Game program, game system, information processing device, server, and game method

Abstract

To provide a game program, a game system, an information processing device, a server, and a game method capable of executing a sleep game suppressing a user's inconvenience from occurring even while a server is under maintenance.SOLUTION: A game program allows a processor to execute the steps of: receiving an instruction regarding acquisition processing of sleep information; recognizing that a server 20 is under maintenance when receiving an instruction; retaining sleep information determined by a user in a memory during maintenance when receiving an instruction; permitting progress of a game on the basis of determined sleep information with communication with the server 20 in which maintenance is completed as an opportunity in a state in which the determined sleep information is retained; and notifying a user of detection of fraudulence when determining that determined sleep information is based on illegal means by comparing a maintenance period with information on a user's sleep time included in determined sleep information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a game program, a game system, an information processing device, a server, and a game method, and more particularly to a game program, a game system, an information processing device, a server, and a game method that are capable of executing game processing using sleep information of a user while a server is undergoing maintenance. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a game server that manages the progress of a virtual lifeform training game, and that includes an acquisition unit that acquires a user's wake-up time, and a processing unit that executes processing related to the training game according to the acquired wake-up time (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to the game server described in Patent Document 1, a training event occurs when the user wakes up in the morning in the virtual lifeform training game, which motivates the user to enjoy getting up in the morning, leading to sufficient awakening. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2023-010930 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In various games, including the game system described in Patent Document 1, maintenance of the server may be performed to improve user convenience and correct various defects by updating the game. During maintenance, the game system is stopped and the user cannot play the game. In the game server of the sleep game executed using the user's sleep information described in Patent Document 1, for example, after the sleep measurement is completed on the terminal device, various communications are performed between the terminal device and the server, and a predetermined game process (for example, a lottery) is executed. However, in this case, if the sleep measurement cannot be completed because the server is under maintenance, the fact of the sleep and the sleep information of the sleep are not reflected in the game even though the user actually slept. In addition, when server maintenance is performed suddenly, such as emergency maintenance, if the sleep measurement cannot be performed, inconveniences such as the inability to play the game may occur for the user who is playing the game.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a game program, a game system, an information processing device, a server, and a game method that can execute a sleep game that causes little inconvenience to users even when the server is undergoing maintenance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a game program to be executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, the program causing the processor to execute the following steps: receiving instructions regarding a process for acquiring user's sleep information; recognizing that a server managing the progress of the game is undergoing maintenance; if the server is undergoing maintenance when the instruction is received, confirming the user's sleep information and retaining the confirmed sleep information in memory; triggering communication with a server that has completed maintenance while retaining the confirmed sleep information, allowing the game to progress based on the confirmed sleep information; and comparing the period of server maintenance with information on the user's sleeping hours contained in the confirmed sleep information, and if it is determined that the confirmed sleep information is information based on fraudulent means, notifying the user that fraud has been detected. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the game program, game system, information processing device, server, and game method of the present invention, it is possible to provide a game program, game system, information processing device, server, and game method that can run a sleep game that is less likely to cause inconvenience to users even when the server is undergoing maintenance. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of the game system according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] 4 is a data configuration diagram of each storage section of the storage unit according to the embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the display contents in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 23] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 24] FIG. 11 is a functional configuration block diagram of a game system according to a modified example of the present embodiment. [Diagram 25] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of processing in a game system according to a modified example of the present embodiment. [Figure 26] FIG. 11 is a diagram of an output screen in a game system according to a modified example of the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] [Embodiment Mode] <Overview of Game System 1> Fig. 1 shows an overview of a game system according to this embodiment. Specifically, Fig. 1 shows an overview of the configuration of a game system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0010] The game system 1 according to this embodiment executes a game using sleep information related to the user's sleep. As shown in FIG. 1, the game system 1 includes a user's terminal device 10, a sleep measurement unit 11 that measures the user's sleep state, and a server 20 that executes game processing. The terminal device 10 and the server 20 are connected to each other via a communication network 80 so as to be able to communicate with each other bidirectionally. In the game system 1, the server 20 accepts the user's sleep information and progresses the game. The game system 1 may be a server-client type game system. The sleep measurement unit 11 may be a device separate and independent from the terminal device 10, or may be built into the terminal device 10.

[0011] 1 shows an example in which two terminal devices 10 are connected to the server 20 via a communication network 80, one terminal device 10 and / or multiple terminal devices 10 used by different users may each be connected to the server 20 via the communication network 80. In the following explanation, for the sake of simplicity, an example in which one terminal device 10 is connected to the server 20 via the communication network 80 will be explained.

[0012] First, the game system 1 progresses the game based on a first parameter that increases based on the presence or absence of a user's operation during a time period when the user is awake and active, a sleep parameter that is determined based on sleep information related to the user's sleep, and a second parameter that is obtained by multiplying the first parameter by the sleep parameter. The game system 1 determines a game event to be generated based on the second parameter and generates game event information for the game event to be generated. The time period when the user is awake and active may be referred to as an "active period" hereinafter. The active period may be a time period that differs depending on the user, and may be a time period excluding the time when the user is sleeping.

[0013] Here, the game system 1 has a function that can encourage the user to take an appropriate sleep without increasing the game nature of the game system 1 too much during the user's activity period. For example, the game system 1 advances the game process according to the predetermined operation every time the game system 1 receives a predetermined operation from the user during the user's activity period, and increases the first parameter by adding a predetermined value to the first parameter. Alternatively, when the user does not perform a predetermined operation during the user's activity period, the game system 1 adds a value determined based on the length of the activity period (however, the value may be a value different from the predetermined value when the user receives a predetermined operation during the activity period, for example, a small value) to the first parameter to increase the first parameter (the user can steadily increase the first parameter by performing a predetermined operation, and can ensure the minimum first parameter required for the progress of the game even without performing an operation). The game system 1 then calculates a second parameter by multiplying the sleep parameter determined based on the user's sleep time by the first parameter at the start of the user's sleep. The game system 1 executes the determination of a game event and the generation of game event information based on this second parameter. The game system 1 generates different events depending on the second parameter. For example, the larger the second parameter is, the more likely it is that a game event that is advantageous to the user (or preferable to the user) will occur.

[0014] That is, the game system 1 increases the first parameter by a predetermined value by adding a predetermined value to the first parameter for the user's operation during the user's activity period (in many cases, during the daytime when the user is awake), and records the first parameter at the timing when the user starts to sleep. The game system 1 then multiplies the stored first parameter by a sleep parameter determined by the length of the user's sleep time to calculate a second parameter. Therefore, in the game system 1, the value of the second parameter can be easily increased by lengthening the sleep time.

[0015] As a result, in the game system 1, the user does not need to immerse himself in the game during the active period, and can increase the first parameter at his leisure. In addition, in the game system 1, the second parameter, which is important for the progress of the game, can be easily increased by the user getting a good night's sleep during the time period other than the active period, which provides the user with an incentive to get a good night's sleep and increases the interest of the sleep game.

[0016] <Outline of the flow of Game System 1> Fig. 2 shows an overview of the flow of the game system according to this embodiment. Specifically, Fig. 2 shows an example of the flow of display of the terminal device 10 included in the game system 1 according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 shows the passage of time from (a) to (d).

[0017] As an example, in the game system 1, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a plurality of fields 500 exist in a virtual space within the game, and as shown in FIG. 2(b), a field character 600 inhabits each field 500. The game system 1 trains the field character 600 based on a predetermined operation during the user's active period and the user's own sleep information (e.g., sleeping hours). Then, the game system 1 generates a game event based on a predetermined parameter of the field character 600 that has grown through training. The game event is, for example, an event in which a sleeping character appears around the field character 600.

[0018] Here, the game system 1 executes the training of the field character 600 for each unit game period, generating a predetermined game event, and when the unit game period ends, accepts the selection of a new field 500 by the user and starts training a new field character 600 that inhabits the selected field 500. That is, the game system 1 trains the field character 600 in a certain unit game period based on a predetermined operation or sleep of the user, generates a predetermined game event, and ends the training of the field character 600 that inhabited the previous field 500 at the timing of moving to the next field 500. Then, the game system 1 progresses the game by repeating a cycle of determining a new field 500 and field character 600 based on the user's selection and starting training of the new field character 600.

[0019] As an example, a case will be described in which the predetermined unit game period is one week (seven days) and the user starts the game on the morning of the first day of the week (the first day, for example, Monday).

[0020] First, as shown in Fig. 2(a), the game system 1 displays a plurality of fields 500 on the display unit 300 of the terminal device 10 on the first morning of the week, and accepts the user's selection of the field 500. Field characters 600 having the same or different conditions for raising inhabit each of the plurality of fields 500. The game system 1 determines the field character 600 of the field 500 selected by the user as the field character 600 to be raised in that week.

[0021] During the user's active period (for example, the period during which the user is awake, typically during the day), the game system 1 gives the field character 600 a predetermined item (for example, a virtual berry in the game) or a dish (a virtual dish in the game) in response to the user's operation, thereby increasing the first parameter associated with the field character 600. In the game system 1, when the first parameter increases, the field character 600 grows. For example, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the game system 1 adds a predetermined value associated with the predetermined item to the first parameter, and displays the value of the first parameter in the first parameter display area 630 of the display unit 300 (in FIG. 2(b), "total energy" is displayed). Note that when the game is started for the first time, an initial value other than zero is set to the first parameter.

[0022] Here, the game system 1 displays on the display unit 300 characters 700 and 702 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "helping characters") that help the field character 600 grow around the field character 600. These helping characters are characters selected by the user from among the characters possessed by the user. These "helping characters" collect and possess in the game predetermined items (virtual berries in the game, hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "berries" or "direct growth items") that can be given directly to the field character 600 and / or materials (virtual cooking materials in the game, which can be given to the field character 600 by cooking the materials. hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "cooking materials" or "indirect growth items") that can be given indirectly to the field character 600.

[0023] Then, when the game system 1 receives a tap operation on the "helping character" by the user during the activity period, it gives a "berry" possessed by the "helping character" to the field character 600 and adds a predetermined value associated with the "berry" to the first parameter. For example, when a predetermined value is associated with one "berry" of a certain kind, the game system 1 adds the predetermined value to the first parameter immediately before the user taps the "helping character". When the "helping character" possesses multiple "berries" and gives those "berries" to the field character 600, the game system 1 adds the predetermined values ​​associated with each "berry" and adds the sum to the first parameter.

[0024] Furthermore, when the game system 1 receives a tap operation on the "helping character" by the user, the game system 1 stores the "cooking ingredients" possessed by the "helping character" in association with the user. Then, the game system 1 receives an instruction from the user during the activity period and consumes the "cooking ingredients" to prepare a dish for the field character 600. A predetermined value for cooking is associated with the prepared dish, and the game system 1 adds the predetermined value to the first parameter by providing the dish to the field character 600 in response to the instruction from the user. In this way, the first parameter of the field character 600 increases during the activity period of one day within the unit game period, and the field character 600 grows.

[0025] Next, when night comes (here, the first night of the week, that is, Monday night), the user goes to bed. In this case, the game system 1 accepts the user's operation input to the sleep button 400 displayed on the display unit 300 as shown in FIG. 2(b) and starts acquiring sleep information, which is information related to the user's sleep. After accepting the user's operation input to the sleep button 400, the game system 1 starts measuring the user's sleep time from a predetermined timing, such as the timing when the user's movement stops or the timing when the user's deep sleep is detected based on the measurement result of the sleep measurement unit 11. In addition, the game system 1 stores the first parameter at the time when the user's operation input to the sleep button 400 is accepted as a sleep start parameter. Then, the game system 1 displays a "sleep measurement in progress" screen on the display unit 300 together with a time display 404 as shown in FIG. 2(c).

[0026] After receiving an operation input from the user to the sleep button 400, the game system 1 can receive an alarm setting and / or a sleep-inducing sound setting. For example, as shown in Fig. 2(c), the game system 1 displays an alarm setting area 410 on the display unit 300 and receives an alarm setting by the user. The game system 1 also displays a sleep-inducing sound setting area 412 on the display unit 300 and receives, in response to a user instruction, settings for sounds and music to be output from the terminal device 10 before the user starts to sleep.

[0027] Next, when the game system 1 detects the user waking up via the terminal device 10, it stops acquiring the user's sleep information. For example, as shown in FIG. 2(c), the game system 1 accepts the user's operation on the measurement end button 402 displayed on the display unit 300 and stops acquiring the sleep information. The game system 1 then calculates a sleep score as a sleep parameter based on the acquired sleep information. The sleep score is set to a maximum score (e.g., "100"; that is, the maximum value of the sleep score is "100") when the user sleeps for a length equal to or longer than a predetermined sleep time (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "reference sleep time"), and is set to a score obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount from the maximum score as the sleep time becomes shorter than the reference sleep time.

[0028] The game system 1 calculates the second parameter by multiplying the calculated sleep score by the sleep start parameter. For example, as shown in Fig. 2(d), the game system 1 displays the value of the second parameter 800 on the display unit 300 together with a breakdown 802 of the second parameter. In the example of Fig. 2(d), the value of the second parameter 800 is "160,000" (the second parameter is represented as "sleepiness power" in Fig. 2(d)), and the breakdown 802 shows that the value of the sleep start parameter (represented as "energy" in the example of Fig. 2(d)) is "2,000" and the value of the sleep score is "80".

[0029] Next, the game system 1 executes the determination of a game event to be generated and the generation of game event information based on the calculated second parameter. For example, the game system 1 makes a character appear around the field character 600 as a result of a predetermined lottery executed based on the second parameter. This lottery is a lottery in which the larger the value of the second parameter, the more advantageous the result for the user is (for example, the larger the value of the second parameter, the more likely a character with a high sleeping face rarity is to appear). In addition to the lottery, the game system 1 may exchange the second parameter for a predetermined item or a predetermined character in response to a user's instruction in exchange for consuming the second parameter. That is, the game system 1 may give the second parameter a function similar to that of virtual currency in the game, and make the second parameter usable in place of virtual currency. Note that the character appears in a sleeping state when it appears. Then, the game system 1 executes game events such as obtaining an image of the character that appears (a sleeping face image or a sleeping figure image), giving a predetermined item to the character that appears, and giving the character that appears to the user when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and giving a reward to the user. The game system 1 outputs the user's sleep information and / or the results of these game events to the terminal device 10.

[0030] Then, the game system 1 continues the game on the second day of the week (Tuesday in the above example). In this case, the game system 1 continues the game by inheriting the first parameter increased on the first day as the first parameter on the second day. In this way, in the game system 1, the game on the nth day of the unit game period progresses, and the game on the n+1th day continues (where n is an integer equal to or greater than 1). Even on the n+1th day, during the user's activity period, a predetermined item or dish is given to the field character 600 in response to the user's operation, and the field character 600 grows as the first parameter increases. Then, when the user sleeps, the first parameter on the n+1th day immediately before the user sleeps becomes a new sleep start parameter, and the sleep start parameter is multiplied by a sleep score determined based on the user's sleep information on the n+1th day to calculate a second parameter on the morning of the n+2th day, and a game event is determined and executed based on the calculated second parameter. Therefore, the first parameter on the nth day of the unit game period (sleep start parameter at the timing when the user starts sleeping) is greater than the first parameter on the n+1th day. That is, the first parameter increases as the days pass in the unit game period, that is, the field character 600 grows. Since the second parameter is calculated by multiplying the first parameter (sleep start parameter at the timing when the user starts sleeping) by the sleep score, the second parameter also becomes larger in the latter half of the unit game period. As a result, the lottery at the time of waking up of the user is more likely to be advantageous to the user in the latter half of the unit game period.

[0031] Next, the game system 1 displays a summary of the game execution results in one unit game period on the display unit 300 at the timing from the last day of one unit game period to the first day of the next unit game period, and accepts the selection of a new field 500 by the user. In this case, the game system 1 resets the first parameter in one unit game period (that is, resets the parameters related to the field character 600 living in the field 500 selected by the user in one unit game period). Then, the game system 1 starts raising a new field character 600 living in the field 500 newly selected by the user. That is, when the user selects a new field 500 and starts raising a new field character 600, the game system 1 sets the first parameter accumulated in the one unit game period to "0". Then, the first parameter of this new field character 600 starts from "0". Next, in the next unit game period, the game system 1 executes game processing such as increasing the first parameter again, calculating the second parameter, and causing a predetermined game event to occur, in the same manner as described above, in response to an operational input by the user. Note that when moving from one unit game period to the next unit game period, the game system 1 progresses the game by inheriting information about the user (such as the user's rank), items owned by the user, a character (assistant character) acquired by the user and information about the character (such as status information), and other information.

[0032] In this way, in the game system 1, the game progresses roughly along the following flow. 1) On the first day of a unit game period (for example, on Monday morning at the beginning of the week), the field 500 and the field character 600 are determined by the user's selection. 2) During an active period (for example, during the day), a predetermined value is added to the first parameter of the field character 600 based on a predetermined operation / processing, thereby increasing the first parameter (that is, growing the field character 600). 3) A first parameter at a timing when the user goes to sleep (for example, at night) is recorded as a sleep start parameter, and the user goes to sleep. 4) After the user wakes up, a sleep score is calculated based on the user's sleep. 5) The calculated sleep score is multiplied by the sleep onset parameter to calculate a second parameter. 6) Based on the calculated second parameter, a game event to be generated is determined, and a game event, for example, an event in which a character selected by lottery appears around the field character 600, is generated. Here, the larger the second parameter, the higher the possibility that a character with a low lottery probability (a character with a sleeping face that is highly rare) will be selected (i.e., the more likely it will appear). 7) Repeat steps 2) to 6) above from the day following the first day of the unit game period until the last day. Note that the first parameter inherits the value of the previous day even across days within the unit game period, and on the next day, a predetermined value is added to the inherited value of the first parameter based on the user's operation or the like. As a result, the second parameter also increases in accordance with the first parameter becoming larger toward the latter half of the unit game period (i.e., the growth of the field character 600 progresses), and therefore the possibility of a rare sleeping character appearing toward the latter half of the unit game period increases. 8) On the last day of a unit game period (for example, when the day changes from Sunday to Monday), the first parameter that increased during that unit game period is reset, and the field 500 and the field character 600 for the next unit game period are determined by the user's selection. After that, the above 2) to 8) are repeatedly executed, and the user collects characters (characters and predetermined images of characters, etc.) that appear around the field character 600.

[0033] As a result, in the game system 1, the second parameter obtained by multiplying the first parameter by the sleep score based on the user's sleep time can be used to determine the game events to be generated, so the user can progress through the game by simply getting a good night's sleep without spending time on game operations during the activity period. In addition, in the game system 1, the game can be repeated for each unit game period, so even if the user is unable to start the game during a certain unit game period and has few opportunities to obtain sleep information, the game can be resumed in the next unit game period without any significant disadvantage. Furthermore, in the game system 1, even if the user is unable to get much sleep during a certain unit game period because he or she is busy with studies, work, etc. in the real world, the game can be resumed in the next unit game period or in a unit game period when the user is less busy without any significant disadvantage.

[0034] The terminal device 10 may be connected to one or more sleep measurement units 11 by wire or wirelessly. In FIG. 1, one sleep measurement unit 11 is connected to or built into each terminal device 10, but multiple sleep measurement units 11 may be connected to or built into the terminal device 10. In the following description, an example in which the sleep measurement unit 11 is built into the terminal device 10 will be mainly described.

[0035] The terminal device 10 is a device that can be operated by a user. The terminal device 10 may be, for example, a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, smartphone, or tablet compatible with a mobile communication system. In addition, the terminal device 10 may be, for example, a stationary personal computer (PC), a laptop PC, a notebook PC, a portable game machine, and / or a home game machine or a dedicated game machine. In this embodiment, the terminal device 10 is preferably a smartphone from the viewpoint of ease of operation by the user and of being able to immediately accept operations by the user when starting sleep and when waking up. Furthermore, the communication network 80 is a communication network such as a mobile phone network and / or the Internet. The communication network 80 may also include communication networks such as a wired LAN and a wireless LAN. The game system 1 according to this embodiment will be described in detail below, but the names and numerical values ​​in the above and following descriptions are merely examples, and it is noted that the present invention is not limited to these proper names and numerical values, and that these proper names and numerical values ​​do not necessarily relate to real proper names and numerical values.

[0036] <Details of Game System 1> FIG. 3 shows an example of an outline of the functional configuration of the game system according to this embodiment.

[0037] [Game System 1 Configuration Overview] The game system 1 is a system that executes a game using sleep information related to a user's sleep. For example, the game system 1 is executed in a terminal device 10, and the game progresses based on the user's sleep. The game system 1 includes an output unit 100 that outputs various information, an input unit 102 that accepts input from a user, a sleep measurement unit 11 that measures the user's sleep state, an input acquisition unit 200 that acquires information related to the input accepted from the user, an output control unit 202 that controls the output of information to the output unit 100, a sleep information acquisition unit 204 that acquires the user's sleep information, a parameter control unit 206 that controls the calculation and increase / decrease of various parameters, a sleep parameter calculation unit 208 that calculates sleep parameters based on the user's sleep information, a game control unit 210 that controls various processes in the game progress, an event determination unit 212 that determines game events (including generation / determination of game event information), and a storage unit 216 as a storage unit that stores various information. The storage unit 216 has a user information storage section 218 that stores information about the user, a game information storage section 220 that stores information about the game, a character information storage section 222 that stores information about the characters, a field character information storage section 224 that stores information about the field characters 600, and a dish information storage section 226 that stores information about virtual dishes in the game.

[0038] In the game system 1, for example, a game is executed on a terminal device 10 used by a user. In this case, the terminal device 10 is configured to have at least an output unit 100 and an input unit 102. Note that the game control unit 210 may also have some or all of the functions of other components included in the game system 1.

[0039] The game system 1 may have the above-mentioned multiple components in the same device or location, and some of the above-mentioned multiple components may be installed in physically separate locations. In this case, each component may be connected by a communication network such as the Internet. For example, the game system 1 may have an external server perform some of the functions of the components. The game system 1 may also be configured as one or more servers. In this case, the game system 1 is configured by combining a terminal device, components of one server, and components of another server. In this embodiment, each device (terminal device, server, etc.) can also be understood as an information processing device. That is, a collection of each device (a collection of predetermined components) can be understood as one "information processing device," and the game system 1 may be formed as a collection of multiple information processing devices. The method of allocating multiple functions required to realize the game system 1 according to this embodiment to one or multiple hardware devices can be appropriately determined in consideration of the processing capacity of each hardware device and / or the specifications required for the game system 1. In addition, the various information stored in the storage unit 216 may be updated based on user instructions or information received via the input unit 102, or may be updated at any time by obtaining specified information from a specified server located outside the game system 1.

[0040] [Gaming System 1 Configuration Details] In the following description, a case will be described in which a user mainly uses a terminal device 10 (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet terminal, etc.) to execute a game provided by the game system 1. The server 20 manages user information in the game system 1 and executes game processing.

[0041] (Game control unit 210) The game control unit 210 communicates between the terminal device 10 and the server 20, and controls and advances the user's game play based on the user's sleep information received from the terminal device 10. The game control unit 210 can also control the operation of each component included in the game system 1. For example, the game control unit 210 controls a process of lottery selection of game objects such as the field character 600, a predetermined character, and / or an item based on the user's sleep information acquired as the game play progresses (for example, a process of determining the status of the field character 600, a process of the appearance of a predetermined character, a process of determining the type and quantity of items to be appeared, etc.), as well as a process of granting the predetermined character, item, etc. to the user. The determined character, item, etc. may be made to appear in the game play, not as the user's property. This allows the user to have an experience of discovering a new game character based on the sleep information. For example, the game control unit 210 receives information on the sleep time and the sleep quality as the user's sleep information from the user's terminal device 10, and grants items, etc. to the user by lottery selection based on the user's sleep information.

[0042] Furthermore, the game control unit 210 executes a predetermined game progress process and / or a lottery process for characters, items, etc., based on the first parameters calculated by the parameter control unit 206 described later, the sleep parameters calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208, and events determined by the event determination unit 212 described later. Here, the game control unit 210 may change the lottery table used in the lottery and the number of lotteries according to the user's user information, sleep information, sleep parameters, and / or information on the field character 600. As a result, if these pieces of information are different, the lottery algorithm will also be different, and the game progress at the time of waking up will change, so that it is possible to provide the user with a variety of fun when waking up.

[0043] Furthermore, the game control unit 210 executes various game processes in response to the user's operation input received via the input unit 102 and / or the user's sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204. For example, the game control unit 210 executes game processes such as a process of storing information about the user himself in the storage unit 216, a process of storing information about the character in the storage unit 216, a process of giving a predetermined item to the character, a process of a character's action in the in-game virtual space when the user designates a character, a process of the user acquiring an item with or without payment or acquiring virtual currency, a process of consuming an item owned by the user, and an instruction to the output control unit 202 to output predetermined information to the output unit 100.

[0044] (Output unit 100, output control unit 202) The output unit 100 is controlled by the output control unit 202 and outputs various information related to the execution of the game (for example, text information, image information of still images and moving images, audio information, etc.). The output unit 100 outputs various processing results and information stored in the storage unit 216 in a manner that allows the user to perceive them. Specifically, the output control unit 202 causes the output unit 100 to output various processing results in each component and information stored in the storage unit 216 as data in a predetermined format, still images, moving images, audio, text, and / or vibration, etc. The output unit 100 may output information received from an external server. The output unit 100 may be configured to include a display unit that displays various information, an audio output unit such as a speaker that outputs audio, and / or a vibration unit that generates vibrations in response to predetermined information, etc. The display unit may be, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.

