Gaming machine having player selectable volatility
View Patent ↗A gaming machine for conducting a wagering game includes a value input device for receiving a wager and a display for displaying a plurality of symbols arranged on a plurality of reels. The symbols indicate a randomly-selected outcome selected from a plurality of possible outcomes, the plurality of outcomes including at least one winning outcome. The gaming machine further includes a controller operative to receive a volatility input from a player of the gaming machine. The controller is further operative to associate an award with the at least one winning outcome wherein the associated award is either a first award amount or a second award amount based upon the volatility input. Upon the occurrence of the at least one winning outcome, the controller awards the associated award to the player.
1. A gaming machine comprising:
at least one input device for receiving inputs from a player, the inputs including a wager;
a display device; and
a controller operative to (i) receive, via the input device, a selection of a volatility by the player corresponding to one of a plurality of available volatility selections, (ii) associate each of the volatility selections with a distinct composition of awards and one or more terminators such that no two of the volatility selections are associated with the same composition of awards and terminators and at least two of the volatility selections are associated with a different number of the one or more terminators, (iii) display on the display device a plurality of selectable elements corresponding to the awards and the one or more terminators of the composition associated with the volatility selected by the player, (iv) receive, via the input device, successive selections by the player of the selectable elements until the player selects a selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators, and (v) cause the player to be awarded an award as a function of at least one of the awards associated with the selectable elements selected by the player prior to selecting the selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators.
2. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the display device further displays the plurality of available volatility selections including an indication of (a) a volatility associated with each of the volatility selections, (b) the number of terminators associated with each of the available volatility selections, and (c) the group of awards associated with each of the available volatility selections.
3. The gaming machine of claim 2 , wherein the number of terminators increases as the volatility associated with each of the available volatility selections increases.
4. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein each of the distinct composition of awards includes any combination of credit amounts, free spins, and multipliers.
5. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the awards associated with one of the volatility selections has a range that is greater than a range of the awards associated with a different one of the volatility selections.
6. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller is operative to grant the player a predetermined number of selections of the plurality of selectable elements.
7. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein each of the available volatility selections corresponds to an increasing volatility such that the awards associated with a lower volatility is selected from smaller awards and fewer terminators compared to the awards associated with a higher volatility, which is selected from larger awards and more terminators.
8. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further operative to (i) associate each award of the awards associated with at least one of the volatility selections with an amount that is within an award range of a predetermined minimum and maximum number of credit amounts, and to (ii) terminate further selections by the player of the selectable elements responsive to the player selecting the terminator via the at least one input device.
9. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further operative to (i) associate, according to an award schedule, each award of the awards associated with at least one of the volatility selections with a number of free spins or multipliers, to (ii) accumulate the number of free spins or multipliers associated with the selectable elements selected by the player until the player selects the selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators, and to (iii) allow the player to play a number of additional games corresponding to the accumulated number of free spins, such that the expected value of the additional games is increased as a function of the number of free spins and the multiplier values associated with the multipliers.
10. The gaming machine of claim 9 , wherein the award values of the awards and the number of terminators vary with each of the plurality of available volatility selections such that no two of the available volatility selections is associated with the same combination of award values and number of terminators.
11. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein an award range within which each of the awards falls and the number of terminators vary with each of the plurality of available volatility selections such that no two of the volatility selections is associated with the same combination of award range and number of terminators.
12. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the outcomes associated with the displayed selectable elements are obscured from the player until selected by the at least one input device, and wherein the controller is further operative to, responsive to the player selecting one of the one or more terminators, cause the display device to reveal the remaining obscured selectable elements that were not selected by the player such that the display device displays any awards not awarded to the player and any remaining terminators not selected by the player.
13. A method, comprising:
receiving inputs from a player via at least one input device, the inputs including a wager;
receiving by a player a selection of a volatility corresponding to one of a plurality of available volatility selections;
associating by a controller each of the volatility selections with a distinct composition of awards and one or more terminators such that no two of the volatility selections are associated with the same composition of awards and terminators and at least two of the volatility selections are associated with a different number of the one or more terminators;
displaying on a display device a plurality of selectable elements corresponding to the awards and the one or more terminators of the composition associated with the volatility selected by the player;
receiving, via the input device, successive selections by the player of the selectable elements until the player selects a selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators; and
causing the player to be awarded an award as a function of at least one of the awards associated with the selectable elements selected by the player prior to selecting the selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the displaying includes displaying the plurality of available volatility selections including an indication of (a) a volatility associated with each of the available volatility selections, (b) the number of terminators associated with each of the available volatility selections, and (c) the awards associated with each of the available volatility selections.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the number of terminators increases as the volatility associated with each of the available volatility selections increases.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein each of the distinct composition of awards includes any combination of credit amounts, free spins, and multipliers.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the awards associated with one of the volatility selections has a range that is greater than a range of another of the awards associated with a different one of the volatility selections.
