Gaming Machine With Random Symbol Selection

• US 20130040726A1
• Filed: 07/06/2012
• Published: 02/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia PTY Limited (Aristocrat Leisure Limited)
• Original Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia PTY Limited (Aristocrat Leisure Limited)
• Inventors: Fong, Colin, Maras, Raymond, Villa, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,721,428 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/21
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3202 Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3204 Player-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A gaming machine includes a display and a game controller that provides a wagering game in which a plurality of symbol display positions are provided on the display. When a player stakes a wager on the outcome of the wagering game the game controller selects symbols for display sequentially. The set of symbols is dynamic, wherein at least two symbols from the symbol set are changed between at least certain symbol selections depending on a characteristic of a symbol selected in a previous selection. The display positions may be arranged in rows and columns.

Claims

1. A gaming machine comprising a display and a game controller that provides a wagering game in which a plurality of symbol display positions are provided on the display, and when a player stakes a wager on the outcome of the wagering game the game controller selects symbols from a set of symbols comprising a plurality of symbols according to a random selection process and the selected symbols are displayed in the display positions, and when a winning combination of symbols is displayed the gaming machine awards a prize to the player, the gaming machine being characterised in that the game controller selects at least two of the symbols sequentially and the set of symbols is dynamic, wherein at least two symbols from the symbol set are changed or removed between at least two successive symbol selections depending on a characteristic of a single symbol selected before the second of the two successive symbol selections.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the set of symbols comprises a subset of symbols consisting of symbols that would define a said winning combination if displayed together in a predetermined arrangement of display positions, and wherein when said single symbol is a symbol from the subset of symbols, the symbols that are changed or removed comprise the symbols in the same subset.

3. The gaming machine of claim 2, wherein the set of symbols comprises a plurality of said subsets of symbols and wherein when said single symbol is a symbol from one of the plurality subsets of symbols, the symbols that are changed comprise the symbols in the same subset.

4. The gaming machine of claim 2, wherein the symbols that are changed consist of the symbols in the same subset and no other symbols in the set of symbols are changed between the sequential selection of symbols.

5. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the dynamic change comprises the addition of symbols to the set of symbols between the sequential selections.

6. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the dynamic change comprises the altering of characteristics of symbols in the set between selections.

7. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of said single symbol is its identity, and the set of symbols is changed by removing all symbols of that identity from the set of symbols prior to the next symbol selection.

8. A gaming machine comprising a display and a game controller for providing a wagering game in which a plurality of symbol display positions are provided on the display arranged in a matrix of m columns by n rows, and when a player stakes a wager on the outcome of a wagering game played on the system the game controller is arranged to play the wagering game in which symbols are randomly selected from a set of symbols and the selected symbols are displayed in the display positions, and if a winning combination of symbols is displayed a prize is awarded to the player, the gaming system being characterised in that the selection of each symbol in a column is independent of any other symbol selected in that column, and the set of symbols from which the symbols are selected changes as a consequence of each symbol selection made in a column.

9. The gaming machine of claim 8, wherein the set of symbols from which the symbols are selected is changed so that it is not possible for a combination of symbols that represents a winning combination to be displayed in the display positions forming anyone of the columns.

10. A gaming machine comprising a display and a game controller for providing a wagering game in which a plurality of symbol display positions are provided on the display, and when a player stakes a wager on the outcome of a wagering game played on the system the game controller is arranged to randomly select symbols from a set of symbols and display the selected symbols in the display positions, and if a winning combination of symbols is displayed the player is awarded a prize, the gaming machine being characterised in that:

at least some of the symbols in the set comprise members of a family of symbols;

the symbols are selected sequentially from a first symbol display position to a subsequent symbol display position; and

the set of symbols from which each symbol is selected is altered for each selection after the first selection until said subsequent display position by removing from the set all those symbols belonging to a particular family if a symbol from that family was selected in a previous selection.

11. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the symbol display positions are aligned in either a column or a row, and the first symbol display position is the first position in the column or row, and the subsequent symbol display position is the last symbol display position in the column or row.

12. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the symbol display positions are arranged in an array of m columns by n rows, and the symbols are selected sequentially for the display positions in each column, the set of symbols for each column being at least substantially the same, winning outcomes comprising the selection of the same symbol in adjacent columns.

13. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the number of symbol display positions in each column and/or each row depend on a characteristic of the wager which a player stakes on a game.

14. A gaming machine comprising a display and a game controller for providing a wagering game in which a plurality of symbol display positions are provided on the display, and when a player stakes a wager on the outcome of a wagering game played on the system the game controller is arranged to randomly select symbols and display the selected symbols in the display positions, and if a winning combination of symbols is displayed the player is awarded a prize, the gaming machine being characterised in that:

the display positions are arranged in an array of m columns by n rows wherein m and n are greater than 1;

the symbol selected for display in each display position is individually selected from a set of symbols; and

the set of symbols from which a symbol is selected for at least one of the display positions differs from the set of symbols from which a symbol is selected for another display position so that despite the individual selection of the symbol for each display position, it is either;

not possible to display a winning combination of symbols along any one of the columns and is possible to display a winning combination of symbols along anyone of the rows;

or

not possible to display a winning combination of symbols along any one of the rows and is possible to display a winning combination of symbols along anyone of the columns.

15. A method of providing a game in which a player stakes a wager on one or more of the outcomes and if a winning combination results in an outcome on which the player has staked a wager an award is awarded, the method comprising representing a plurality of the outcomes on an electronic display as symbols in a plurality of adjacent display positions comprising a first display position to an nth display position, using an electronic controller to sequentially select the symbols for display in each of the first display positions from a set of symbols that is modified during the selection process so that a winning combination defined by a plurality of adjacent symbols can not be defied across the first display positions, and repeating the sequential selection process for each of the 2nd to the nth display positions.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a further plurality of outcomes on which a player may stake a wager are defined by combinations of symbols from the 1st to nth display positions of the outcomes defined by a plurality of adjacent display positions, one and only one symbol used in each of the display positions.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of adjacent display positions comprising a first display position to an nth display position are displayed in columns with the display positions aligned so as to form a matrix of display positions having n rows and m columns and wherein the set of symbols is modified by removing from eligibility for selection any symbol that if selected for the current display position, would represent part or all of a winning combination of symbols together with a previously selected symbol for an adjacent display position in the same column.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of adjacent display positions comprising a first display position to an nth display position are displayed in rows with the display positions aligned so as to form a matrix of display positions having m rows and n columns and wherein the set of symbols is modified by removing from eligibility for selection any symbol that if selected for the current display position, would represent part or all of a winning combination of symbols together with a previously selected symbol for an adjacent display position in the same row.