the reels at the preselected stop position define indicia of the pre-selected game outcome. In one embodiment, the symbols displayed on the reels define the basic game outcome.




A system memory


386


stores control software, operational instructions and data associated with the gaming machine


310


. In one embodiment, the memory


386


comprises a separate read-only memory (ROM) and battery-backed random-access memory (RAM). However, it will be appreciated that the memory


386


may be implemented on any of several alternative types of memory structures or may be implemented on a single memory structure. A payoff mechanism


388


is operable in response to instructions from the CPU


370


to award a payoff of coins or credits to the player in response to certain winning combinations stored in memory


386


. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the payoff amounts corresponding to certain combinations is predetermined according to a pay table stored in system memory


386


. A separate I/O controller


371


coupled to the CPU


370


operates the graphics display


312


, mechanical dice


364


and top box lights


366


.




The gaming machine


310


is operable to play a basic game and a bonus game. In the embodiment of

FIG. 22

, the basic game is implemented on the three mechanical reels,


314


,


316


,


318


with a center payline


376


. In one embodiment, the player can observe three symbol positions (e.g., an upper, center and lower display position) on each reel


314


,


316


,


318


thus defining a symbol group of nine symbols visible through the display window


370


. Payline


376


extends through the center display position on each reel.




In one embodiment, the symbol group displayed on reels


314


,


316


,


318


may indicate any of three possible basic game outcomes, including (1) a standard winning outcome causing the CPU


370


to award the player a predetermined amount of coin(s) or credit(s) corresponding to a displayed pay table; (2) a multiplier bonus outcome (e.g., a ROLL THE DICE feature) causing the CPU


370


to award the player the product of a predetermined amount of coin(s) or credit(s) and a randomly determined multiplier; (3) a start-bonus outcome causing the CPU


370


to enter a bonus game (e.g., the ROLL & WIN bonus); and (4) a losing outcome causing the CPU


370


to continue operation in the basic mode without awarding any coin(s) or credit(s).




Generally, the standard winning outcomes are characterized by the display of one or more predefined combinations of symbols. The symbols and payoffs defining the standard winning combinations are stored in the game memory


386


. In one embodiment, the symbols and payoffs defining the standard winning combinations are shown in the pay table


350


(

FIG. 24

) on the face of the slot machine


310


so that they may readily be observed by the player. Preferably, the symbols defining the ROLL THE DICE feature and ROLL & WIN bonus are also identified on the pay table or other portion(s) of the top box display


332


.





FIG. 25

shows a set of reel strips for use with the slot machine


310


to implement the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™ game. The reel strips correspond to the reels


314


,


316


,


318


in FIG.


14


and will be identified by corresponding reference numerals


314


,


316


,


318


. Each of the reel strips


314


,


316


,


318


include twenty-two symbols (including blanks) corresponding to twenty-two available reel stopping positions. The symbols include RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS (“PENNY”), WILD, WILD DICE, SEVEN, 3-BAR, 2-BAR, 1-BAR, BLANK and CHERRY which, if displayed in certain predefined combinations relative to payline


376


, define the standard and surprise winning combinations.




Specifically, the symbols which appear on reel strip


314


include, in sequence 1-BAR, Blank, PENNY, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, PENNY, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, PENNY, Blank, SEVEN, Blank, 2-BAR, Blank, 3-BAR, Blank, PENNY, Blank, 2-BAR and Blank. The symbols which appear on reel strip


316


include, in sequence 2-BAR, Blank, WILD, Blank, PENNY, Blank, WILD DICE, Blank, PENNY, Blank, WILD, Blank, SEVEN, Blank, PENNY, Blank, 3-BAR, Blank, WILD, Blank, 1-BAR and Blank. Finally, the symbols which appear on reel strip


318


include, in sequence 2-BAR, Blank, CHERRY, Blank, 3-BAR, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, PENNY, Blank, SEVEN, Blank, PENNY, Blank, CHERRY, Blank, PENNY, Blank, 1-BAR, Blank, CHERRY and Blank.












TABLE D-1











Pay Table for ROLL & WIN ™ Basic Game

















Reel1




Reel2




Reel3




1Coin




2Coin




3Coin




4Coin




















Seven




Seven




Seven




50




100




150




150






3Bar




3Bar




3Bar




40




80




120




120






2Bar




2Bar




2Bar




20




40




60




60






1Bar




1Bar




1Bar




10




20




30




30






AnyBar




AnyBar




Anybar




5




10




15




15






Anything




Wild




Cherry




5




10




15




15






Anything




Anything




Cherry




2




4




6




6














Table D-1 is a pay table identifying various standard winning combinations of symbols in the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™ game. In one embodiment, the game accepts from one to four coins. The winning standard combinations can occur for any number of one to four coins played if the indicated symbols are displayed on reels


314


,


316


,


318


in alignment with the center payline


376


. For example, three “1-BAR” symbols displayed on reels


314


,


316


,


318


on the center payline


376


is a standard winning combination which will pay 10 credits for 1 coin played, 20 credits for 2 coins played and 30 credits for 3 or 4 coins played. The “AnyBar” combination is satisfied by any combination of three or more “1-BAR,” “2-BAR” and “3-BAR” symbols stopping on the center payline


376


.