[0045] Furthermore, the output control unit 202 controls the output of predetermined information to the output unit 100 in response to instructions from each component of the game system 1. For example, the output control unit 202 causes the output unit 100 to output various types of information on the game, such as sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204, predetermined information received by a user's operational input, information on game effects and the like determined by the game control unit 210, and / or game events determined by the event determination unit 212.

[0046] (Input unit 102, input surface 104, input control unit 106) The input unit 102 accepts input of a predetermined instruction or operation from a user. The input may be a voice input. The input unit 102 supplies the instruction to a predetermined component of the game system 1. Each component that accepts the instruction performs a predetermined function. The input unit 102 is an input device (for example, a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a motion sensor, a microphone, etc.) for accepting an operation input from a user. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the input unit 102 is a touch panel provided in the terminal device 10. Note that the touch panel may be capable of detecting multi-touch. Specifically, the touch panel as the input unit 102 has an input surface 104 to which an operation or the like from a user is input, and an input control unit 106 that acquires information regarding the operation input to the input surface 104. The touch panel is arranged on top of the display unit 300, which is the output unit 100, and the surface of the touch panel corresponds to the input surface 104.

[0047] For example, an area for receiving a predetermined instruction is displayed on the display unit 300, and the input surface 104 detects the predetermined instruction at a position designated by a user's operation on the area of ​​the input surface 104 (for example, a touch operation, a tap operation, a swipe operation, etc.). The input surface 104 supplies the detected information, i.e., information indicating the predetermined instruction at the detected position, to the input control unit 106. As an example, the display unit 300 displays an area for receiving an instruction for the user to start sleeping, an area for receiving an instruction for the user to wake up, etc. The input control unit 106 obtains the information indicating the predetermined instruction from the input surface 104, and supplies the information to a predetermined component of the game system 1.

[0048] (Sleep measurement section 11) The sleep measurement unit 11 acquires information related to the sleep of the user of the terminal device 10. The sleep measurement unit 11 supplies the acquired information to the sleep information acquisition unit 204. When the terminal device 10 and the sleep measurement unit 11 are separate and independent devices, the terminal device 10 communicates with the sleep measurement unit 11 by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi, and receives the sensing result of the sleep measurement unit 11. The sleep measurement unit 11 may also be compatible with a communication standard of a mobile communication system such as 5G, and transmit the sensing result to the server 20 without using short-range wireless communication. In this case, the terminal device 10 may receive and store the sleep information acquired by the server 20 that has received the sensing result from the sleep measurement unit 11 from the server 20.

[0049] The sleep measurement unit 11 is realized by, for example, a sensor such as a motion sensor built into the terminal device 10. That is, the terminal device 10 and the sleep measurement unit 11 may be in the same device. In this case, the terminal device 10 also functions as the sleep measurement unit 11. The sleep measurement unit 11 may be, for example, a wearable device such as a wristwatch type, a ring type, or an eye mask type that is worn on the user's body, and may be configured to have a motion sensor such as a gyro sensor as a device independent of the terminal device 10. The sleep measurement unit 11 may also be a device placed on a mattress or pillow on which the user sleeps.

[0050] Here, the motion sensor may include an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, etc., and senses the movement of the terminal device 10 and outputs the sensing result. For example, by placing the terminal device 10 on the mattress of a bed on which the user sleeps, the motion sensor can detect the movement of the sleeping user when the sleeping user moves on the mattress. By using the sensing result of the motion sensor, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 described later can determine whether the user is asleep or awake, and whether the sleeping user is in light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, or non-REM sleep, and acquire the sleep information.

[0051] The user may use two or more sleep measurement units 11 at the same time. For example, the user may wear two wristwatch-type sleep measurement units 11, or the user may wear a wristwatch-type sleep measurement unit 11 and use a smartphone as the sleep measurement unit 11. This allows the user's body movements during sleep to be directly detected by a gyro sensor or the like. In addition, by accumulating sensing results sensed by various sensors while the user is sleeping, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 can determine whether the user is sleeping, in a light sleep state, in a deep sleep state, in REM sleep, non-REM sleep, or the like, and acquire the results as sleep information. In this way, the quality of the user's sleep can be evaluated by, for example, determining the waveforms of REM sleep and non-REM sleep. For example, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 may have information about the cycle of REM sleep and non-REM sleep in good quality sleep set in advance, or may store information about general REM sleep and non-REM sleep in advance, and may compare the waveforms of REM sleep and non-REM sleep during the user's sleep with these pieces of information to evaluate the quality of the user's sleep and acquire the results as sleep information.

[0052] Furthermore, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 detects that the user has gone to bed (e.g., has lay down on the bed) and has fallen asleep after going to bed (e.g., the user has stopped moving or the user has entered deep sleep, etc.) based on the output of a motion sensor of the sleep measurement unit 11, etc. Furthermore, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 can also determine whether the user has performed an input operation on the terminal device 10 or whether the user has perceived information output to the output unit 100 of the terminal device 10 after going to bed and before falling asleep. That is, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 can determine whether a user who is about to go to sleep has operated the terminal device 10 before going to sleep.

[0053] Furthermore, the sleep measuring units 11 that are expected to be used in advance by the game system 1 may be managed in a whitelist format. When the sleep information acquiring unit 204 described below acquires sleep information from a sleep measuring unit 11 that is not managed by the game system 1, the sleep information acquiring unit 204 may not accept the sleep information as being from a sleep measuring unit 11 that the server 20 cannot identify, and may execute subsequent processing using parameters for the unidentifiable sleep measuring unit 11, etc.

[0054] In addition, the difference in the type of the sleep measurement unit 11 does not necessarily have to be a difference in the device. That is, even if the sleep measurement unit 11 has the same device configuration, it may be managed as a different sleep measurement unit 11 in the game system 1 depending on the type of software or application used before supplying the sleep information to the server 20. For example, even if the sleep information is detected using the same sleep measurement unit 11, it can be managed as a different "sleep measurement unit ID" when a sleep measurement application A is used to process the sleep information and when a sleep measurement application B different from the sleep measurement application A is used to process the sleep information. In this way, by managing as a different "sleep measurement unit ID" depending on the combination of the type of device as the device configuration and the application used, more flexible generation of sleep information is possible, and as a result, the interest of the game according to the sleep state can be fully demonstrated.

[0055] (Input Acquisition Unit 200) The input acquisition unit 200 acquires a user's operation input. That is, the input acquisition unit 200 acquires information indicating the user's operation input inputted to the input unit 102 (e.g., the input surface 104) via the input control unit 106. The input acquisition unit 200 supplies the information indicating the acquired operation input to other predetermined components such as the game control unit 210.

[0056] (Sleep information acquisition unit 204) The sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires the user's sleep information and / or error information (information indicating the occurrence of an unexpected malfunction or a malfunction of the sleep measurement unit 11) acquired by a sensor constituting the sleep measurement unit 11. Specifically, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires information on the user's sleep acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11, that is, sleep information, from the sleep measurement unit 11. The sleep information is, for example, the user's awake / sleep state, information on the user's movement, date information, bedtime, time of going to bed, time of falling asleep, time of waking up, sleep duration, depth of the user's sleep (for example, it can be classified into a plurality of stages such as a "drowsy" stage, a "sleeping" stage, and a "deep-sleeping" stage), quality of sleep, the user's sleep type (for example, a dozing type, a sleeping type, a deep-sleeping type, etc.) determined based on the quality of sleep and the duration of a predetermined sleep quality during sleep, and / or information such as environmental sounds during sleep. For example, the sleep information acquiring unit 204 acquires sleep information from the start of the user's sleep (or from going to bed or starting to sleep) to waking up constantly or at predetermined time intervals.

[0057] Further, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges whether the user has started to sleep and whether the user has woken up based on the sleep information. That is, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges the time when the user started to sleep and the time when the user started to wake up based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11. The sleep information acquisition unit 204 supplies the acquired sleep information to the parameter control unit 206, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208, and the game control unit 210.

[0058] Also, when the input acquisition unit 200 acquires an operation input of starting sleep from the user via the input unit 102, the sleep measurement unit 11 can start acquiring information related to the user's sleep. In this case, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has started sleeping in response to this operation input or based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11 (for example, information such as the sensing result of the motion sensor). For example, the sleep measurement unit 11 starts acquiring sleep information when the input acquisition unit 200 acquires an instruction from the user to start sleeping. Note that the sleep information acquisition unit 204 may start measuring the user's sleep time from the timing when the measurement result by the sleep measurement unit 11 indicates that the user's movement has become only breathing or indicates that the user has entered deep sleep. Then, when the input acquisition unit 200 acquires an operation input of waking up from the user via the input unit 102, the sleep measurement unit 11 stops acquiring the sleep information of the user. In this case, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has woken up in response to this operation input or based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11. The sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires the sleep information from the user's sleep start to wake-up measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 in response to the user's sleep start determination and wake-up determination.

[0059] The sleep measurement unit 11 may continuously acquire information related to the user's sleep. In this case, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has started to sleep when the input acquisition unit 200 acquires an operation input from the user to start sleeping via the input unit 102, or based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11. Then, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has woken up when the input acquisition unit 200 acquires an operation input from the user to wake up via the input unit 102, or based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11. In this way, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires the user's sleep information measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 from the time when the user's sleep start is determined to the time when the user wakes up from the constantly acquired sleep information.

[0060] (Parameter control unit 206) The parameter control unit 206 controls the calculation of various parameters and the increase and decrease of parameters. In the game system 1, at least the following parameters are used in the progress of the game. a) First parameter: A parameter associated with the field character 600, and used as a parameter indicating the degree of growth or evaluation of the field character 600. b) Sleep parameters: parameters determined based on the user's sleep information, and are determined according to the user's sleep time, which is one piece of sleep information. The sleep parameters may also be referred to as "sleep scores." c) Second parameter: A parameter obtained by multiplying the first parameter at a given timing by a sleep parameter.

[0061] Here, the parameter control unit 206 mainly controls the calculation and / or increase / decrease of the first parameter and the second parameter.

[0062] Specifically, the parameter control unit 206 increases the first parameter during the activity period excluding the period during which the user is sleeping. The parameter control unit 206 may increase the first parameter during the activity period regardless of whether the user is sleeping. More specifically, the parameter control unit 206 increases the first parameter by adding a total value obtained by adding one or more predetermined values ​​to the first parameter during the activity period excluding the period during which the user is sleeping, or by sequentially adding one or more predetermined values ​​to the first parameter. Note that the parameter control unit 206 supplies the first parameter to the game control unit 210 in real time, and the game control unit 210 stores the first parameter in the field character information storage unit 224 in real time (that is, by storing the calculated first parameter in the field character information storage unit 224 outside the terminal device 10, fraud is prevented).

[0063] For example, the parameter control unit 206 calculates a sum by adding one or more predetermined values ​​for each predetermined input operation of the user received via the input unit 102. Then, the parameter control unit 206 sets the total value obtained by adding the calculated sum to the first parameter at the time of this input operation as a new first parameter. In other words, when the user is awake, the parameter control unit 206 adds a predetermined value corresponding to the predetermined input operation from the user to the first parameter at the time of the predetermined input operation by the user to set the new first parameter. As an example, the game control unit 210 makes a predetermined character (referred to as a "helping character") appear in the field 500 and associates a predetermined item with the character. A predetermined value (predetermined value) is associated with the predetermined item. Then, when the parameter control unit 206 receives a predetermined operation on the character by the user via the input unit 102, it adds a predetermined value of the item associated with the character to the first parameter, and sets the first parameter after adding the predetermined value as a new first parameter.

[0064] The parameter control unit 206 can also determine the predetermined value based on sleep information for a period during which the user is asleep, even when the game is left alone or not running, and / or without the user's input operation. The parameter control unit 206 then adds the determined predetermined value to the first parameter to obtain a new first parameter. As an example, the parameter control unit 206 adds the predetermined value to the first parameter after the user goes to sleep and wakes up, after a predetermined game event generated by the game control unit 210 is completed, and before the user starts sleeping again.

[0065] Furthermore, when the game is left alone during the user's activity period, when the game is not started, and / or when the user does not perform a predetermined input operation, the parameter control unit 206 can determine the predetermined value based on the length of this activity period. Then, before the user starts to sleep next time, the parameter control unit 206 sets the value obtained by adding the determined predetermined value to the first parameter as a new first parameter. As an example, the parameter control unit 206 determines a predetermined value based on the time of the activity period before the user goes to sleep (for example, the time when the user taps the sleep button 400 shown in FIG. 2(b)) (for example, the time from when the user taps the measurement end button 402 shown in FIG. 2(c) to when the user taps the sleep button 400 next), and adds the determined predetermined value to the first parameter to calculate a new first parameter.

[0066] Then, the parameter control unit 206 stores the first parameter at the timing when the user starts to sleep (for example, the timing when the sleep button 400 shown in FIG. 2(b) is tapped) as a sleep start parameter at the start of sleep (hereinafter, may be referred to as "total energy" at the time of going to bed). Note that, when the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 indicates the start of sleep of the user, the parameter control unit 206 may set the timing when the sleep information was acquired as the timing when the user started to sleep. The parameter control unit 206 can store the sleep start parameter in, for example, the user information storage unit 218. Also, the parameter control unit 206 may have a storage unit for storing the sleep start parameter, and in this case, stores the sleep start parameter in the storage unit. The parameter control unit 206 supplies the calculated first parameter to the game control unit 210 and the event determination unit 212.

[0067] (Sleep parameter calculation unit 208) The sleep parameter calculation unit 208 calculates sleep parameters (sometimes called "sleep scores") based on the user's sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204. For example, the sleep parameters are calculated based on the user's sleep time. As an example, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 predetermines a reference sleep time, and sets the sleep parameter to a maximum value (e.g., "100") when the user sleeps for a length that matches the reference sleep time. Note that the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 may determine that the user's sleep time matches the reference sleep time not only when the user's sleep time matches the reference sleep time exactly, but also when the difference between the user's sleep time and the reference sleep time is within a predetermined time (e.g., about a few minutes such as 4 to 5 minutes).

[0068] On the other hand, when the user's sleep time is shorter than the reference sleep time, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 subtracts a predetermined amount calculated according to the difference between the reference sleep time and the user's sleep time from "100" as the sleep parameter. That is, the sleep parameter decreases as the user's sleep time becomes shorter than the reference sleep time. Even when the user's sleep time exceeds the reference sleep time, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 sets the maximum value of the sleep parameter to the same value as when the sleep time matches the reference sleep time. However, when the sleep time of the user's sleep exceeds the reference sleep time, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 may calculate a value that exceeds the maximum value of the sleep parameter by a predetermined amount as the sleep parameter, as long as the user's health can be maintained and the interest of the game is not impaired. The predetermined amount may be determined, for example, according to the difference between the sleep time and the reference sleep time.

[0069] Here, the reference sleep time can be determined according to the user's personal characteristics, such as age or generation, and / or gender. For example, the user's age can be divided into ages under 15, 15 to 24, 25 to 49, and 50 or older, and the sleep time considered appropriate for each age category can be set as the reference sleep time. The reference sleep time may also be increased or decreased according to the season. For example, the reference sleep time may be increased as the day length (the time from sunrise to sunset) becomes shorter, and decreased as the day length becomes longer.

[0070] The sleep parameter calculation unit 208 supplies the calculated sleep parameters to the game control unit 210 and the event determination unit 212 .

[0071] (Event determination unit 212) The event determination unit 212 calculates a second parameter by multiplying the sleep parameter calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 (i.e., the sleep score) by the sleep start parameter. That is, the event determination unit 212 calculates a second parameter by multiplying the first parameter at the time when the user starts sleeping by the sleep parameter determined based on the user's sleeping time at the time when the user wakes up. Then, the event determination unit 212 determines a game event to be generated in the game based on the calculated second parameter. The event determination unit 212 also generates game event information that is information on the game event to be generated.

[0072] The game events are various events that occur in the sleep game. For example, the game events are an event that makes a character appear around the field character 600 in the field 500, an event that assigns the character to the user as a helper character based on a predetermined operation on the character that has appeared, an event that changes the status of the helper character based on the user's sleeping time, an event that gives a predetermined reward to the user, an event that gives a predetermined point determined according to the user's sleeping time, etc.

[0073] The event determination unit 212 supplies the game event information to the game control unit 210. The game control unit 210 executes a predetermined game event based on the game event information, and causes the output unit 100 to output the content of the game event via the output control unit 202. In addition, the game control unit 210 stores the predetermined information based on the game event information and / or the predetermined information based on the execution of the game event in a predetermined storage unit of the storage unit 216.

[0074] FIG. 4 shows an example of the data configuration of each storage section of a storage unit included in the game system according to this embodiment.

[0075] (Storage Unit 216) The storage unit 216 stores various information related to the game system 1. Each storage section included in the storage unit 216 supplies predetermined information to other components of the game system 1 in response to a request from the other components.

[0076] (Storage unit 216: User information storage section 218) The user information storage unit 218 stores, in association with a user ID that identifies the user, user information, sleep information which is information regarding the user's sleep, sleeping face picture book information which is information regarding a sleeping face picture book that stores image information of characters appearing in the game (such as image information of the character's sleeping face) acquired by the game control unit 210 in response to the user's instructions, information regarding possessed items possessed by the user, information regarding possessed characters possessed by the user, sleep pass information which records predetermined points (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "sleep points") granted to the user as the game progresses, research note information which is predetermined information recorded based on the user's actions in the game, mission information which is information regarding predetermined missions set for the user in the game, and / or cooking information regarding virtual dishes in the game, etc.

[0077] User information may include, for example, a user name set by the user, a login ID, a password, the user's gender and date of birth, a rank determined by the user's sleep hours, etc., and / or information regarding the in-game virtual currency held by the user (information regarding the amount of virtual currency held, including, for example, information regarding the amount of virtual currency held that has been granted to the user free of charge and information regarding the amount of virtual currency held that has been granted to the user for a fee). User information may also include information regarding the time of an alarm set by the user, game history information, etc. Game history information is information regarding operational inputs performed by the user in a game.

[0078] The sleep information may include various types of sleep information of the user measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 (including the above-mentioned sleep information and / or the number of continuous measurement days for which the sleep information was obtained), sleep start parameters, etc. The sleep information may be associated with the date and time when the sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquired the sleep information. For example, the user information storage unit 218 can store the user's sleeping time as a sleep history in association with the date and time as the sleep information.

[0079] The sleeping face picture book information includes various sleeping face picture book information of characters that have appeared around the field character 600 and have been subjected to user operation input (predetermined instruction such as user selection instruction). Note that the character specified by the user does not become the character owned by the user by the instruction, but the character is given to the user when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The sleeping face picture book information is, for example, an image of the character (e.g., an image of the character when awake, a sleeping face image, and a sleeping posture image, etc.), unique information of the character (e.g., a name, a sleep type indicating the depth of sleep, a description of the character, etc.), etc., and is associated with a sleeping face picture book information identifier. Note that the sleeping face picture book information can be stored in a storage unit different from the user information storage unit 218. In this case, the user information storage unit 218 stores the sleeping face picture book information identifier of the character subjected to user operation input as sleeping face picture book information so that the game control unit 210 can obtain the sleeping face picture book information of the character requested by the user from this different storage unit at any time.

[0080] The possessed item information may include, for example, information on game items possessed by the user. The game items may be items that the game control unit 210 assigns to the user by drawing lots based on the user's sleep information, items that are assigned to the user during an activity period, items that are assigned to the user when the contents of a declaration made by the user are executed, and / or items that are assigned to the user when the user executes a predetermined game operation. These game items may be items that are assigned to the user as a reward, and / or items that are assigned to the user by the user consuming in-game virtual currency. The possessed item information may include information on the type and quantity of each game item. The possessed item information may also include information on a stamp card, which will be described later.

[0081] The possessed character information is information about a character acquired by the user in the game, and includes, for example, the character ID of the possessed character, the level of the possessed character, the skill of the possessed character, and the sleeping time during which the possessed character slept together with the user. The game control unit 210 enables the character acquired by the user to be used as a helper character in response to the user's instruction. Here, the helper character is a character that supports the user in raising the field character 600 in the field 500 in the game, and is a character that performs actions such as automatically collecting a predetermined item in the game without the user's operation. Here, the game control unit 210 organizes a predetermined number of characters among the characters owned by the user into a party, and has them assist the user in playing the game as helper characters (a party of helper characters). When the user sleeps, the game control unit 210 considers that the characters organized in the party have slept together with the user, and regards the user's sleeping time as the sleeping time of the characters organized in the party. That is, when the user records sleep, the user information storage unit 218 accumulates and stores information on the user's sleeping time for each of the owned characters as one of the owned character information. As a result, each character owned by the user is associated with the sleeping time taken up to now (the time considered to have slept together with the user, i.e., the accumulated sleeping time). Then, the game control unit 210 can output the accumulated sleeping time (accumulated sleeping time) of each owned character to the output unit 100 or the like in response to an instruction from the user. Since the user information storage unit 218 thus stores the accumulated sleeping time of each owned character and the user can refer to this, the game system 1 can provide the user with an experience as if the user and the character owned by the user (including a character the user likes) had slept together.

[0082] In response to a predetermined operation by the user, the game control unit 210 may output information about a possessed character, which information is stored in the character information storage unit 222 in association with the character ID of the possessed character and which the user is permitted to view, from the output unit 100 in a manner that is perceptible to the user. This allows the user to play the game while understanding the characteristics of the character he or she possesses (for example, a helping ability, which will be described later).

[0083] The sleep pass information includes information such as the type of sleep pass (e.g., whether it is a non-chargeable pass or a chargeable pass), sleep points granted to the user based on the user's sleep information, viewing conditions for the user's past sleep data (a part or all of the data extracted from the user's sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204), and a predetermined privilege in the case of a chargeable pass. Note that the sleep points may be points granted to the user according to a sleep parameter (sleep score) determined based on the user's sleep time, for example (as an example, one sleep point is granted to the user for each sleep score point). The sleep points can be used to exchange for a relatively valuable item (e.g., an item that can only be acquired in exchange for the consumption of sleep points during the game) in exchange for the consumption of a predetermined amount of sleep points according to the user's selection.

[0084] The research note information includes information on items discovered in the game by the user playing the game (for example, information on the name of the discovered item, a description of the item, etc.). The mission information includes information on a predetermined mission set for the user by the game control unit 210. The mission information is information that specifies a goal to be achieved by the user within one unit game period. For example, the mission information is information on a goal of collecting a predetermined number of sleeping face images of characters, a goal of acquiring a predetermined number of characters, or a goal of raising the level of the field character 600 to a predetermined level within one unit game period. When the user accomplishes the mission, the game control unit 210 grants the user a predetermined reward.

[0085] The cooking information includes information about cooking that the user has performed in the past. For example, the number of times the recipe for the cooking has been performed, the level of the recipe (recipe level) determined based on the number of times it has been performed, and / or a recipe level bonus (a bonus that increases a cooking parameter associated with the cooking by a predetermined amount) determined based on the recipe level are recorded as the cooking information of the user in association with a cooking ID that identifies the cooking. The recipe level is a value that increases as more cooking is performed using the same recipe. Then, as the recipe level increases, a predetermined value (recipe level bonus value) determined in accordance with the increase is added to the cooking parameter.

[0086] (Storage unit 216: Game information storage section 220) The game information storage unit 220 stores game information in association with a game information ID. The game information includes information on one or more fields 500 present in the in-game virtual space (e.g., information on the field name, information on the characters appearing in the field, information on the conditions recommended for visiting the field, etc.), information on items in the game, information on item lottery (e.g., information on a predetermined lottery table), information on in-game virtual currency, useful information on sleep, statistical information on sleep, and / or predetermined sound or music information. The game information storage unit 220 may store game information for users with little game experience, such as for tutorials or beginners. The game information storage unit 220 may also store a lottery table used for lottery of characters. The lottery table is stored in the game information storage unit 220 in association with, for example, the type of field 500, the user's sleep type, etc.

[0087] (Storage unit 216: character information storage section 222) The character information storage unit 222 stores character information in association with a character ID that identifies the character. The character information includes various images, videos, and sounds of the character, the rarity (rarity degree) of the sleeping face of the character, the type (attribute) of the character (for example, information indicating the attribute of the character such as electric type, fire type, grass type, etc.), the sleep type (for example, a dozing type, a sleeping type, a deep sleep type, etc.), the type and name, the gender (note that a character without a gender may also exist.), the personality, the experience value, the level, the energy parameter (the larger the "energy" parameter, the higher the execution efficiency of a predetermined process during the user's activity period. Hereinafter, it may be simply referred to as "energy."), the skill, the special point indicating the strength of the character (note that the special point increases as the character's level improves.), the evolution condition of the character, the intimacy with the user, and / or the information regarding the helping ability.

[0088] In addition, there may be multiple types of images (sleeping face images and sleeping pose images) for one character. Also, there may be an extremely special sleeping face image (special sleeping face image) corresponding to each of the multiple types of images for one character. For example, when there is one type of image for one character, there may be one type of special sleeping face image corresponding to the one type of image.

