SLOT MACHINE BONUS ROUND WITH SKILL LEVEL CHOICE
A slot machine method, apparatus, and computer readable storage to allow a player to select a skill level (e.g., easy, medium, hard) for a bonus round. The player is then presented with a task in the bonus round, and if the player successfully completes the task, then the player is awarded an award based on the skill level selected.
1 . A method to play a bonus game, the method comprising:
receiving an initial wager from a player;
spinning reels on a slot machine to a stopped reel position and triggering a bonus round based on the stopped reel position;
allowing a player to choose a particular skill level for the bonus game;
presenting a player with a bonus game involving physical skill, with a difficulty of the bonus game being based on the particular skill level; and
determining if the player succeeded or failed on the bonus game,
wherein if the player is determined to succeed in the bonus game, then awarding the player a top award based on the particular skill level.
2 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus game, then the player does not win an award in the bonus game.
3 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus round, then the player wins a consolation award in the bonus game, the consolation award having a lower expected value than the top award.
4 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the bonus game is a shell game.
5 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the bonus game is a shooting game.
6 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the award is determined based on predetermined awards for each possible skill level.
7 . The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein there is an increasing relationship between each predetermined award and a difficulty of the predetermined award's respective skill level.
8 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the award is determined based on a formula, wherein each possible skill level has its own respective formula.
9 . The method as recited in claim 8 wherein there is an increasing relationship between an expected value of each skill level and a difficulty of each respective skill level.
10 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the bonus game comprises:
indicating a winning container;
shuffling animatedly at least two containers which comprise the winning container, the shuffling performed at a speed based on the particular skill level;
allowing the player to select a selected container;
if the selected container matches the winning container, the player has succeeded on the bonus game, otherwise the player has not succeeded (failed) at the bonus game.
11 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the bonus game requires the player to hit a predetermined number of targets in a finite amount of time in order for the player to succeed in the bonus game.
12 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the bonus game requires the player to hit a predetermined number of targets with a fixed amount of shots in order for the player to succeed in the bonus game.
13 . A slot machine apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a processing unit to perform:
receiving an initial wager from a player;
spinning reels on a slot machine to a stopped reel position and triggering a bonus round based on the stopped reel position;
allowing a player to choose a particular skill level for the bonus game;
presenting a player with a bonus game involving physical skill, a difficulty the bonus game being based on the skill level;
determining if the player succeeded or failed on the bonus game,
wherein if the player is determined to succeed in the bonus game, then awarding the player a top award based on the particular skill level; and
an output unit to display results of the processing unit.
14 . The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus game, then the player does not win an award in the bonus game.
15 . The apparatus as recited in claim 2 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus round, then the player wins a consolation award in the bonus game, the consolation award having a lower expected value than the top award.
16 . The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein the bonus game is a shell game.
17 . The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein the bonus game is a shooting game.
18 . The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein the award is determined based on predetermined awards for each possible skill level.
19 . The apparatus as recited in claim 17 , wherein there is an increasing relationship between each predetermined award and a difficulty of the predetermined award's respective skill level.
20 . The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein the award is determined based on a formula, wherein each possible skill level has its own respective formula.
21 . The apparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein there is an increasing relationship between an expected value of each skill level and a difficulty of each respective skill level.