Gaming Machine Symbol Replacement Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional slot machines lack features that enhance player engagement and opportunities for winning, leading to decreased interest and revenue for casinos.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions to determine trigger events for bonus games, awarding replaceable symbols, and iteratively replacing them with new symbols until all are used, thereby providing additional gameplay opportunities and payouts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional slot machine gameplay is used, then the game structure is simple, but player engagement and winning opportunities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic symbol replacement where symbols on the reels can be replaced by wild symbols during the bonus game. This dynamic change in symbol configuration increases player engagement by creating unpredictable outcomes and additional winning opportunities, while the core reel spinning mechanism remains relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The game is segmented into distinct phases: base game phase with standard symbols and bonus game phase with replaceable wild symbols. This segmentation allows the complex bonus features to be separated from the simple base game, making the overall system manageable while enhancing player engagement through varied gameplay experiences.
2Productivity
If replaceable symbols are introduced to increase winning opportunities, then player engagement increases, but the complexity of determining outcomes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines when symbols should be replaced by wild symbols during the bonus game without requiring player intervention. The outcome determination process self-manages the replacement logic, maintaining high winning opportunities while keeping the complexity contained through automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of symbol replaceability from fixed to variable. During the base game, symbols are fixed; during the bonus game, they become replaceable by wild symbols. This parameter change increases winning opportunities while the controlled nature of the change (only in bonus phase) manages the complexity of outcome determination.
3Productivity
If bonus games with replaceable symbols are added, then casino revenue increases, but the complexity of the gaming system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bonus game with replaceable symbols is triggered by specific conditions in the base game (such as landing specific symbol combinations). This preliminary action approach allows the system to prepare for high-revenue bonus phases only when conditions are met, increasing casino revenue while limiting the complexity to specific trigger scenarios rather than always-active complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming machine may determine that a trigger event for a bonus game occurred during a base outcome event of a base game, wherein the base game and the bonus game are both reel-based games being executed on behalf of a client machine. In response, the gaming machine may award use of two or more replaceable symbols for the bonus game. Until all of the replaceable symbols have been used, the gaming machine may repeatedly carry out iterations of bonus game operations including: determining a symbol set for display on a plurality of reels, where the symbol set includes non-replaceable symbols and zero or more replaceable symbols, and where each displayed replaceable symbol is successively replaced in the display by either a new non-replaceable symbol or a new replaceable symbol until no displayed replaceable symbols remain on the plurality of reels.