In one embodiment, the “WILD” and “WILD DICE” symbols acts as wildcards for any other symbol on the payline


376


. Where the “WILD” symbol is used to complete a winning combination, the payout will be the same as the standard winning combination as if completed without the WILD symbol. Thus, for example, the combination of “2-BAR,” “WILD” and “2-BAR” is a standard winning combination which would pay the same as the combination of three “2-BAR” symbols, corresponding to the number of coins played. Where the “WILD DICE” symbol is used to complete a winning combination, the ROLL THE DICE FEATURE is triggered to identify a multiplier value, as heretofore described, and the multiplier value is used to multiply the amount otherwise associated with the combination.




The ROLL THE DICE Multiplier Feature




In the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™ game, if the “WILD DICE” symbol is displayed on the payline


376


and is included in a wining combination, the ROLL THE DICE multiplier feature begins. In one embodiment, there is only one “WILD DICE” symbol on reel


316


(the center reel) and the combinations which would trigger the ROLL THE DICE feature are: SEVEN, WILD DICE, SEVEN; 3 BAR, WILD DICE, 3 BAR; 2 BAR, WILD DICE, 2 BAR; 1 BAR, WILD DICE, 1 BAR; ANYBAR, WILD DICE, ANYBAR and PENNY, WILD DICE, PENNY. The PENNY, WILD DICE, PENNY combination also triggers the ROLL & WIN bonus game, to be described later.




The ROLL THE DICE feature can be activated by playing from one-four coins. When the WILD DICE symbol appears in a standard winning combination, the CPU


370


activates the ROLL THE DICE feature by randomly selecting a multiplier value, then multiplies the base amount associated with the standard winning combination by the selected multiplier value. When the WILD DICE symbol appears in the PENNY, WILD DICE, PENNY combination, a “start-bonus” combination which also triggers the ROLL & WIN bonus game, the CPU


370


enters the ROLL & WIN bonus game first and then, after the bonus game has ended, randomly selects a multiplier value and multiplies the amount won in the bonus game by the selected multiplier value.




In one embodiment, the CPU


370


selects the multiplier value by selecting a number corresponding to the roll of two six-sided dice. This is accomplished in one embodiment by randomly selecting two integer values from one to six (each corresponding to a roll of a single six-sided die), then summing the integer values to arrive at the multiplier value. Specifically, there are 36 possible outcomes of the two integer values which might occur: (


1


,


1


), (


1


,


2


), (


1


,


3


), (


1


,


4


), (


1


,


5


), (


1


,


6


), (


2


,


1


), (


2


,


2


), (


2


,


3


), (


2


,


4


), (


2


,


5


), (


2


,


6


), (


3


,


1


), (


3


,


2


), (


3


,


3


), (


3


,


4


), (


3


,


5


), (


3


,


6


), (


4


,


1


), (


4


,


2


), (


4


,


3


), (


4


,


4


), (


4


,


5


), (


4


,


6


), (


5


,


1


), (


5


,


2


), (


5


,


3


), (


5


,


4


), (


5


,


5


), (


5


,


6


), (


6


,


1


), (


6


,


2


), (


6


,


3


), (


6


,


4


), (


6


,


5


), and (


6


,


6


). These outcomes correspond to 11 possible sums: 2 (1 occurrence), 3 (2 occurrences), 4 (3 occurrences), 5 (4 occurrences), 6 (5 occurrences), 7 (6 occurrences), 8 (5 occurrences), 9 (4 occurrences), 10 (3 occurrences), 11 (2 occurrences) and 12 (1 occurrence).




In one embodiment, each of the possible outcomes of integer values (corresponding to the roll of two dice) has an equal probability of occurrence and consequently, the probability of the CPU


370


selecting the various multiplier values (corresponding to the sum of two fair dice) is as follows: 2.7% (i.e., 1÷36) for the “2×” and “12×” multipliers; 5.5% (i.e., 2÷36) for the “3×” and “11×” multipliers; 8.3% (i.e., 3÷36) for the “4×” and “10×” multipliers; 11.1% (i.e., 4÷36) for the “5×” and “9×” multipliers; 13.9% (i.e., 5÷36) for the “6×” and “8×” multipliers; and 16.7% (i.e., 6÷36) for the “7×” multiplier.




In one embodiment, the selection of the ROLL THE DICE multiplier is depicted both graphically, on the graphic display


312


and mechanically, by the mechanical dice


364


. On the graphics display


312


, the CPU


370


generates a display of two dice which are rolling at first, then stop, one at a time to reveal two die faces. The die faces selected for display correspond to the integer values from one to six selected by the CPU


370


. For example, having selected integer values of “1” and “6,” the CPU


370


will display a pair of dice, one of which indicates a roll of “1” and the other indicating a roll of “6.” The CPU


370


then adds the two integer values to determine the multiplier value (e.g., “7×”) which in one embodiment is displayed adjacent to the two die faces on the graphics display


312


. Similarly, the CPU


370


causes the two mechanical dice


364


to rotate or “roll” at first, then stop, one at a time to reveal two die faces. The die faces on the mechanical dice


364


correspond to the die faces on the graphics display


312


.




Then, the CPU


370


then generates a screen on the graphics display


312


showing the total win. For example, suppose a “7×” multiplier is selected by the CPU


370


in a ROLL THE DICE feature which resulted from a SEVEN, WILD DICE, SEVEN symbol combination. In one embodiment, the graphics display shows the basic win amount associated with the SEVEN, WILD DICE, SEVEN symbol combination (e.g., 150 coins with 3 coins played), the selected multiplier (e.g., “7×”) and the product of the multiplier and basic win amount (e.g., 1050 coins).




