Patent Grant
9520022
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to gaming apparatus and methods and, more particularly, to a wagering game with a secondary reel having an oversized, single-evaluation symbol thereon.
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 at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a gaming system comprises one or more input devices, one or more display devices, and one or more processors. The gaming system further comprises one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the gaming system to receive, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display a wagering game having an array of symbol positions positioned on a plurality of primary reels and at least one secondary reel overlaying two or more adjacent primary reels, the secondary reel including at least one oversized symbol, the oversized symbol overlaying symbol positions on at least two of the two or more adjacent primary reels, the oversized symbol being a standard symbol. The instructions further cause the gaming system to spin the two or more adjacent primary reels and the secondary reel such that the two or more adjacent primary reels and the secondary reel appear to spin as a single reel.
According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method in a gaming system comprises receiving, via at least one of one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager. The method further comprises displaying, on at least one of one or more display devices, a wagering game having an array of symbol positions positioned on a plurality of primary reels and at least one secondary reel overlaying two or more adjacent primary reels, the secondary reel including at least one oversized symbol, the oversized symbol overlaying symbol positions on at least two of the two or more adjacent primary reels, the oversized symbol being a standard symbol. The method further comprises spinning the two or more adjacent primary reels and the secondary reel, by at least one of one or more processors, such that the two or more adjacent primary reels and the secondary reel appear to spin as a single reel.
According to another aspect of the invention, one or more physical machine-readable storage media includes instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising receiving, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager. The instructions further cause the one or more processors to display on one or more display devices a wagering game having an array of symbol positions positioned on a plurality of primary reels and at least one secondary reel overlaying two or more adjacent primary reels, the secondary reel including at least one oversized symbol, the oversized symbol overlaying symbol positions on at least two of the two or more adjacent primary reels, the oversized symbol being a standard symbol. The instructions further cause the one or more processors to spin the two or more adjacent primary reels and the secondary reel such that the two or more adjacent primary reels and the secondary reel appear to spin as a single reel.
According to another aspect of the invention, a gaming system comprises one or more input devices, one or more display devices, and one or more processors. The gaming system further comprises one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the gaming system to receive, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display a wagering game having a plurality of primary reels, each of the primary reels having a plurality of symbols thereon and determine a width of a secondary reel having at least one oversized symbol thereon, the width corresponding to a width of from two primary reels to all of the primary reels. The instructions further cause the gaming system to overlay two or more adjacent primary reels with the secondary reel having the determined width and spin the two or more adjacent primary reels overlaid by the secondary reel such that the two or more adjacent primary reels overlaid by the secondary reel appear to spin as a single reel. The oversized symbol extends across at least two of the two or more adjacent primary reels.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, computer readable storage media is encoded with instructions for directing a gaming system to perform the above methods.
Additional aspects of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of various embodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.
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. It should be understood, however, 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.
Detailed Description
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated. For purposes of the present detailed description, the singular includes the plural and vice versa (unless specifically disclaimed); the words “and” and “or” shall be both conjunctive and disjunctive; the word “all” means “any and all”; the word “any” means “any and all”; and the word “including” means “including without limitation.”
For purposes of the present detailed description, the terms “wagering games,” “gambling,” “slot game,” “casino game,” and the like include games in which a player places at risk a sum of money or other representation of value, whether or not redeemable for cash, on an event with an uncertain outcome, including without limitation those having some element of skill. In some embodiments, the wagering game may involve wagers of real money, as found with typical land-based or on-line casino games. In other embodiments, the wagering game may additionally, or alternatively, involve wagers of non-cash values, such as virtual currency, and therefore may be considered a social or casual game, such as would be typically available on a social networking web site, other web sites, across computer networks, or applications on mobile devices (e.g., phones, tablets, etc.). When provided in a social or casual game format, the wagering game may closely resemble a traditional casino game, or it may take another form that more closely resembles other types of social/casual games.
Referring to
The gaming terminal 10 illustrated in
Input devices, such as the touch screen 18, buttons 20, a mouse, a joystick, a gesture-sensing device, a voice-recognition device, and a virtual input device, accept player input(s) and transform the player input(s) to electronic data signals indicative of the player input(s), which correspond to an enabled feature for such input(s) at a time of activation (e.g., pressing a “Max Bet” button or soft key to indicate a player's desire to place a maximum wager to play the wagering game). The input(s), once transformed into electronic data signals, are output to a CPU for processing. The electronic data signals are selected from a group consisting essentially of an electrical current, an electrical voltage, an electrical charge, an optical signal, an optical element, a magnetic signal, and a magnetic element.
