Extended Symbol Overlap on Gaming Reel Arrays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gaming machines lack innovative features to enhance entertainment value and attract frequent play, as traditional reel arrays do not offer sufficient excitement or variability in symbol combinations, leading to decreased player attraction and profitability.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system with a reel array that includes extended symbols on one reel visually overlapping adjacent reels, allowing for dynamic and unpredictable symbol combinations without affecting the stopping positions of adjacent reels, thereby increasing the chances of winning and enhancing player engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional reel arrays are used without extended symbols, then the device complexity is low and ease of manufacture is high, but the entertainment value and player attraction are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces extended symbols that span across multiple reel columns, adding a horizontal dimension to the traditional vertical reel structure. This dimensional change allows symbols to overlap and interact across adjacent reels, creating new winning patterns and increasing entertainment value without fundamentally redesigning the entire reel array system
2Adaptability or versatility
If extended symbols are added to create winning combinations, then player engagement and excitement increase, but the device complexity and programming requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The extended symbols are implemented dynamically during the spin animation, where they visually overlap adjacent reels while the reels are in motion. This dynamic implementation creates suspense and excitement as players watch the extended symbols move across the screen, with the final winning combination determined only after all reels stop spinning
Solution Approach 2:
The extended symbols are pre-configured on specific reels before the spin begins, with their positions and dimensions predetermined. This preliminary setup allows the system to efficiently calculate potential winning combinations involving extended symbols without requiring complex real-time computations during the spin animation
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming system includes an input device, a display device, a processor, and a memory device. The memory device stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the gaming system to receive a wager and to display an array having a plurality of symbol positions, each of the symbol positions being populated by symbols located on a plurality of symbol-bearing reels. The reels spin and stop to place symbols on the symbol-bearing reels in visual association with symbol positions of the array. At least one extended symbol indexed on a first reel visually overlaps one or more symbols on an adjacent second reel (a) as the first reel spins the extended symbol through the array and (b) without affecting a stopping position of the adjacent second reel. An award is awarded for any winning combinations defined by the symbols in the display area.