The ROLL & WIN™ Bonus Game




In one embodiment, the CPU


370


enters the ROLL & WIN™ bonus game when the player is betting four coins and a special “start-bonus” combination of three RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS (“PENNY”) symbols occurs on the center payline


376


of reels


314


,


316


,


318


in the basic game. The ROLL & WINE™ bonus game has a board-game (e.g., MONOPOLY) theme and is implemented on the top box game board


362


and graphics display


312


. Upon initially entering the bonus game, the CPU


370


causes an introductory animation to be displayed on the graphics display


312


with a musical jingle and then operates to display an animation of a game token traveling around a MONOPOLY board. The CPU


370


also signals I/O controller


371


to illuminate the appropriate to illuminate a starting square on the top box game board


362


and then illuminate successive squares around the board in step-wise fashion, rapidly at first and then, after a couple of revolutions, slowing down and stopping on an indicated square. Generally, the indicated square is randomly determined by the CPU


370


prior to the illumination of successive squares on the top box game board


362


.




In one embodiment, when the player “lands” on the indicated square, the graphics display


312


shows an animation for that square. As best observed in

FIG. 24

, the squares of the game board


362


in one embodiment of the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN game are: “GO,” “BALTIC & MEDITTERANEAN AVENUE” (hereinafter “BALTIC”), “READING & PENNSYLVANIA & B. & O. & SHORT LINE RAILROAD” (hereinafter “RAILROAD”), “CONNECTICUT & VERMONT & ORIENTAL AVENUE” (hereinafter “VERMONT”), “IN JAIL,” “VIRGINIA & STATES AVENUE & ST. CHARLES PLACE” (hereinafter “VIRGINIA”), “CHANCE,” NEW YORK & TENNESSEE AVENUE & ST. JAMES PLACE” (hereinafter “NEW YORK”), “FREE PARKING,” “KENTUCKY & INDIANA & ILLINOIS AVENUE” (hereinafter “ILLINOIS”), “UTILITIES,” “MARVIN GARDENS & VENTNOR & ATLANTIC AVENUE” (hereinafter “MARVIN GARDENS”), “GO TO JAIL,” “PENNSYLVANIA & NORTH CAROLINA & PACIFIC AVENUE” (hereinafter “PENNSYLVANIA”), “COMMUNITY CHEST” and “BOARD WALK & PARK PLACE” (hereinafter “BOARDWALK”).




When the player lands on a square, the CPU


370


causes the player to be awarded the amount, if any, associated with the square. If the player is moved to a property, the movement is indicated on the top box board


362


, an animation of the property is shown on the graphics display


312


and the player is awarded an amount, if any associated with the square. In one embodiment, the CPU


370


returns to the basic game after landing on a property square. If the game token


140


lands on a CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST square, the CPU


370


randomly selects an outcome from a plurality of possible CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes, and causes the graphics display


312


to display the selected outcome. If the CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST outcome is a fixed coin award, the graphics display


312


shows an animation of the award, the player is awarded the designated amount and then the CPU


370


returns to the basic game. If the player is moved to a new space as a result of a CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST outcome, the movement is indicated on the top box board


362


, an animation of the square is shown on the graphics display


312


, the player is awarded an amount, if any associated with the square and then the CPU


370


returns to the basic game.












TABLE D-2











MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN Square Values
















Pay




Occ




Prob




EV




Pulls/Hit




















200




480




0.037494142




7.49882831




26.670833




Go






20




480




0.037494142




0.74988283




26.670833




Baltic






150




640




0.049992189




7.49882831




20.003125




RailRoad






25




540




0.037494142




0.93735354




26.670833




Vermont






0




1




7.81128E-05




0




12802




Jail






30




480




0.037494142




1.12482425




26.670833




Virginia






62.45




2080




0.162474613




10.1465396




6.1548077




Chance






40




960




0.074988283




2.99953132




13.335417




NewYork






100




1120




0.08748633




8.74863303




11.430357




Free











parking






50




960




0.074988283




3.74941415




13.335417




Illinois






75




1120




0.08748633




6.56147477




11.430357




Utilities






100




1120




0.08748633




8.74863303




11.430357




Marvin











Gardens






0




1




7.81128E-05




0




12802




Go to Jail






125




736




0.057491017




7.18637713




17.394022




Penn-











sylvania






62.4




2080




0.162474613




10.1384159




6.1548077




Comm











Chest






1000




64




0.004999219




4.99921887




200.03125




Boardwalk







12802




1




81.087955














Table D-2 identifies various pay values, probabilities and expected values associated with the squares of the game board


362


in one embodiment of the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN bonus game. The “Pay” column of Table D-2 identifies payoff amounts associated with the various squares. Other than the CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST squares, the payoff amounts are predetermined amounts stored in system memory. For example, the “GO” square will pay 200 coins or credits, the “BALTIC” square will pay 20 coins or credits, and so forth. In one embodiment, the IN JAIL and GO TO JAIL squares have zero value, consequently a player landing on those squares will not be paid any credits in the bonus game. In the case of the CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST squares, the payoff amounts represent average payoff amounts which may be expected by landing on CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST, respectively. In one embodiment, both the CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST squares will pay, on average 62.4 coins or credits in the bonus game.












