Hold and Spin Feature Game with Reel-Specific Multipliers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gaming systems lack innovative features to enhance player engagement and entertainment value in slot games, relying on traditional mechanics that fail to maintain player interest over time.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a hold and spin feature game with reel-specific multipliers, where players can trigger a feature game by collecting specific symbols, leading to a bonus round where held symbols accumulate value and multipliers apply to awards, offering dynamic and unpredictable outcomes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional slot game mechanics are used, then the game structure is simple and easy to understand, but player engagement and entertainment value decrease over time
Solution Approach 1:
The game is divided into distinct phases (base game, feature trigger, hold and spin bonus round) with different mechanics. The feature game segments the reels into held symbols and spinning symbols, allowing complex gameplay while maintaining clear structure and player understanding.
Solution Approach 2:
The game introduces dynamic elements including changing multipliers that increase during the bonus round, transitioning game states between base game and feature game, and dynamic symbol holding/spinning mechanics that adapt during play to maintain engagement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If feature games with bonus rounds are added to enhance entertainment value, then player engagement increases, but the overall game complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Symbols are predetermined to be held or spun before the bonus round begins. This preliminary classification simplifies the feature game structure by establishing clear rules upfront, reducing the complexity of real-time decision-making while maintaining engaging gameplay.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary triggering mechanism (specific symbol combinations in the base game) that bridges the simple base game and the complex feature game. This intermediary provides a clear transition point that manages player expectations and understanding.
3Adaptability or versatility
If reel-specific multipliers are implemented to increase award values, then player excitement and engagement increase, but the game mathematics and regulation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different multipliers are applied to different reels independently. Each reel can have its own multiplier value that changes during the bonus round, creating local variations in award potential that increase excitement while maintaining a manageable mathematical structure through repetition across reels.
Solution Approach 2:
The multiplier parameters change dynamically during the bonus round, increasing with each spin. This parameter change creates escalating excitement and award potential while following a predictable pattern that simplifies regulation and mathematics compared to completely random multiplier assignment.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming machine provides a spinning reel game having a base game, from which a hold and spin feature game is triggered when a determined number of configurable symbols are displayed in a base game outcome. When the feature game is triggered, the configurable symbols are held in place on the display and the player is provided one or more spins during the feature game in which to collect additional configurable symbols. Any additional configurable symbols are retained on the display during subsequent spins until the feature game is completed. Each reel on the game display includes a respective multiplier meter that is adjusted when a multiplier symbol is displayed on the reel in a base game outcome. The multiplier symbols include dynamic multiplier symbols that increment the multiplier meters by a defined amount and static multiplier symbols that lock a meter at a defined multiplier value. At the end of the hold and spin feature game, the multiplier values carried by the meters are applied to the values of the held symbols in a respective reel to determine the amount to be awarded to the player. Following completion of the feature game, the multiplier meters are reset to a default value.