Slot machine bonus round with skill level choice

Abstract

A slot machine method, apparatus, and computer readable storage to allow a player to select a skill level (e.g., easy, medium, hard) for a bonus round. The player is then presented with a task in the bonus round, and if the player successfully completes the task, then the player is awarded an award based on the skill level selected.

1 . A method to play a bonus game, the method comprising:
 receiving an initial wager from a player;   spinning reels on a slot machine to a stopped reel position and triggering a bonus round based on the stopped reel position;   allowing a player to choose a particular skill level for the bonus game;   presenting a player with a bonus game involving physical skill, with a difficulty of the bonus game being based on the particular skill level; and   determining if the player succeeded or failed on the bonus game,   wherein if the player is determined to succeed in the bonus game, then awarding the player a top award based on the particular skill level.   
   
   
       2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus game, then the player does not win an award in the bonus game. 
   
   
       3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus round, then the player wins a consolation award in the bonus game, the consolation award having a lower expected value than the top award. 
   
   
       4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bonus game is a shell game. 
   
   
       5 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bonus game is a shooting game. 
   
   
       6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the award is determined based on predetermined awards for each possible skill level. 
   
   
       7 . The method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein there is an increasing relationship between each predetermined award and a difficulty of the predetermined award's respective skill level. 
   
   
       8 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the award is determined based on a formula, wherein each possible skill level has its own respective formula. 
   
   
       9 . The method as recited in  claim 8  wherein there is an increasing relationship between an expected value of each skill level and a difficulty of each respective skill level. 
   
   
       10 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bonus game comprises:
 indicating a winning container;   shuffling animatedly at least two containers which comprise the winning container, the shuffling performed at a speed based on the particular skill level;   allowing the player to select a selected container;   if the selected container matches the winning container, the player has succeeded on the bonus game, otherwise the player has not succeeded (failed) at the bonus game.   
   
   
       11 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bonus game requires the player to hit a predetermined number of targets in a finite amount of time in order for the player to succeed in the bonus game. 
   
   
       12 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bonus game requires the player to hit a predetermined number of targets with a fixed amount of shots in order for the player to succeed in the bonus game. 
   
   
       13 . A slot machine apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
 a processing unit to perform:   receiving an initial wager from a player;   spinning reels on a slot machine to a stopped reel position and triggering a bonus round based on the stopped reel position;   allowing a player to choose a particular skill level for the bonus game;   presenting a player with a bonus game involving physical skill, a difficulty the bonus game being based on the skill level;   determining if the player succeeded or failed on the bonus game,   wherein if the player is determined to succeed in the bonus game, then awarding the player a top award based on the particular skill level; and   an output unit to display results of the processing unit.   
   
   
       14 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 12 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus game, then the player does not win an award in the bonus game. 
   
   
       15 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising, if the player failed in the bonus round, then the player wins a consolation award in the bonus game, the consolation award having a lower expected value than the top award. 
   
   
       16 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the bonus game is a shell game. 
   
   
       17 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the bonus game is a shooting game. 
   
   
       18 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the award is determined based on predetermined awards for each possible skill level. 
   
   
       19 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 17 , wherein there is an increasing relationship between each predetermined award and a difficulty of the predetermined award's respective skill level. 
   
   
       20 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the award is determined based on a formula, wherein each possible skill level has its own respective formula. 
   
   
       21 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 19  wherein there is an increasing relationship between an expected value of each skill level and a difficulty of each respective skill level.