Bonus Point Accumulation System for Gaming Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gaming systems lack mechanisms to sustain player interest and encourage repeated play, resulting in shorter gaming sessions and reduced return visits to casinos or online gaming sites.
Innovation Solution
A bonus game system where players accumulate points for specific symbol combinations, displayed as stars on a path, incentivizing continued play to achieve bonus awards, with the option to resume previous session points upon return, using player ID to recall session status and retrieve bonus points from a central server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If a traditional primary game is played without bonus accumulation, then the game structure is simple, but player engagement duration and return visits are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by accumulating bonus points for players during their gaming sessions and storing this information on a central server. When players return to the casino or online gaming site, their previously accumulated bonus points are automatically retrieved and displayed, creating an immediate incentive to continue playing. This preliminary accumulation and storage of bonus points before player return extends engagement duration without requiring complex game mechanics during each individual session.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously tracking and displaying players' bonus point accumulations, showing them their progress toward bonus awards. This visible feedback loop motivates players to extend their gaming sessions to reach bonus thresholds and encourages return visits to recover and continue accumulating their bonus points. The central server maintains this feedback information across multiple sessions, creating a persistent engagement mechanism.
2Productivity
If bonus points are accumulated across multiple sessions, then player return visits are encouraged, but system complexity increases due to data storage and retrieval requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the bonus point accumulation functionality with the existing player tracking infrastructure by implementing a central server that stores bonus point data. This centralization allows multiple gaming devices to access and update player bonus information, eliminating the need for each individual device to independently manage complex data storage. The merging of data management at the server level reduces overall system complexity while enabling cross-session bonus accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The central server acts as an intermediary between gaming devices and player bonus data. Instead of requiring complex data management at each gaming device, the server mediates all bonus point storage, retrieval, and updates. Gaming devices simply communicate bonus point changes to the server, which handles the complex data management tasks. This intermediary approach simplifies device complexity while maintaining the ability to track players across multiple sessions and encourage return visits.
3Ease of operation
If a bonus path system is implemented, then player incentive to complete games is increased, but the game interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bonus system is segmented into discrete bonus points that are awarded for specific outcomes in the primary game. Rather than requiring players to understand complex bonus game mechanics, the system divides the bonus structure into simple, countable points that accumulate toward a bonus award. Each bonus point represents a discrete step toward the bonus threshold, making the incentive structure easy to understand and track without increasing interface complexity significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses visual displays to show bonus point accumulations, potentially using color changes or graphical indicators to represent progress toward bonus awards. This visual feedback provides clear, intuitive information to players about their bonus status without requiring complex interface interactions. The display updates automatically to show accumulating bonus points, maintaining ease of operation while providing strong player motivation through visible progress tracking.
Data Source
AI summary
A dedicated gaming device or an on-line game is described wherein the player first plays a primary game. For certain outcomes of the primary game, the player accumulates a bonus point. The player accumulates the bonus points until a certain number of bonus points are accumulated. The player then wins the bonus associated with those bonus points. Accordingly, the player has an incentive to keep playing the on-line game or dedicated gaming machine to make use of the accumulated bonus points that lead to a bonus award. In a further embodiment, a player logs onto the on-line gaming site or begins play of a dedicated gaming machine, and the accumulated bonus points from the player's last game before cashing out is displayed for the current session. Accordingly, the player resumes play with all the accumulated bonus points from the previous session. This provides an incentive for the player to return to the same game whether in a casino or on-line.