[0089] Furthermore, the image of the character may be, for example, a different image for each sleep type. Furthermore, the type (attribute) of the character may be associated with the sleep type of the character. For example, a sleep type of "sleeping type" may be associated with a character whose attribute is "fire" or "electricity". Similarly, a predetermined sleep type may be associated with other attributes. Furthermore, the intimacy with the user may be expressed by a numerical value, and the maximum value of the numerical value may be different or the same for each character. Furthermore, the maximum value of the intimacy may increase according to the character's level. Furthermore, the evolution of a character refers to the change of the character into an evolved character with different character information when a predetermined condition is met.

[0090] Here, when the intimacy of a character reaches a maximum value, the game control unit 210 may grant the character to the user. The intimacy between a character and a user increases when the character encounters the user and the user grants the character a predetermined item. The predetermined item has a function of increasing the intimacy by a predetermined amount (for example, a predetermined value is associated with the predetermined item, and when the user grants the item to the character, the associated value is added to the intimacy value). Therefore, when the user grants the predetermined item to the character, the game control unit 210 compares the intimacy value of the character after the value associated with the item is added (the value after the addition) with the maximum intimacy value previously associated with the character, and when the value after the addition reaches the maximum value, the game control unit 210 makes the character a character owned by the user. On the other hand, when the value after the addition of the character to which the predetermined item is granted does not reach the maximum value previously associated with the intimacy, the game control unit 210 stores the value after the addition. When a predetermined item is given to the character again, the game control unit 210 adds a value associated with the given predetermined item to the stored value after addition. Then, the game control unit 210 judges whether the value obtained by the addition reaches a maximum value previously associated with the intimacy. In this way, when a user gives a predetermined item that improves the intimacy to a character, even if the value after the addition does not reach the maximum value previously associated with the intimacy by giving the item once, the game control unit 210 can carry over the value after the addition to the next day or later. Then, when a predetermined item is given to the character again from the next time onwards, the game control unit 210 can repeat the process of improving the intimacy by adding a value associated with the newly given predetermined item to the carried-over value after addition. In this way, the user can repeatedly give the predetermined item to the character by repeatedly sleeping, and can obtain the character by raising the intimacy of the character to the maximum value.

[0091] Furthermore, when the game control unit 210 assigns a character to a user by lottery, the game control unit 210 also determines the character's personality by lottery. Based on the personality, the game control unit 210 can execute calculations of the probability of acquiring an item (for example, growth item 650, which is a direct growth item described later, or materials, which are indirect growth items), calculations of the amount of "energy" recovered, and / or calculations of the amount of experience points acquired. Furthermore, the helping ability is information about a predetermined item (such as growth item 650, which is described later, or cooking materials, etc.) that is likely to be won by a predetermined lottery (i.e., that the character is likely to collect in the game) when the character becomes a helping character.

[0092] (Storage unit 216: field character information storage section 224) The field character information storage unit 224 stores information about the field character in association with a field character ID that identifies the field character 600. The information about the field character includes various images, videos, and sounds of the field character 600, the level of the field character 600, information about the favorite items of the field character 600 (favorite food information), and information about in-game dishes requested by the field character 600 (request information). The field character information storage unit 224 may store field character information for tutorials or for beginners, for users with little gaming experience.

[0093] (Storage unit 216: recipe information storage section 226) The dish information storage unit 226 stores information about a dish in association with a dish ID that identifies the dish. The information about a dish includes information such as the name of the dish, the recipe of the dish, and dish parameters. The recipe of a dish is information about virtual ingredients in the game required to cook the dish, and includes information about the type and number of ingredients required for cooking. The dish parameters are values ​​associated with a dish, and are values ​​that are added to the first parameters of the field character when the dish is given to the field character.

[0094] [Processing flow of game system 1] Figures 5, 8, 13, 17 to 19, 22, and 23 show an example of the flow of processing in the game system according to this embodiment. Also, Figures 6, 7, 9 to 12, 14 to 16, 20, and 21 show an example of display content in the game system according to this embodiment. Note that the following describes a case where a user uses the terminal device 10.

[0095] In the game system 1, a tutorial is started when the game system 1 is first started. However, at the start of this tutorial, only the minimum necessary operation input is accepted from the user. Then, a detailed tutorial is executed after the user goes to bed and wakes up. After the execution of the tutorial is completed, some information in the game processing in the tutorial is carried over to the first unit game period, and the first unit game period is started. After this, after one unit game period is completed, the game system 1 carries over some information in the one unit game period to the next unit game period after the one unit game period (resets the remaining information), and repeats the flow of progressing the game in the next unit game period. Here, an overview of the processing flow of the game system 1 will be described in the following order. In the following description, an example in which the unit game period is 7 days will be described. In the following description, a step is represented as "S".

[0096] (A) Overview of the worldview of Game System 1 (B) Processing from the first launch to the start of the unit game period (b-1) Processing from initial startup to after sleep begins (S10 to S18) (b-2) Processing upon waking up (S20 to S52) (b-3) Unit game period start process (S54 to S56) (C) Processing after the start of the unit game period (c-1) Processing from the active period to the onset of sleep (c-1-1) Field character growth process using items / food (c-1-1-1) Field character growth processing by items (S60~S110) (c-1-1-2) Field character growth processing by cooking (S60~S110) (c-1-1-3) Game support processing (c-1-2) Field character automatic growth process (S90~S100) (c-2) Processing after sleep begins (S102 to S110) (c-3) Processing upon waking up (S200~S238) (D) Processing of the last day of the unit game period (S250~S260) (E) Other processing (e-1) Main Menu (e-2) Leveling up and evolving helper characters (S300~S312) (e-3) Changing sleep information by manual input (S400~S406) (e-4) Sleep path processing (e-5) Field bonus processing

[0097] <(A) Overview of the world of Game System 1> In the game system 1, a field character lives in a field in a virtual space within the game, and various other characters also live there. The user visits this field and sleeps in the real world with the helper character owned by the user, thereby collecting information on the other characters that appear around the field character. This is a game aimed at collecting information and images on various fields and various characters that live in each field and creating a picture book. Specifically, the user gives instructions to the character (helper character) owned by the user, and the helper character gives the field character a predetermined item (berries, food, etc.), thereby cultivating (growing) the field character. In response to this cultivation, a predetermined energy (first parameter) of the field character increases. Then, when the user sleeps, other characters visit the field character to sleep according to the magnitude of the energy (second parameter) calculated by multiplying the first parameter by a sleep score determined based on the sleep information of the sleep. The user acquires an image of the other character that has visited the sleep, and the user acquires various information on the other character, and the acquired various information is registered in the picture book. In addition, when the user gives a predetermined item to the other character, the intimacy between the user and the other character increases. When the intimacy reaches a predetermined threshold, the user acquires the other character and can use the acquired other character as a new helper character. In this way, in the game system 1, the user's sleep in the real world plays an important role in acquiring various characters.

[0098] <(B) Processing from the first launch to the start of the unit game period> [(b-1) Processing from initial startup to after sleep begins] First, after the initial startup, the game system 1 executes a tutorial and accepts only the minimum necessary game operations until the user goes to bed. This is because the game system 1 according to the present embodiment prevents the user from becoming absorbed in the game immediately before sleep and allows the user to sleep properly by making the user perform as few operations as possible immediately before sleep. Therefore, the game system 1 informs the user of details of the game when the user goes to bed after the initial startup of the game and wakes up. Therefore, from the initial startup to the start of sleep, the game system 1 executes limited steps such as an operation at the initial startup (S10), the provision of a help character (S12), setting a bedtime goal (S14), and starting to acquire sleep information by starting sleep (S16) to start measuring the user's sleep (S18), and after the user wakes up, the game progresses while the details of the game are communicated to the user (S20 and thereafter).

[0099] Note that, before the tutorial is completed, the game system 1 can prohibit or limit the execution of, for example, the following functions. a) Ability to purchase items and passes through in-app purchases b) The function to increase / raise the first parameter of a field character c) A feature to collect growth items using helper characters d) Cooking function for giving food to field characters e) Party organization feature for helper characters The process flow of the game system 1 will be described in detail below.

[0100] First, when the game is started for the first time in the game system 1, the tutorial part is started. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the game control unit 210 acquires an input operation for starting the game by the user from the input acquisition unit 200 via the input unit 102 for the first time, it determines that the game is started for the first time and starts the tutorial of the game (S10). In this case, the game control unit 210 predetermines the field 500 (field 500 as shown in FIG. 2(a)) that the user will visit. That is, the game control unit 210 predetermines the field 500 and the field character 600 so that any user will not get lost in the game operation at the time of the first start of the game. Note that the game control unit 210 may refer to the game information storage unit 220 and the field character information storage unit 224 and set the field 500 and the field character 600 for the tutorial or for beginners as the predetermining field 500 and the field character 600. Here, the level of the field character 600 may be an initial value (for example, level 1). Then, the game control unit 210 controls the output control unit 202 to output limited information regarding the outline of the game (i.e., a small amount of information that does not disturb the user's sleep behavior; typically, an amount of information that can be conveyed within 30 seconds to 3 minutes) to the output unit 100 in the form of text, image, and / or audio, etc.

[0101] Next, the game control unit 210 assigns a predetermined character to the user as a helper character (S12). The game control unit 210 assigns a predetermined type of character from among the characters stored in the character information storage unit 222 to the user (note that the number of characters assigned may be one). The game control unit 210 stores information about the character assigned to the user in the user information storage unit 218 as possessed character information. As a result, the helper character becomes a character owned by the user.

[0102] Then, the game control unit 210 controls the output control unit 202 to output a form for accepting a target setting of the time when the user goes to bed (hereinafter, may be referred to as a "sleeping promise") to the output unit 100. The game control unit 210 sets the time input by the user, which is acquired from the form by the input acquisition unit 200 via the input unit 102, as a bedtime target (hereinafter, may be referred to as a "target bedtime") (S14). The game control unit 210 compares the user's bedtime indicated by the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 with the target bedtime, and manages the user's goal achievement status. After the sleeping promise is set, the game control unit 210 controls the output control unit 202 to output a home screen (for example, a screen in the field 500 on which the field character 600 is displayed, as shown in FIG. 2(b)) to the output unit 100. On this home screen, for example, as shown in FIG. 2(b), a sleep button 400 for accepting the user's sleep start is displayed.

[0103] Next, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges whether or not the user will start sleeping based on the instruction to start sleeping received via the input unit 102 (for example, it can be judged that the instruction has been received when the user's operation input to the sleep button 400 is detected) (S16). If the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user will not start sleeping (No in S16), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 waits to acquire sleep information until the user starts sleeping. On the other hand, if the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user will start sleeping (Yes in S16), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 causes the output unit 100 to output a button (for example, a "Start sleep measurement" button) that accepts an instruction to start sleep measurement from the user. Then, if the sleep information acquisition unit 204 accepts an instruction from the user to the button via the input unit 102, it starts acquiring the sleep information of the user measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 (i.e., sleep measurement) (S18).

[0104] The sleep information acquisition unit 204 starts measuring the sleep time, which is one piece of sleep information, when the information on the user's movement included in the sleep information indicates that the user has stopped moving, or when the information on the user's sleep quality included in the sleep information indicates that the user has entered deep sleep. For example, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires information (vibration information) related to the user's vibration while sleeping via an acceleration sensor or the like constituting the sleep measurement unit 11, and starts measuring the sleep time when the vibration information indicates that the user's movement has stopped or is below a predetermined standard (i.e., when the user has fallen asleep).

[0105] Here, the game control unit 210 may not output the time when the user fell asleep (the start time of measuring the sleeping time) to the output unit 100 until the user wakes up (that is, may keep it concealed until the user wakes up). This makes it difficult for the user to know his / her actual sleeping time until the user wakes up, which can improve the interest of the sleep game.

[0106] Furthermore, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 starts the measurement by the sleep measurement unit 11 when the sleep measurement unit 11 is not performing measurement, and starts acquiring the sleep information measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 from the start of the user's sleep when the sleep measurement unit 11 is constantly performing measurement. The sleep information acquisition unit 204 may set a condition for acquiring sleep information by sleep measurement and / or a condition for the number of sleep measurements that can be performed in one day. For example, the condition for acquiring sleep information may be a condition for acquiring sleep information when the sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires that sleep measurement has continued for a predetermined time (for example, one hour and 30 minutes) or more. Furthermore, the condition for the number of sleep measurements may be a condition that allows sleep measurement up to two times in one day. This allows the game system 1 to accept multiple sleeps such as second sleeps and fragmented sleeps, and can accommodate various lifestyles of users. After tapping the "start sleep measurement" button, the user places the terminal device 10 with the game running face down on a pillow or the like and goes to sleep.

[0107] In addition, when sleep measurement starts, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 acquires environmental sounds while the user is sleeping constantly or at predetermined time intervals. For example, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 activates a microphone of the terminal device 10 and acquires environmental sounds constantly using the microphone. The sleep information acquisition unit 204 stores the acquired environmental sounds in the terminal device 10 in association with the recording date and time, and does not store them in a storage unit outside the terminal device 10.

[0108] After the sleep information acquisition unit 204 starts sleep measurement, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display a screen indicating that sleep measurement is in progress, as shown in Fig. 2(c), for example. Here, the game control unit 210 causes the screen to display buttons for accepting the following settings.

[0109] a) Setting the alarm The game control unit 210 displays an alarm setting area 410 on the display unit 300 and accepts an input from the user to set an alarm time (i.e., a time at which an alarm is to sound at a time designated by the user). When the time set by the user arrives, the game control unit 210 outputs a predetermined alarm sound from the output unit 100. The game control unit 210 can also set a smart alarm. That is, the game control unit 210 can detect and estimate a timing at which the user is likely to wake up based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204, and output an alarm sound from the output unit 100 at a time that is earlier than the alarm time set by the user and that is the time set by the user (the time set by the user can be set to, for example, 0 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 15 minutes, and when the set time is "0 minutes", the smart alarm does not operate). By setting the smart alarm, an alarm sound may be output from the output unit 100 before the time set by the user. The game control unit 210 may receive a user's operation input to the alarm setting area 410 and display various setting screens for the alarm, such as setting the type of alarm sound, the volume of the alarm sound, and / or setting the snooze, on the display unit 300. The game control unit 210 receives a user's operation input to the various setting screens and executes settings such as the type of alarm sound, the volume of the alarm sound, and / or whether or not to snooze.

[0110] b) Setting sleep-inducing sounds The game control unit 210 displays a sleep induction sound setting area 412 on the display unit 300 and accepts input from the user to enable output of a sound for inducing sleep. When the sleep information acquisition unit 204 starts sleep measurement, the game control unit 210 outputs the sleep induction sound set by the user from the output unit 100. In addition, when the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 indicates a predetermined state, such as when the user's movement has stopped or when the user has entered deep sleep, the game control unit 210 stops output of the sleep induction sound from the output unit 100. In addition, the game control unit 210 can gradually reduce the volume of the sleep induction sound output from the output unit 100 based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 and the elapsed time from the start of sleep measurement.

[0111] [(b-2) Processing upon waking up] The sleep information acquisition unit 204 then determines whether the user has woken up based on the measurement results of the sleep measurement unit 11 or the user's wake-up instruction received via the input unit 102 (S20). If the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has not woken up (No in S20), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 continues to acquire the sleep information. On the other hand, if the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has woken up (Yes in S20), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 stops acquiring the sleep information of the user measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 (S22). For example, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 causes the output unit 100 to output a button that accepts an instruction to end the sleep measurement from the user (for example, an "End Measurement" button as shown in FIG. 2(c)). If the sleep information acquisition unit 204 accepts an instruction from the user to the button via the input unit 102, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 stops acquiring the sleep information of the user measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 (S22). The sleep information acquisition unit 204 may stop measuring the sleep time when, for example, the user's movement indicates a predetermined movement. When the acquisition of the sleep information by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 is stopped, the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 is collectively supplied to the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 and the game control unit 210 (if these components exist in the server, the information is collectively supplied to the server).

[0112] Next, the game control unit 210 causes the output unit 100 to output a sleep report (a report of information such as the game progress result determined by the user's sleep and the user's sleep situation) based on the received sleep information (S24). The following mainly describes a case where the output unit 100 is the display unit 300. Note that the game control unit 210 may skip the following S24 to S32 in response to an instruction from the user.

[0113] First, the game control unit 210 displays information indicating the date the user woke up and the day of the unit game period on the basis of the sleep information as a sleep report 900 on the display unit 300 (see FIG. 6(a)). In the example of FIG. 6(a), today's sleep report displays that it is the "first day" of the unit game period, as well as the date and day of the week of the "first day."

[0114] Next, when the input unit 102 receives an operation input by the user, the game control unit 210 displays the user's sleep time 904 calculated based on the sleep information on the display unit 300 as shown in FIG. 6(b). In this case, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 calculates a sleep parameter (sleep score) based on the user's sleep time included in the sleep information. Then, the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 displays the calculated sleep parameter 902 on the display unit 300 near the sleep time 904 (above the sleep time 904 in the example of FIG. 6(b)) as shown in FIG. 6(b) (S26). The sleep parameter, i.e., the sleep score, is determined based on the length of the sleep time. As an example, in the case of an adult user, the standard sleep time is set to 8 hours and 30 minutes, and when this standard sleep time matches the user's sleep time (or when the difference between the standard sleep time and the user's sleep time is within a predetermined time), the sleep score is set to "100". If the user's sleep time is shorter than the reference sleep time, the sleep score is subtracted from "100" points according to the difference between the reference sleep time and the user's sleep time. In the example of Fig. 6(b), sleep parameter 902 is "80" points, and sleep time 904 is 6 hours and 47 minutes. By displaying sleep parameter 902 on display unit 300 in such a way that it is perceptible to the user, the user is more likely to be conscious of sleeping as long as possible.

[0115] Next, the game control unit 210 displays the user's sleep graph 906, which is created based on the sleep information, on the display unit 300 as shown in FIG. 6(c) (S28). The sleep graph 906 is a graph showing the depth of the user's sleep at each time from when the user starts sleeping to when the user wakes up, with the horizontal axis showing the time and the vertical axis showing the depth of sleep. For example, the depth of sleep is divided into a plurality of stages according to the depth of the user's sleep shown by the sleep information. As an example, the plurality of stages may be three stages, namely, the lightest stage of sleep ("drowsy" stage), the second lightest stage of sleep ("sleeping" stage), and the deepest stage of sleep ("soundly" stage). The game control unit 210 classifies the depth of sleep at each time during the user's sleep into one of the three stages based on the sleep information, and then graphs the stages of the depth of sleep in a chronological order to generate the sleep graph 906 and display it on the display unit 300. In this case, the game control unit 210 can calculate the ratio of the length of time for each stage of deep sleep to the user's sleep time as a numerical value and include it in the sleep graph 906. In the example of Fig. 6(c), the sleep graph 906 shows that the "drowsy" stage takes up 35% of the user's sleep time, the "sleeping" stage takes up 63%, and the "deeply asleep" stage takes up 2%.

[0116] In addition, the game control unit 210 may use the sleep information to display the time taken from when the user goes to bed (for example, from the timing when the sleep measurement is started in response to the user's instruction in S18) until the user falls asleep (for example, until the user stops moving or until the user enters deep sleep) ("time taken to fall asleep") and the time for each stage of sleep depth together with the sleep graph 906 in the sleep content display area 910 of the display unit 300. The sleep content display area 910 is disposed below the sleep graph 906 on the display unit 300. In the example of FIG. 6(c), the "time taken to fall asleep" is "2 hours 26 minutes" below the sleep graph 906, and the time for the "dozing off" stage is "2 hours 24 minutes". Note that information on the time for the other stages of sleep depth is disposed below the time for the "dozing off" stage, and can be displayed on the display unit 300 by the user's swipe operation on the display unit 300.

[0117] Here, the game control unit 210 can also output environmental sounds during the user's sleep from the output unit 100 in response to a user's instruction received via the input unit 102. For example, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the game control unit 210 displays a sound recording data 908 button in a predetermined area of ​​the display unit 300. When the input unit 102 receives a user's instruction on the sound recording data 908 button, the game control unit 210 outputs environmental sounds during the sleep time from the output unit 100. Here, the environmental sounds are recorded at predetermined intervals (for example, 10 minutes, etc.). That is, the environmental sounds are stored in the terminal device 10 as a plurality of unit environmental sounds obtained by dividing the time from the start of sleep to the time of waking up at the intervals. The game control unit 210 can output any unit environmental sound from the output unit 100 in response to a user's instruction. Note that the game control unit 210 does not supply the environmental sounds to the outside of the terminal device 10.

[0118] Next, the game control unit 210 determines the user's sleep type based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 (S30). The game control unit 210 displays the determined sleep type in the sleep type display area 912 of the display unit 300 as shown in FIG. 7(a). In the example of FIG. 7(a), "sleep type" is displayed. In addition, "drowsy type" and "sleeping type" may be defined as the sleep type. Here, the sleep type represents the characteristics of the user's sleep on the day the user slept. Specifically, the game control unit 210 compares the user's past sleep information (e.g., information such as the depth of sleep and the duration of the depth of sleep) stored in the user information storage unit 218 with the sleep information on the day the user slept to determine the sleep type. If there is no sleep information stored in the user information storage unit 218 or if the amount of sleep information is less than a predetermined amount, the game control unit 210 compares it with general sleep information (e.g., may be stored in the game information storage unit 220) to determine the user's sleep type. Furthermore, the game control unit 210 can reflect the changes in the user's individual sleep characteristics in the sleep type by repeatedly measuring the user's sleep. For example, if the sleep information of the day the user slept was deeper than the user's past sleep information (e.g., sleep information indicating the "sleeping type"), the game control unit 210 may determine the sleep type as the "sleeping type."

[0119] Then, the event determination unit 212 multiplies the sleep parameter (sleep score) calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 by the sleep start parameter to calculate the second parameter (S32). However, in this case, the tutorial is in progress, and the function of increasing / raising the first parameter of the field character is limited (typically, stopped). Therefore, if the user sets the first parameter to zero at the time the tutorial is started (i.e., sets the initial value to zero), the sleep start parameter also becomes zero accordingly, and the second parameter calculated by multiplying the sleep start parameter also becomes zero. Therefore, the event determination unit 212 sets a value other than zero as the initial value of the sleep start parameter. As an example, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the event determination unit 212 sets "2,000" as the initial value of the sleep start parameter (i.e., the first parameter, which is the parameter at the time the user starts sleeping). Then, the event determination unit 212 multiplies the initial value by the sleep score to calculate the second parameter. In the example of FIG. 7(b), the display unit 300 displays the second parameter 800 (displayed as "Today's sleepiness power") as "160,000", and below the second parameter 800, the breakdown 802 shows that the sleep start parameter (displayed as "Energy") is "2,000" and the sleep score is "80".

[0120] Here, the significance of the first parameter and the second parameter in the game will be explained.

[0121] a) The first parameter is a value that increases due to a predetermined action or the like during the user's activity period, and represents the state of development or growth of the field character 600. Then, the evaluation (character evaluation) of the field character 600 is determined according to the magnitude of the first parameter. The evaluation is determined in stages according to the first parameter. Then, the game control unit 210 changes the lottery table used to draw characters that appear around the field character as the "evaluation" increases, and changes the characters that appear by lottery. As the evaluation increases, a lottery table that makes it easier for characters with high rarity sleeping faces to be drawn may be used. Here, the game control unit 210 can also change the lottery conditions for characters that appear around the field character as the "evaluation" increases (for example, the lottery conditions can be changed to conditions that are advantageous to the user so that characters with high rarity sleeping faces to be drawn more easily). Also, the first parameter is a parameter that is mainly accumulated before the user wakes up (before going to sleep). The game control unit 210 increases the size of the field character 602 displayed on the display unit 300 in accordance with the evaluation of the field character 602 (the larger the evaluation, the larger the size may be).

[0122] b) The second parameter is a value that represents the power emitted by the field character 600, and the greater the power, the greater the number of characters that appear around the field character 600 (characters that sleep). Also, the greater the second parameter, the easier it is to find rare characters or the sleeping faces of rare characters.

[0123] (Sleep Research) Then, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display a home screen as shown in Fig. 7(c) (S34), and executes sleep research as shown in Fig. 8 (S40). Note that the home screen may display various information together with a date display 406. The sleep research is a process of executing a game event or the like determined by the event determination unit 212 in accordance with the user's sleep information, the user's actions up to the previous day, and the user's operations after waking up.

[0124] First, the event determination unit 212 determines by lottery a character that appears around the field character 600 or on the field character 600 (for example, on the stomach of the field character 600) as a game event to be generated in the game based on the calculated second parameter. Here, the lottery is performed by using a lottery table determined based on the following conditions, for example. Condition a): Evaluation of the field character 600 at the time when the user goes to bed Condition b): User's sleep type on the day Condition c): The type of field 500 selected by the user at the time of the lottery

[0125] Here, the lottery table has different contents for each field 500, and at least one different character can appear in each field 500. In other words, different types of lottery tables are used depending on the type of field 500. Furthermore, the object to be lottery-drawn in the lottery table is, for example, a sleeping pose of a character (that is, an image of a sleeping pose or an image of a sleeping face. Hereinafter, simply referred to as a "sleeping face" or "sleeping face image"). In the lottery table, a plurality of sleeping faces are associated with each of a plurality of characters. A predetermined probability and rarity are associated with each of the plurality of sleeping faces. Furthermore, the lottery table may be stored in the game information storage unit 220.

