Game device, gaming item, and program product

1. A game device for playing a game, comprising:

a first display having a first display area, and being configured to display images for the game in the first display area, the first display area including an operation area on which a user item of a user is movably placeable;

a computing device; and

a storage medium containing program instructions stored therein, execution of which by the computing device causes the game device to provide the functions of:

a recognition unit configured to obtain item information from the user item, the item information including a game character of the user that the user plays in the game;

an execution unit configured to execute the game using the item information;

a detection unit configured to detect a first position of the user item in the operation area, and identify the game character from the item information in the user item; and

a display controller configured to control displaying of the first display, the display controller causing an associated image to be displayed at a second position in the first display area, and controlling the second position of the first effect image so as to change the second position in response to a change of the first position of the user item, detected by the detection unit, the associated image being associated with the user item that has been movably placed on the operation area, and including a first effect image that is displayed around the user item movably placed on the operation area, the second position being determined on the basis of the first position of the user item movably placed on the operation area.

2. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein

the display controller generates a first game image for the user to play the game, and a second game image different from the first game image, and

the display controller,

when the first game image is displayed, causes both the associated image and the first image to be displayed in the first display area, and

when the second game image is displayed, causes the associated image not to be displayed in the first display area.

3. The game device according to claim 2 , wherein

the first game image is displayed when the detection unit detects a change of the first position of the user item in the operation area, and

the second game image is displayed when the change of the first position of the user item in the operation area is not detected by the detection unit.

4. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein the associated image is an image showing management information for managing the game.

5. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein the second position of the first effect image of the user item corresponds to a position of the game character displayed in the first display area.

6. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein the display controller controls the displaying of the associated image by a change of the first position of the user item movably placed on the operation area, so that the associated image constitutes a movement operation interface of the game.

7. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein

the associated image includes a state image indicating a state of the game character in the game, the game character corresponding to the user item movably placed on the operation area, and

the display controller causes the state image of the game character to be displayed in a vicinity of an area in which the user item is placed.

8. The game device according to claim 7 , wherein the display controller changes the state image according to the state of the game character in the game.

9. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein

the display controller causes a second effect image to be displayed at a third position in the first display area of the first display, and

in response to detection of the first position of the user item at least partially overlapping the third position of the second effect image, the execution unit changes a state of the game character in the game.

10. The game device according to claim 9 , wherein, after the user item has been moved to a position at least partially overlapping the third position of the second effect image, the display controller controls the third position of the second effect image so as to follow the first position of the user item.

11. The game device according to claim 9 , wherein the second effect image has a shape surrounding an area having same shape and size as the user item.

12. The game device according to claim 9 , wherein

the user item of the user is selected from among a plurality of items,

the plurality of items includes a first item that changes a state thereof when the first position of the user item overlaps the third position of the second effect image, and

in response to the second effect image being displayed in the first display area, the display controller causes the associated image to be displayed in the first display area, when the user item is the first item.

13. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein

the display controller further causes a third effect image to be displayed in the first display area of the first display, the third effect image having a prescribed effect in the game,

the game has a plurality of settings, including a setting for setting a level of difficulty of the game, and

in response to the first position of the user item being moved to a position that at least partially overlaps a position of the third effect image, the execution unit changes one of the plurality of settings.

14. The game device according to claim 1 , further comprising a second display differing from the first display, wherein

the display controller causes the second display to be displayed the game image where the game character corresponding to the user item appears in a position corresponding to the first position of the user item movably placed on the operation area.

15. The game device according to claim 14 , wherein, if the associated image is not to be displayed in the first display, the display controller determines two portions of the game character that do not overlap each other, and causes the two portions to display in the first display area and the second display area, respectively.

16. The game device according to claim 1 , wherein the recognition unit obtains the item information from the user item in response to the user item being movably placed on the operation area.

17. A gaming item, comprising:

item information to be obtained by the recognition unit of the game device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the item information includes control information for controlling the display controller for displaying the associated image.

18. A computer program product for a game, the game device including a first display having a first display area, and being configured to display images for the game in the first display area, the first display area including an operation area on which a user item of a user is movably placeable, and a computing device to execute program instructions, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and the program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the program instructions comprising:

program instructions to obtain item information from the user item, the item information including a game character that is used by the user in the game;

program instructions to execute the game using the item information;

program instructions to detect a first position of the user item in the operation area, and identify the game character from the item information in the user item, and

program instructions to control displaying of the first display, by causing an associated image to be displayed at a second position in the first display area, and controlling the second position of the first effect image so as to change in response to a change of the first position of the user item, detected by the detection unit, the associated image being associated with the user item that has been movably placed on the operation area, and including a first effect image that is displayed around the user item movably placed on the operation area, the second position being determined on the basis of the first position of the user item movably placed on the operation area.