TABLE D-3











COMMUNITY CHEST Pay Information
















Pay




Occ




Prob




EV




Pulls/Hit




















50




15




0.15




7.5




6.6666667




Opera






100




5




0.05




5




20




Inherit






45




15




0.15




6.75




6.6666667




Sell Stock






10




5




0.05




0.5




20




Beauty






200




4




0.04




8




25




Adv. Go






200




4




0.04




8




25




Bank Error






25




10




0.1




2.5




10




Services






20




12




0.12




2.4




8.3333333




Inc. Refund






100




5




0.05




5




20




Life Ins






100




10




0.1




10




10




Xmas Fund






45




15




0.15




6.75




6.6666667




Property Value







100




1




62.4






















TABLE D-4











CHANCE Pay Information
















Pay




Occ




Prob




EV




Pulls/Hit




















15




24




0.08




1.2




12.5




Horse Race






10




22




0.073333333




0.73333333




13.636364




BlackJack






10




20




0.066666667




0.66666667




15




Dog Show






25




25




0.083333333




2.08333333




12




Slots






30




30




0.1




3




10




Adv











St. Charles






150




17




0.056666667




8.5




17.647059




Adv. Rail






75




32




0.106666667




8




9.375




Adv. Util






50




33




0.11




5.5




9.0909091




Adv. ILL






50




35




0.116666667




5.83333333




8.5714286




Dividend






1000




2




0.006666667




6.66666667




150




Adv. Board






200




12




0.04




8




25




Adv.Go






40




32




0.106666667




4.26666667




9.375




Lottery






150




16




0.053333333




8




18.75




Loan







300




1




62.45














The various CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes, and their pay values, probabilities and expected values in one embodiment are identified in Tables D-3 and D-4, above. Generally, the CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes include awards of fixed coin values (e.g., “LIFE INSURANCE MATURES,” $100) or instructions for movement to a particular square (e.g., ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK), where the indicated square is associated with a fixed coin award. As identified in Table D-3, the COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes range in value between 10 coins or credits (e.g., “BEAUTY CONTEST”, 10 coins) to a maximum of 200 coins or credits (e.g., ADVANCE TO GO, and BANK ERROR IN YOUR FAVOR). The average value of the COMMUNITY CHEST square is 62.4 coins or credits. As identified in Table D-4, the CHANCE outcomes range in value between 10 coins or credits (e.g., “DOG SHOW”, 10 coins) to a maximum of 1000 coins or credits (e.g., ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK).




In one embodiment, the likelihood of landing on a particular square is predefined and stored in an occurrence probability table in game memory. The CPU


370


selects a particular square in a manner which is consistent with the occurrence probability table. Generally, the occurrence probability table might cause certain squares to be landed on more frequently than other squares. In Table D-2, the “Occ” column identifies a predefined number of outcomes or “occurrences” of each square of the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN game board, and the “Prob” column identifies the probability of selecting or “landing” on the respective squares. An inspection of Table D-2 reveals that there is only 1 outcome, out of 12,802 possible outcomes, which will result in the player landing on the IN JAIL square. Similarly, there is only 1 outcome, out of 12,802 possible outcomes, which will result in the player landing on the GO TO JAIL square. Thus, the probability of the player landing on IN JAIL or GO TO JAIL (and thereby getting no award) is very small, 7.811×10


−5


(i.e., 1÷12,802). The probability of landing on the other squares is generally much greater and also corresponds to the predefined number of outcomes or “occurrences” associated with the squares. For example, consider the “GO” square. The “Occ” column of Table D-1 indicates that there are 480 outcomes, out of 12,802 possible outcomes, which will result in the player landing on the GO square. Thus, the probability of the player landing on the GO square (and thereby getting an award of 200 coins or credits) is 0.037494 (i.e., 480±12,802). The probability of landing on other squares is computed from the “Occ” column in similar fashion.




Similarly, in one embodiment, the likelihood of selecting certain CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST cards is predefined and stored in an occurrence probability table in game memory. The CPU


370


selects a particular CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST card in a manner which is consistent with the occurrence probability table. Generally, the occurrence probability table might cause certain cards to be “drawn” more frequently than other cards. In Tables D-3 and D-4, respectively, the “Occ” column identifies a predefined number of outcomes or “occurrences” which might occur as a result of landing on CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST on the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN game board. The “Prob” column identifies the probability of selecting or “drawing” the respective CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes. The various probabilities of the CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes are computed by dividing the number of occurrences of the particular outcome by the total number of CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes, as appropriate. For example, consider the “ADVANCE TO GO” outcome in COMMUNITY CHEST. Table D-3 shows that there are 4 outcomes, out of 100 possible COMMUNITY CHEST outcomes, which will result in drawing the “ADVANCE TO GO” card. Thus, having landed on the COMMUNITY CHEST square, the probability of the player drawing the “ADVANCE TO GO” card (and thereby getting an award of 200 coins or credits) is 0.04 (i.e., 4÷100). Next consider the “ADVANCE TO GO” outcome in CHANCE. Table D-4 shows that there are 12 outcomes, out of 300 possible CHANCE outcomes, which will result in drawing the “ADVANCE TO GO” card. Thus, having landed on the CHANCE square, the probability of the player drawing the “ADVANCE TO GO” card (and thereby getting an award of 200 coins or credits) is 0.04 (i.e., 12÷300). The probability of drawing other cards is computed in similar fashion.




The “EV” column identifies the expected values associated with the various squares (Table D-2), COMMUNITY CHEST cards (Table D-3) or CHANCE cards (Table D-4). These values are computed for each outcome by taking the product of the pay value (or average pay value) associated with that outcome and the probability associated with that outcome. Thus, for example, the “GO” square has an expected value of 7.49882831 (i.e., 200×0.037494142), and the “ADVANCE TO GO” card (in both CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST) has an expected value of 8 (i.e., 200×0.04).