[0126] (Character appearance) Specifically, the event determination unit 212 uses a lottery table determined based on the above conditions a) to c) and further executes a lottery using the second parameter (that is, based on the second parameter, it is determined which character in the lottery table and which character's sleeping face will be lottery-drawn), and determines at least one character that will appear around the field character 600. Then, the game control unit 210 arranges the sleeping face image of the character determined by the event determination unit 212 around or on the field character 600 in the field 500, and displays the state on the display unit 300. For example, the game control unit 210 makes a character 700 in a sleeping state appear around the field character 600 as shown in FIG. 7(c), and makes a character 704 in a sleeping state appear as shown in FIG. 9(a). When the game control unit 210 refers to the sleeping face picture book information in the user information storage unit 218 and determines that the sleeping face of a character that has appeared is not included in the sleeping face picture book information, it may display information (e.g., "new") indicating that the sleeping face of the character is a new sleeping face around the character that has appeared (in the example of FIG. 9(a) , "new" is displayed above the character 704).

[0127] In addition, since the game control unit 210 displays only a part of the area where the field character 600 exists on the display unit 300, the state of the other area around the field character 600 is displayed on the display unit 300 in response to a predetermined operation (for example, a swipe operation) of the user on the input unit 102 (for example, in the situation of FIG. 9(a), the user executes a swipe operation on the display unit 300 in the situation of FIG. 7(c), thereby displaying the character 704 that is not displayed in the situation of FIG. 7(c)). This allows the user to thoroughly investigate the situation around the field character 600 and enjoy the operation of finding the character that has appeared around the field character 600 and is sleeping.

[0128] Also, the higher the level of the field character 600 in condition a), the higher the lottery table containing the sleeping face image of the character with higher rarity (i.e., lower the probability of winning) may be used. For example, the event determination unit 212 may use a lottery table in which the higher the level of the field character 600, the more likely the sleeping face image of the character with higher rarity is to be won, or may change the probability associated with the sleeping face image of the character with higher rarity in the lottery table to a higher probability. Furthermore, the event determination unit 212 makes the character associated with the same sleep type as the user's sleep type in condition b) win the lottery. That is, the event determination unit 212 uses a lottery table in which a predetermined character associated with a predetermined sleep type can be given to the user by lottery.

[0129] Also, the user can use a character owned by the user as a helper character. In this case, the game control unit 210 can organize one or more characters selected by the user from among the characters owned by the user into a party of helper characters. Here, each character is associated with a special point indicating the strength of the character. Therefore, when the user organizes a party, the game control unit 210 calculates the special point of the party based on the special point of each character belonging to the party (as an example, the value obtained by adding up the special points associated with each character is set as the special point of the party). And, the special point of the party may be specified in the field 500 as a recommended condition for visiting the field 500. In this case, when the value of the special point of the party organized by the user is equal to or greater than the value of the special point associated with the field 500, the event determination unit 212 may multiply the lottery table by a predetermined coefficient, etc., to make it easier to win a character with a high rarity of a sleeping face in the lottery table. Also, the event determination unit 212 may make it easier to win a character with a high rarity of a sleeping face as the special point of the party increases. Furthermore, the larger the special point value associated with a field 500, the more likely it is that a character with a high sleeping face rarity will appear in that field 500 (i.e., the lottery table used to select characters is replaced with a lottery table that makes it easier for characters with a high sleeping face rarity to be selected).

[0130] (Performing research on characters) Then, the game control unit 210 accepts a user's operation (for example, a character designation operation by a tap operation) on the character that has appeared on the display unit 300 via the input unit 102. When the game control unit 210 accepts the operation via the input unit 102, it records a sleeping face image (a sleeping face image displayed on the display unit 300 at the time of designation) of the character designated by the user (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "designated character") in the sleeping face picture book information of the user information storage unit 218. Here, the game control unit 210 compares the sleeping face image to be recorded with the sleeping face image of the sleeping face picture book information stored in the user information storage unit 218, and if the sleeping face image of the designated character has not yet been stored in the user information storage unit 218, it determines that a sleeping face of a new character has been found. Then, the game control unit 210 displays information indicating that a sleeping face of a new character has been found (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "new sleeping face picture book information") on the display unit 300. Incidentally, since the character initially specified by the user in the tutorial is not recorded as sleeping face picture book information, the game control unit 210 will always determine that it has discovered the sleeping face of a new character.

[0131] 9(b), the game control unit 210 displays new sleeping face picture book information on the display unit 300. The game control unit 210 displays picture book description 710 of the character 704 and images recorded as sleeping face picture book information up to now together with the picture book description 710 (images stored in the user information storage unit 218, i.e., stored images) in an image list display area 712. The image list display area 712 is provided near the display area of ​​the picture book description 710.

[0132] Specifically, the game control unit 210 displays the "sleeping face picture book" as new sleeping face picture book information, along with an image of the character that has appeared in an awake state, the ID of the character that has appeared ("No. 014" in FIG. 9(b)), the name of the character ("H" in FIG. 9(b)), the rarity of the sleeping face of the character, the sleeping type of the character ("sleeping type" in FIG. 9(b)), and a description of the character, as picture book description 710, on the display unit 300. In addition, the game control unit 210 displays the sleeping face image of the character 700 recorded as the sleeping face picture book information, as a stored image 714, in the image list display area 712, along with the picture book description 710. The stored image 714 is displayed together with the name of the sleeping pose of the character ("sleeping" in FIG. 9(b)). As a result, the sleeping face of the character that has newly appeared around the field character 600 is registered in the sleeping face picture book information in the user information storage unit 218. The game control unit 210 can display information related to the sleeping face picture book on the display unit 300 at any time in response to a predetermined instruction for the sleeping face picture book of the user received via the input unit 102 .

[0133] On the other hand, the game control unit 210 compares the sleeping face image to be recorded with the sleeping face image in the sleeping face picture book information stored in the user information storage unit 218, and if the sleeping face image of the specified character is already stored in the user information storage unit 218, it determines that the sleeping face of the already found character has been specified. Then, the game control unit 210 does not execute display of new sleeping face picture book information, and displays the sleeping face image displayed on the display unit 300 at the time of specification as an acquired image 720 on the display unit 300 together with the minimum information on the found character based on the information already recorded in the sleeping face picture book in the user information storage unit 218. For example, as shown in FIG. 9(c), the game control unit 210 displays the character ID of the character ("No. 4" in FIG. 9(c)), the sleeping type ("Sleeping soundly" in FIG. 9(c)), and the name of the sleeping pose ("Sleeping with crackles" in FIG. 9(c)) on the display unit 300 as an acquired image 720 together with the sleeping face image of the character at the time of specification by the user. It should be noted that the game control unit 210 may display the acquired image 720 again after displaying the new sleeping face illustrated book information on the display unit 300. In this manner, the game control unit 210 executes research on one designated character.

[0134] The game control unit 210 accepts the user's instruction for the character and enables the research to be performed in the same manner as described above until the research of all characters that have appeared around the field character 600 is completed (No in S42). On the other hand, when the research of all characters is completed (Yes in S42), the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 the fact that the research has been completed (for example, information that "research of all characters has been completed"). Note that, if there is a character that has been researched by the user in the past among the characters that have appeared around the field character 600, that is, if the sleeping face image of the character has already been stored in the user information storage unit 218, the game control unit 210 can skip displaying on the display unit 300 the sleeping face image of the already discovered character. In this way, according to the game system 1, a user who refers to the display unit 300 during game execution can effectively use his / her valuable time in the morning.

[0135] (Snack time) Next, the game control unit 210 enables a process of granting a predetermined item to the character that has appeared (hereinafter, this process may be referred to as "snack time"). The game control unit 210 may display an explanation of "snack time" on the display unit 300. "Snack time" is a process in which a user grants a predetermined item to a character that has appeared in the field 500, thereby increasing the intimacy between the character and the user, and when the intimacy reaches a predetermined value or more (for example, when it reaches or exceeds the maximum intimacy level associated with the character), the character is granted to the user.

[0136] Specifically, when the game control unit 210 receives an instruction (for example, a tap operation by the user on the character) to give a predetermined item (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an "intimacy improving item") to an appeared character via the input unit 102 (Yes in S44), the game control unit 210 consumes the intimacy improving item and increases the intimacy or trust level (hereinafter referred to as "friend points") of the character to which the intimacy improving item has been given with respect to the user according to the type of intimacy improving item. There may be multiple types of intimacy improving items depending on the difference in the amount of increase in friend points when given to a character (for example, multiple types of intimacy improving items can be set so that the increase in intimacy increases in the order of first intimacy improving item<second intimacy improving item<third intimacy improving item<...).

[0137] The game control unit 210 may grant the user one intimacy improvement item (hereinafter, referred to as "free item") with the smallest increase in friend points among the multiple types of intimacy improvement items per day free of charge (the intimacy improvement item granted to the user is recorded as possessed item information in the user information storage unit 218). When the game control unit 210 grants the user a free item during snack time, the granted free item is made available only during the snack time. For example, the game control unit 210 executes a process of granting the free item to a character selected by the user during the snack time, or, if the user does not select a character, automatically grants the free item to a character randomly selected by the game control unit 210 or to a character with the highest sleeping face rarity among the multiple characters. In this way, the game control unit 210 allows the free item to be used only during the snack time in which the free item was granted to the user.

[0138] As shown in FIG. 10(a), the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display the friend points of the character to which the intimacy improvement item has been given as a friend point display 730 near the character 704. Then, when the friend points of the character reach the maximum value (Yes in S46), the game control unit 210 gives the character to the user as a reward (S48). The game control unit 210 gives the character to the user by storing information about the character in the user information storage unit 218 as possessed character information (S48). This allows the user to use the given character as a helper character (i.e., the given character becomes the user's companion).

[0139] (Show sleep research results) Then, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display words of appreciation to the user (for example, "good job") if there is no instruction to give a predetermined item to the character that has appeared (No in S44), if there is an instruction to give an item but the friend points of the character to which the item was given do not reach the maximum value (No in S46), or if snack time ends at the user's instruction after the character has been given to the user. Here, if the friend points of the character to which the item was given do not reach the maximum value (No in S46), the game control unit 210 does not give the character (referred to as a "friend point unattained character") to the user, and associates the friend points that have increased by giving the item with the friend point unattained character and carries them over to the next day and onwards (S47). That is, the game control unit 210 stores the friend points increased by giving the item in association with the friend point unattained character, and when the character that has not yet reached the friend point attainment is included in the characters that have appeared around the field character 600 on the following day and the user has given the friend point unattained character a predetermined item, the game control unit 210 adds a predetermined point corresponding to the newly given item to the friend points associated with the friend point unattained character to increase the friend points. Then, when the increased friend points reach the maximum friend point value of the character (Yes in S46), the game control unit 210 gives the character to the user as a reward (S48). This allows the user to give a predetermined item to the character that has appeared to increase the friend points, so that even if the friend points cannot be increased to the maximum value by giving an item once, the friend points can be increased to the maximum value by giving the character a predetermined item on the following day and thereafter (in some cases, by giving the character a predetermined item once a day for multiple days). Therefore, the user can possess (make a friend of) the character by repeatedly meeting the character through continued sleep and giving the character a predetermined item, and the game system 1 can improve the user's sleep experience.

[0140] Furthermore, the game control unit 210 selects one of the sleeping face images selected by the user from the sleeping face images (stored images) of the characters recorded as the sleeping face picture book information in the above step S40 as "Today's Picture". Then, the game control unit 210 displays the sleep research result on the display unit 300 (S50). For example, as shown in FIG. 10(b), the game control unit 210 displays the image selected as "Today's Picture" as the sleep research result at the top of the display unit 300 as Today's Picture 722. Then, below the Today's Picture 722, the value of the second parameter 800 used by the event determination unit 212 and its details are displayed (in the example of FIG. 10(b), the second parameter 800 is displayed as "Sleepy Power"). Furthermore, below the second parameter, a list of images and information about each character (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "discovered characters") that appeared around the field character 600 in the above step S40 and that the user researched and obtained a sleeping face image of is displayed. In the example of FIG. 10( b ), images and information of a finding character 740 , a finding character 742 , and a finding character 744 are displayed in order below the display of the second parameter 800 .

[0141] Here, the information of the discovered character includes, for example, the sleeping type (in the example of FIG. 10(b), "sleeping type" is displayed. This is because the sleeping type of the user on that day is "sleeping type", so a character with the same sleeping type was drawn by lottery.), the rarity of the character's sleeping face (represented by the number of stars, and the more stars there are, the higher the rarity of the sleeping face). The name of the character, the name of the recorded sleeping face image (in the example of FIG. 10(b), "sleeping" is displayed for the discovered character 740, and "sleeping softly" is displayed for the discovered character 742 and the discovered character 744.), and the reward given to the user for recording the sleeping face image (in the example of FIG. 10(b), the number of rewards is displayed below the "GET" display. Hereinafter, this may be referred to as "candy"). The "candy" is used to level up the character and evolve the character.

[0142] (Reward Granting) Next, the game control unit 210 executes a process of granting a reward to the user. The game control unit 210 grants the user a reward determined according to the result, mainly based on the following result, and displays the result on the display unit 300 (S52). The reward granted to the user becomes an item possessed by the user by being recorded in the possessed item information in the user information storage unit 218. a) The number of images of characters sleeping that the user found in the sleep research (i.e., the number of characters found). b) Research experience points (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "research EXP") determined according to the number of sleeping face images of characters the user has found, and the user's rank determined based on the research EXP. The game control unit 210 associates a research EXP with a user once a day, and determines the user's rank (research rank) according to the total value of the associated search EXP. c) Whether or not the User's Research Rank has increased as a result of the accumulation of Research EXP.

[0143] For example, the game control unit 210 determines the user's research rank based on the research EXP accumulated according to the number of sleeping face images of characters discovered by the user. Then, when the research rank is increased, the game control unit 210 gives the user a rank-up reward. For example, as shown in FIG. 11(a), the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 the user's research rank in the user rank display area 920 (in FIG. 11(a), it is displayed that the research rank has increased from "1" to "2"), as well as the fact that the research rank has increased and that a reward will be given in association with the rank-up. In addition, the game control unit 210 displays the content of the reward given to the user in association with the rank-up in the reward display area 922 below the user rank display area 920 (in FIG. 11(a), an example is shown in which three types of rewards are given in predetermined amounts). The reward for the rank-up is, for example, an item for improving intimacy, a cooking material to be described later, an item that makes it easier to make various statuses of the field character 600 and the helper character more advantageous to the user, and the like.

[0144] Then, when there is no rank-up of the research rank and when the granting of the rank-up reward is finished, the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 other rewards granted to the user together with the granting of the predetermined reward for the user's sleep, as shown in FIG. 11(b). In the example of FIG. 11(b), a list of rewards granted to the user is displayed in a research reward display area 930 of the display unit 300. The rewards include the number of sleeping face images of the character recorded as new sleeping face picture book information in the sleeping face picture book information of the user information storage unit 218 (displayed as "discovered sleeping face" in the reward display area 932 of FIG. 11(b)), research EXP determined according to the number (displayed as "research EXP" in the reward display area 934 of FIG. 11(b)), and items granted to the user by performing sleep research, etc. (displayed as "pieces of dreams" in the reward display area 936 of FIG. 11(b)). The "Dream Fragments" are used to level up the character, expand the tools (cooking utensils) used for cooking, etc. For example, when the user applies the "Dream Fragments" to cooking utensils, the game control unit 210 increases the amount of ingredients that can be put into the cooking utensils by a predetermined amount more than the predetermined amount.

[0145] Furthermore, the game control unit 210 manages the achievement status of the bedtime goal of the user set in S14. That is, when the bedtime of the user (e.g., the time the user went to bed) indicated by the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 is near the target bedtime, the game control unit 210 determines that the bedtime goal has been achieved and gives the user a predetermined reward (e.g., in-game virtual currency). Near the target bedtime includes not only the case where the bedtime and the target bedtime match, but also the case where the difference between the bedtime and the target bedtime is within a predetermined time (e.g., about several minutes to 30 minutes). The game control unit 210 regards a unit game period as one unit and determines whether the bedtime goal has been achieved for each day within the period. The game control unit 210 manages the user's goal achievement status, for example, in the form of a stamp card (as an example, a card configured with digital information that can be displayed on the display unit 300, the card is provided with a frame for the number of days that make up the unit game period, and when the user achieves the goal, a predetermined mark is added to the frame of the day the goal was achieved, and a predetermined reward associated with the frame is given to the user.) In other words, when the user achieves the bedtime goal, the game control unit 210 adds a predetermined mark to the frame of the day the goal of the unit game period was achieved, and gives the user a predetermined reward associated with the frame.

[0146] The frame configuration of the card is not limited to the above, and may be, for example, a card (hereinafter, referred to as an "accumulation card") configured with a frame that counts the number of days the user has achieved the goal. That is, the accumulation card is provided with frames for a predetermined number of times. Specifically, the nth accumulation card is provided with frames from the 1st to the xth (where x is an integer of 2 or more) (where n is a positive integer), and the 1st frame of the n+1th accumulation card is the frame of the next round (x+1) following the xth frame that is the final round of the nth accumulation card. In response to the user achieving the bedtime goal, the game control unit 210 gives a predetermined mark to the frame of the accumulation card and gives the user a predetermined reward associated with the frame. Thus, the accumulation card can express the user's goal achievement status by the accumulated number of times (i.e., the accumulated number of days of goal achievement). That is, the accumulation card can present to the user "how many days it has been since the goal was achieved" in an easy-to-understand manner. Here, when the user changes the target bedtime, the game control unit 210 may reset the marks already given to the accumulation cards including the frame of the day on which the change was made. However, the marks already given to the other accumulation cards other than the accumulation card are not reset. This allows the game system 1 to accept the change of the target bedtime without giving the user excessive disadvantages.

[0147] The game control unit 210 stores the reward given to the user as possessed item information in the user information storage unit 218, and also stores the stamp card information in the user information storage unit 218 as one of possessed item information. The game control unit 210 manages the achievement status of the user's target bedtime using a new stamp card for the next unit game period at the timing when the unit game period ends. Alternatively, when a predetermined mark is given to all the frames of a stamp card with frames for a predetermined number of days or a predetermined number of times, the game control unit 210 manages the achievement status of the user's target bedtime using a new stamp card (in this case, regardless of whether the unit game period ends or not, when a predetermined mark is given to all the frames of one stamp card, that is, when the target is achieved for a predetermined number of days or a predetermined number of times, the new stamp card is used). Note that in the above example, an example of managing the achievement status of the target bedtime has been described, but the achievement status of the wake-up time target (i.e., the target wake-up time) may be managed together with or separately from the target bedtime. When managing the achievement status of the target wake-up time separately from the target bedtime, the stamp card has a frame in which a specified mark is given when the target wake-up time is achieved. On the other hand, when managing the achievement status of the target wake-up time together with the target bedtime, the stamp card can have a frame for achievement of the target bedtime and a frame for achievement of the target wake-up time, or a frame for giving one mark when both the target bedtime and the target wake-up time are achieved.

[0148] [(b-3) Unit game period start process] After the reward granting process for the user in the tutorial is completed, the game control unit 210 outputs a summary of the minimum operations that the user should perform in the game to the display unit 300. For example, the game control unit 210 outputs the following information to the display unit 300: Information recommending that the user give a specified item to a field character between the time the user wakes up and the time the user goes to sleep, thereby increasing the first parameter as much as possible. - Information to remind the user to perform sleep measurement when they go to bed. - Information that, after the user wakes up, performs sleep research, registers the sleeping faces of characters that appear in the sleeping face encyclopedia, and recommends completing the sleeping face encyclopedia.

[0149] Next, the game control unit 210 displays the image and information of the character given to the user in the sleep research after the user sleeps on the display unit 300. Then, the game control unit 210 ends the game for the field 500 and the field character 600 that were previously determined by the game control unit 210 in the tutorial. In this case, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to output a performance in which the user leaves the field 500.

[0150] After the tutorial (first sleep) is completed, the game system 1 opens (ie, makes executable) the following functions, for example. a) Ability to purchase items and passes through in-app purchases b) The function to increase / raise the first parameter of a field character c) A feature to collect growth items using helper characters d) Cooking function for giving food to field characters e) Party organization feature for helper characters

[0151] Next, as the first step of the process for starting a new unit game period, the game control unit 210 causes the user to select a new field 500 (S54). Here, the flow from the first day of the new unit game period will be described.

[0152] For example, the game control unit 210 displays a map showing the entire field 500 as shown in FIG. 2(a) on the display unit 300, and the input unit 102 accepts an instruction to select the field 500 by the user. Then, the game control unit 210 displays information about the field 500 selected by the user on the display unit 300. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12(a), information about the field 500, that is, field information 510, is displayed on the display unit 300. Examples of the field information 510 include the field name, a description of the field situation, the ratio of the number of sleeping faces of characters previously acquired in the field 500 (for example, the ratio of the number of sleeping faces of characters that have already been discovered by the user and recorded in the sleeping face picture book information to the total number of sleeping faces of characters that can be discovered in the field 500), the ratio of the number of characters that the user will possess in the field 500 (for example, the ratio of the number of characters that the user has already acquired, possessed, and recorded to the total number of characters that can be acquired in the field 500), and / or special points of a party (a party in which a helper character is organized) that is considered appropriate when playing a game in the field. The field information 510 also displays the maximum level and the maximum first parameter of the field character 600 previously trained in the field 500.

[0153] When the user actually selects the field 500 being selected by the user, for example, when a selection instruction from the user to the selection button 520 (displayed as "Go here" in FIG. 12(a)) is received via the input unit 102, the game control unit 210 selects the field 500 as a new field 500 and starts a new unit game period. Then, as shown in FIG. 12(b), the game control unit 210 displays a new field character 602 living in the new field 500 on the display unit 300 together with information such as "You met a new character!"

[0154] It should be noted that a plurality of fields exist in the virtual game space. The game control unit 210 may associate with the fields other than the fields that the user can visit from the beginning a release condition for the user to be able to select the fields. When the user satisfies the release condition, the game control unit 210 allows the user to select the field that satisfies the release condition. The release condition may be a condition that is determined in advance based on, for example, the number of types of characters recorded by the user in the sleeping face picture book, the rarity of the sleeping faces of the characters, and the like.

[0155] Here, the game control unit 210 refers to the field character information storage unit 224 or displays information about items required for efficiently training the field character 602 by lottery. Note that training the field character 602 corresponds to increasing the first parameter in the game system 1. Examples of information about items required for efficient training include favorite food information 604 indicating items that the field character 602 likes, and request information 606 indicating information about dishes, etc. that the field character 602 desires in the game.

[0156] When a new field 500 is selected after the game is started for the first time and after the user has slept once, the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 an explanation of the significance of growing the field character 602 (note that this explanation does not need to be displayed thereafter). That is, an explanation is displayed that in order for the user to discover a rare character's sleeping face in the sleep research or to obtain a character with a high rarity of sleeping face, it is necessary to grow the field character 602 as large as possible (i.e., to make the first parameter as large as possible), and that it is necessary to repeat the sleep research (processing from S20 to S52) every morning while accumulating the first parameter over seven days from the first day to the last day of the unit game period.

[0157] Then, the game control unit 210 executes a growth process of the helping character, as shown in FIG. 12(c) (S56). In the tutorial, the growth process is executed only for the helping character granted to the user in S12. The growth process of the helping character refers to a process of recovering the "energy" of the helping character based on the user's sleep information and a process of granting experience points (displayed as "basic EXP" in FIG. 12(c)). Here, "energy" is the physical strength of the character, and is a value that is decreased by the execution of a predetermined action (for example, an action to collect growth items, etc., described later) performed by the helping character during the user's activity period. The frequency with which the character executes an action decreases as the "energy" value decreases (in other words, "energy" is a parameter consumed by the character to collect items). After the user wakes up, a certain amount of "energy" is restored in conjunction with the user's sleep time (specifically, when the user sleeps with characters organized into a party, a certain amount of "energy" is restored according to the user's sleep time).

[0158] Moreover, the experience value given to the helping character accumulates each time the user sleeps and wakes up, and the level of the helping character increases each time it exceeds a predetermined reference value. In the example of FIG. 12(c), the game control unit 210 recovers a predetermined amount of the "energy" of the helping character based on the user's sleeping time, and also grants a predetermined amount of experience value to the helping character based on the user's sleeping time, and displays the recovery amount 750 of the "energy" of the helping character and the acquired experience value 752 on the display unit 300 together with the sleep parameter 902 calculated in S26. When the cumulative value of the acquired experience value of the helping character reaches a predetermined reference value, the game control unit 210 increases the level of the helping character. Note that information on the "energy", acquired experience value, and level of the helping character is recorded in the possessed character information of the user information storage unit 218.

[0159] In the tutorial, the game control unit 210 may display and explain on the display unit 300 the method of training the field character. That is, as described later, explanations are displayed on the display unit 300, such as tapping the helper character present on the home screen during the user's activity period and giving the helper character an item held by the helper character to the field character to increase the first parameter, starting sleep measurement when the user sleeps, and performing the above-mentioned sleep research after waking up. After the explanation, the game control unit 210 may give the user a reward based on the completion of the tutorial. Note that the game control unit 210 does not need to display on the display unit 300 the predetermined explanations and the like that have been displayed on the display unit 300 until a predetermined timing after the user sleeps once after the game is started for the first time (i.e., after the completion of the tutorial or after the award based on the completion of the tutorial) unless there is a special instruction from the user.

[0160] <(C) Processing after the start of the unit game period> [(c-1) Processing from the active period to the onset of sleep] After the growth process of the helping character is completed, the game control unit 210 displays the home screen as shown in Fig. 13 (S60). The game control unit 210 executes a predetermined game process in response to the user's selection during the user's activity period.

