MULTI-PLAYER MATCHING GAME

• US 20110207519A1
• Filed: 02/09/2011
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gaming Realms, PLC
• Original Assignee: Slingo, Inc. (RealNetworks, Inc.)
• Inventors: Falciglia, Sal SR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,337,291 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/19
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards

Abstract

A matching game involves attempting to match one or more sets of base symbols with two or more sets of player symbols, such as player symbols in two matrices. In a single player variation, a player attempts to achieve combinations of matches. One or more winning combinations comprise matches of all symbols along contiguous rows, columns or diagonals of two or more of the matrices. In a multi-player variation, individual players attempt to achieve patterns of matches across their own matrix and combinations of contiguous matches spanning the matrices of two or more of the players.

Claims

1. A method for playing a Bingo-like game by at least two players comprising the steps of:

displaying a graphic user interface (GUI) including;

at least a first n column by m row random symbol display matrix corresponding to a first player, wherein n is at least 2, and wherein each first display matrix has number of display positions defining multiple rows, multiple columns and multiple diagonals;

a first set of n random symbol display region corresponding to said at least first matrix, said n regions of said first set corresponding to said n columns of said corresponding at least one first matrix;

at least a second n column by m row random symbol display matrix corresponding to a second player, wherein n is at least 2, and wherein each second display matrix has number of display positions defining multiple rows, multiple columns and multiple diagonals;

a second set of n random symbol display region corresponding to said at least second matrix, said n regions of said first set corresponding to said n columns of said corresponding at least one first matrix; and

wherein at least one of said first matrices and at least one of said second matrices are positioned so that they have at least one row, at least one column or at least one diagonal aligned with one another;

generating and displaying player symbols in said at least one first and at least one second matrix;

generating and displaying base symbols in said first and second sets of random display regions;

comparing the random symbols in each of said n positions of said set of random symbols with the symbols displayed in corresponding n columns of each row of said corresponding first and second matrices; and

determining whether all of the symbols along any contiguous rows, columns or diagonals of at least one first matrix of said first player and at least one second matrix of said second player are matched and, if so, declaring a winning result.