The “Pulls/Hit” value represents the number of times, on average, that the game must be played before landing on the particular square (Table D-2) or drawing the particular CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST cards (Tables D-3 and D-4). The “Pulls/Hit” column is simply the inverse of the “Prob” values in Tables D-2, D-2 and D-4. Thus, for example, the “GO” square has a “Pulls/Hit” value of 26.67 (i.e., 1÷0.037494142), and the “ADVANCE TO GO” card (in both CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST) has a “Pulls/Hit” value of 25 (i.e., 1÷0.04).












TABLE D-5











ROLL & WIN Pay Information


















Pay




Mult




Comb




Prob




EV




4thCoin




Pulls/Hit




MaxEval





















600




12




7Roll7




2.6087E−06




0.0015652




0.00117393




383328




0.127201






550




11




7Roll7




5.2175E−06




0.0028696




0.0021522




191664




0.233203






500




10




7Roll7




7.8262E−06




0.0039131




0.00293482




127776




0.318004






450




9




7Roll7




1.0435E−05




0.0046957




0.00352179




95832




0.381604






400




8




7Roll7




1.3044E−05




0.0052175




0.0039131




76665.6




0.424005






350




7




7Roll7




1.5652E−05




0.0054783




0.00410875




63888




0.445205






300




6




7Roll7




1.3044E−05




0.0039131




0.00293482




76665.6




0.318004






250




5




7Roll7




1.0435E−05




0.0026087




0.00195655




95832




0.212002






200




4




7Roll7




7.8262E−06




0.0015652




0.00117393




127776




0.127201






150




3




7Roll7




5.2175E−06




0.0007826




0.00058696




191664




0.063601






100




2




7Roll7




2.6087E−06




0.0002609




0.00019565




383328




0.0212






 50





777




0.00037566




0.0187829




0.01408715




2662




1.526418






480




12




3BRoll3B




2.6087E−06




0.0012522




0.00093914




383328




0.101761






440




11




3BRoll3B




5.2175E−06




0.0022957




0.00172176




191664




0.186562






400




10




3BRoll3B




7.8262E−06




0.0031305




0.00234786




127776




0.254403






360




9




3BRoll3B




1.0435E−05




0.0037566




0.00281743




95832




0.305284






320




8




3BRoll3B




1.3044E−05




0.004174




0.00313048




76665.6




0.339204






280




7




3BRoll3B




1.5652E−05




0.0043827




0.003287




63888




0.356164






240




6




3BRoll3B




1.3044E−05




0.0031305




0.00234786




76665.6




0.254403






200




5




3BRoll3B




1.0435E−05




0.002087




0.00156524




95832




0.169602






160




4




3BRoll3B




7.8262E−06




0.0012522




0.00093914




127776




0.101761






120




3




3BRoll3B




5.2175E−06




0.0006261




0.00046957




191664




0.050881






 80




2




3BRoll3B




2.6087E−06




0.0002087




0.00015652




383328




0.01696






 40





3B3B3B




0.00037566




0.0150263




0.01126972




2662




1.221134






240




12




2BRoll2B




7.8262E−06




0.0018783




0.00140872




12776




0.152642






220




11




2BRoll2B




1.5652E−05




0.0034435




0.00258264




63888




0.279843






200




10




2BRoll2B




2.3479E−05




0.0046957




0.00352179




42592




0.381604






180




9




2BRoll2B




3.1305E−05




0.0056349




0.00422615




31944




0.457925






160




8




2BRoll2B




3.9131E−05




0.006261




0.00469572




25555.2




0.508806






140




7




2BRoll2B




4.6957E−05




0.006574




0.0049305




21296




0.534246






120




6




2BRoll2B




3.9131E−05




0.0046957




0.00352179




25555.2




0.381604






100




5




2BRoll2B




3.1305E−05




0.00031305




0.00234786




31944




0.254403






 80




4




2BRoll2B




2.3479E−05




0.0018783




0.00140872




42592




0.152642






 60




3




2BRoll2B




1.5652E−05




0.0009391




0.00070436




63888




0.076321






 40




2




2BRoll2B




7.8262E−06




0.000313




0.00023479




127776




0.02544






 20





2B2B2B




0.00112697




0.0225394




0.01690458




887.3333333




1.831701






120




12




1BRoll1B




1.0435E−05




0.0012522




0.00093914




95832




0.101761






110




11




1BRoll1B




2.087E−05




0.0022957




0.00172176




47916




0.186562






100




10




1BRoll1B




3.1305E−05




0.0031305




0.00234786




31944




0.254403






 90




9




1BRoll1B




4.174E−05




0.0037566




0.00281743




23958




0.305284






 80




8




1BRoll1B




5.2175E−05




0.004174




0.00313048




19166.4




0.339204






 70




7




1BRoll1B




6.261E−05




0.0043827




0.003287




15972




0.356164






 60




6




1BRoll1B




5.2175E−05




0.0031305




0.00234786




19166.4




0.254403






 50




5




1BRoll1B




4.174E−05




0.002087




0.00156524




23958




0.169602






 40




4




1BRoll1B




3.1305E−05




0.0012522




0.00093914




31944




0.101761






 30




3




1BRoll1B




2.087E−05




0.0006261




0.00046957




47916




0.050881






 20




2




1BRoll1B




1.0435E−05




0.0002087




0.00015652




95832




0.01696






 10





1B1B1B




0.00150263




0.0150263




0.01126972




665.5




1.221134






 60




12




ABRollAB




4.174E−05




0.0025044




0.00187829




23958




0.203522






 55




11




ABRollAB




8.3479E−05




0.0045914




0.00344353




11979




0.373124






 50




10




ABRollAB




0.00012522




0.006261




0.00469572




7986




0.508806






