Gaming device having accumulation game with changing selections

• US 7,666,089 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2004
• Issued: 02/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Baerlocher, Anthony J., Rodgers, Paulina
• Primary Examiner(s): Hotaling, II; John M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): D'AGOSTINO, PAUL ANTHONY
• Application Number:
  US10/956,768
• Publication Number:
  US 20060073877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,972 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/17, 463/18, 463/19, 463/20, 463/21, 463/25, 273/138.1, 273/139, 273/143.R, 273/292
• US Class Current: 463/25
• 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 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games
• 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 device having an accumulation game with changing selections. The gaming device generates or picks, one at a time, a plurality of selections. Each generated selection is accumulated or marked and then changed to another selection. The gaming device continues generating selections, accumulating the generated selections and changing the generated selections until at least one selection is generated and accumulated a designated number of times. When at least one selection is generated and accumulated the designated number of times, an award is provided to the player wherein the award is based on the selection which was generated and accumulated the designated number of times.

Claims

1. A gaming device comprising:

at least one display device;

at least one input device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device, for each of a plurality of plays of a game, to;

(a) for a plurality of different groups of selections of at least three different groups of selections, initially display each of the selections of the plurality of groups of selections, wherein each of the at least three groups of selections includes a different plurality of selections, each of the at least three groups of selections is associated with one of a plurality of different awards, and one of the at least three groups of selections includes a plurality of designated selections;

(b) for said group of selections including the plurality of designated selections, initially display said award associated with said group of designated selections;

(c) cause a selection generator to randomly generate one of the displayed selections;

(d) accumulate said generated selection;

(e) display the accumulation of said generated selection, wherein the accumulation for each of the groups of selections is displayed separately;

(f) determine if any of said selections for any of the groups of selections have been accumulated a designated number of times, said designated number being at least two;

(g) if at least one of said selections for at least one of the groups of selections has been accumulated the designated number of times, display and provide a player the award associated with the group of selections that has been accumulated the designated number of times; and

(h) if none of said selections for any of the groups of selections have been accumulated the designated number of times;

(i) replace said generated selection with one of the designated selections from the group of designated selections;

(ii) display the replacement of said generated selection, and

(iii) repeat (c) to (h).

2. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor, for each of the plurality of plays of the game, to replace said generated selection with one of the designated selections, unless said generated selection is one of the designated selections.

3. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said designated selection which replaces said generated selection is a predetermined one of the designated selections.

4. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said designated selection which replaces said generated selection is a randomly determined one of the designated selections.

5. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said selection generator includes a wheel with a plurality of sections, wherein each section is associated with one of said selections.

6. The gaming device of claim 5, wherein said plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor, for each of the plurality of plays of the game, to reassociate one of the designated selections with the section associated with the generated selection if at least one of said selections has not been generated the designated number of times.

7. The gaming device of claim 1, which includes a plurality of accumulation meters, each accumulation meter associated with a different one of said groups of selections and configured to operate to display the accumulation of said selections in said associated group of selections.

8. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein each selection is associated with a displayed characteristic.

9. The gaming device of claim 8, wherein said displayed characteristic includes a color.

10. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the award associated with at least one of the groups of selections includes a progressive award.

60. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein for a plurality of the groups of selections, the designated number of times said selections of said group of selections may be accumulated is different.

61. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein for each of the groups of selections, the designated number of times said selections of said group of selections may be accumulated is different.

11. A gaming device comprising:

at least one display device;

at least one input device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device, for each of a plurality of plays of a game, to;

(a) for a plurality of different groups of symbols of at least three different groups of symbols, initially display each of the symbols of said plurality of groups of symbols, wherein each of the at least three groups of symbols includes a different plurality of symbols, each of the at least three groups of symbols is associated with one of a plurality of different awards, and one of the at least three groups of symbols includes a plurality of designated symbols;

(b) for said group of symbols including the plurality of designated symbols, initially display said award associated with said group of designated symbols;

(c) cause a symbol generator to randomly generate one of said displayed symbols;

(d) increment and display an accumulation meter associated with the generated symbol, wherein the accumulation meter is one of a plurality of different accumulation meters in said game, each of said accumulation meters is associated with a different one of said groups of symbols;

(e) determine if any of said accumulation meters have been incremented a predetermined number of times, said predetermined number of times being at least two;

(f) if at least one of said accumulation meters has been incremented the predetermined number of times, display and provide a player the award associated with the group of symbols associated with the accumulation meter incremented the predetermined number of times; and

(g) if none of said accumulation meters have been incremented the predetermined number of times;

(i) replace said generated symbol with one of the designated symbols from the group of designated symbols,

(ii) display the replacement of said generated symbol, and

(iii) repeat (c) to (g).

12. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein said plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor, for each of the plurality of plays of the game, to replace said generated symbol with one of the designated symbols, unless said generated symbol is one of said designated symbols.

13. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein said designated symbol which replaces said generated symbol is a predetermined one of the designated symbols.

14. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein said designated symbol which replaces said generated symbol is a randomly determined one of the designated symbols.

15. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein the predetermined number of times a plurality of accumulation meters may be incremented is different for each accumulation meter.

16. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein the predetermined number of times each accumulation meter may be incremented is different for each accumulation meter.

17. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein said symbol generator includes a wheel with a plurality of sections, wherein each section is associated with one of said symbols.

18. The gaming device of claim 17, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor, for each of the plurality of plays of the game, to reassociate one of the designated symbols with the section associated with the generated symbol if at least one of said symbols has not been generated the designated number of times.

19. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein each symbol is associated with a displayed characteristic.

20. The gaming device of claim 19, wherein said displayed characteristic includes a color.

21. The gaming device of claim 11, wherein the award associated with at least one of the groups of symbols includes a progressive award.

22. A gaming device comprising:

at least one display device;

at least one input device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device, for each of a plurality of plays of a game, to;

(a) for a plurality of different groups of selections of at least three different groups of selections, initially display each of the selections of the plurality of groups of selections, wherein each of the at least three groups of selections is associated with one of a plurality of different outcomes and one of the at least three groups of selections includes a plurality of designated selections;

(b) for said group of selections including the plurality of designated selections, initially display said outcome associated with said group of designated selections;

(c) display and accumulate a plurality of random picks of said different selections and display each randomly picked selection being replaced by one of the designated selections from the group of designated selections until one of the selections is picked a designated number times, wherein the designated number is at least two, and wherein the accumulation for each of the groups of selections is displayed separately, and

(d) display and provide one of the outcomes to the player based on the group of selections that has been picked the designated number of times.

23. The gaming device of claim 22, wherein the designated selection which replaces said picked selection is a predetermined one of the designated selections.

24. The gaming device of claim 22, wherein the designated selection which replaces said picked selection is a randomly determined one of the designated selections.

25. The gaming device of claim 22, wherein the designated number of times a plurality of said selections may be picked is different for each of said plurality of selections.

26. The gaming device of claim 22, wherein the designated number of times each of said selections may be picked is different for each of said selections.

27. The gaming device of claim 22, wherein each selection is associated with a displayed characteristic.

28. The gaming device of claim 27, wherein said displayed characteristic includes a color.

29. The gaming device of claim 22, wherein the outcome associated with at least one of the groups of selections includes a progressive award.

30. A method of operating a gaming device, for each of a plurality of plays of a game, said method comprising:

(a) for a plurality of different groups of selections of at least three different groups of selections, causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored by at least one memory device to initially display each of the selections of the plurality of groups of selections, wherein each of the at least three groups of selections includes a different plurality of selections, each of said at least three groups of selections is associated with one of a plurality of different awards, and one of the at least three groups of selections includes a plurality of designated selections;

(b) for said group of selections including the plurality of designated selections, causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by at least one memory device to initially display said award associated with said group of designated selections;

(c) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to randomly generate and display one of the plurality of the different selections;

(d) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to accumulate and display said generated selection, wherein the accumulation for each of the groups of selections is displayed separately;

(e) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to determine if any of said selections for any of the groups of selections have been accumulated a designated number of times, the designated number being at least two;

(f) if at least one of said selections for at least one of the groups of selections has been accumulated the designated number of times, causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to display and provide a player the award associated with the group of selections that has been accumulated the designated number of times; and

(g) if none of said selections for any of the groups of selections have been accumulated the designated number of times;

(i) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to replace and display said generated selection with one of the designated selections from the group of designated selections; and

(ii) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to repeat steps (c) to (g).