Turning now to
The CPU 30 is also connected to an input/output (I/O) bus 36, which can include any suitable bus technologies, such as an AGTL+ frontside bus and a PCI backside bus. The I/O bus 36 is connected to various input devices 38, output devices 40, and input/output devices 42 such as those discussed above in connection with
The external system 48 includes, in various aspects, a gaming network, other gaming terminals, a gaming server, a remote controller, communications hardware, or a variety of other interfaced systems or components, in any combination. In yet other aspects, the external system 48 may comprise a player's portable electronic device (e.g., cellular phone, electronic wallet, etc.) and the external system interface 46 is configured to facilitate wireless communication and data transfer between the portable electronic device and the CPU 30, such as by a near-field communication path operating via magnetic-field induction or a frequency-hopping spread spectrum RF signals (e.g., Bluetooth, etc.).
The gaming terminal 10 optionally communicates with the external system 48 such that the terminal operates as a thin, thick, or intermediate client. In general, a wagering game includes an RNG for generating a random number, game logic for determining the outcome based on the randomly generated number, and game assets (e.g., art, sound, etc.) for presenting the determined outcome to a player in an audio-visual manner. The RNG, game logic, and game assets are contained within the gaming terminal 10 (“thick client” gaming terminal), the external system 48 (“thin client” gaming terminal), or are distributed therebetween in any suitable manner (“intermediate client” gaming terminal).
The gaming terminal 10 may include additional peripheral devices or more than one of each component shown in
Referring now to
In response to receiving an input indicative of a wager, the reels 52 are rotated and stopped to place symbols on the reels in visual association with paylines such as paylines 58. The wagering game evaluates the displayed array of symbols on the stopped reels and provides immediate awards and bonus features in accordance with a pay table. The pay table may, for example, include “line pays” or “scatter pays.” Line pays occur when a predetermined type and number of symbols appear along an activated payline, typically in a particular order such as left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top, etc. Scatter pays occur when a predetermined type and number of symbols appear anywhere in the displayed array without regard to position or paylines. Similarly, the wagering game may trigger bonus features based on one or more bonus triggering symbols appearing along an activated payline (i.e., “line trigger”) or anywhere in the displayed array (i.e., “scatter trigger”). The wagering game may also provide mystery awards and features independent of the symbols appearing in the displayed array.
In accord with various methods of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system in accord with the present concepts, the wagering game includes a game sequence in which a player makes a wager and a wagering game outcome is provided or displayed in response to the wager being received or detected. The wagering game outcome is then revealed to the player in due course following initiation of the wagering game. The method comprises the acts of conducting the wagering game using a gaming apparatus, such as the gaming terminal 10 depicted in
In the aforementioned method, for each data signal, the CPU (e.g., CPU 30) is configured to process the electronic data signal, to interpret the data signal (e.g., data signals corresponding to a wager input), and to cause further actions associated with the interpretation of the signal in accord with computer instructions relating to such further actions executed by the controller. As one example, the CPU causes the recording of a digital representation of the wager in one or more storage media (e.g., storage unit 44), the CPU, in accord with associated computer instructions, causing the changing of a state of the storage media from a first state to a second state. This change in state is, for example, effected by changing a magnetization pattern on a magnetically coated surface of a magnetic storage media or changing a magnetic state of a ferromagnetic surface of a magneto-optical disc storage media, a change in state of transistors or capacitors in a volatile or a non-volatile semiconductor memory (e.g., DRAM), etc. The noted second state of the data storage media comprises storage in the storage media of data representing the electronic data signal from the CPU (e.g., the wager in the present example). As another example, the CPU further, in accord with the execution of the instructions relating to the wagering game, causes the primary display 12, other display device, or other output device (e.g., speakers, lights, communication device, etc.) to change from a first state to at least a second state, wherein the second state of the primary display comprises a visual representation of the physical player input (e.g., an acknowledgement to a player), information relating to the physical player input (e.g., an indication of the wager amount), a game sequence, an outcome of the game sequence, or any combination thereof, wherein the game sequence in accord with the present concepts comprises acts described herein. The aforementioned executing of computer instructions relating to the wagering game is further conducted in accord with a random outcome (e.g., determined by a RNG) that is used by the CPU to determine the outcome of the game sequence, using a game logic for determining the outcome based on the randomly generated number. In at least some aspects, the CPU is configured to determine an outcome of the game sequence at least partially in response to the random parameter.