 45




9




ABRollAB




0.00016696




0.0075131




0.00563486




5989.5




0.610567






 40




8




ABRollAB




0.0002087




0.0083479




0.00626096




4791.6




0.678408






 35




7




ABRollAB




0.00025044




0.0087653




0.006574




3993




0.712328






 30




6




ABRollAB




0.0002087




0.006261




0.00469572




4791.6




0.508806






 25




5




ABRollAB




0.00016696




0.004174




0.00313048




5989.5




0.339204






 20




4




ABRollAB




0.00012522




0.0025044




0.00187829




7986




0.203522






 15




3




ABRollAB




8.3479E−05




0.0012522




0.00093914




11979




0.101761






 10




2




ABRollAB




4.174E−05




0.0004174




0.00031305




23958




0.03392






 5





ABABAB




0.01051841




0.052592




0.03944403




95.07142857




4.273969






 60




12




AnyRollCherry




0.00017218




0.0103306




0.00774793




5808




0.83953






 55




11




AnyRollCherry




0.00034435




0.0189394




0.01420455




2904




1.539138






 50




10




AnyRollCherry




0.00051653




0.0258264




0.01936983




1936




2.098824






 45




9




AnyRollCherry




0.00068871




0.0309917




0.0232438




1452




2.518589






 40




8




AnyRollCherry




0.00086088




0.0344353




0.02582645




1161.6




2.798432






 35




7




AnyRollCherry




0.00103306




0.036157




0.02711777




968




2.938354






 30




6




AnyRollCherry




0.00086088




0.0258264




0.01936983




1161.6




2.098824






 25




5




AnyRollCherry




0.00068871




0.0172176




0.01291322




1452




1.399216






 20




4




AnyRollCherry




0.00051653




0.0103306




0.00774793




1936




0.83953






 15




3




AnyRollCherry




0.00034435




0.0051653




0.00387397




2904




0.419765






 10




2




AnyRollCherry




0.00017218




0.0017218




0.00129132




5808




0.139922






 5





2Cherry




0.01859504




0.0929752




0.0697314




53.77777778




7.555767






 2





Cherry




0.11157025




0.2231405




0.16735537




8.962962963




18.13384
















Base Game Totals




0.1526108




0.834523




0.625892




















973.0555




12




UncleRollUncle




3.1305E−05





0.00761532




31944







891.9675




11




UncleRollUncle




6.261E−05





0.01396142




15972






810.8796




10




UncleRollUncle




9.3914E−05





0.01903831




10648






729.7916




9




UncleRollUncle




0.00012522





0.02284597




7986






648.7036




8




UncleRollUncle




0.00015652





0.02538441




6388.8






567.6157




7




UncleRollUncle




0.00018783





0.02665363




5324






486.5277




6




UncleRollUncle




0.00015652





0.01903831




6388.8






405.4398




5




UncleRollUncle




0.00012522





0.0126922




7986






324.3518




4




UncleRollUncle




9.3914E−05





0.00761532




10648






243.2639




3




UncleRollUncle




6.261E−05





0.00380766




15972






162.1759




2




UncleRollUncle




3.1305E−05





0.00126922




31944









0.00112697







81.08796





UncleUncleUncle




0.00676183





0.13707581




147.8888889
















Board Game Totals




0.0078888





0.296998




126.7619048







Base and Bonus Games




0.1604996





0.92289














Probability of Top Award (BoardWalk w/dice roll of 12) =




1.9041E−07




5251888.973




pulls














Table D-5 identifies various symbol combinations, probabilities and expected values associated with the ROLL & WIN game according to one embodiment of the present invention. The combinations include various standard winning combinations including “777,” “3B3B3B,” “2B2B2B,” “1B1B1B,” “ABABAB,” “2 Cherry” and “Cherry;” various combinations which will start the ROLL & WIN bonus game including “UncleUncleUncle;” and various combinations which will trigger the ROLL THE DICE multiplier feature, including “7Roll7,” “3BRoll3B,” “2BRoll2B,” “1BRoll1B,” “ABRollAB” and “AnyRollCherry” and “UncleRollUncle.” In Table D-5 and the description to follow, “Roll” is a shorthand notation for the WILD DICE symbol, “3B,” “2B,” “1B” and “AB” are shorthand notations for the 3 BAR, 2 BAR, 1 BAR and ANY BAR symbols and “Uncle” is a shorthand notation for the RICH UNCLE PENNYBAGS symbol.




The “Pay” column identifies payoff amounts associated with the respective combinations in Table D-5, for 1 coin played. In the case of the standard winning combinations, the payoff amounts are predetermined amounts stored in system memory. For example, the “777” combination is a standard winning combination which will award 50 coins or credits in a 1-coin game. In one embodiment, the coin awards are multiplied by two for two coins bet and multiplied by three for three or four coins bet. The fourth coin allows the player the opportunity to play the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™ bonus game and does not increase the value of the standard winning combinations above the 3-coin payoff amount. Thus, for example, the “777” combination which, as noted above, will award 50 coins or credits in a 1-coin game, will award 100 coins or credits in a 2-coin game and 150 coins or credits in a 3- or 4-coin game.




In the case of the combinations starting the ROLL & WIN bonus game, the payoff amounts represent average payoff amounts which may be expected in the bonus game. For example, the “UncleUncleUncle” combination will start the ROLL & WIN bonus game (if 4 coins or credits are played) which will pay, on average, 81.08796 coins or credits.




