The instant disclosure relates to the technical field of slot wagering games and user customizations of the slot wagering games.
Conventional slot wagering games rely on a rolling effect of an overall reel. The reel may be separated into multiple portions configured to be rolled at different times with different speeds. Each portion of the reel is further divided into slots and the slots are populated with a group of images. Based on the stop position after each roll, the slots having same or similar images form connecting lines, which determines gain or loss of each roll.
However, the dependency on an overall reel limits the development of slot wagering game designs. It not only limits the ways that a winning line can be constructed, but also limits the ways that a slot wagering game can be presented to users. Therefore, in order to attract users, there is a need for a new game play and a new presentation of slot wagering games.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
One purpose of the instant invention is to provide a solution for the above deficiency and improve the users experience in slot wagering gaming. The approach is to introduce multiple rotators into a slot wagering game and remove the need of an overall reel. To be more specific, the instant invention replaces the reels used in conventional slot games, with a system of rows and columns of multi-sided two or three dimensional objects, called rotators. Each face of the rotator object can contain an image (including a normal image, a blank image, a wild image, or a scatter image), a symbol, an animation, or a video. Instead of rotating reels, these rotators can rotate in place in a matrix and the outcome of the game is based on where the rotators stop instead of a reel stop.
By arranging the rotators in the matrix, winning lines of the slot wagering game can be vertical lines as opposed to conventionally the winning lines are limited to horizontal and oblique lines due to the use of a reel. Furthermore, in conventional games the probability of an image landing on a line depends on the reel, and with the instant invention, the image landing on a line is based on each rotator. In one embodiment, the probability of occurrence of an image depends on the number of rotators in the screen. Also, conventionally, the rotation speeds are the same due to the use of reels, and each reel stops at different times, usually from left to right. On the contrary, in the instant invention, each rotator can spin in different directions and at different speeds, and stops at different times. In one embodiment, the rotators can be slowed down at the beginning, at the end, in the middle, or during the entire game. For example, before the end of the game any number of rotators can be configured to slow down to increase anticipation.
The game math which sets winning conditions of the game is based on the rotators. For example, a game can include a winning condition based on landing Aces or Kings on all rotators, partial rotators forming a horizontal line, partial rotators forming a vertical line, or other combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the games can be designed a winning condition with multiple combinations. For example, landing two Kings, two Queens, and one Jack on rotators forming a vertical, horizontal, or oblique line. In another embodiment, users/players can customize the combinations.
In one embodiment, the instant invention discloses a slot wagering game device, comprising: a processor; a memory storing computer readable instructions; a display; a user interface including a play button; wherein when the computer readable instructions are executed by the processor, cause the device to: present a plurality of rotators on the display, wherein each rotator of the plurality of rotators has at least two sides; each of the at least two sides is associated to a multimedia element (e.g. an image, a symbol, an animation, or a video), and one of the at least two sides rotated to a back of the rotator is not displayed, and wherein the plurality of rotators are arranged in a table format with at least one row and at least one column; obtain a hidden list for each rotator, wherein the hidden list contains a list of multimedia elements; and when a user pushes the play button, each of the plurality of rotators rotates and stops at a new position, wherein each time a side of a rotator is rotated to the back of the rotator, the side is re-associated to a multimedia element selected from the hidden list.
The disclosed slot wagering game device can be played on a Gaming Machine, an Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM), a mobile device, a virtual-reality system, or on a website. The slot wagering game device further requires a display device to render or display the game and its various outcomes, an input interface for receiving a user's action such as play, insert money or voucher, and a speaker for playing sounds or music. The disclosed slot wagering game device is implemented by a CPU, a memory, an I/O interface, operating systems, and software.
In one embodiment, the user interface further includes a change bet button configured to receive a new betting value from the user and a change line button configured to receive a modification of a betting line from the user.
In another embodiment, the disclosed slot wagering game device is further configured to receive information about each rotator, the multimedia element associated with each rotator, and the hidden list for each rotator from a cloud server; and when the user pushes the play button, transmit a button push command to the cloud server and receive information about how to rotate each of the plurality of rotators from the cloud server, before rotating each of the plurality of rotators. This allows the disclosed slot wagering game to be played online or remotely without the user needing to download a whole slot wagering game software to a local device, thereby offering the users an easy access to the game.
In one embodiment, the rotators have different heights, widths, and depths, and the heights, widths, and depths of the rotators are adjustable during or between rotations. In another embodiment, the slot wagering game device is configured to apply a special effect on at least one rotator, wherein the special effect includes, but is not limited to, jiggle, explode, or fade. In specific, after a game ends, a rotator can explode, fade out and reveal a value that the player won. Special (i.e. predetermined) rotators in the game can jiggle and drop coins or values to the credit the player.
In further embodiment, the disclosed slot wagering game device can utilize features such as Wilds, Scatters, Bonus games, and Wheels, for user engagements. Also, the rotators can be presented in wavy motions. The wavy motions can be achieved by using water as background and placing rotators on top. When water makes sinusoidal wave motion, the rotators can move up and down in wavy motion. Similarly, if the background is made to be space with meteors projecting towards the screen, the rotators may look like moving in space. The rotators can be presented with sharp edges or smooth or rounded edges. Furthermore, the multimedia elements associated with the rotators can be displayed with bevel, shadow, glow, frame, or other enhancements. Three-dimensional (3D) shaders can be used on backgrounds, multimedia elements, and the rotators to enhance the visualization. Moreover, each rotator can be turned on to rotate while other rotators are in their stop positions. In one embodiment, the rotating rotator can be emphasized for mysterious reveal with lightings or special effects. In another embodiment, the emphasized rotator for mysterious reveal can be used in bonus games. These features provide visual effects during different stages or at different events of the game, which attract the user's attention.