31. The method of claim 30, which includes causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to replace said generated selection with one of the designated selections, unless said generated selection is one of the designated selections.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein said designated selection which replaces said generated selection is a predetermined designated selection.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein said generated selection which replaces said generated selection is a randomly determined generated selection.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein each selection is associated with a displayed characteristic.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said displayed characteristic includes a color.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein the award associated with at least one of the groups of selections includes a progressive award.

37. The method of claim 30, which is provided through a data network.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the data network is an Internet.

62. The method of claim 30, wherein for a plurality of the groups of selections, the designated number of times said selections of said group of selections may be accumulated is different.

63. The method of claim 30, wherein for each of the groups of selections, the designated number of times said selections of said group of selections may be accumulated is different.

39. A method of operating a gaming device, for each of a plurality of plays of a game, said method comprising:

(a) for a plurality of different groups of symbols of at least three different groups of symbols, causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored by at least one memory device to initially display each of the symbols of the plurality of groups of symbols, wherein each of the at least three groups of symbols includes a different plurality of symbols, each of the at least three groups of symbols is associated with one of a plurality of different awards, and one of the at least three groups of symbols includes a plurality of designated symbols;

(b) for said group of symbols including the plurality of designated symbols, causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by at least one memory device to initially display said award associated with said group of designated symbols;

(c) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to randomly generate and display one of the plurality of the different symbols;

(d) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to display and increment an accumulation meter associated with the generated symbol, said incremented accumulation meter is one of a plurality of different accumulation meters, wherein each of said different accumulation meters is associated with a different one of said groups of symbols;

(e) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to determine if any of said accumulation meters have been incremented a predetermined number of times, the predetermined number being at least two;

(f) if at least one of said accumulation meters has been incremented the predetermined number of times, causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to display and provide a player the award associated with the group of symbols associated with the accumulation meter incremented the predetermined number of times;

(g) if none of said accumulation meters have been incremented the predetermined number of times;

(i) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to replace and display said generated symbol with one of the designated symbols from the group of designated symbols; and

(ii) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to repeat steps (c) to (g).

40. The method of claim 39, which includes causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to replace said generated symbol with one of the designated symbols, unless said generated symbol is one of the designated symbols.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein said designated symbol which replaces said generated symbol is a predetermined designated symbol.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein said designated symbol which replaces said generated symbol is a randomly determined designated symbol.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein the predetermined number of times a plurality of accumulation meters may be incremented is different for each accumulation meter.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein the predetermined number of times each accumulation meter may be incremented is different for each accumulation meter.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein each symbol is associated with a displayed characteristic.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said displayed characteristic includes a color.

47. The method of claim 39, wherein the award associated with at least one of the groups of symbols includes a progressive award.

48. The method of claim 39, which is provided through a data network.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the data network is an Internet.

50. A method of operating a gaming device, for each of a plurality of plays of a game, said method comprising:

(a) for a plurality of different groups of selections of at least three different groups of selections, causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored by at least one memory device to initially display each selection of the plurality of groups of selections, wherein each of the at least three groups of selections is associated with one of a plurality of different outcomes and one of the at least three groups of selections includes a plurality of designated selections;

(b) for said group of selections including the plurality of designated selections, causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by at least one memory device to initially display said outcome associated with said group of designated selections;

(c) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to randomly pick and accumulate one of said plurality of different selections, wherein said picked selection is replaced by one of the designated selections from the group of designated selections, and wherein the accumulation for each of the groups of selections is displayed separately;

(d) causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to repeat (c) until one of the selections is picked a designated number times, wherein the designated number is at least two; and

(e) when one of the different selections is picked the designated number of times, causing at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored by the at least one memory device to display and provide a player the outcome associated with said group of selections that has been picked the designated number of times.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the designated selection which replaces said picked selection is a predetermined one of the designated selections.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein the designated selection which replaces said picked selection is a randomly determined one of the designated selections.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein the designated number of times a plurality of said selections may be picked is different for each of said plurality of selections.

54. The method of claim 50, wherein the designated number of times each of said selections may be picked is different for each of said selections.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein each selection is associated with a displayed characteristic.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein said displayed characteristic includes a color.

57. The method of claim 50, wherein the outcome associated with at least one of the groups of selections includes a progressive award.

58. The method of claim 50, which is provided through a data network.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the data network is an Internet.