In the case of the combinations including a “Roll” (WILD DICE) symbol, the payoff amounts represent the product of the standard payoff (or average bonus payoff) with various multiplier values 2 to 12 which might result from the ROLL THE DICE multiplier-bonus. For example, “2 7Roll7” is a shorthand notation for the 7, WILD DICE, 7 combination which triggers the ROLL THE DICE feature, and in which a multiplier bonus of “2” is selected in the ROLL THE DICE feature. The payoff amount for the “2 7Roll7” combination is 100, or twice the payoff of the “777” combination. Similary, “3 7Roll7” is a shorthand notation for the 7, WILD DICE, 7 combination in which a multiplier bonus of “3” is selected in the ROLL THE DICE feature to triple the payoff of the “777” combination, and so forth.




With the exception of the “UncleRollUncle” combination, which is only available for 4 coins played, the various combinations including a “Roll” (WILD DICE) symbol are multiplied by two for two coins bet and multiplied by three for three or four coins bet. The fourth coin allows the player the opportunity to play the MONOPOLY ROLL & WIN™ bonus game and does not increase the value of the standard winning combinations above the 3-coin payoff amount. Thus, for example, the “2 7Roll7” combination which, as noted above, will award 100 coins or credits in a 1-coin game, will award 200 coins or credits in a 2-coin game and 300 coins or credits in a 3- or 4-coin game.




The “Prob” column identifies, for the standard winning combinations, the probabilities of hitting the outcomes in a single spin. For the combinations including a WILD DICE (“Roll”) symbol, the “Prob” value takes into account the probability of rolling the indicated multiplier as well as the probability of “hitting” the indicated outcome. Where the reels each have twenty-two reel stop positions, as in the ROLL & WIN™ game, there are 10,648 (22×22×22) possible symbol combinations. The probability of hitting any particular combination in a single spin is determined by dividing the number of possible “hits” associated with that combination (which is a function of the number of reel positions of the symbols supporting that combination) by the total number of possible combinations (i.e., 10,648). For example, consider the “777” combination. Because there is one SEVEN symbol on reel


314


, one SEVEN symbol on reel


316


and one SEVEN symbol on reel


318


, there is one “hit” associated with that combination. The probability of hitting that combination is therefore 9.39×10


−5


(i.e. 1÷10,648).




Next consider the various “7Roll7” combinations. If the ROLL THE DICE multiplier is determined according to the roll of a pair of fair dice, the probability of selecting a “2×” or “12×” multiplier is 2.7%, the probability of selecting a “3×” or “11×” multiplier is 5.5%, the probability of selecting a “4×” or “10×” multiplier is 8.3%, the probability of selecting a “5×or “9×” multiplier is 11.1%, the probability of selecting a “6×” or “8×” multiplier is 13.9% and the probability of selecting a “7×” multiplier is 16.7%. The probability of “hitting” the “2 7Roll7” and 12 7Roll7” combinations is therefore 2.53×10


−6


(i.e. 9.39×10


31 5


×0.027). The remaining probabilities are computed in similar fashion.




The “EV” column identifies the normalized expected values of the various standard winning outcomes of Table D-2 for a 1-coin, 2-coin or 3-coin game. These values are computed for each outcome by taking the product of the pay value (or average pay value) associated with that outcome and the probability associated with that outcome, divided by the number of coins played. Thus, for example, the “12 7Roll7” outcome has a 1-coin expected value of 0.0015652 (600×2.6087×10


−6


÷1), a 2-coin expected value of 0.0015652 (1200×2.6087×10


−6


÷2) and a 3-coin expected value of 0.0015652 (1800×2.6087×10


−6


÷3).




The “4thCoin” column identifies the normalized expected values of the various standard winning outcomes of Table D-2 for a 4-coin game. These values are computed in similar fashion as the 1-coin, 2-coin and 3-coin expected values but differ because the pay value of the standard combinations does not increase from a 3-coin to a 4-coin game. Thus, for example, the “12 7Roll7” outcome has a 4-coin expected value of 0.00117393 (1800×2.6087×10


−6


÷4).




Any of the gaming machines heretofore described can be implemented with bonus-resource outcomes, causing the processor to generate a deferred instruction which is exercisable to enhance the excitement and/or winning expectation in the bonus game. Generally, the deferred instruction associated with the bonus resource is exercisable in response to later outcomes or events in the game. For example, the bonus resource might might be obtained in response to special symbol combination(s) the basic game and the deferred instruction associated with the bonus resource might be exercised in the bonus game. The deferred instruction might be executed automatically by the CPU in response to certain later-displayed indicia in the game or might be exercisable in response to player input. In one embodiment, the CPU continues to operate in the basic mode after the occurrence of a bonus-resource outcome in the basic game. In this embodiment, any number of bonus-resource outcomes may occur through several repetitions of the basic game (causing the CPU to store a corresponding number of deferred instructions in game memory) before entering the bonus mode. In one embodiment, the CPU exercises the deferred instruction(s) associated with the bonus-resource(s), if at all, in the bonus game.