[0161] ((c-1-1) Field character growth processing by items / cooking) ((c-1-1-1) Field character growth process using items) The field character 602 grows by increasing the first parameter associated with the field character 602. Then, each time the first parameter associated with the field character 602 reaches a predetermined value, the character evaluation (indicating the degree of growth of the field character 602) of the field character 602 increases. One method of increasing the first parameter (in FIG. 14(a), the value of the first parameter is displayed as "total energy" in the first parameter display area 630) is to have the helper character give the field character 602 a predetermined item (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "growth item") as a direct growth item.

[0162] When an instruction to give an item is received from the user via the input unit 102 ("Give item" in S62), the game control unit 210 gives a growth item to the field character 602. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14(a), when the input unit 102 receives an instruction (tap operation) from the user to the helping character 760 displayed on the display unit 300, the game control unit 210 determines by lottery the growth item and / or cooking material (indirect growth item) to be possessed by the helping character 760, which will be described later (S70). The game control unit 210 causes the helping character 760 to possess the growth item and / or material determined by lottery. Note that the maximum number of growth items 650 that the helping character 760 can possess and the maximum number of materials that the helping character 760 can possess may differ depending on the type of helping character 760.

[0163] Next, the game control unit 210 displays the growth item 650 and / or materials held by the helping character 760 near the feet of the helping character 760, as shown in Fig. 14(b). The game control unit 210 may display on the display unit 300 a state in which the growth item 650 and / or materials are dropped (let go) at the feet of the helping character 760. Then, when the input unit 102 receives a user instruction (tap operation) for the growth item 650 and / or materials (Yes in S72), the game control unit 210 gives the growth item 650 to the field character 602 as shown in Fig. 14(c), and displays a state in which the field character 602 grows by eating the growth item 650 (S74). The game control unit 210 may display on the display unit 300 the growth item 650 that the helping character 760 has let go of in a container such as a basket located near the field character 602, and may display on the display unit 300 the growth item 650 in the container gradually decreasing as the field character 602 eats the growth item 650. If there is no user instruction for the growth item 650 and / or the material (No in S72), the game control unit 210 can wait until there is an instruction from the user. Furthermore, when the input unit 102 accepts a user instruction for the growth item 650 regarding the material possessed by the helping character 760 (Yes in S72), the game control unit 210 grants the material to the user by recording information about the material in the possessed item information in the user information storage unit 218 (S74). In other words, the material itself is not given to the field character 602.

[0164] In S70, the selection of the growth item and / or material to be possessed by the helping character 760 is performed at the timing of the instruction from the user to the helping character 760. Here, the game control unit 210 may perform the selection at a different timing.

[0165] For example, the game control unit 210 executes a lottery every time a predetermined time (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "collection time". This collection time may vary depending on the type and personality of the helping character 760. For example, it may be set to 3 minutes) elapses during a time period when the user does not give an instruction to the helping character 760. Then, the game control unit 210 may keep the growth item 650 and / or material determined by the lottery in the helping character 760 until the user gives an instruction to the helping character 760 (the number of growth items 650 and / or the number of materials determined by one lottery are each one or more). Furthermore, when the game control unit 210 executes a lottery at the timing when the collection time elapses during a time period when the user does not give an instruction to the helping character 760, it decreases the "energy" parameter of the helping character 760 by a predetermined amount. This predetermined amount may vary depending on the type and personality of the helping character 760. When the game control unit 210 decreases the "energy" parameter of the helping character 760, it changes the collection time to a longer time based on the amount of decrease, and executes the next lottery when the changed collection time has elapsed. Therefore, as time passes, the time interval during which the helping character 760 collects items, etc. (i.e., the time interval between lotteries) gradually increases.

[0166] The game control unit 210 may store, as the number of collection times, the number of times the collection time included in the "time without instructions" given by the user to the helping character 760 is repeated. However, the next collection time after the first collection time has elapsed is longer than the first collection time. In other words, when the nth collection time has elapsed, the next collection time (n+1) that is longer than the nth collection time is set to elapse (n is a positive integer). If the total length of each of the first collection time to the nth collection time is within the "time without instructions", the number of collection times is "n times". When the user gives instructions to the helping character 760, the game control unit 210 may execute a lottery for the number of collection times at the timing of the instruction, and display the growth item 650 and / or material determined by the lottery at the feet of the helping character 760 as something that the helping character 760 has collected and possessed.

[0167] Also, the types of growth items 650 and materials that each helping character 760 is likely to possess (i.e., likely to win by lottery) may be determined in advance for each type of helping character 760 (and / or other characteristics such as personality). Note that the game control unit 210 can display information indicating which types of growth items 650 and materials are likely to be collected on the display unit 300 along with the names, statuses, characteristics, etc. of the helping characters (and characters possessed by the user) in response to the user's instructions at any time during the user's activity period.

[0168] This allows the user to refer to the favorite food information 604 of the field character 602 and organize a party including the helping character 760 who is likely to collect the growth items 650 corresponding to the favorite food information 604. Note that the types and / or maximum number of growth items 650 and the types and / or maximum number of materials that the helping character 760 can possess at one time may be determined according to the level of the helping character 760. For example, the higher the level of the helping character 760, the more types of growth items 650 and / or materials and the greater the number of growth items 650 and / or materials that the helping character 760 can possess.

[0169] Here, in the game system 1, there are a plurality of types of growth items 650, and different values ​​are associated with each type of growth item 650 in advance. The game control unit 210 adds the value associated with the growth item 650 to the first parameter by giving the growth item 650 to the field character 602. In the example of FIG. 14(b) and (c), a value of "30" is associated with one growth item 650, and by giving one growth item 650 to the field character 602, the value of "30" is added to the first parameter of the field character 602 as the acquired parameter 632, and the value of the first parameter after the value is added is displayed in the first parameter display area 630. That is, the game control unit 210 adds the value associated with the growth item 650 given to the field character 602 to the first parameter before giving the growth item 650 to the field character 600, and calculates a new first parameter. In the examples of FIG. 14(b) and (c), the display in the first parameter display area 630 increases from "0" to "30". When the game control unit 210 gives a plurality of growth items 650 to the field character 602, the game control unit 210 sequentially adds the values ​​associated with each of the growth items 650 to the first parameter. Therefore, when one or more growth items 650 are given to the field character 602, the value associated with the given growth item 650 is added to the first parameter each time the growth item 650 is given, and the first parameter increases. Then, when the value of the first parameter reaches a predetermined reference value, the game control unit 210 increases the evaluation of the field character 600.

[0170] Thereafter, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges whether or not the user will start sleeping based on the user's instruction to start sleeping received via the input unit 102 in the same manner as in S16 (S76). If the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user will not start sleeping (No in S76), the game control unit 210 repeats S62. On the other hand, if the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user will start sleeping (Yes in S76), after receiving a setting or change of the target bedtime in the same manner as in S14 (S78), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 outputs a button for receiving an instruction to start sleep measurement from the user to the output unit 100. Then, when the sleep information acquisition unit 204 receives an instruction from the user to the button via the input unit 102, it starts acquiring the user's sleep information in the same manner as in S18 (S110). In response to the start of acquisition of the sleep information, the parameter control unit 206 records the first parameter at the start of the acquisition as a sleep start parameter.

[0171] ((c-1-1-2) Field character growth processing through cooking) A second method for increasing the first parameter is to cook a virtual dish in the game and give the cooked dish to the field character 602.

[0172] When the user instructs the game control unit 210 to cook (hereinafter referred to as "cooking instruction") via the input unit 102 ("cooking" in S62), the game control unit 210 gives the cooked food to the field character 602. Specifically, when the input unit 102 receives a user's operation (e.g., tap operation) on the field character 602 or a user's operation on a predetermined icon arranged at a predetermined location in the field 500, the game control unit 210 determines whether cooking is possible. For example, as shown in FIG. 16(b), a predetermined icon (e.g., a pot icon) arranged in the field is a cooking start button 774, and the game control unit 210 receives a user's tap operation on the cooking start button 774 or a tap operation on the field character 602 and starts determining whether cooking is possible.

[0173] The game control unit 210 refers to the time when the cooking instruction was received and the number of times cooking instructions have already been received on the day when the cooking instruction was received, and judges whether the cooking is within the period during which cooking is permitted and whether the number of times cooking is permitted (S80). For example, in the game system 1, the timing when food can be fed to the field character 602 is limited to each of the following periods: morning (e.g., 6:00 to 12:00), daytime (e.g., 12:00 to 18:00), and nighttime (e.g., 18:00 to 6:00 the next day). In addition, the number of times food can be fed to the field character 602 is limited to once in each period. In other words, the maximum number of times food can be fed to the field character 602 in one day is three times in total: once in the morning, once in the day, and once in the night.

[0174] When the game control unit 210 determines that it is a period during which cooking is permitted and the number of times cooking has been performed is within the permitted number of times (Yes in S80), a cooking execution button is displayed on the display unit 300 together with a dish image 660 as shown in FIG. 15(a). Two types of cooking execution buttons can be provided. The first is a cooking execution button 670 that automatically selects a recipe for a dish that can be cooked using ingredients for cooking that the user possesses (i.e., ingredient information stored in the user information storage unit 218) at the time when the user operates the cooking execution button (in FIG. 15(a), it is displayed as "Make with auto-selection"). The second is a cooking execution button 672 that executes cooking using ingredients selected by the user from ingredients for cooking that the user possesses at the time when the user operates the cooking execution button (in FIG. 15(a), it is displayed as "Make with select"). The game control unit 210 accepts a user's operation on the cooking execution button 670 or the cooking execution button 672 via the input unit 102, and executes cooking by consuming a predetermined amount of predetermined ingredients based on the instruction on either of the cooking execution buttons (S82).

[0175] When the user operates the cooking execution button 672, the game control unit 210 refers to the possessed item information recorded in the user information storage unit 218 and displays the ingredients possessed by the user on the display unit 300, and uses the type of ingredients selected by the user by determining the number of ingredients to be consumed from the displayed ingredients for cooking. The game control unit 210 deletes the ingredients used for cooking from the possessed item information. During cooking, the game control unit 210 can also refer to the game information storage unit 220 and display useful information on sleep (sleep tips) in a predetermined area of ​​the display unit 300. The sleep tips may be useful information stored in advance in the game information storage unit 220, or may be useful information obtained from an external server (which may be a server different from the server provided in the game system 1) via the communication network 80. The game control unit 210 then records the period and number of times the cooking was performed (for example, records the period and number of times the cooking was performed in the cooking information in the user information storage unit 218).

[0176] After the cooking is completed, the game control unit 210 determines the cooking result by lottery or randomly. The cooking result can be divided into several stages, for example, "normal" result, "great success" result, etc. The game control unit 210 also calculates the cooking parameters of the completed dish based on the ingredients used in the cooking (S84). That is, the ingredients of the dish are associated with predetermined points for each type of ingredient. The game control unit 210 calculates the cooking parameters based on the type and number of ingredients used in the cooking. For example, the game control unit 210 calculates a value for each ingredient used in the cooking by multiplying the ingredient point a (where a is a positive number) by the number of ingredients used b (where b is zero or a positive integer), and the sum of the calculated values ​​is set as the cooking parameter (cooking parameter based on ingredients). In addition, if a recipe level bonus exists for the recipe used in the cooking, the value obtained by adding the recipe level bonus value to the cooking parameter based on the ingredients is set as the final cooking parameter. As an example, when cooking using ingredients A and B, and a recipe level bonus exists, the final cooking parameter is "points of ingredient A x number of ingredients A + points of ingredient B x number of ingredients B + recipe level bonus value." Here, if the cooking result determined by the game control unit 210 is "great success," the final cooking parameter is a value obtained by multiplying the "cooking parameter based on ingredients" or the "cooking parameter based on ingredients plus recipe level bonus value" by a predetermined coefficient. This predetermined coefficient can be set appropriately taking into consideration the game balance, and can be set to "2," for example. As a result, when cooking is "great success," the cooking parameter (final cooking parameter) is calculated to be twice as high as when the cooking result is "normal."

[0177] The game control unit 210 gives the completed dish to the field character 602. For example, as shown in FIG. 15(b), the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 the scene of the field character 602 eating the dish 662. Then, the game control unit 210 adds the calculated final dish parameter to the first parameter at the time when cooking started to calculate a new first parameter, and displays it in the first parameter display area 630. As a result, the first parameter of the field character 602 increases compared to before the field character 602 ate the dish, and the field character 602 grows (S86).

[0178] The game control unit 210 increases the recipe level of a cooking recipe according to the number of times the recipe is used. The game control unit 210 then determines a recipe level bonus value according to the increase in the recipe level. The game control unit 210 updates the number of times the recipe has been used for the cooking stored in the user information storage unit 218 each time cooking is performed, updates the recipe level when the recipe level increases with the update of the number of times the recipe has been used, and / or updates the recipe level bonus value determined by the recipe level. This allows the user to increase the recipe level by repeatedly cooking using the same recipe, and even if the cooking result is not a "great success", the final cooking parameter can be increased by repeatedly cooking. Therefore, the user can easily increase the first parameter by continuing to play the game and repeatedly cooking.

[0179] Thereafter, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges whether or not the user starts to sleep based on the user's instruction to start sleeping received via the input unit 102, in the same manner as in S16 (S88). If the game control unit 210 judges that it is not a period during which cooking is permitted and / or that the number of cooking times is not within the number of times cooking is permitted (No in S80), it also executes S88. If the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user does not start to sleep (No in S88), the game control unit 210 repeats S62. On the other hand, if the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user starts to sleep (Yes in S88), the steps of S78 and S110 are executed as described above. In addition, in response to the start of acquisition of sleep information, the parameter control unit 206 records the first parameter at the start of acquisition as a sleep start parameter.

[0180] ((c-1-1-3) Game auxiliary processing) The game control unit 210 can also execute a game support process that allows the user to advance the game advantageously by making various items available to the user in response to the user's instructions. The game control unit 210 can also organize characters selected by the user into a party and treat characters belonging to the party as helper characters.

[0181] (Camping set processing) The game control unit 210 places a camp set 770 at a predetermined position on the field, as shown in Fig. 16(b). The camp set 770 generates advantageous game effects for the user for a predetermined time (for example, a unit game period, for example, one week (168 hours)) by consuming a predetermined item possessed by the user. Examples of advantageous game effects include the following effects. Effect a): When the event determination unit 212 determines by lottery the characters to appear around or on top of the field character 600 based on the second parameter, the number of characters determined by lottery is increased, and the friend points of the increased characters are granted to the user even if they are not maximized. Effect b): An effect of increasing the upper limit of a predetermined amount of a predetermined ingredient that can be used when the user performs cooking in S82 above. For example, the upper limit is increased by multiplying the predetermined amount by a predetermined coefficient. Effect c): The effect of shortening the collection time in S70 above and S90 described later (the effect of increasing the speed at which the helper character collects items). For example, the collection time is multiplied by a predetermined coefficient to shorten the collection time. Effect d) The effect of increasing the upper limit of the number of items that the helper character can possess. For example, the upper limit is increased by multiplying the quantity by a predetermined coefficient.

[0182] (Sleep aid item processing) As shown in FIG. 16(b), the game control unit 210 places an item set button 772 that allows the user to set a sleep aid item at a predetermined position on the field (in FIG. 16(b), it is displayed as "incense"). When the game control unit 210 receives a tap operation of the user on the item set button 772 via the input unit 102, the game control unit 210 displays a list of sleep aid items possessed by the user at the time of the reception on the display unit 300. Then, the game control unit 210 receives the user's selection and generates an effect associated with the sleep aid item selected by the user at the timing when the user next starts to sleep. The effect exerted by the sleep aid item is, for example, an effect of increasing the recovery amount in the recovery process of "energy" of the help character described in S56 (as an example, the recovery amount of "energy" determined based on the user's sleeping time is multiplied by a predetermined coefficient to increase the recovery amount). The effect exerted by the sleep aid item may differ depending on the type of sleep aid item. For example, the effect of a sleep aid item may be to increase the amount of "energy" recovered, or, separate from that, to increase the amount of experience points gained by the helping character (a value determined based on the user's active period, sleep time, etc.).

[0183] (Party formation process) The game control unit 210 can organize a party by receiving a selection instruction from the user of a character owned by the user via the input unit 102. The game control unit 210 can treat a character selected by the user to organize into a party as a helper character. The upper limit of the number of characters that can be included in a party is determined in advance. Each of the characters included in the party may have different types and / or different characteristics (level, personality, etc.). During the user's activity period, the game control unit 210 causes the characters included in the party to collect items in the above S70 and the description of S90 described later. That is, the game control unit 210 performs a lottery based on the type and / or characteristics, etc. of each character included in the party, and causes each character to possess the growth item 650 and / or cooking material by associating the growth item 650 and / or cooking material with each character.

[0184] ((c-1-2) Field character automatic growth processing) A third method for increasing the first parameter is for the user to perform no operation during the active period. Figure 17 shows an example of an outline of the process flow of the game system 1 in this case.

[0185] When there is no instruction to give an item from the user via the input unit 102 ("No instruction" in S62), the game control unit 210 judges whether or not a predetermined time (i.e., collection time) has elapsed (S90). When the collection time has not elapsed (No in S90), the game control unit 210 waits until the collection time has elapsed. When the collection time has elapsed (Yes in S90), the game control unit 210 determines the type of item by lottery, and causes the helping character 760 to possess a predetermined number of items of the determined type, and decreases the "energy" parameter (S92). The item to be increased may be only the growth item 650. Then, the game control unit 210 changes the length of the collection time with the decrease in the "energy" parameter (S94). For example, the game control unit 210 changes the collection time to a longer time. When there are multiple helping characters 760, the game control unit 210 executes the processes of S90 to S94 for each of the multiple helping characters 760.

[0186] The collection time may be different for each type of helping character 760. Furthermore, the game control unit 210 can set the amount of items to be possessed by the helping character 760 when the collection time has elapsed to, for example, "one item" and set the amount of decrease in the "energy" parameter to, for example, the minimum unit amount of "energy" (for example, one "energy"). However, the amount of items determined by lottery (and the maximum number of items that the character can possess) and / or the amount of decrease in the "energy" parameter may be different depending on the type of helping character 760. Furthermore, the type of item (type of growth item 650) that the game control unit 210 possesses by the helping character 760, i.e., the type of item determined by lottery, may be different for each type of helping character 760.

[0187] Then, when the user instructs to give an item via the input unit 102 (Yes in S96), the game control unit 210 executes the process from S70 onwards. On the other hand, when the user does not instruct to give an item (No in S96), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines whether or not the user starts sleeping based on the user's instruction to start sleeping received via the input unit 102, in the same manner as in S16 (S98). When the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user does not start sleeping (No in S98), the game control unit 210 repeats S90. On the other hand, when the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user starts sleeping (Yes in S98), the parameter control unit 206 executes automatic growth processing of the field character (S100). In the following, an example in which the parameter control unit 206 executes the automatic growth processing will be described, but the automatic growth processing may be executed by the game control unit 210.

[0188] Specifically, the parameter control unit 206 adds a value associated with one or more items that the game control unit 210 has caused the helping character 760 to possess, i.e., one or more growth items 650, to the first parameter at the timing when the sleep information acquisition unit 204 determines that the user has started to sleep, and calculates a new first parameter. For example, as shown in Fig. 16(a), the parameter control unit 206 displays the value to be added in an automatically acquired parameter display area 764 of the display unit 300 (in Fig. 16(a), a value of "360" is displayed as "acquired energy"), and displays the total value of the values ​​associated with one or more items that the helping character has possessed for each helping character as an automatically acquired parameter 766 (in Fig. 16(a), a value of "360" is displayed in association with the helping character named "P").

[0189] Thus, even if the user does not operate the game during the user's activity period, the game system 1 can give the growth items 650 automatically collected by the helping character 760 to the field character 602 to increase the first parameter. Also, in the game system 1, even if the user does not operate the game during the user's activity period, the helping character 760 automatically collects items, but it is also possible to express that the "energy" of the helping character 760 decreases as the items are collected (the helping character 760 becomes tired) and the time it takes to collect items gradually becomes longer.

[0190] Here, the parameter control unit 206 may execute the automatic growth process in response to the user's selection even when the game is not running. The user may execute the above-mentioned camping set process, sleep aid item process, and party organization process at any time during the time period (i.e., during the activity period) except when the user is sleeping. However, in order to generate a predetermined effect based on these processes in association with the user's sleep information, the user must execute these processes before sleeping that time.

[0191] [(c-2) Processing after sleep onset] After the automatic growth process of the field character in S100 is executed, the game control unit 210 accepts the setting of a bedtime goal (S102) in the same manner as in S78. Here, the game control unit 210 allows the setting and modification of sleep aid items to be accepted together with the setting of the bedtime goal. For example, the game control unit 210 displays a goal setting button 790 for accepting the setting of a bedtime goal on the display unit 300 together with setting buttons for sleep aid items (item set button 780, item set button 782) as shown in FIG. 16(c).

[0192] (Settings for sleep aid items) When the input unit 102 receives a tap operation by the user on the item set button 780 and / or the item set button 782 as shown in FIG. 16(c), the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 a list of sleep aid items possessed by the user at the time of the reception. Then, the game control unit 210 receives the user's selection, enables the use of the sleep aid item selected by the user, and superimposes an image of the sleep aid item selected by the user on each of the item set button 780 and / or the item set button 782. The game control unit 210 generates the effect of the sleep aid item at the timing when the user starts to sleep. The effect of the sleep aid item is the same as that described above.

[0193] (Setting bedtime goal) When the input unit 102 receives a tap operation by the user on the goal setting button 790, the game control unit 210 enables setting of a bedtime goal or accepting processing to change an already set bedtime goal. The specific setting process is the same as S14, so a detailed description will be omitted.

[0194] Then, when the input unit 102 receives a tap operation by the user on a predetermined button 420 (a button displaying "sleep" in the example of FIG. 16(c)) displayed on the display unit 300, the game control unit 210 starts sleep measurement (S110). In addition, in response to the start of acquisition of sleep information (start of sleep measurement), the parameter control unit 206 records a first parameter (a first parameter after execution of the automatic growth process of the field character) at the start of the acquisition as a sleep start parameter. Note that, when the game control unit 210 starts sleep measurement, it may store information indicating the start of sleep measurement in the user information storage unit 218. In addition, the processes from S110 to S200 (acquisition of environmental sound, and setting of an alarm and a sleep-inducing sound, etc.) are similar to the processes from S18 to S20, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0195] [(c-3) Processing upon waking up] Then, after the user wakes up, a sleep research is executed. Fig. 18 shows an example of an outline of the flow of processing when the user wakes up in a unit game period that does not include a tutorial.

[0196] First, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges whether the user has woken up, as in S20 (S200). If the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user has not woken up (No in S200), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 continues acquiring the sleep information. On the other hand, if the sleep information acquisition unit 204 judges that the user has woken up (Yes in S200), the sleep information acquisition unit 204 stops acquiring the sleep information of the user measured by the sleep measurement unit 11, as in S22 (S202). The game control unit 210 collectively records the sleep information acquired at the timing of the acquisition stop in the user information storage unit 218 as sleep information (if the user information storage unit 218 exists in the server, the sleep information is collectively supplied from the terminal device 10 to the user information storage unit 218 of the server).

[0197] Next, the game control unit 210 accepts a selection by the user via the input unit 102 and determines whether or not to output the sleep report from the output unit 100 (S204). If the user selects not to view the sleep report (No in S204), the game control unit 210 skips displaying the sleep report and displays a home screen on the display unit 300 (S216). On the other hand, if the user selects to view the sleep report (Yes in S204), the game control unit 210 outputs the sleep report to the display unit 300 in the same manner as in S24 (S206). Then, the game control unit 210 executes a process of displaying sleep parameters (S208), a process of displaying a sleep graph (S210), and a process of determining a sleep type (S212), and the event determination unit 212 executes a process of calculating a second parameter (S214). Here, the same processing as S208, S210, S28, S30, and S32 is executed in the same manner as S26, S212, S30, and S214, respectively, and therefore detailed explanations are omitted.

[0198] After the game control unit 210 displays the home screen (S216), when a request to display a sleep report is received, sleep research is executed in the same manner as in S40 (S218). That is, the event determination unit 212 executes a lottery using a predetermined lottery table based on the calculated second parameter, and determines the characters that will appear around the field character 602, etc. The game control unit 210 arranges the sleeping face images of the characters determined by the event determination unit 212 around the field character 602, etc., and displays them on the display unit 300. Then, the game control unit 210 accepts a character designation operation by a tap operation by the user on the character that appeared on the display unit 300 via the input unit 102. When the game control unit 210 accepts the operation via the input unit 102, it records the sleeping face image of the designated character designated by the user at the time of the designation in the sleeping face picture book information of the user information storage unit 218. Here, when the game control unit 210 determines that a sleeping face of a new character has been found, it displays new sleeping face picture book information on the display unit 300. Furthermore, the game control unit 210 displays images recorded so far as sleeping face picture book information (in the case of a newly discovered character, an image of the day may be displayed) in the image list display area 712 together with the picture book description 710 of the character. As a result, the sleeping face of the character that has newly appeared around the field character 602 is registered in the sleeping face picture book information in the user information storage unit 218. On the other hand, if the sleeping face image of the designated character is already stored in the user information storage unit 218, the game control unit 210 determines that the sleeping face of the already discovered character has been designated. Then, the game control unit 210 does not execute display of new sleeping face picture book information, but displays the sleeping face image displayed on the display unit 300 at the time of designation as the acquired image 720 on the display unit 300 together with the minimum information on the discovered character.

