Wagering Game System with Incremental Bonus Unlocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wagering games lack an effective mechanism to sustain player engagement by providing incremental unlocking of bonuses, as existing systems often require a single trigger event for bonus access, limiting repeated play incentives.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system that displays a base game and a secondary game, where players incrementally unlock bonuses through repeated play by making selections or taking actions, with persistent game states allowing cumulative progress and variable results, enhancing the non-linear unlocking of bonus awards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single trigger event is used for bonus access, then the bonus game can be activated, but player engagement and repeated play incentives are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The bonus award is segmented into multiple components that are unlocked incrementally through repeated plays of the base game. Each play opportunity allows the player to unlock a portion of the total bonus, transforming a single-trigger bonus system into a multi-stage unlocking process that extends player engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by accumulating unlock progress across multiple base game plays before the bonus is fully awarded. The controller tracks and stores the cumulative unlock status, requiring players to complete a series of preliminary plays to gain access to the complete bonus award.
2Duration of action of moving object
If incremental unlocking of bonuses is implemented, then player engagement increases, but the game system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller automatically tracks and manages the incremental unlock progress without requiring external intervention or complex manual tracking. The system self-manages the cumulative state of bonus unlocking through automated data storage and retrieval, reducing the operational complexity despite the enhanced engagement mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller serves multiple functions: it manages the base game, tracks incremental unlock progress across multiple plays, stores cumulative state information, and determines bonus award distribution. This multi-functionality consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a single integrated controller.
3Adaptability or versatility
If repeated plays are required to unlock bonuses, then entertainment value increases, but the time required to access bonuses increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bonus unlocking occurs through periodic actions where each base game play represents a discrete opportunity to advance toward the bonus. This periodic structure creates a rhythm of play that builds anticipation and provides regular feedback on progress, making the time investment feel structured and purposeful rather than random or wasted.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback on the cumulative unlock progress, allowing players to see how close they are to accessing the bonus award. This feedback mechanism helps players understand the relationship between their time investment and the approaching reward, making the extended play requirement more acceptable and engaging.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming system includes a credit detector adapted to detect a wager to play a wagering game, one or more displays adapted to display, in response to the wager, a base game and a secondary game, the base game providing a trigger that provides an opportunity to play the secondary game, the secondary game including a plurality of decision points, each decision point requiring a selection of one of a plurality of paths and a controller operative to respond to the selection of the path at the one decision point and provide a next decision point for a subsequent selection of another path, a state of the secondary game remaining persistent during repeated plays of the base game so that selected paths in the secondary game are combined to provide non-linear unlocking of a bonus award.