Gaming system and a method of gaming based on hit-rate

1. A method of triggering a multi-player game in a gaming system having a) a plurality of gaming machines, each of the gaming machines having a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value to establish a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, a credit meter configured to monitor the credit balance, a memory storing a plurality of symbols, a display having a plurality of display positions, and a payout mechanism, and a game controller, and b) a feature controller, the method comprising:

determining, via the feature controller, in response to the wagering activity, a number of eligible gaming machines;

communicating, via the feature controller, hit rate data based on the number of eligible gaming machines to the eligible gaming machines;

determining, via the game controller of each of the eligible gaming machines, whether the multi-player game is to be triggered based on the communicated hit rate data; and

triggering the multi-player game at each of the plurality of gaming machines in accord with the determining by at least one of the eligible gaming machines that the multi-player game is to be triggered.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein eligible gaming machines are active gaming machines of a set of gaming machines.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the current hit rate data includes the number of eligible gaming machines and each gaming machine determines the hit rate from the number.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the current hit rate data is the current hit rate.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each eligible gaming machine determines whether to trigger the multi-player game as part of each game round.

6. A gaming system for conducting a multi-player game, the gaming system comprising:

a plurality of gaming machines configured to conduct the multi-player game to be played by two or more players, each of the gaming machines having a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value to establish a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, a credit meter configured to monitor the credit balance, a memory storing a plurality of symbols, a display having a plurality of display positions, and a payout mechanism, and a game controller, the game controller configured to determine whether the multi-player game is to be triggered based on hit-rate data; and

a feature controller configured to, in response to the wagering activity, determine a number of eligible gaming machines, to communicate the hit rate data to the eligible gaming machines, and to trigger the multi-player game at each of the plurality of gaming machines in accord with at least one of the eligible gaming machines having determined that the multi-player game is to be triggered; and

wherein the game controller is configured to determine at the eligible gaming machines whether to trigger the multi-player game at a hit rate based on the hit rate data.

7. A gaming system as claimed in claim 6 , comprising a feature controller arranged to determine the number of eligible gaming machines and communicate the hit rate data.

8. A gaming system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the feature controller is provided by one of the gaming machines.

9. A gaming system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the feature controller is separate to the gaming machines.

10. A gaming system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein eligible gaming machines are active gaming machines of a set of gaming machines.

11. A gaming system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the current hit rate data includes the number of eligible gaming machines and each gaming machine determines the hit rate from the number.

12. A gaming system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the current hit rate data is the current hit rate.

13. A gaming system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein each eligible gaming machine determines whether to trigger the multi-player game as part of each game round.

14. A method of gaming in a gaming system having a) a plurality of gaming machines, each of the gaming machines a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value to establish a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, a credit meter configured to monitor the credit balance, a memory storing a plurality of symbols, a display having a plurality of display positions, and a payout mechanism, and a game controller, and b) a feature controller, the method comprising:

starting, via the feature controller, in response to one of the gaming machines determining that a multi-player game is to be triggered based on hit rate data communicated from the feature controller to the game controller, a multi-player game to be played by two or more players;

selecting, via the game controller, a plurality of symbols for display at a plurality of display positions on a display associated with the player, and

updating, via the game controller, a player progress record from the displayed symbols of designated symbols;

determining, via the game controller, at least one winning player when the end condition is met from each player's progress record; and

making, via the payout mechanism, an award to each winning player.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the end condition is that at least one player achieves an outcome.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the outcome is that a designated number of designated symbols is reached by at least one of the players and wherein each player progress record stores a current number of designated symbols and in each game round, the player progress record is updated by determining a number of designated symbols for the round from the displayed symbols.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 comprising, for each game round, visually representing each player's record by filling individual ones of a plurality of progress display positions corresponding to the designated total with the number of designated symbols determined for the game round.

18. A method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the award is dependent at least partly on the time taken to achieve the outcome.

19. A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the end condition is that a designated number of game rounds is completed.

20. A method as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the award is based at least partly on the player's position based on the player progress record.