Granted Patent B2

US 8,062,114 · App. 11/781,720 · Granted Nov 22, 2011

Abstract

Claims (31)

1. A gaming system with a free play mode comprising:

a game controller configured to process game play instructions in accordance with game rules to produce game outcomes;

a credit meter under control of the game controller, wherein the credit meter is activated, under normal game play, to increment an award to a player of the game in response to a winning outcome of the game and to decrement a wager amount provided by the player in response to a losing outcome;

a player interface in data communication with the game controller, wherein the player interface comprises a display that displays game outcomes to the player;

a free mode interface associated with the player interface, wherein the free mode interface initiates communication of a free mode instruction on behalf of the player to the game controller; and

wherein the game controller is further configured to deactivate the credit meter in response to receipt of the free mode instruction thereby allowing the player to play the game without entering a wager in the credit meter and inhibiting provision of an award to the player in response to a winning outcome of the game.

2. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the player interface comprises a free mode selector operable by the player to enter a free mode instruction.

3. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the game controller is configured to reactivate the credit meter in response to at least receipt of an end free mode instruction.

4. A gaming system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the free mode selector is operable to cause an end free mode instruction to be communicated to the game controller.

5. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the player interface comprises at least one credit input mechanism, wherein the credit input mechanism is deactivated by the game controller in response to receipt of the free mode instruction.

6. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the player interface comprises at least one credit output mechanism, wherein the credit output mechanism is deactivated by the game controller in response to receipt of the free mode instruction.

7. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least one regulatory meter under control of the game controller, wherein the regulatory meter is configured to record data related to normal game play and data related to free mode game play, wherein the game controller is configured to control the regulatory meter to record data related to normal game play or free mode game play based on whether the player is engaging in normal game play or free mode game play.

8. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a player tracking device reader, wherein the free mode instruction is automatically generated when specified by free mode data stored in a player tracking device provided to the player tracking device reader.

9. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a ticket reader, wherein the free mode instruction is automatically generated when a ticket including encoding free mode data is provided to the player tracking device.

10. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the game controller is configured to respond to the free mode instruction or an end free mode instruction only if at least one condition is met.

11. A gaming system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the at least one condition is that the player is at a stage of game play where free mode can be activated or deactivated.

12. A gaming system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the game controller is further configured to periodically deactivate the credit meter and to display at least one feature of the game to the player to assist the player to learn about the game.

13. A gaming machine with a free play mode comprising:

a local memory;

a game controller configured to process game play instructions in accordance with game rules to produce game outcomes as defined by executable code stored in the local memory;

a credit meter under control of the game controller, wherein the credit meter is activated, under normal game play, to increment an award to a player of the game in response to a winning outcome of the game and to decrement a wager amount provided by the player in response to a losing outcome;

a player interface in data communication with the game controller, wherein the player interface comprises a display that displays game outcomes to the player;

a free mode interface associated with the player interface, wherein the free mode interface initiates communication of a free mode instruction on behalf of the player to the game controller for local execution of a free mode game using executable code stored in the local memory; and

wherein the game controller is further configured to execute a deactivation routine stored in the local memory to deactivate the credit meter in response to receipt of the free mode instruction thereby allowing the player to play the game without entering a wager in the credit meter and inhibiting provision of an award to the player in response to a winning outcome of the game.

14. A method of operating a gaming machine comprising:

processing game play instructions in a game controller at the gaming machine in accordance with game rules to produce game outcomes;

incrementing, in a credit meter, an award to a player of the game in response to a winning outcome of the game, wherein the credit meter is activated by the game controller during normal game play to perform the incrementing;

decrementing, in the credit meter, a wager amount provided by the player in response to a losing outcome, wherein the credit meter is activated by the game controller during normal game play to perform the decrementing;

displaying game outcomes to the player on a display under control of the game controller;

communicating a free mode instruction to the game controller on behalf of the player; and

locally deactivating the credit meter with the game controller in response to receipt of the free mode instruction by the game controller thereby allowing the player to play the game without entering a wager in the credit meter and inhibiting provision of an award to the player in response to a winning outcome of the game.

Assignments (8)