Referring now to
The game screen 100 of
The secondary reel of the embodiments described herein may overlay any adjacent primary reels. In other words, the position of the secondary reel 106 on the array of symbols 103 may vary. As shown in
The secondary reel of the embodiments described herein may also overlay any amount of adjacent primary reels. In other words, the width of the secondary reel may vary such that the secondary reel may overlay anywhere from two adjacent primary reels to all of the primary reels. In the embodiments of
The position (i.e., which reels are overlaid) and the width (i.e., how many reels are overlaid) of the secondary reel may be determined in any suitable way. For example, the position and width of the secondary reel may vary from spin to spin, may be randomly determined, and/or may be determined by a predetermined condition (e.g., a particular symbol or type of symbol being achieved in the array of symbols).
It is also contemplated that more than one secondary reel may be used to overlay more than one group of adjacent primary reels. For example, a first secondary reel may overlay the first and second primary reels, and a second secondary reel may overlay the fourth and fifth primary reels.
The secondary reel(s) of the embodiments described herein includes blank areas, blank symbols, or blank symbol positions and one or more oversized standard symbols. The oversized symbol(s) occupies or overlays symbol positions on at least two of the two or more adjacent primary reels overlaid by the secondary reel. The secondary reel may optionally further include other symbols (e.g., symbols that overlay a single symbol position, more than one symbol position of the same column/reel, etc.). In the illustrated embodiment of
In embodiments where the secondary reel extends across or overlays more than two primary reels, the oversized symbol may extend across less than all of the overlaid primary reels. For example, if the secondary reel overlays all five primary reels, the oversized symbol may extend across and overlay adjacent symbol positions on any of two, three, four, or five of the primary reels.
The oversized symbols(s) positioned on the secondary reel may overlay any amount of rows in the array of symbols. As shown in
As shown in
The secondary reel may spin before, simultaneously with, or after the primary reels are spun. Referring back to
Although in the embodiment described above, the third primary reel 102c, the fourth primary reel 102d, and the secondary reel 106 appear to be spinning as a single, combined reel 107, the reels 102c, 102d, 106 actually spin separately and independently of one another such that any number of outcomes and combinations of symbols may be achieved with respect to the third primary reel 102c, the fourth primary reel 102d, and the secondary reel 106. Various mechanisms may be used to achieve these various outcome possibilities while maintaining the appearance of a single spinning reel. For example, the speed at which each of the reels 102c, 102d, 106 spins may be adjusted accordingly so that different symbol combinations may be achieved while still maintaining the combined-reel appearance. In another example, each reel may be spliced at a point exactly ten spaces above the final stop position, so that all three reels stop at the same time.
It is also contemplated that the reels may appear to spin separately from one another, e.g., a combined reel may not be utilized. For instance, in another embodiment, the plurality of reels 102a-102e is spun prior to spinning the secondary reel 106. The first reel 102a may come to a stop, followed by the second reel 102b, followed by the third and/or fourth reels 102c-102d (which may or may not be “grafted” to one another), followed by the fifth reel 102e. After evaluating the resulting array of symbols 103 displayed on the plurality of reels 102a-102e for one or more winning outcomes, the secondary reel 106 may then be spun. It is contemplated that the secondary reel 106 may only be spun if a predetermined condition is achieved (e.g., a trigger symbol is achieved on one or more of the plurality of reels 102a-102e). After spinning the secondary reel 106, the resulting array of symbols may be evaluated for additional winning outcomes that may be formed using, e.g., the oversized star symbol 126 of the secondary reel 106.
The secondary reel and the primary reels that it overlays may be distinguished from the remaining primary reels using any suitable mechanism including, but not limited to, highlighting, a border/outline, a different color scheme, etc. In
The oversized symbols positioned on the secondary reels of the embodiments described herein are standard, single-evaluation symbols. In other words, the oversized symbol is treated as a symbol on the pay table (e.g., not a WILD symbol). Referring back to
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. Moreover, the present concepts expressly include any and all combinations and subcombinations of the preceeding elements and aspects.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/706,303 filed Sep. 27, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
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