[0199] In addition, when the event determination unit 212 determines the character to appear by performing a lottery based on the second parameter (i.e., when a character is selected by lottery), a character with an extremely special sleeping face (hereinafter referred to as a "special sleeping face character") may be selected. For example, the event determination unit 212 determines the type of character to appear by performing a lottery based on the second parameter, and then determines whether the character is a special sleeping face character by lottery (special lottery). The probability of winning the special lottery may be a fixed probability for any character, regardless of the rarity of the character's sleeping face, etc. However, the probability of winning the special lottery may be lower than the probability used in determining the character to appear in the field performed based on the second parameter.

[0200] The game control unit 210 accepts the user's character instruction and performs research in the same manner as described above until research is completed for all characters that have appeared around the field character 600 (No in S220). On the other hand, when research is completed for all characters (Yes in S220), the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display that the research is completed.

[0201] Next, the game control unit 210 executes a process of whether or not to grant an intimacy improvement item to the character that has appeared, similar to S44 (S222). If the user selects not to grant an intimacy improvement item to the character that has appeared (No in S222), the game control unit 210 displays the sleep research result on the display unit 300 (S228). On the other hand, if the user selects to grant an intimacy improvement item to the character that has appeared (Yes in S222), the game control unit 210 executes a process similar to the process after Yes in S44 (the process of S46 and S48). That is, the process of S224 (the process of determining whether the friend points have reached the maximum value) is similar to the process of S46, and the process of S226 (the process of granting the character that has appeared to the user) is similar to the process of S48, so detailed explanations will be omitted. If the friend points have not reached the maximum value (No in S224), or if the friend points have reached the maximum value (Yes in S224), the game control unit 210 grants the user a character that appears (S226), and then displays the sleep research results on the display unit 300 (S228) in the same manner as in S50. Furthermore, the game control unit 210 grants the user a reward (S230) in the same manner as in S52.

[0202] If the user selects to give the special sleeping character an item for improving intimacy (Yes in S222), the game control unit 210 gives the special sleeping character to the user regardless of the value of the friend points. Although the probability that the special sleeping character will appear on the field is extremely low, once the special sleeping character appears on the field, the user can acquire the character by simply giving the special sleeping character an item for improving intimacy. In the game system 1, a predetermined lottery is executed based on the sleep information of the user's sleep. Here, for a human user, sleep is not an action that can be taken multiple times in a day. In other words, a user cannot sleep many times in a day (repeatedly sleeping and waking up), and can only sleep once a day, so the number of times that the user can execute the lottery in a day is limited to one (multiple lotteries cannot be executed in the first place). In this respect, it is different from a game in which multiple lotteries can be executed in a day like a normal game, or a game in which a lottery can be executed only once a day by game design. Therefore, when a special sleeping character appears on the field, the game system 1 allows the user to acquire the character simply by giving the special sleeping character an intimacy improvement item, thereby preventing the user from feeling disappointed when the special sleeping character appears but cannot be acquired.

[0203] After providing the reward to the user, the game control unit 210 judges whether the day on which the reward was provided is the last day of the unit game period (S232). If the game control unit 210 judges that it is not the last day (No in S232), it executes the growth process of the helping character as in S56 (S234). That is, the game control unit 210 executes the process of restoring the "energy" of the helping character and the process of providing experience points (basic EXP) based on the user's sleep information (sleep time) as the growth process of the helping character.

[0204] After the growth process of the helping character, the parameter control unit 206 automatically grows the field character 602 by increasing the first parameter by a predetermined amount based on the user's sleep information for that day (S236). That is, the game control unit 210 determines the type and number of growth items 650 by lottery based on the type and / or characteristics of the helping characters organized in the party every time a predetermined time (i.e., collection time) has passed since the timing when the user's sleep measurement started (the timing when S110 started), and associates the determined type and number of growth items 650 with the helping character to make it possessed by the helping character. Note that ingredients for cooking are not selected in this lottery.

[0205] The collection time may be different for each type of helping character. In addition, the game control unit 210 may determine by lottery the type of growth item 650 to be possessed by the helping character when the collection time has elapsed, and the number of growth items 650 may be preset to, for example, "one." In addition, the type of growth item 650 determined by lottery may be different depending on the type of helping character.

[0206] The game control unit 210 executes a lottery every time the collection time elapses until the user wakes up (until Yes in S200), and associates the type and number of growth items 650 determined by the lottery with the helping character. Here, when automatic growth processing of the field character during the user's activity period is executed (see the explanation of (c-1-2)), the "energy" of the helping character decreases every time the collection time elapses. However, in the processing in S236, while the user is sleeping, the helping character organized in the party is also considered to be resting, and the "energy" is restored according to the user's sleeping time. In other words, the game control unit 210 executes processing different from the processing during the activity period, in which the helping character organized in the party automatically collects the growth items 650 while the user is sleeping, but the "energy" is restored without being decreased.

[0207] The amount of "energy" recovered by the helping character varies based on a predetermined characteristic (e.g., personality, etc.) of the helping character and / or whether or not the user has set a predetermined item (e.g., a sleep aid item) before going to sleep that day. For example, if the user sets a sleep aid item before going to bed, the amount of "energy" recovered increases according to the type of sleep aid item set, compared to when the item is not set. Here, the helping character whose amount of "energy" is recovered may be only the helping character that is in the party. However, in a modified example of the game system 1, the amount of "energy" may also be recovered for characters that are not in the party but are stored in the user information storage unit 218 (i.e., characters owned by the user) according to the user's sleep. In addition, the game system 1 may provide the user with a sleep aid item that has the function of restoring the amount of "energy" of characters not in a party in accordance with the user's sleep, and when the user sets the sleep aid item, the amount of "energy" of characters not in a party may also be restored in accordance with the user's sleep (note that in this case, the amount of recovery may be set to be less than the amount of recovery of a helping character in a party).

[0208] When there are multiple help characters, the game control unit 210 executes the same process for each of the multiple help characters. Then, the parameter control unit 206 adds the value associated with each of the one or more growth items 650 that the game control unit 210 has the help character 760 possess every time the collection time elapses (every time the collection time elapses while the user is asleep) to the first parameter at any timing between the timing when the calculation of the second parameter is completed (after S214) and the timing when the reward is given to the user (the timing of S230) to calculate a new first parameter (this new first parameter is used when waking up after the next sleep). In other words, the value determined based on the growth items collected by the help character while the user is asleep is added to the first parameter at any timing after the calculation process of the second parameter is completed when the user wakes up. This allows the game system 1 to automatically give the growth items 650 automatically collected by the helper character while the user is sleeping to the field character 602 to increase the first parameter, so that even if the user does not play the game at all during the activity period, the first parameter can be obtained as long as the sleep measurement is performed. As a result, the second parameter is calculated as long as the user sleeps, so that any user can enjoy the game without being left behind. Then, the game control unit 210 displays the home screen (S238) and repeats the process from S60. That is, the same process is repeated from the first day of the unit game period to the day before the last day.

[0209] (Regarding the first parameter during the unit game period) During the unit game period, the first parameter of the field character is increased by each process such as "field character growth process by items / cooking" during the user's activity period, "field character automatic growth process" during the activity period, and / or "field character automatic growth process based on sleep". That is, the first parameter is increased by "field character growth process by items / cooking" or "field character automatic growth process" during the activity period at least on the nth day (n is an integer of 1 or more) of the unit game period, and is once recorded as a sleep start parameter when the user starts to go to bed, and is used to calculate the second parameter when the user wakes up on the n+1th day. Then, after being used to calculate the second parameter, the first parameter is further increased by "field character automatic growth process based on sleep" to become a new first parameter, and further increases during the activity period on the n+1th day in the same way as on the nth day. In this way, during the unit game period, the first parameter is gradually accumulated and increased as the days pass from the first day.

[0210] <(D) Processing on the last day of the unit game period> After giving the reward to the user, the game control unit 210 judges whether the day on which the reward was given is the last day of the unit game period (S232), and if it is judged to be the last day (Yes in S232), executes processing for the last day. As shown in FIG. 19, first, the game control unit 210 resets the first parameter accumulated in the unit game period (S250). As a result, the first parameter becomes "0" once. Here, the game control unit 210 does not reset various parameters other than the first parameter and parameters related to the first parameter, but carries them over to the next unit game period. As an example, the game control unit 210 resets the following parameters or elements, and carries over other parameters or elements to the next unit game period.

[0211] (Parameters or elements to be reset on the last day of the unit game period) First parameter -Evaluation of field characters determined based on the first parameter ·Mission information (Mission information)

[0212] (Parameters or elements carried over to the next unit game period) User Rank - Various statuses of the helper character (level, skills, amount of sleep spent with the user, etc.) Possessed items (growth items and materials collected by the helper character and not given to the field character, items for improving intimacy, sleep aid items, and / or other items acquired or purchased in the game) Sleep Point Research note collection status (research note information) The collection status of the sleeping face picture book (i.e., the sleeping face picture book information that has been accumulated) and the goal regarding the sleeping face picture book (for example, information regarding a predetermined goal proposed to the user by the game control unit 210 and aimed at completing the sleeping face picture book) Data on the user's sleep (sleep data), information on the user's sleep rhythm (i.e., information on the user's sleep rhythm per unit game period, e.g., per week, and a predetermined evaluation of that information, etc.), sleep statistics (e.g., information on the time the user wakes up, information on the time the user goes to bed, etc.) - Information on the stamp card showing progress towards your bedtime goal

[0213] Next, the game control unit 210 displays a summary of the game evaluations for the unit game period (here, one week) on the display unit 300 (S252). For example, as shown in Fig. 20(a), the game control unit 210 displays a character evaluation 940, which is an evaluation of the field character 602 determined based on the total of the first parameters, on the display unit 300, and displays the total of the first parameters of the field character 602 for the unit game period and a breakdown of the total of the first parameters in an acquired parameter display area 942 near the character evaluation 940.

[0214] The evaluation of the field character 602 (displayed as "Character Evaluation" and "Super 4" in FIG. 20(a)) is determined based on the total of the first parameters accumulated in the unit game period (displayed as "Total Energy" and "60,106" in FIG. 20(a)). The evaluation may be high depending on the size of the total of the first parameters. Note that the breakdown of the total of the first parameters accumulated in the unit game period, that is, the amount of the first parameter increased by the growth item 650 (displayed as "Energy from Berries" and "48,246" in FIG. 20(a)), the amount of the first parameter increased by cooking (displayed as "Energy from Cooking" and "11,485" in FIG. 20(a)), and the amount of the first parameter increased by other factors (the amount of increase by other factors is not shown in FIG. 20(a)) are displayed as numerical values ​​as shown in FIG. 20(a).

[0215] In addition, the game control unit 210 displays, as a summary of the game evaluation, an evaluation display 950 of the overall evaluation for the user, summary data 952 of the user's sleep (e.g., data on the appropriateness of the length of the user's sleep time, the ratio of a predetermined depth of sleep to the sleep time, etc.), a summary graph 954 from the sleep start time to the wake-up time for each day in the unit game period, and / or details of the sleep time 956 for each day in the unit game period (i.e., the length of the sleep time for each day) on the display unit 300, as shown in FIG. 20(b) and FIG. 20(c). This allows the user to objectively grasp the state of his / her own sleep during the unit game period. Note that FIG. 20(b) and FIG. 20(c) are continuous information, and when the user performs a swipe operation on the display unit 300 in FIG. 20(b), the game control unit 210 moves the information from FIG. 20(b) to FIG. 20(c) and displays it on the display unit 300.

[0216] After displaying the evaluation for one week, the game control unit 210 ends the game (sleep research) in the field 500 and the field character 602 selected by the user on the first day of the unit game period. In this case, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to output an effect in which the user leaves the field 500 and the field character 602 says goodbye to the user. Next, the game control unit 210 causes the user to select a new field 500 as the first step of the process for starting the next unit game period (S254). The process in S254 is the same as the process in S54, so a detailed description is omitted. When the unit game period becomes the next unit game period (for example, when the first day of the first unit game period is Monday, when the next week comes), the field changes to a new field, so a new field character is selected. In other words, the user can experience parting with the field character of the previous week and having the field character of the new field become his / her game partner at the timing when the unit game period up to the previous week ends and the unit game period of the next week begins.

[0217] However, the game control unit 210 also permits the user to again select the same field 500. In this case, the game control unit 210 selects a field character that is different from the field character 602 in the previous unit game period, although it is the same field 500.

[0218] When the user selects a new field, a new field character is selected, and the new field character is associated with predetermined favorite information 604 and predetermined request information 606. A new field character is also selected when the user selects a field that has been selected before as a new field. When the user selects a new field, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display the favorite information 604 and request information 606 of the new field. The user can refer to this display and organize a party of helper characters that is advantageous for the progress of the game. For example, the user can consider incorporating a helper character that is easy to collect a predetermined item indicated by the favorite information 604 of the field character into the party, and / or incorporating a helper character that is easy to collect ingredients for cooking indicated by the request information 606 into the party. This allows the game system 1 to enjoy combinations of helper characters for field characters in party organization.

[0219] After the user selects a new field, the game control unit 210 executes the growth process of the helper character in the same manner as in S234 (S256). Next, the parameter control unit 206 increases the first parameter by a predetermined amount based on the user's sleep information (in this case, the sleep information on the last day of the previous unit game period) in the same manner as in S236, thereby automatically growing the newly selected field character (S258). Then, the game control unit 210 displays the home screen (S260) and executes the processes from S60 onward.

[0220] <(E) Other processing> In the game system 1, the game control unit 210 can also execute the following various types of processing mainly during the user's activity period.

[0221] [(e-1) Main Menu] FIG. 21 shows an example of an outline of the main menu of the game displayed on the display unit of the game system according to this embodiment.

[0222] The game control unit 210 displays the following various menus 970 on the display unit 300 in the main menu together with a sleep graph 960 and an average sleep time 962 showing the sleep score in the unit game period of the game currently being played by the user. When the game control unit 210 receives a selection instruction for a predetermined menu from the user via the input unit 102, it displays predetermined information related to the selected menu on the display unit 300 and executes a predetermined process in the selected menu based on the predetermined user instruction received in the selected menu. Note that the horizontal axis of the sleep graph 960 indicates the date and day of the week of each day included in the unit game period, and the vertical axis indicates the sleep parameters calculated for each day by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208. The average sleep time 962 may be an arithmetic mean of the sleep time calculated from the user's sleep information for each day in the unit game period.

[0223] Menu A): "Sleeping Face Picture Book" This is a menu that displays information such as the sleeping faces of characters recorded in the sleeping face picture book information of the user information storage unit 218 (images of the sleeping faces and sleeping postures of characters that appeared in the sleep research and were acquired by the user giving a specific instruction, information such as the status and explanation of the characters) on the display unit 300. Note that special sleeping face characters are also recorded in the sleeping face picture book information. Here, when one type of image of one character, another type of image of one character, and one type of image of a special sleeping face character corresponding to one type of image of one character are recorded in the sleeping face picture book information, the game control unit 210 can display the image of one type of special sleeping face character on the display unit 300, but does not display the images of the other types of special sleeping face characters on the display unit 300 because images of other types of special sleeping face characters corresponding to the other types of images are not recorded. Menu B): "Sleep Data" This is a menu for displaying the user's sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 on the display unit 300. The sleep information displayed includes, for example, the user's average sleep time during a unit game period, the sleep time for each day of the unit game period, the actual depth and quality of sleep during the unit game period, and environmental sound data during sleep. Menu c): "Research Notes" This is a menu that allows the user to refer to the names and descriptions of various items that the user has discovered while playing the game (including growth items, cooking ingredients, and other items given as game rewards but which the user does not possess), and / or items (growth items) and dishes that the user has given to their field characters. Menu d): "Sleep Analysis" This is a menu that displays on the display unit 300 the analysis results of the user's sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204. Examples of the analysis results include the average sleep time for each day of the week calculated using the user's sleep information in the past unit game period, information on the user's sleep rhythm, and / or statistical information on the user's sleep. Note that the method of displaying the information on the time period when the user wakes up and the information on the time period when the user goes to bed as statistical information on the user's sleep is, for example, to plot the time on the horizontal axis (however, scaled at a predetermined time interval, for example, 15-minute intervals) and the cumulative number of times the user woke up / went to bed in the corresponding time period on the vertical axis. As an example, a graph of wake-up / sleep times is configured by marking the horizontal axis at 15-minute intervals and displaying the cumulative number of times the user woke up / went to sleep between a certain time x and 15 minutes after that time x (for example, the number of times the user woke up between 7:30 and 7:45 is displayed as a bar graph at the position on the horizontal axis corresponding to 7:30 to 7:45, and the number of times the user woke up between 7:45 and 8:00 is displayed as a bar graph at the position on the horizontal axis corresponding to 7:45 to 8:00). Menu e): "Bags" This is a menu that allows the user to refer to the names and descriptions of various items (growth items, cooking ingredients, and other items given as game rewards, etc.) that the user has acquired by playing the game and that the user possesses at the time the user's selection instruction for the "bag" is received. Menu f): "Social Research" In response to a user's instruction, the game control unit 210 supplies predetermined information (for example, friend request information requesting a friend setting in which the user and the other user become friends) to the terminal device 10 of the other user via the communication network 80, and if the other user agrees to the predetermined information, the user and the other user are set as friends. "Social research" is a menu that allows the execution of a sharing setting of predetermined game data with friends. Examples of information that can be set as shared include the sleep score of that day, the value of the second parameter of that day, the sleep type of that day, the total sleeping time, the maximum value of the second parameter in the past, and the sleeping face of the character acquired by the user. The information that has been set as shared can be referred to by other users on the terminal device 10 of the other user. Menu g): "Map Menu" This is a menu that displays a map of the virtual space in the game system 1. For example, it is possible to display the entire virtual space and details of each field. Menu h): "Submenu" Various other menus may be included, such as a menu for changing the user's name, a menu for transferring game data when the user switches from the terminal device 10 to another terminal device, an account linking processing menu, notifications from game providers, etc.

[0224] [(e-2) Leveling up and evolving helper characters] FIG. 22 shows an example of an outline of the flow of the level-up and evolution process of the helping character in the game system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0225] (Prerequisites for a Helping Character) First, the game control unit 210 can display the possessed character information in the user information storage unit 218, for example, in a state in which the possessed character is in a predetermined box (character box) on the display unit 300. Then, when the game control unit 210 receives a predetermined operation instruction for the box from the user via the input unit 102, it displays the state inside the box on the display unit 300. For each one or more characters in the box, the game control unit 210 displays the character's name, nature, special points, energy parameters, experience points, level, condition information required for leveling up (leveling up conditions), skills, evolution information, condition information required for evolution (evolution conditions), helping abilities (i.e., information on the type of growth items 650 that the character can easily collect in the field 500 and the maximum number that can be collected, and the type of materials and the maximum number that can be collected), sleeping time slept with the user, cumulative time in a party-organized state (the time of the user's active period in a party-organized state or the user's sleeping time in a party-organized state, or the total time of the user's active period in a party-organized state and the user's sleeping time in a party-organized state), time and place where the character met the user (i.e., the time when the user acquired the character they possess and the name of the field).

[0226] The experience value (basic EXP) may be determined, for example, according to the length of the user's active period while the helping character is in the party, the length of the user's sleep time, and / or the type and number of predetermined items collected by the helping character during the active period (i.e., the type and number of items determined by lottery). The level is determined according to the cumulative value of the experience value acquired by the helping character (note that the experience value is also added by giving a predetermined "candy" item to the helping character). The level-up condition may be, for example, a condition that the cumulative value of the experience value reaches a predetermined threshold (this threshold may increase according to the level). The evolution condition may be, for example, that the level of the helping character reaches a predetermined level and that a predetermined amount of a predetermined item (e.g., "candy") is consumed.

[0227] Here, the helping ability improves with leveling up. For example, the types of growth items 650 that are easy to collect and / or the maximum number that can be collected can be increased when the character exceeds a predetermined level. Also, a skill is a special function that each character has, and is a function that generates an advantageous effect in the game. The game control unit 210 activates a skill every time a predetermined time elapses or when the input unit 102 receives a user's instruction for a character that has a skill, and generates an advantageous effect in the game (for example, addition of a predetermined value to the first parameter due to the occurrence of a skill, acquisition of a predetermined item (for example, an item that can be given to the helping character to gain experience points or an item used to evolve the helping character), collection of items before the collection time has elapsed, a time-limited improvement of the helping ability, recovery of the "energy" parameter, etc.). When the character's level increases, the number of skills also increases.

[0228] In addition, the type of skill that the character possesses at the time when the character is granted to the user by lottery is also determined by lottery. In this case, when the game control unit 210 determines by lottery a character that is already recorded in the possessed character information in the user information storage unit 218, it may determine that the user already possesses the same character, and may make it easier for the newly determined character to win a skill that generates a more advantageous effect than the character already possessed by the user.

[0229] The sleeping time slept together with the user is a numerical value obtained by accumulating the sleeping time of the user when the user sleeps with the character organized in a party. When the user sleeps with the character organized in a party, the sleeping time slept together with the user increases. Note that, apart from the sleeping time slept together with the user, a parameter indicating the relationship between the user and the character may be increased according to the length of the sleeping time slept together with the user.

[0230] (Leveling up / evolving your helper characters) The game control unit 210 grants each of one or more helping characters organized in the party an experience value determined based on the length of the sleeping time included in the user's sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204, and an experience value determined based on the length of the activity period (S300). In this way, each helping character acquires an experience value. The game control unit 210 determines whether the experience value acquired by the helping character is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (S302). This predetermined value may be a different value for each type and characteristic of the helping character. If the experience value acquired by the helping character is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value (No in S302), the game control unit repeats S300.

[0231] On the other hand, when the experience value acquired by the helping character reaches or exceeds a predetermined value (Yes in S302), the game control unit 210 enables the execution of level-up of the helping character (S304). For example, when a predetermined operation instruction is received from the user via the input unit 102 for the character box, the game control unit 210 displays the state inside the box on the display unit 300. Then, the game control unit 210 displays information on the character selected by the user in response to the selection instruction of the user. When it is possible to execute level-up of the character, the game control unit 210 displays on the display unit 300 that the level-up is possible. Then, when an instruction to level-up the character is received from the user, the game control unit 210 executes level-up of the character (S306). The character's helping ability is improved by the level-up, and / or a predetermined skill is given (the type of skill may be determined by lottery). It should be noted that the game control unit 210 may execute level-up of the character even without an instruction from the user.

[0232] Furthermore, the game control unit 210 judges whether the user has a predetermined number of predetermined items (S308). If the user does not have the predetermined number of predetermined items (No in S308), the game control unit 210 repeats S300. If the user has the predetermined number of predetermined items (Yes in S308), the game control unit 210 enables the evolution process of the helper character (S310). Then, when an instruction to evolve the character is received from the user, the game control unit 210 executes the evolution process of the character in exchange for consuming a predetermined number of predetermined items held by the user (S312). As a result, the character becomes an evolved character after evolution. The predetermined items may be one type or multiple types. The evolved character may be set to have a larger amount of energy, a larger maximum number of growth items that can be possessed, a larger maximum number of materials that can be possessed, etc., than the character before evolution.

[0233] The specific character can be evolved by sleeping with the user for a certain period of time. That is, instead of judging in S308 whether the user has a certain number of specific items, the game control unit 210 executes evolution of the specific character (S312) when the user sleeps with the specific character in a party and the user's sleeping time or the accumulated time of the user's sleeping time is equal to or longer than a predetermined length of time (evolution time).

[0234] [(e-3) Changing sleep information manually] When the user forgets to measure the sleep information, the game system 1 allows the user to manually acquire the sleep information. That is, the game system 1 generates modified sleep information based on the bedtime and wake-up time manually input by the user, without using the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 based on the measurement results of the sensor using the sleep measurement unit 11. The game system 1 can then use this modified sleep information instead of the sleep information to execute processes such as game event processing, recovery of predetermined parameters of a character such as a helper character owned by the user, and granting of predetermined items to the user. As a result, the game system 1 makes it easier for the user to continue playing the game even if the user forgets to acquire the sleep information, for example.

[0235] First, when outputting the sleep report described in S206, for example, the game control unit 210 displays a predetermined operator that accepts a request / unnecessity of modifying or registering at least a part of the sleep information on the display unit 300 as shown in FIG. 23, and accepts the presence or absence of an instruction to change the sleep information (S400). When the game control unit 210 accepts a user's operation input (hereinafter referred to as "manual input") in response to a request to register the operator via the input unit 102 (Yes in S400), the game control unit 210 outputs a form that accepts the contents of the modification or registration to the output unit 100. When the game control unit 210 acquires the input contents related to the user's sleep start time and / or wake-up time in the form (hereinafter referred to as "manual input form") via the input unit 102, it generates changed sleep information based on the input contents (S402). Next, the event determination unit 212 determines a game event to be generated based on the changed sleep information, and the game control unit 210 determines a predetermined process such as a game effect based on the changed sleep information (S404). The game control unit 210 accepts only the latest sleep information as the user's input. The game control unit 210 may not accept a date and time beyond a predetermined time in the past as the sleep start time and wake-up time. The game control unit 210 also does not accept a manual input when the manually input sleep start time and / or wake-up time overlaps with the user's past sleep start time and / or wake-up time. The predetermined time from the time of accepting the manual input may be a length that allows the user to input changed sleep information with ample time even if the timing at which the user realizes that he or she has forgotten to start sleep measurement on a certain day exceeds the timing of going to bed the next day of the certain day. For example, the predetermined time may be within 30 hours.