In one embodiment, the spaces between the rotators will adjust automatically when game screen is reduced or increased to keep up with uniformity. These adjustments make the game look pleasing in various screen sizes. In another embodiment, the size of the rotators will also be adjusted to accommodate the size of the game screen.
In one embodiment, each of the rotators can have different number of sides, which causes the rotators to have different probabilities of landing on a particular side.
For a rotator having at least three sides, a top view and a bottom view can also be displayed. The rotators can be presented in an orthogonal projection or in a perspective projection with respect to the user's eye.
In one embodiment, one or more rotators can be a hidden rotator configured to be shown according to a predetermined event or during a specific game stage.
In one embodiment, the background of the game changes based on different occasions including, but are not limited to, different seasons or different holidays.
In a preferred embodiment of the instant invention, the disclosed slot wagering game device is further configured to provide a graphic user interface to the user, wherein the graphic user interface shows to the user a list of multimedia elements to be used by the plurality of rotators; the graphic user interface further presents dropdown menus or text input fields to receive inputs from the user on number of sides, game matrix rows, game matrix columns, background, rotation type, width, height, and depth; populating the list of multimedia elements into the plurality of rotators based on the number of sides, the game matrix rows, the game matrix columns, the background, the rotation type, the width, the height, and the depth inputted by the user; and displaying a populated result for each of the plurality of rotators on the graphic user interface.
The graphic user interface further includes a generate button configured to initiate the populating of the list of multimedia elements in response to a click by the user, a reset button configured to remove the population of the list of multimedia elements in response to a click by the user, and a game title field configured to receive a game name from the user for identifying the population of the list of multimedia elements. In one embodiment, the rotation type is selected from the group consisting of clockwise, counterclockwise, vertical, and horizontal.
In the drawings, various embodiments of the present devices and features are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustration.
The invention describes a new slot wagering game device that goes beyond the limitations of a conventional slot wagering game device. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalent arrangement.
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In one embodiment, the spin of the wheel can be automatically occurred, and in another embodiment, the player can touch the wheel to start the spin. In one embodiment, more than one wheel image can occur in a screen at the same time.
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In one embodiment, each background image is associated with a probability of a multimedia element landing in the front view. Therefore, the user can choose a background representing a desired difficulty of the game.
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When the generate button is clicked by the user, a math file, an icon, and a rotator file are generated. The files generated will be used by the game to display a new game in the menu and player can choose the game and start playing.
The Game and Math generator further includes a reset button configured to remove the generated game and math. The reset button can be used to create a new game by resetting the previously entered parameters back to default values and removing the populated multimedia elements from the rotators.
The Game and Math generator then receives the user's inputs about number of sides, game matrix rows, game matrix columns, background, rotation type (e.g. clockwise, counterclockwise, vertical, or horizontal), width, height, and depth. When the user makes changes to one of the fields regarding the number of sides, the game matrix rows, or the game matrix columns, the Game and Math generator modifies the number of grids shown on the right-hand side of the screen and repopulates the multimedia elements into the grids. When the user does not make changes to the number of sides, game matrix rows, and game matrix columns, but makes changes to the background, the rotation type, the width, the height, and the depth, the Game and Math generator records the user's changes without repopulating the grids.
Once the grids are formed, the images can be dragged from left side onto the grid on to right hand side. If image already exists, it can be deleted, and new image can be added. Other parameters such as background, length, width, etc. can be changed before generating the game and math. Once generated, the game would be stored in specific directories with an icon/logo inputted by the user, and the game will automatically show in the selection/lobby screen and run automatically.
Betting Stage: The player selects lines, boxes, or rotators for bet (See
Playing Stage: Once the player presses the play button, the game obtains random numbers or final stops of the rotators. The random numbers can be generated internally or obtained from a remote server. In one embodiment, when the user clicks on the play button, a new random number is generated locally and is used by local processors to calculate the final stops of the rotators. In another embodiment, the random number is received from the remote server and is used by local processors to calculate the final stops of the rotators. In other embodiment, the random number with calculated final stops of the rotators are received from the remote server. In one embodiment, the final stops of the rotators are based on the prize of the game.
In one embodiment, instead of obtaining the random numbers or final stops of the rotators for the entire game, each rotator can obtain its own random number or final stop. That is, each rotator can be independent.
Determining Stage: Based on the choices made before the bet (i.e. lines, boxes, rotators, and the final stop of the rotators), the game will generate an award/prize. The award is based on the game design that varies from game to game. In one embodiment, the award can be one or more of the following types: internal progressive (stand-alone progressive), external progressive using a controller, internal bonus game which may or may not lead to bonus game, external bonus award (awarded based on external factors not related to game outcome), a simple game wins, free games, or a loss.
Paying Stage: Once the award/prize is determined, a determination is made to whether showing a celebration animation based on the award and the amount to be credited to the player. If the award is above tax limits, attendant will provide tax forms and the amount may be handed to the player.
End Stage: During this stage the game updates and stores its parameters internally, and returns to the Betting Stage or the Playing Stage.
When a game is started, the bet amount is automatically changed to a predetermined minimal amount to avoid the user to accidentally starting a large play. This is necessary in certain jurisdictions.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the herein described systems and devices may be subject to various modifications and alternative constructions. There is no intention to limit the scope of the invention to the specific constructions described herein. Rather, the herein described systems and devices are intended to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the scope and spirit of the invention and its equivalents.
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