In one embodiment, the bonus game resource comprises a multiplier (e.g., 2×, 5×, 10×, etc.) associated with a deferred instruction to multiply a later displayed value, such as an amount of coin(s) or credit(s) otherwise awarded in a bonus game. For example, a “5×” resource, obtained as a result of a particular outcome of the basic game, might be exercised in the bonus game to instruct the CPU to multiply an otherwise-indicated award of 5 coins by five, resulting in an award of 25 coins. In another embodiment, the deferred instruction associated with the bonus game resource comprises an “override” command causing the CPU to override or block the performance of an instruction otherwise indicated in the bonus game. For example, a deferred “override” command, obtained in the basic game as a result of a particular bonus-resource outcome, might be played in the bonus game to override an “end-bonus” instruction encountered in the bonus game. Whereas the “end-bonus” instruction would otherwise have caused the CPU to end the bonus game, the exercise of the “override” command would allow the player to continue the bonus game. With particular reference to the MONOPOLY-theme games described herein, one bonus-resource might comprise a “GET OUT OF JAIL FREE” card, obtainable as a result of a special symbol combination in the basic game and associated with a deferred instruction to “get out of jail,” or in other words to override the instruction nominally associated with the IN JAIL square. Thus, for example, if the IN JAIL square is nominally associated with an “end-bonus” instruction, causing the CPU to end the bonus game, a player landing on the IN JAIL square might exercise a “GET OUT OF JAIL FREE” card to override the nominal end-bonus instruction and continue the bonus game.




It will be appreciated that the present invention has generally been described with reference to the particular games ADVANCE TO BOARDWALK™, REEL ESTATE™, ONCE AROUND™ and ROLL & WIN™, based on the MONOPOLY™ board game but is not limited to these particular games. For example, while the aforementioned games have a basic game in the form of a slot machine, the present invention may be implemented with virtually any type of game of chance or skill or combination of such games having outcomes (e.g., “start-bonus” outcomes) which may trigger play of a bonus game. The basic game may comprise, for example, a video poker or video blackjack game. Moreover, the present invention may be based on board games other than MONOPOLY. Other variations within the scope of the present invention include basic games or bonus games with different numbers and types of reels and/or symbols, different payline configurations, different values of coin awards, different probabilities, payback percentages, etc.




While the present invention has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A method of operating a gaming machine under control of a processor, the method comprising the steps of:executing, under control of the processor, a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a game token, said stations being associated with respective monetary outcomes; selecting, under control of the processor in response to player input, a game token for illustrating movement between said stations; displaying, under control of the processor, the selected game token landing on one or more of said stations on the game board determined by execution of the game program; and awarding the monetary outcomes associated with said landing stations.
  • 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting a game token includes the steps of:displaying a selection screen showing a plurality of token selection options; and selecting, under player control, a game token from among the token selection options.
  • 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the selection screen comprises a touch-screen display and the selecting step comprises the touching the touch screen over one of the token selection options.
  • 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor is operable in a basic mode and a bonus mode, the executing step being accomplished in the bonus mode.
  • 5. A gaming machine, comprising:a processor operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a game token, said stations being associated with respective monetary outcomes; a selection element for selecting, in response to player input, a game token for illustrating movement between said stations; and a display for displaying, under control of the processor, the selected game token landing on one or more of said stations on the game board determined by execution of the game program, the processor awarding the monetary outcomes associated with said landing stations.
  • 6. A gaming machine comprising:a processor operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier; a game memory operably coupled to the processor, the game memory storing a plurality of movement tables each corresponding to one of the stations of the game board, each of the movement tables defining a set of possible movement outcomes; means for identifying, under control of the processor, a position of the token identifier comprising any one of the stations on the game board; and means for consulting, under control of the processor, one or more of the movement tables associated with the position of the token identifier to select a movement outcome.
  • 7. The gaming machine of claim 6 wherein at least one station of the game board is associated with a first and second movement table stored in the game memory, the processor determining the movement outcome from said station by selecting a first outcome from the first movement table, a second outcome from the second movement table and then summing the first and second outcomes to determine said movement outcome.
  • 8. The gaming machine of claim 6 further comprising means for moving the token identifier a number of steps on the game board corresponding to the selected movement outcome.
  • 9. The gaming machine of claim 6 wherein each of the movement tables define an equal number of possible movement outcomes.
  • 10. The gaming machine of claim 6 wherein each of the movement tables assigns a predefined selection probability to each of the possible movement outcomes.
  • 11. A method of operating a gaming machine under control of a processor, the processor being operable to execute a game program defining a plurality of stations about a game board traversable by a token identifier, the method comprising:storing a plurality of movement tables in a game memory, each of the movement tables defining a set of possible movement outcomes; identifying, under control of the processor, a position of the token identifier comprising any one of the stations on the game board; and consulting, under control of the processor, the movement table associated with the position of the token identifier to select a movement outcome.
  • 12. A gaming machine comprising a game of chance represented on a video-type display, said video-type display depicting a plurality of board game stations randomly traversed by a game token, said game token stopping on one of said stations to select an associated monetary award.
  • 13. The gaming machine of claim 12, wherein said plurality of board game stations scroll across said video-type display.
  • 14. The gaming machine of claim 12, wherein the number of board game stations traversed by said game token prior to stopping is determined by a random movement indicator.
  • 15. The gaming machine of claim 12, wherein said game of chance is a secondary game, and further including a basic game of chance having a plurality of randomly selected basic game outcomes, said plurality of basic game outcomes including a start-bonus outcome, said secondary game being triggered by said start-bonus outcome.
  • 16. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, comprising:receiving a wager from a player; depicting, on a video-type display, a plurality of board game stations randomly traversed by a game token; and stopping said game token on one of said stations to select an associated monetary award.
  • 17. The method of claim 16, further including conducting a basic game, said depicting step being responsive to a start-bonus outcome in said basic game.
  • 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the basic game includes a plurality of symbol-bearing reels that are rotated and stopped to place symbols on said reels in visual association with a display area.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/274,793, filed Mar. 23, 1999, now allowed, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/079,143 filed Mar. 24, 1998.

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Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/079143 Mar 1998 US