Coin pusher casino game

1. A coin pusher machine comprising:

at least one memory device;

at least one game control processor in communication with the at least one memory device and configured to be in communication with at least one external host computer;

at least one player station; and

a controller configured to communicatively couple at least one of a video display, a speaker, a peripheral device, and the at least one player station to the at least one game control processor,

wherein each of the at least one player station comprises:

at least one player station memory device;

at least one processor in communication with at least the at least one player station memory device;

a currency acceptor configured to receive a physical indicium of currency from a player;

at least one input device;

at least one display device configured to display a credit count;

a pusher field having:

a substantially horizontal surface configured to hold a plurality of tokens; and

a win slot configured to accept tokens that fall from the pusher field;

a pusher mechanism configured to move in a back-and-forth motion across a portion of the horizontal surface of the pusher field;

a token launching mechanism configured to launch an additional token onto the pusher field; and

a token counter configured to count a value of tokens that fall into the win slot,

wherein the at least one processor is configured, for a play of the pusher machine, to:

i) receive an indication of monetary currency input by the player from the currency acceptor;

ii) cause the displayed credit count to increment based on the received indication of monetary currency;

iii) cause the additional token to be launched onto the pusher field based on a play input being received from the player by the at least one input device;

iv) cause the displayed credit count to decrement based on the received play input;

v) receive from the token counter an indication of a total credit value of tokens falling into the win slot, the total credit value being a total value required to put the tokens falling into the win slot onto the pusher field;

vi) calculate a total win value, the total win value comprising:

a base win value that is based on a first percentage of the value of tokens falling into the win slot, wherein the first percentage is less than 100% of the total credit value; and

a feature win value that is based on one or more events occurring during the play of the coin pusher machine; and

vii) cause the displayed credit count to increment by the total win value without incrementing a credit count at any other player station by a remaining value of the total credit value.

2. The coin pusher machine of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause an indication of the total credit value of tokens falling into the win slot for a game cycle to be transmitted to the external host computer.

3. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning when the pusher mechanism is oriented in a predetermined position and ending when the pusher mechanism first returns to the predetermined position after at least one token is introduced to the pusher field.

4. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning at an end of an immediately previous game cycle and ending at an expiration of a predetermined interval of time during which at least one token is first introduced to the pusher field.

5. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning at the end of an immediately previous game cycle and ending upon introduction of a predetermined number of tokens to the pusher field.

6. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning at the end of an immediately previous game cycle and ending when the token counter completes a count of tokens that have fallen into the win slot at substantially a same time and after at least one token is introduced to the pusher field.

7. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning at the end of an immediately previous game cycle and ending when a predetermined number of tokens fall into the win slot.

8. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning at the end of an immediately previous game cycle and ending when an indication is received of a take win input by the player.

9. The coin pusher machine of claim 2 , wherein the game cycle is defined as beginning at the end of an immediately previous game cycle and ending when an indication is received of a cash out input by the player.

10. The coin pusher machine of claim 1 , wherein the token counter is configured to count the total credit value of tokens that fall into the win slot by counting a number of tokens that fall into the win slot.

11. The coin pusher machine of claim 1 , wherein the feature win value is based at least in part on a displayed plurality of reels.

12. The coin pusher machine of claim 1 , wherein the feature win value is based at least in part on an additional input received by the player.

13. The coin pusher machine of claim 1 , wherein the feature win value is based at least in part on a random number generator.

14. The coin pusher machine of claim 1 , wherein for a number of plays of the coin pusher machine, a total of the calculated total win values for each of the number of plays is less than a total of a monetary value associated with each of the additional tokens launched in each of the number of plays.

15. The coin pusher machine of claim 14 , wherein the total of the calculated total win values for each of the number of plays divided by the total of a monetary value associated with each of the additional tokens launched in each of the number of plays is a payback rate of the coin pusher, and the payback rate is between 85% and 99%.

16. A method of operating a coin pusher player station, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of physical monetary currency input by a player from a currency acceptor;

causing a display device to display credit count incrementing based on the received indication of physical monetary currency;

beginning a play of the coin pusher player station by causing an additional token to be launched onto a pusher field based on a play input being received from a player by at least one input device;

causing the displayed credit count to decrement based on the received play input;

receiving from a token counter an indication of a total credit value of tokens falling into a win slot, the total credit value being a total value required to put the tokens falling into the wing slot onto the pusher field;

calculating a total win value, the total win value comprising:

a base win value that is based on a first percentage of the value of tokens falling into the win slot, wherein the first percentage is less than 100% of the total credit value; and

a feature win value that is based on one or more events occurring during the play of the coin pusher player station; and

causing the displayed credit count to increment by the total win value without incrementing a credit count at any other player station by a remaining value of the total credit value.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the feature win value is based at least in part on a random number generator.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein for a number of plays of the coin pusher player station, a total of the calculated total win values for each of the number of plays is less than a total of a monetary value associated with each of the additional tokens launched in each of the number of plays.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising providing the total win value to the player.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising causing an indication of the total credit value of tokens falling into the win slot for a game cycle to be transmitted to the external host computer.