[0236] On the other hand, when the game control unit 210 receives an operation input for the relevant operator that corresponds to the fact that at least a part of the sleep information does not need to be corrected or registered via the input unit 102 (No in S400), the event determination unit 212 determines a game event to be generated based on the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204, and the game control unit 210 formally determines a predetermined process such as a game effect based on the sleep information (S404). When there is no sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204, the event determination unit 212 may predetermine a game effect for the case where there is no sleep information, and may determine a predetermined process such as the game effect that has been predetermined. After the game effect is formally determined based on the sleep information or the changed sleep information, the game control unit 210 confirms the content of the sleep information or the changed sleep information used to determine the game effect, and prohibits a part or all of the content from being corrected and / or registered until the user next starts sleeping (S406). In other words, once the game effects, game events, etc. for the day the user woke up have been determined, the game control unit 210 prohibits the generation of changed sleep information by revising the sleep information or changed sleep information used by the game control unit 210 to determine the effects, etc. This makes it possible to prevent the user from rewriting the sleep information to appropriate content after obtaining a reward by determining the game effects, etc. based on changed sleep information using inappropriate sleep information.

[0237] [(e-4) Sleep path processing] The game system 1 can provide a user with a pass (sleep pass) that provides a user with a specific benefit by playing a sleep game. Two types of sleep passes can be set: a "normal pass" for non-paying users and a "premium pass" for paying users.

[0238] (Normal Path) The game control unit 210 may grant a normal pass to a user when the user starts a game (specifically, after the game starts and the tutorial ends). A user who possesses a normal pass is granted the following privileges. Benefit a): Sleep points are awarded based on the sleep score calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208. For example, one sleep point is awarded for every one point of the sleep score. Benefit b): The user's sleep data can be referenced for a predetermined number of days (for example, the past 60 days). In other words, in benefit b), the user can only reference a predetermined number of days' worth of his / her own sleep information recorded in the sleep information in the user information storage unit 218, rather than all of the sleep information. Note that while the sleep information in the user information storage unit 218 records all of the sleep information from the time the user starts the game, a user who has played the normal path can only reference sleep information from the present time back a predetermined number of days, rather than all of the sleep information.

[0239] The game control unit 210 can provide an exchange in the game where a user can obtain a specific item in exchange for consuming sleep points. A user who has a normal pass can obtain a specific item in exchange for consuming sleep points at the "normal exchange." The "normal exchange" can be used by any user who has a sleep pass, regardless of the type of sleep pass.

[0240] (Premium Pass) The game control unit 210 grants a premium pass to a user in response to the user's payment of real currency (purchase price). A user who possesses a premium pass is granted the following benefits. The premium pass may be a subscription plan. The usage fee may be paid, for example, every month or every six months. · Benefit a): This benefit is the same as benefit a) of the normal pass. Benefit b'): Allows users to access their sleep data and sleep statistics without time restrictions. Benefit C): Increases the amount of friend points a character receives using intimacy-boosting items by a certain amount. Benefit d): A certain number of sleep points (e.g. 100 points) will be awarded every day. Benefit e): In the "Premium Exchange", which is only available to users who have a Premium Pass, you can obtain certain items in exchange for consuming sleep points. The "Premium Exchange" is an exchange where you can obtain items that cannot be obtained in the "Normal Exchange". Benefit f): Once a month, a predetermined amount of sleep points (e.g., 1,000 points) is granted, and an item that enhances the game effect generated by the camping set 770 (e.g., a camping ticket. When the user selects to consume the camping ticket, the game effect generated by the camping set 770 is enhanced for a predetermined period of time). The game control unit 210 can also display on the display unit 300 the timing at which a predetermined benefit can be obtained by using the camping ticket (e.g., the timing at which a new predetermined character appears on the field) so that the user can recognize it. Benefit g): Each time you use the Premium Pass continuously for a specified period (e.g. 3 months), you will be given a specified item. Benefit h): By performing sleep measurement once, you can use the sleep memo, which is a function that allows you to record any memo. Note that information about the sleep memo is stored, for example, in the terminal device 10 and not stored in a server. Only when you have a premium pass, can you output the stored sleep memo to the output unit 100. Benefit i): A compensation bonus is given in the case where the user forgets to measure sleep. That is, if the user forgets to measure sleep, the sleep information acquisition unit 204 cannot acquire sleep information, and therefore sleep research cannot be performed. Therefore, benefit i) may be given when manual correction in the above description of [(e-3) Changing sleep information by manual input] is not accepted. That is, in benefit i), for a user who has forgotten to measure sleep, manual correction of sleep information on the day when sleep measurement was forgotten is not accepted, but a predetermined compensation bonus corresponding to the day when sleep measurement was forgotten is given when the user next sleeps. However, even if manual correction in the above description of [(e-3) Changing sleep information by manual input] is accepted, the following benefits i-1) and i-2) may be given to the user. That is, from the viewpoint of continuously recording the user's sleep information, it is preferable to accept manual correction. In this case, the game system 1 can grant only the privilege i-1) and the privilege i-2) to the user, or can use the modified sleep information instead of the sleep information to grant the privilege i-1) and the privilege i-2) to the user along with executing processes such as event processing and recovery of specified parameters of characters such as a helping character possessed by the user.

[0241] Specifically, the predetermined compensation bonus may be any of the following: Benefit i-1): If the user performs a sleep measurement the day after forgetting to perform a sleep measurement, a specified item or the like corresponding to a specified amount of sleep time will be awarded. Benefit i-2): If the user forgets to measure their sleep, etc., they will be given a ticket that allows them to obtain a specific item, etc., that corresponds to a specific amount of sleep at a time of their choosing. The user can obtain the specific item, etc., by consuming the ticket at a time of their choosing. Benefit i-3): If the user forgets to measure sleep, etc., the user is allowed to manually correct the sleep information as explained in [(e-3) Changing sleep information by manual input]. In other words, [(e-3) Changing sleep information by manual input] is not normally possible (for example, users with a normal pass cannot do this), but only users with a premium pass can manually input sleep information a certain number of times.

[0242] The tickets for the privilege i-2) may be given to the user all at once, for example, when the expiration date of the premium pass is updated. The game control unit 210 may refer to the day of the week on which the user forgot to measure sleep, obtain the user's past sleeping hours on that day from the user information storage unit 218, and calculate the average sleeping hours of the obtained past sleeping hours on that day. The game control unit 210 may then give a predetermined item or the like determined based on the calculated average sleeping hours as a compensation bonus to the user.

[0243] [(e-5) Field Bonus Processing] When the user selects a new field, the game control unit 210 can also grant the user a predetermined bonus for the calculation of the first parameter in the field where the user had previously played the game (the field where the user had played the game in the previous unit game period).

[0244] As a premise, an increase multiplier may be set in advance for each field for the effect of an item or the like used to increase the first parameter, that is, a growth item, a dish, and / or a skill of a helping character (for example, the addition of a predetermined value to the first parameter due to the activation of a skill). The increase multiplier may be different or the same for each type of item, dish, and / or skill. Here, an example in which the increase multiplier is the same regardless of the type of item, dish, and skill will be described from the viewpoint of ease of calculation. Specifically, at the start of the game, an increase multiplier is set in association with a field. The initial value of the increase multiplier may be "1.0". Therefore, when a user plays a game for the first time in the field, since the increase multiplier is "1.0", the value associated with the item given by the helping character to the field character, the cooking parameter of the dish, and the predetermined value in the effect of the skill are all initial values, initial cooking parameters, and initial predetermined values.

[0245] Then, the game control unit 210 increases the increase factor of the field (old field) on which the user has been playing the game until now at the timing of transition from one unit game period to the next unit game period, i.e., at the timing of the user selecting a new field. In this case, the game control unit 210 increases the increase factor associated with the old field (as an example, at the timing of the end of the unit game period in which the user first selected the old field and transition to the next unit game period, the increase factor of the old field is increased by 15% to "1.15". This increase amount may be set appropriately). As a result, for example, if a user selects a field for the first time in one unit game period and the specified value associated with one growth item is "100", the amount of the first parameter increased by that growth item in that one unit game period will be "100", but if the user selects that field again in another unit game period (selecting it for the second time), the increase multiplier will have increased (for example, +15%), so the value associated with that one growth item in the other unit game period will be "115", and the amount of the first parameter increased by that growth item in that other unit game period will also be "115".

[0246] The game control unit 210 stores the increase multiplier associated with each field, and at each timing of transition from one unit game period to the next unit game period, increases the increase multiplier of the field selected by the user in that one unit game period by a predetermined amount, and updates the stored increase multiplier. However, an upper limit can be set for the increase multiplier of the field (for example, the upper limit of the increase multiplier is set to an increase of up to 200%). Note that, when the user meets a predetermined condition, for example, when a predetermined mission is completed a predetermined number of times in the game, the upper limit of the increase multiplier may be raised by a predetermined amount (for example, the upper limit of the increase multiplier is raised from an increase of 200% to an increase of 300%). Note that, when the game control unit 210 displays information on the fields selectable by the user on the display unit 300 at the timing when the user selects a field, the increase multiplier of each field may be displayed together with the field information 510 from the viewpoint of providing the user with reference for field selection.

[0247] Therefore, in game system 1, the increase multiplier of the field selected by the user in one unit game period is increased when the time passes from one unit game period to the next (for example, when the week changes), so that the user can easily increase the first parameter by simply repeatedly selecting that field and playing the game (in other words, the evaluation of the field character is more likely to improve, and it becomes easier to encounter a sleeping character with a higher rarity).

[0248] <Modification of the embodiment: Game system 2> The game system 2 according to the modified example has substantially the same configuration and functions as the game system 1, except that the game system 1 is added with a function that allows the user to continue acquiring information to be used in the game even when the server 20 is undergoing maintenance. Therefore, detailed explanations will be omitted except for the differences. The game system 2 may be configured to have all of the configuration and functions of the game system 1, or a part of the configuration and functions of the game system 1.

[0249] [Game System 2 Overview] The game system 2 is a game system in which a game is executed by exchanging user sleep information between the server 20 and the terminal device 10. The game system 2 enables the device to detect the start of sleep and wake-up of the user, or the user to start and end sleep measurement, even if the server 20 is undergoing maintenance. In addition, the game system 2 can appropriately end sleep measurement even if the device starts sleep measurement when the user starts sleep or the sleep measurement is started by the user operation before maintenance, and the server 20 is undergoing maintenance when the device detects the user wake-up or when the sleep measurement is ended by the user operation. In other words, when the terminal device 10 accesses the server 20 and the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, the terminal device 10 holds sleep information related to the user's sleep (for example, sleep information acquired during one sleep session, including information about the user's sleep from the start of sleep to the end of sleep) in the terminal device 10, and enables the game to proceed if the maintenance of the server 20 has ended at the timing of the next access to the server 20, and if the maintenance has not yet ended, the terminal device 10 repeatedly acquires and holds the user's sleep information until the end of maintenance while holding the sleep information. Then, in the game system 2, after maintenance of the server 20 is completed, the game progresses using one or more pieces of sleep information stored in the terminal device 10. In this way, in the game system 2, even if the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, the user can start and end sleep measurement as usual, and furthermore, the game can be progressed after maintenance is completed using the sleep information stored in the terminal device 10 during maintenance, so that the user is unlikely to suffer a major disadvantage even when maintenance is performed.

[0250] [Game System 2 Configuration] Fig. 24 shows an example of an outline of the functional configuration of a game system according to a modified example of the present embodiment. In Fig. 24, components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the description of the game system 1 in Figs. 1 to 23 refer to the same components, and therefore detailed description thereof may be omitted.

[0251] [Game System 2 Configuration Overview] Similarly to the game system 1, the game system 2 includes a terminal device 10 of a user on which the game is executed, a sleep measurement unit 11 that measures the user's sleep state, and a server 20 that manages the progress of the game. The game system 2 may be a server-client type game system. The sleep measurement unit 11 may be a device separate from the terminal device 10, or may be built into the terminal device 10. In addition to at least some of the components included in the game system 1, the game system 2 includes a maintenance determination unit 30 that determines whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, a confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 that executes storage of sleep information that is confirmed based on the fact that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance (hereinafter referred to as "confirmed sleep information"), a progress control unit 50 that enables the progress of the game, and a fraud determination unit 60 that determines whether the confirmed sleep information is fraudulent information. At least the maintenance determination unit 30 and the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may be components included in the terminal device 10 having the output unit 100, the input unit 102, a memory, and a control unit of the terminal device 10, and the input unit 102 may have some or all of the functions of the input acquisition unit 200. In addition, when the sleep measurement unit 11 is a component of a device separate and independent from the terminal device 10 (i.e., an external device), this external device may be configured to include the sleep measurement unit 11, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40, and a memory.

[0252] [Game System 2 Configuration Details] (Input unit 102) In the game system 2, the input unit 102 receives a predetermined operation instruction from the user. This predetermined operation instruction is an operation instruction related to the process of acquiring the user's sleep information. The sleep information includes at least information on the user's sleeping hours. The operation instruction is a start operation instruction as an instruction to start the process of acquiring sleep information (i.e., an instruction to start the acquisition of sleep information by the user, such as a process of S16 of the game system 1), or an end operation instruction as an instruction to end the acquisition process (i.e., an instruction to end the acquisition of sleep information by the user, such as a process of S22 of the game system 1). The input unit 102 supplies information related to the acquired operation instruction to the maintenance determination unit 30.

[0253] (Maintenance determination unit 30) The maintenance determination unit 30 recognizes whether the server 20 that manages the progress of the game is undergoing maintenance. For example, the maintenance determination unit 30 recognizes whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance at a predetermined timing (for example, when a game application is started) and / or when an operation instruction is received by the input unit 102. Specifically, the maintenance determination unit 30 determines whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance at a predetermined timing, when a start operation instruction, and / or an end operation instruction is received, and recognizes the determination result. For example, the game system 2 communicates various information related to the game between the server 20 and the terminal device 10 as a client. Then, the maintenance determination unit 30 supplies predetermined request information to the server 20 and receives a predetermined response to the request information to determine whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance. Note that the maintenance determination unit 30 may receive maintenance information indicating that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance from the server 20, and set a flag (maintenance flag) indicating that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance upon receiving the maintenance information. The maintenance determination unit 30 supplies information indicating the determination result to the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40. The duration of the maintenance may be several hours, several days, or a long period of time such as one week or more. Although the time period during which the maintenance is performed is usually set so as not to overlap with the user's sleeping hours, in some cases, such as emergency maintenance, depending on the status of the game system 2, it may be a time period that overlaps with the user's sleeping hours.

[0254] (Determined sleep information holding unit 40) When the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance when the input unit 102 receives an operation instruction (or when the maintenance determination unit 30 sets a maintenance flag), the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 confirms the user's sleep information. This confirmed sleep information is called "confirmed sleep information." That is, when the server 20 is undergoing maintenance when at least one of a start operation instruction or an end operation instruction is received, the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 confirms the sleep information and holds the confirmed sleep information. Note that the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 may hold the confirmed sleep information in a storage unit (i.e., memory) of the terminal device 10. In addition, when the sleep measurement unit 11 is a component of an external device, the external device may be configured to have a storage unit (i.e., memory), and the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 may hold the confirmed sleep information in the storage unit of the external device. Furthermore, the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 can hold multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information. Therefore, even if the user sleeps multiple times due to a long maintenance period, for example, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 can store confirmed sleep information for each of the multiple sleeps. When the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information, an upper limit may be set on the number of pieces of confirmed sleep information that can be stored.

[0255] Specifically, while the maintenance of the server 20 is ongoing, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may repeatedly store the confirmed sleep information multiple times. For example, if the maintenance continues for a period longer than the user's sleeping time, the user may sleep multiple times during the maintenance. In this case, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores confirmed sleep information for each of the user's multiple sleeps. That is, if the user repeatedly sleeps during the maintenance, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 can store confirmed sleep information for each sleep. For example, if a first start operation instruction by the user is received during one maintenance and a first end operation instruction by the user is received during one maintenance, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 confirms and stores the first confirmed sleep information (i.e., information related to sleep from the time of receiving the first start operation instruction to the time of receiving the first end operation instruction). Then, when the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 receives a second start operation instruction and a second end operation instruction from the user before the first maintenance is completed, it confirms and stores the second confirmed sleep information (i.e., information about sleep from the time of receiving the second start operation instruction to the time of receiving the second end operation instruction). The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 can execute the same process until the first maintenance is completed. Note that the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may store the sleep information measured by the sleep measurement unit 11 as confirmed sleep information when either the start time of the user's sleep (i.e., the time of the start operation instruction) or the end time of the sleep (i.e., the time of the end operation instruction) is within the maintenance period, or when the time of the start operation instruction coincides with the start time of the maintenance period.

[0256] Here, in the case where an upper limit is set for the number of confirmed sleep information pieces that the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 can hold, the game system 2 may accept execution of sleep measurement by the sleep measurement unit 11 even in a state in which the confirmed sleep information is held up to the upper limit. Then, after the input unit 102 accepts a start operation instruction from the user in this state and the sleep measurement unit 11 starts sleep measurement, the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 displays predetermined information on the display unit 300 before the input unit 102 accepts an end operation instruction to end the sleep measurement by the sleep measurement unit 11 and the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 holds new confirmed sleep information. For example, the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 may cause the display unit 300 to display a message indicating that the number of confirmed sleep information pieces that can be held has already reached the upper limit, and / or information suggesting that at least one or more of the multiple confirmed sleep information pieces already held and the newly measured and acquired confirmed sleep information be deleted. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may delete at least one of the multiple confirmed sleep information pieces already stored in response to a selection instruction from the user, and may store the remaining confirmed sleep information pieces that were originally stored and the newly acquired confirmed sleep information. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may not store the newly acquired confirmed sleep information in response to a selection instruction from the user. Furthermore, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may display on the display unit 300 that the number of confirmed sleep information pieces that can already be stored has reached an upper limit, and that no new confirmed sleep information can be stored until maintenance is completed, and may maintain the storage of the multiple confirmed sleep information pieces already stored, and may not store the newly acquired confirmed sleep information.

[0257] The confirmed sleep information is information acquired based on the user's behavior, confirmed by a specific operation instruction from the user, and used to generate a game effect. That is, the confirmed sleep information is information acquired based on the user's own behavior (e.g., the user's sleep behavior during a period excluding an active period (inactive period)) while the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, and is confirmed by at least one of the user's start operation instruction or end operation instruction and used to generate a game effect. The confirmed sleep information may be sleep information that is more advantageous to the user in terms of game effects obtained by playing the sleep game compared to when the confirmed sleep information is not obtained.

[0258] Specifically, the confirmed sleep information is sleep information that is confirmed in the terminal device 10, not in the server 20, based on the user's sleep information. For example, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 confirms and stores, as confirmed sleep information, sleep information in which the time of receiving an operation instruction from the user is set as the start point or end point of the user's sleep. Furthermore, the confirmed sleep information may include, as the sleep time, the time from the time the user falls asleep (or the time of issuing a start operation instruction) to the time the user wakes up (or the time of issuing an end operation instruction), based on information about the user's sleep included in the sleep information measured by the sleep measurement unit 11. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 supplies one or more pieces of confirmed sleep information to the progress control unit 50 and the fraud determination unit 60.

[0259] In addition, when the sleep measurement unit 11 is configured as an external device separate and independent from the terminal device 10, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may be a component that includes not only the terminal device 10 but also the sleep measurement unit 11. In this case, the sleep measurement unit 11 may be configured to include at least the input function of the input unit 102 and the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 having the function of storing confirmed sleep information. The sleep measurement unit 11 as an external device starts sleep measurement when an operation instruction for starting sleep measurement is received in the input function, and ends sleep measurement and stores sleep information when an operation instruction for ending sleep measurement is received in the input function. This stored sleep information may be confirmed sleep information. The sleep measurement unit 11 as an external device can store one or more pieces of confirmed sleep information. Then, in response to an instruction from the terminal device 10, the one or more pieces of stored confirmed sleep information are supplied to the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of the terminal device 10.

[0260] Furthermore, when the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may determine the user's sleep information without an operational instruction from the user. In this case, the input unit 102 does not need to accept a predetermined operational instruction from the user, and the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores the confirmed sleep information based on the measurement results of the sleep measurement unit 11 regarding the start and / or end of the user's sleep (the user's wake-up). That is, when the sleep measurement unit 11 determines that the user has started sleeping based on the measurement results of the user's sleep state, it supplies information about the start of sleep to the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 recognizes the information as one instruction (start instruction) regarding the process of acquiring the user's sleep information. Furthermore, when the sleep measurement unit 11 determines that the user has finished sleeping (i.e., woken up) based on the measurement results of the user's sleep state, it supplies information about the end of sleep to the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 recognizes the information as another instruction (end instruction) regarding the process of acquiring the user's sleep information. The confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 may hold the contents measured by the sleep measuring unit 11 between one instruction and another instruction as confirmed sleep information. Note that the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 may hold the confirmed sleep information when the input unit 102 receives a start operation instruction and receives an end instruction from the sleep measuring unit 11.

[0261] (Progress control unit 50) When the server 20, whose maintenance is determined to be completed by the maintenance determination unit 30, communicates with the terminal device 10 on which the game is executed, while the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores the confirmed sleep information, the progress control unit 50 enables the game to proceed based on the confirmed sleep information. That is, the progress control unit 50 uses the confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 as sleep information, and enables the same processing as that from S24 or S204 onward in the processing flow of the game system 1 to proceed. Note that "progression possible" means that the game can now proceed according to the user's instruction received via the input unit 102, and does not mean that the game system 2 automatically progresses the game. That is, after maintenance is completed, the progress control unit 50 supplies one or more confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 to the sleep information acquisition unit 204 of the server 20, and starts the game progress according to the user's instruction (when there are multiple confirmed sleep information, the progress control unit 50 supplies the multiple confirmed sleep information to the server 20 collectively). The sleep information acquisition unit 204 treats each of the one or more received confirmed sleep information as sleep information and executes the same process as the game system 1. After the maintenance is completed, the progress control unit 50 enables the game to proceed, and as the game proceeds, parameters (i.e., sleep parameters) calculated based on the sleep time information of the confirmed sleep information are used in the game. This produces a predetermined game effect for the user in the game.

[0262] Furthermore, when the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores multiple confirmed sleep information, the progress control unit 50 allows the game to proceed based on the multiple confirmed sleep information. The progress control unit 50 can handle each of the multiple confirmed sleep information independently to allow the same processing as S24 and onwards or S204 and onwards to proceed, or can handle the multiple confirmed sleep information collectively to allow the same processing as S24 and onwards or S204 and onwards to proceed. For example, when maintenance continues with the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 storing one confirmed sleep information, and the maintenance ends with the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 storing another confirmed sleep information, the progress control unit 50 allows the one confirmed sleep information and the other confirmed sleep information to be supplied to the server 20 collectively to allow the game to proceed. Note that when there are multiple confirmed sleep information, the game control unit 210 executes recovery of the "energy" of the helping character using information on the sleep time of the first confirmed sleep information on the date associated with the confirmed sleep information that is the latest date. Here, the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 can acquire multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information on the same day, and when the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 acquires multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information on the same day, the confirmed sleep information acquired at the earliest time is regarded as the "first" confirmed sleep information.

[0263] Furthermore, when the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information, the progress control unit 50 can perform a predetermined process on each of the multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information or on at least one piece of confirmed sleep information among the multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information. That is, the progress control unit 50 may obtain the timing at which the confirmed sleep information was stored from the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40, and perform a process on the confirmed sleep information that gives the user an advantage in the game as the timing of the confirmed sleep information becomes more recent, thereby enabling the game to progress. Here, the timing refers to the date and time or the date and time and minute at which the confirmed sleep information is stored by the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40. Specifically, when multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information are stored, the progress control unit 50 may execute a process that increases the sleep parameter (sleep score) calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 based on the sleep time information of the confirmed sleep information as the timing at which the confirmed sleep information is stored becomes more recent.

[0264] For example, the progress control unit 50 refers to the start date and time of maintenance, and does not perform a predetermined process on the multiple confirmed sleep information pieces that have been retained after receiving a start operation instruction within a predetermined time (which may be one hour, for example, but can be set appropriately) from the start of maintenance, but performs a predetermined process on the other confirmed sleep information pieces that have been retained after receiving a start operation instruction after a predetermined time (which may be ten hours, for example, but can be set appropriately) has elapsed from the start of maintenance. In this case, the predetermined process may be at least one of the following processes.

