Credit Meter Visual Indicators for Wagering Game Balance Clarity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wagering game systems face confusion among players due to rapid bursts of credit meter changes from multiple ongoing games, some of which are not represented in the user interface, making it difficult for players to understand credit balance changes.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a single credit meter with graphical indicators, such as chevron-shaped tags, to explain impending changes, color-coded and sized based on event type, which merge into the credit meter to visually represent and update the balance, allowing players to understand the impact of various events on their credit balance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple games are played simultaneously with automatic wagers, then player engagement and wagering volume increase, but credit balance transparency and player understanding deteriorate due to rapid bursts of credit changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments credit-related events into discrete, individually trackable units. Each wager, win, or cash-out event is separated and presented as a distinct credit event with its own visual indicator, allowing players to understand each transaction independently rather than experiencing them as a confusing burst of simultaneous changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent presents credit events to players before the actual credit balance changes occur. By showing upcoming wagers, potential wins, and cash-out events in advance through visual indicators, players can anticipate and understand the sequence of credit changes before they happen, maintaining transparency during automatic multi-game play.
2Speed
If credit changes are updated rapidly to reflect real-time game outcomes, then system responsiveness and accuracy improve, but player comprehension and reduced confusion worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses periodic presentation of credit events through visual indicators that appear and are removed in a controlled sequence. Credit events are presented periodically to the player before each credit balance change, creating a rhythmic, predictable pattern that helps players comprehend the sequence of transactions even as updates occur rapidly in the background.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces visual indicators (chevrons, icons, animations) as intermediary elements between the system's rapid credit processing and the player's perception. These intermediaries translate fast backend credit changes into slow, comprehensible visual narratives that players can follow and understand.
3Loss of information
If graphical indicators are added to explain credit events, then player understanding and transparency improve, but interface complexity and visual clutter increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies graphical indicators locally and selectively rather than uniformly across the entire interface. Visual indicators are placed specifically next to or near the credit meter to explain credit-related events, while other parts of the interface remain clean and uncluttered. The indicators are also selectively applied only to credit events, not all game events.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color-coded graphical indicators to convey different types of credit events (wagers, wins, cash-outs) through color variations. This allows players to quickly distinguish between different event types without requiring complex text labels or icons, reducing visual complexity while maintaining clarity.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments include a method for presenting a credit balance affected by a plurality of wagering games. The method can include detecting wager amounts and win amounts associated with a plurality of wagering games conducted via a wagering game machine. The method can include presenting, on a display device of the wagering game machine, graphical identifiers indicating an order in which the wager amounts will decrease a credit balance and the win amounts will increase the credit balance. The method can include according to the order, increasing the credit balance on the display device by each of the win amounts and decreasing the credit balance on the display device by each of the wager amounts.