Universal Overlay Games in an Electronic Gaming Environment
A method is disclosed herein for displaying winning and non-winning game results in a traditional gaming environment. The system uses an overlay game to present an entertaining display to a player upon the occurrence of a win or trigger event. An overlay game has limited capabilities and additionally is engineered to be usable on a variety of gaming machines. To be usable on a variety of gaming machines, the overlay game is intentionally kept simple; in one case, it comprises a visual display that is shown to a player upon the occurrence of a trigger event. In another embodiment, it requires a simple button press to start the overlay game. The overlay games are downloaded on an as-needed basis, run on the gaming machine, and then discarded.
1 . A method for presenting a displayable event on a display of a gaming device, the method comprising:
providing a gaming device comprising a display for displaying a base game and the displayable event thereon;
under control of an overlay module resident in the gaming device:
after initiation and during play of a base game and in response to a triggering event in the base game, receiving the displayable event from a server operatively connected to the gaming device, wherein the overlay module utilizes a memory of the gaming device to store the displayable event;
suspending further play of the base game;
presenting the displayable event on the display of the gaming device, wherein the displayable event is presented independent of the base game and has associated therewith a result that is a winning or a non-winning event; and
resuming further play of the base game.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the overlay event is a different theme than the base game, and wherein the overlay event is displayed at least partially over the display of the base game.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the overlay event is an overlay game.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the overlay module is enabled to use input and output devices of the gaming device for operation of the overlay game.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the input and output devices comprise a touch screen.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the input and output devices comprise at least one speaker.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the server allows automatic transfer of funds to and from the gaming device in response to overlay event awards and overlay event wagers placed by a player.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of deleting the overlay event from the memory of the gaming device once it has been presented.
9 . A method for presenting a displayable event on a display of a gaming device, the method comprising:
providing the gaming device including a display for displaying a base game and the displayable event thereon;
under control of an overlay module resident in the gaming device:
after initiation and during play of a base game, receiving the displayable event from a server operatively connected to the gaming device, wherein the overlay module utilizes a memory of the gaming device to store the displayable event;
suspending further play of the base game;
presenting the displayable event on the display of the gaming device, wherein the displayable event is presented independent of the base game and has associated therewith a result that is a winning or a non-winning event; and
resuming further play of the base game.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the overlay event is a different theme than the base game, and wherein the overlay event is displayed at least partially over the display of the base game.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the overlay event is an overlay game.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the overlay module is enabled to use input and output devices of the gaming device for operation of the overlay game.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the input and output devices comprise a touch screen.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the input and output devices comprise at least one speaker.
15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the server allows automatic transfer of funds to and from the gaming device in response to overlay event awards and overlay event wagers placed by a player.
16 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of deleting the overlay event from the memory of the gaming device once it has been presented.