[0265] (Process 1) A process of multiplying a sleep parameter calculated by sleep parameter calculation section 208 based on information on the user's sleeping time included in the confirmed sleep information by a predetermined coefficient (for example, a coefficient greater than "1") and using the calculated value as the sleep parameter. (Process 2) A process in which a value obtained by adding a numerical value (which can be appropriately set, for example, to "1,000" per hour) determined according to the time from the start of maintenance to the point at which the input unit 102 receives a start operation instruction (or an end operation instruction) when the input unit 102 holds the confirmed sleep information to the sleep parameter calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 based on information on the user's sleeping time included in the confirmed sleep information, is used as the sleep parameter. (Process 3) When the user has organized a party of helping characters, a process in which the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 calculates the sleep parameter based on the information on the user's sleep time included in the confirmed sleep information, and the value obtained by adding a value (value for addition) determined based on the party's special points is used as the sleep parameter. Here, different values ​​may be set as the value for addition when the value of the party's special points is less than a predetermined value and when it is equal to or greater than the predetermined value. For example, the value for addition may be a numerical value determined according to the time (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "addition time") from the start of maintenance to the time when the input unit 102 accepts a start operation instruction (or an end operation instruction) when holding the confirmed sleep information. The value for addition may be an addition value per unit time that is determined, and the addition value per unit time when the party's special points are less than the predetermined value may be set to be less than the addition value per unit time when the party's special points are equal to or greater than the predetermined value. As an example, the addition value per unit time when the party's special points are less than the predetermined value may be set to a value of "100" per hour of addition time, and the addition value per unit time when the party's special points are equal to or greater than the predetermined value may be set to a value of "10,000" per hour of addition time. These values ​​may be set appropriately. (Process 4) A process in which a value calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 based on the information on the user's sleeping time included in the confirmed sleep information is added to or multiplied by a value (value for addition) according to the type of sleep pass, and the result is used as the sleep parameter. The value for addition of the "normal pass" for non-paying users can be set to a value less than the value for addition of the "premium pass" for paying users.

[0266] Note that even when the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores one piece of confirmed sleep information, the progress control unit 50 may perform a predetermined process on the piece of confirmed sleep information. In this case, the progress control unit 50 may not perform the predetermined process if the piece of confirmed sleep information is confirmed sleep information that was stored after a start operation instruction was received before a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of maintenance, and may perform the predetermined process if the piece of confirmed sleep information is confirmed sleep information that was stored after a start operation instruction was received after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of maintenance. The predetermined process may be the same as described above.

[0267] Here, when the start operation instruction acquired by the input unit 102 in one sleep is before the start of maintenance of the server 20 and the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 is in a state of storing the confirmed sleep information (i.e., when the end operation instruction in one sleep is before the end of maintenance), the progress control unit 50 enables the game to proceed using the first parameter at the time of receiving the start operation instruction and the sleep parameter calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 based on the sleep time information in the confirmed sleep information. Also, when the start operation instruction acquired by the input unit 102 in one sleep is after the start of maintenance of the server 20, the progress control unit 50 enables the game to proceed using the first parameter at the time of the start of maintenance and the sleep parameter calculated by the sleep parameter calculation unit 208 based on the sleep time information in the confirmed sleep information. In other words, during one sleep, if the start operation instruction acquired by the input unit 102 is after the start of maintenance of the server 20, the progress control unit 50 enables the game to progress by using the first parameter at the start of maintenance to calculate the sleep parameter, regardless of whether the end operation instruction acquired by the input unit 102 is before or after the end of maintenance of the server 20.

[0268] On the other hand, if the start operation instruction acquired by the input unit 102 in one sleep is before the start of maintenance of the server 20, and the end operation instruction acquired by the input unit 102 in one sleep is after the end of maintenance of the server 20 (that is, the server 20 is not under maintenance when the operation instruction is received), the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 does not hold the confirmed sleep information, and the game system 2 executes a process when there is no maintenance of the server 20, that is, a process similar to that of the game system 1 (hereinafter, such a process may be referred to as "normal process". For example, it may be a process after S24). That is, in this case, the progress control unit 50 uses the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 as it is, and enables the game to progress. Also, the progress control unit 50 stops the execution of the determination process in the fraud determination unit 60 described later.

[0269] In addition, when the sleep measurement unit 11 is configured as an external device separate and independent from the terminal device 10, the progress control unit 50 allows the game to proceed based on one or more confirmed sleep information stored in the sleep measurement unit 11 when the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that maintenance of the server 20 has been completed. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 may be a component that also has an external device having the sleep measurement unit 11. The sleep measurement unit 11 may supply the one or more confirmed sleep information it stores to the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of the terminal device 10. The confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of the terminal device 10 processes the one or more confirmed sleep information received from the sleep measurement unit 11 in the same manner as described above.

[0270] Furthermore, in a case where the sleep measurement unit 11 is configured as an external device separate and independent from the terminal device 10, it is assumed that the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of this external device stores one or more pieces of confirmed sleep information, and the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of the terminal device 10 stores one or more pieces of confirmed sleep information. In this case, if the one or more pieces of confirmed sleep information stored in the terminal device 10 are not used in the game processing and / or if there is sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204 before the start of maintenance and is not used in the game processing, the progress control unit 50 may execute game processing using the confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of the external device after executing game processing using the confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 of the terminal device 10 and / or the sleep information acquired by the sleep information acquisition unit 204.

[0271] (Fraud Judgment Department 60) The fraud determination unit 60 compares the maintenance period of the server 20 with the information on the user's sleeping hours included in the confirmed sleep information received from the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 to determine whether the confirmed sleep information is based on fraudulent means. If the fraud determination unit 60 determines that the confirmed sleep information is based on fraudulent means, it notifies the user that the information is based on fraudulent means. Specifically, the fraud determination unit 60 obtains information on the start time and end time of maintenance from the server 20. The fraud determination unit 60 also refers to information on the user's sleeping hours included in the confirmed sleep information, and refers to the sleep start time and sleep end time (wake-up time) for this sleeping time. The sleep start time may be the time when the input unit 102 accepts a start operation instruction, and the sleep end time may be the time when the input unit 102 accepts an end operation instruction. Then, for example, when the sleep start time and sleep end time included in the confirmed sleep information are not within the maintenance period and the maintenance period is not included between the sleep start time and the sleep end time, that is, when the confirmed sleep information is information confirmed outside the maintenance period of the server 20, the fraud determination unit 60 determines that the confirmed sleep information is information based on fraudulent means. When the fraud determination unit 60 receives multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information from the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40, it performs the same determination for each of the multiple pieces of confirmed sleep information.

[0272] When the fraud determination unit 60 determines that the received confirmed sleep information is information based on fraudulent means (it may be presented to the user simply as information based on an "error"), it executes a predetermined error process for the user and notifies the user that fraud has been detected. Specifically, the fraud determination unit 60 can execute, as the error process, a process of outputting a predetermined error display to the output unit 100, a process of giving a predetermined penalty to the user, and / or a process of reducing a predetermined reward (for example, an item used in the game or virtual currency in the game).

[0273] Here, the error display may be, for example, a display (for example, a text display or an image display) that makes the user recognize that the confirmed sleep information is not appropriate sleep information and / or that the confirmed sleep information is not information acquired during the maintenance period. Furthermore, the penalty may be, for example, a process of not generating a game effect determined based on the confirmed sleep information when the confirmed sleep information is not based on fraudulent means (for example, a game effect determined based on a parameter calculated using a first parameter and a sleep parameter obtained from the sleep time of the confirmed sleep information) or a process of generating an effect that is more disadvantageous to the user than when no fraudulent means is used, even if the effect is generated. Furthermore, the process of reducing the predetermined reward may be a process of reducing the amount of a predetermined reward that is given to the user based on a game effect determined based on the confirmed sleep information when the confirmed sleep information is not based on fraudulent means. Note that the type of reward may be set appropriately.

[0274] [Game System 2 Processing Flow] Fig. 25 shows an example of an outline of a process flow of a game system according to a modified example of this embodiment. Fig. 26 shows an example of an outline of an output screen of a game system according to a modified example of this embodiment. Note that, here, a case will be described as an example in which an application (hereinafter, referred to as "app") that enables a game by the game system 2 to be executed on the terminal device 10 is downloaded and installed from a predetermined site on the terminal device 10, and the app is executed on the terminal device 10.

[0275] The game system 2 according to the modified example executes substantially the same processing as the game system 1, except that the server 20 executes processing that allows the user to continue acquiring information to be used in the game even when the server 20 is undergoing maintenance. Therefore, detailed explanations will be omitted, except for the differences from the processing in the game system 1.

[0276] First, when the application related to the game system 2 is not being executed on the terminal device 10, the application related to the game system 2 is started and executed in response to a user instruction received via the input unit 102 (S500). Then, the control unit of the terminal device 10 causes the output unit 100 to output a title screen of the game (S502). Here, the maintenance determination unit 30 determines whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance (S504). When the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the server 20 is not undergoing maintenance (No in S504), the game control unit 210 causes the output unit 100 to output a home screen (S506). Then, the game control unit 210 executes normal game processing (S508). The normal game processing is processing that starts from any step after S12 in the game system 1. Then, for example, if maintenance of the server 20 is started after the start of sleep measurement such as S18 or S110 (Yes in S510), and if the input unit 102 of the terminal device 10 receives an instruction to end sleep measurement during maintenance (Yes in S512), the processing of S544 described below is executed.

[0277] On the other hand, if maintenance of the server 20 has not started after the start of sleep measurement such as S18 or S110 (No at S510), and if maintenance of the server 20 has started after the start of sleep measurement such as S18 or S110 (Yes at S510) but the input unit 102 of the terminal device 10 does not accept an end operation instruction during maintenance (No at S512), that is, if the end operation instruction is accepted after maintenance, normal game processing is executed as is (S508).

[0278] Furthermore, when the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance (Yes in S504), the maintenance determination unit 30 causes the display unit 300 serving as the output unit 100 to display a maintenance screen (S520). For example, as shown in (a) of FIG. 26, the display unit 300 of the terminal device 10 displays predetermined information and buttons for receiving predetermined instructions from the user as a maintenance screen 310. As an example, the maintenance screen 310 includes a maintenance display 312 for notifying the user that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, a schedule display 314 for indicating the scheduled date and time of the start and end of maintenance, a button 422 for receiving an operational instruction from the user and calling up a title screen on the display unit 300, a button 424 for receiving an operational instruction from the user and communicating with a predetermined server that provides information related to maintenance to cause the display unit 300 to display information related to maintenance, and a button 426 for receiving an operational instruction from the user and starting sleep measurement.

[0279] The maintenance display 312 is displayed as text information, for example (in the example of FIG. 26(a), "Server maintenance is currently underway. Please wait a moment." is displayed). The schedule display 314 displays the start and end dates and times of the period during which maintenance is scheduled. The start and end times of the maintenance are set by a company that maintains and manages the server 20 (for example, the start and end times can be set using a specified Contents Management System (CMS)), and the set start and end times are reflected in the contents of the schedule display 314. When the input unit 102 receives a user's operation instruction for the button 422, the control unit of the terminal device 10 causes the display unit 300 to display a title screen. When the input unit 102 receives a user's operation instruction for the button 424, the control unit of the terminal device 10 communicates with a specified server that provides information related to maintenance, establishes a communication connection with the server, starts an external browser that displays information related to maintenance provided by the server, and displays the external browser on the display unit 300. When the game is in the tutorial, the control unit of the terminal device 10 may display the maintenance screen 310 on the display unit 300 until the tutorial is completed, but may not accept a user's operation instruction to press the button 426 to start sleep measurement.

[0280] In a state where the maintenance screen 310 is displayed on the display unit 300, the input unit 102 detects whether or not a user has performed an operation on the display unit 300 as the output unit 100 (S522). The user's operation may be a tap operation or a swipe operation on any part of the display unit 300. If the input unit 102 does not detect a user's operation on the display unit 300 (No in S522), that is, if the maintenance screen 310 remains open, the maintenance determination unit 30 communicates with the server 20 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 10 minutes) and determines whether or not the server 20 is undergoing maintenance (S526). If the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the maintenance of the server 20 is ongoing (Yes in S526), ​​the process of S520 is executed. Furthermore, if the maintenance judgment unit 30 judges that maintenance of the server 20 has been completed (No in S526), ​​the maintenance judgment unit 30 causes the display unit 300 to display a message indicating that maintenance has been completed (S528), and the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display a title screen (S502).

[0281] On the other hand, when the input unit 102 detects a predetermined operation by the user on the display unit 300 (Yes in S522), it becomes possible to accept an instruction to start sleep measurement by the user (S524). For example, when the input unit 102 accepts an operation instruction by the user on a button 426 on a maintenance screen 310 as shown in FIG. 26(a) (Yes in S522), the control unit of the terminal device 10 displays a message on the display unit 300 indicating that sleep measurement is possible even if the server 20 is under maintenance. For example, as shown in FIG. 26(b), the control unit of the terminal device 10 displays a predetermined message on the display unit 300 in response to the input unit 102 accepting an operation instruction on the button 426. As an example, the display unit 300 displays a message display area 316 in which a message for the user is displayed, notification information 318 which is a message to be notified to the user and is displayed in the message display area 316, a retained data display area 320 which displays an overview of one or more confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40, a button 430 which accepts a user's operation instruction to close the message display area 316 and cause the display unit 300 to display the maintenance screen 310 again, and a button 428 which accepts a user's operation instruction to start and cause the sleep measurement unit 11 to perform sleep measurement.

[0282] In the example of FIG. 26(b), text information (for example, text information such as "You can measure sleep even during maintenance and save the data. After maintenance is completed, you can send the measurement data") is displayed as the notification information 318. In addition, if the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 already stores one or more confirmed sleep information and the stored confirmed sleep information has not yet been used in the progress of the game, a list of the one or more confirmed sleep information is displayed in the stored data display area 320 (if there is no stored confirmed sleep information, a message is displayed indicating that there is no information stored). In the example of FIG. 26(b), a list of the stored confirmed sleep information is displayed under the title display "Saved sleep data". Note that the display position of the stored data display area 320 on the display unit 300 can be moved by the input unit 102 accepting a swipe operation or the like on the display unit 300 (in the example of FIG. 26(b), for example, when the input unit 102 accepts a swipe operation upward by the user, the confirmed sleep information that is not displayed is output to the display unit 300).

[0283] Then, when the input unit 102 receives a user's operation instruction to the button 428 to cause the sleep measurement unit 11 to execute sleep measurement (Yes in S524), the sleep measurement unit 11 starts measuring the user's sleep (S530). The operation instruction at this time is a start operation instruction. When the sleep measurement unit 11 starts sleep measurement, the control unit of the terminal device 10 causes the display unit 300 to display a screen indicating that sleep measurement is in progress, similar to the description in FIG. 2(c). On the other hand, when the input unit 102 does not receive a user's operation instruction to the button 426, or when the input unit 102 does not receive a user's operation instruction to the button 428 but receives a user's operation instruction to the button 430 (No in S524), the control unit of the terminal device 10 displays a maintenance screen 310 on the display unit 300 (S520).

[0284] After S530, the sleep measurement unit 11 judges whether the user has woken up (S532). If the sleep measurement unit 11 judges that the user has not woken up (No in S532), the sleep measurement unit 11 continues acquiring the sleep information. On the other hand, if the sleep measurement unit 11 judges that the user has woken up (Yes in S532), the sleep measurement unit 11 stops acquiring the sleep information of the user (S534). The sleep measurement unit 11 may stop acquiring the sleep information when the input unit 102 receives a user's instruction to end the operation (for example, the operation instruction to the measurement end button 402 described in FIG. 2(c) may be the end operation instruction). Then, when the input unit 102 receives the end operation instruction, the maintenance determination unit 30 judges whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance (S534). If the maintenance determination unit 30 judges that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 holds the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11 as confirmed sleep information (S544). On the other hand, if the maintenance judgment unit 30 judges that the server 20 is not undergoing maintenance and the server 20 was not undergoing maintenance when the input unit 102 received the start operation instruction, the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11 is supplied to the sleep information acquisition unit 204 of the server 20.

[0285] The maintenance determination unit 30 may determine whether or not maintenance of the server 20 is being performed at the timing when the start operation instruction is received in S530. If the maintenance of the server 20 has ended at that timing and the maintenance is not being performed at the timing when the input unit 102 receives the end operation instruction in S534, the processing (normal processing) from S204 onwards in the game system 1 may be executed. On the other hand, if the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance at the timing when the start operation instruction is received in S530, the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 may hold the sleep information acquired by the sleep measurement unit 11 as confirmed sleep information (S544) even if the maintenance of the server 20 has ended at the time of S534.

[0286] After the confirmed sleep information is stored, the maintenance determination unit 30 determines whether the server 20 is undergoing maintenance by communicating with the server 20 (S546). When the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the server 20 is undergoing maintenance (Yes in S546), the maintenance determination unit 30 displays predetermined information on the display unit 300 (S548). For example, a "notification screen" as shown in FIG. 26(c) is displayed on the display unit 300. The "notification screen" displays a notification display 322 as a predetermined message. For example, the notification display 322 may be predetermined text information (in the example of FIG. 26(c), "Sleep measurement completed. Maintenance is currently underway. The measurement of sleep data was successful, but sleep data cannot be reported until maintenance is completed. Please wait until maintenance is completed." is displayed). In addition, a button 432 for displaying a maintenance screen 310 on the display unit 300 is displayed on the "notification screen". That is, when the input unit 102 receives an operation instruction from the user to the button 432, the control unit of the terminal device 10 causes the display unit 300 to display the maintenance screen 310 (S520).

[0287] On the other hand, when the maintenance determination unit 30 determines that the maintenance of the server 20 is completed (No in S546), the progress control unit 50 allows the game to proceed using the confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40. Furthermore, the fraud determination unit 60 determines whether the confirmed sleep information is information based on fraudulent means (S550). When the fraud determination unit 60 determines that the confirmed sleep information is information based on fraudulent means, the game control unit 210 executes a predetermined error process and notifies the user that fraud has been detected by outputting it to the output unit 100. On the other hand, when the fraud determination unit 60 determines that the confirmed sleep information is not information based on fraudulent means, the game control unit 210 proceeds with the game using the confirmed sleep information stored in the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40. For example, the game control unit 210 proceeds with the game by executing any of the step processes from S24 onward in the game system 1. When the confirmed sleep information storage unit 40 stores multiple confirmed sleep information, the game control unit 210 may acquire the multiple confirmed sleep information collectively and proceed with the game. After the predetermined game processing is completed, the game control unit 210 causes the display unit 300 to display the home screen (S552).

[0288] In the game system 2, even if the server 20 is undergoing maintenance, the user can start sleep measurement by operating the sleep button (button 426 and button 428) (i.e., a start operating instruction) output to the output unit 100 of the terminal device 10, and can end sleep measurement by operating the measurement end button 402 (i.e., an end operating instruction). The confirmed sleep information holding unit 40 regards the time from the start of sleep measurement to the end of sleep measurement as a sleep time, and can hold confirmed sleep information including information on the sleep time and various information on the user's sleep during the sleep time. Therefore, according to the game system 2, the confirmed sleep information can be held in the terminal device 10, i.e., the confirmed sleep information holding unit 40, without executing communication between the terminal device 10 and the server 20 when the user goes to sleep, and without executing communication between the terminal device 10 and the server 20 when the user wakes up. As a result, according to the game system 2, even if the server 20 is unable to proceed with the game due to maintenance, the user's sleep information can be retained as confirmed sleep information, and the game can be proceeded with using the retained confirmed sleep information after the maintenance is over, so that the game can be played in a manner that is less likely to cause inconvenience to the user.

[0289] [Game Program] Each of the components of the game system 1 or game system 2 according to this embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 26 can be realized by having a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) execute a program (i.e., a game program), that is, by software processing. Also, it can be realized by writing a program in advance into hardware as an electronic component such as an integrated circuit (IC). Note that software and hardware can also be used in combination.

[0290] That is, the game program according to the present embodiment is a game program to be executed by a computer that includes a processor and a memory and manages the execution of a game that uses sleep information related to a user's sleep. The game program according to the present embodiment can be incorporated in advance, for example, in an IC or a ROM. The game program can also be provided as a computer program by recording the game program in a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, or a semiconductor recording medium in an installable or executable format. The recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD. Furthermore, the game program can be stored in advance in a computer connected to a communication network such as the Internet, and provided by downloading via the communication network.

[0291] The game program of this embodiment acts on the CPU and the like to cause the game program to function as the sleep measurement unit 11, maintenance judgment unit 30, confirmed sleep information storage unit 40, progress control unit 50, fraud determination unit 60, output unit 100, input unit 102, input surface 104, input control unit 106, input acquisition unit 200, output control unit 202, sleep information acquisition unit 204, parameter control unit 206, sleep parameter calculation unit 208, game control unit 210, event determination unit 212, storage unit 216, user information storage unit 218, game information storage unit 220, character information storage unit 222, field character information storage unit 224, and cooking information storage unit 226, which are described in Figures 1 to 26.

[0292] [Effects of the embodiment] The game system 1 according to the present embodiment provides a field character with a predetermined item or the like during the user's activity period, and adds a value associated with the predetermined item or the like to the first parameter of the field character, thereby increasing the first parameter and growing the field character. The game system 1 then stores the first parameter when the user sleeps as a sleep start parameter, and calculates a second parameter by multiplying the sleep start parameter by a sleep parameter calculated based on the user's sleep information after the sleeping user wakes up. Next, the game system 1 determines a game event to be generated in the game based on the calculated second parameter, and generates game event information related to the game event. The larger the second parameter is, the more likely it is that a game event that is advantageous to the user (or preferable to the user) will occur. In other words, since the game system 1 employs multiplication in the calculation of the second parameter, the user can increase the second parameter by sleeping for an appropriate length of time, thereby generating a game event that is preferable to the user, even if the user is not immersed in game operations during the activity period (typically, during the daytime). As a result, in the game system 1, the user can increase the interest of the game by sleeping for an appropriate length of time in a sleep game using the user's sleep information.

[0293] Furthermore, the game system 1 can increase the first parameter (i.e., prevent the first parameter from becoming "0") by having the helper character owned by the user automatically collect a predetermined item even if the user does not perform a game operation during the user's activity period. As a result, the game system 1 can calculate the second parameter as long as the user sleeps, so that the user can be prevented from becoming too absorbed in the game during the activity period. That is, since all users sleep, the game system 1 makes it easy to accumulate a minimum first parameter even if the game play time or number of times the game is played during wakefulness is small (or even if the user does not play the game), so that as many users as possible are not left behind in the sleep game, and can generate a game event as long as the user sleeps. As a result, the game system 1 allows the user to maintain the motivation to continue the sleep game and to get an appropriate sleep.

[0294] From a different perspective, the first parameter is automatically accumulated even if the user does not perform game operations. In conventional games, for example, even if a login bonus exists, the login bonus is not given to the user unless the user logs into the game. On the other hand, in the game system 1 according to the present embodiment, as described above, the minimum amount of the first paramet...

Claims

1. A game program to be executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, The program causes the processor to: receiving an instruction regarding a process for acquiring sleep information of a user; A step of recognizing that a server that manages the progress of the game is undergoing maintenance; if the server is under maintenance when the instruction is received, determining sleep information of the user and storing the determined sleep information in the memory; a step of enabling the game to progress based on the determined sleep information in response to communication with the server where the maintenance has been completed while the determined sleep information is held; comparing the maintenance period of the server with information on the user's sleeping time included in the confirmed sleep information, and notifying the user that fraud has been detected if the confirmed sleep information is determined to be information based on fraudulent means; A game program that executes the above.

2. the instruction is a start instruction for starting the acquisition process or an end instruction for ending the acquisition process, The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein if the server is undergoing maintenance when at least one of the start instruction and the end instruction is received, the determined sleep information is held.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the determined sleep information is determined as sleep information in which the time when the instruction was received is a start point of the user's sleep or an end point of the user's sleep.

4. Obtaining sleep information of the user Then, 2. The game program according to claim 1, wherein if the server is not undergoing maintenance when the instruction is received, the determined sleep information is not retained, the game is allowed to proceed based on the sleep information acquired in the step of acquiring the sleep information, and the judgment is not executed in the step of judging.

5. The step of retaining the determined sleep information during the maintenance may be repeated a number of times, and a number of the determined sleep information are retained by the multiple repetitions. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein in the step of allowing the game to progress, the game is allowed to progress based on the plurality of pieces of determined sleep information.

6. A game program as described in claim 5, wherein in the step of enabling the game to progress, processing is applied to each of the multiple determined sleep information such that the more recent the retained timing, the more advantageous it is for the user, thereby enabling the game to progress.

7. the instruction is an instruction to start the acquisition process, The game, when the instruction to start is received before the start of the maintenance and the determined sleep information is held, the maintenance is allowed to proceed based on a first parameter at the time of receiving the instruction to start and a sleep parameter calculated based on the determined sleep information; 2. The game program according to claim 1, wherein the instruction to start is given after the start of the maintenance and, when the confirmed sleep information is retained, progress is enabled based on the first parameter and the sleep parameter at the start of the maintenance.

8. A game system comprising means for executing all the steps executed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. 8. An information processing device comprising: a game control unit; and a storage unit, wherein the game control unit executes all of the steps executed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A server comprising a game control unit and a storage unit, the game control unit executing all of the steps executed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

11. A gaming method implemented on a computer having a processor and a memory, comprising: A gaming method, wherein the processor executes all of the steps executed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

12. A game program to be executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, The program causes the processor to: receiving an instruction regarding a process for acquiring sleep information of a user; A step of recognizing that a server that manages the progress of the game is undergoing maintenance; if the server is under maintenance when the instruction is received, determining sleep information of the user and storing the determined sleep information in the memory; a step of enabling the game to proceed based on the determined sleep information when the game communicates with the server on which the maintenance has been completed while the determined sleep information is held; Run the command, A game program in which parameters calculated based on the determined sleep information are used to generate a game effect for a user in the game after the maintenance is completed.

Images