18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising granting the player a predetermined number of selections of the plurality of selectable elements.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein each of the available volatility selections corresponds to an increasing volatility such that the awards associated with a lower volatility is selected from smaller awards and fewer terminators compared to the awards associated with a higher volatility, which is selected from larger awards and more terminators.
20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
associating each award of the awards associated with at least one of the volatility selections with an amount that is within an award range of a predetermined minimum and maximum number of credit amounts; and
terminating further selections by the player of the selectable elements responsive to the player selecting the terminator via the at least one input device.
21. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
associating, according to an award schedule, each award of the awards associated with at least one of the volatility selections with a number of free spins or multipliers;
accumulating the number of free spins or multipliers associated with the selectable elements selected by the player until the player selects the selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators; and
allowing the player to play a number of additional games corresponding to the accumulated number of free spins, such that the expected value of the additional games is increased as a function of the number of free spins and the multiplier values associated with the multipliers.
22. The method of claim 13 , wherein the award values of the awards and the number of terminators vary with each of the plurality of available volatility selections such that no two of the available volatility selections is associated with the same combination of award values and number of terminators.
23. The method of claim 13 , wherein an award range within which each of the awards falls and the number of terminators vary with each of the plurality of available volatility selections such that no two of the volatility selections is associated with the same combination of award range and number of terminators.
24. The method of claim 13 , wherein the outcomes associated with the displayed selectable elements are obscured from the player until selected by the at least one input device, the method further comprising, responsive to the player selecting one of the one or more terminators, revealing the remaining obscured selectable elements that were not selected by the player such that the display device displays any awards not awarded to the player and any remaining terminators not selected by the player.
25. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving inputs from a player via at least one input device, the inputs including a wager;
receiving by a player a selection of a volatility corresponding to one of a plurality of volatility selections;
associating by the one or more processors each of the volatility selections with a distinct composition of awards and one or more terminators such that no two of the volatility selections are associated with the same composition of awards and terminators and at least two of the volatility selections are associated with a different number of the one or more terminators;
displaying on a display device a plurality of selectable elements corresponding to the awards and the one or more terminators of the composition associated with the volatility selected by the player;
receiving, via the input device, successive selections by the player of the selectable elements until the player selects a selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators; and
causing the player to be awarded an award as a function of at least one of the awards associated with the selectable elements selected by the player prior to selecting the selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators.
26. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein the displaying includes displaying the plurality of available volatility selections including an indication of (a) a volatility associated with each of the available volatility selections, (b) the number of terminators associated with each of the available volatility selections, and (c) the awards associated with each of the available volatility selections.
27. The machine-readable media of claim 26 , wherein the number of terminators increases as the volatility associated with each of the available volatility selections increases.
28. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein each of the distinct composition of awards includes any combination of credit amounts, free spins, and multipliers.
29. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein the awards associated with one of the volatility selections has a range that is greater than a range of another of the awards associated with a different one of the volatility selections.
30. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , the operations further comprising granting the player a predetermined number of selections of the plurality of selectable elements.
31. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein each of the available volatility selections corresponds to an increasing volatility such that the awards associated with a lower volatility is selected from smaller awards and fewer terminators compared to the awards associated with a higher volatility, which is selected from larger awards and more terminators.
32. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , the operations further comprising:
associating each award of the awards associated with at least one of the volatility selections with an amount that is within an award range of a predetermined minimum and maximum number of credit amounts; and
terminating further selections by the player of the selectable elements responsive to the player selecting the terminator via the at least one input device.
33. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , the operations further comprising:
associating, according to an award schedule, each award of the awards associated with at least one of the volatility selections with a number of free spins or multipliers;
accumulating the number of free spins or multipliers associated with the selectable elements selected by the player until the player selects the selectable element corresponding to the one or more terminators; and
allowing the player to play a number of additional games corresponding to the accumulated number of free spins, such that the expected value of the additional games is increased as a function of the number of free spins and the multiplier values associated with the multipliers.
34. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein the award values of the awards and the number of terminators vary with each of the plurality of available volatility selections such that no two of the available volatility selections is associated with the same combination of award values and number of terminators.
35. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein an award range within which each of the awards falls and the number of terminators vary with each of the plurality of available volatility selections such that no two of the volatility selections is associated with the same combination of award range and number of terminators.
36. The machine-readable media of claim 25 , wherein the outcomes associated with the displayed selectable elements are obscured from the player until selected by the at least one input device, the method further comprising, responsive to the player selecting one of the one or more terminators, revealing the remaining obscured selectable elements that were not selected by the player such that the display device displays any awards not awarded to the player and any remaining terminators not selected by the player.