Domino Tower Electronic Video Game

Abstract

Embodiments described herein are directed to an electronic version of domino that adds elements of wagering. A player makes a wager for dominoes to be dealt. A minimum of one domino through a maximum of five dominoes can be wagered on and dealt. Once the dominoes are dealt, the player may “flip” the dominoes by touching them. A player can flip the dominoes online in the starting row, so that dominoes dealt in the next row/level have the best chance of creating a chain. Once satisfied with the dominoes, the player keeps the dominoes to play them. A new row of dominoes is then dealt. Any number of pips on these dominoes that match the bottom dominoes number of pips awards the player a payout and another domino or set of dominoes is dealt to the next row/level. This sequence of play continues until there are no more matching dominoes or the player has hit the maximum payout level. Payouts increase with the size of the domino chain. There is also a bonus game that is awarded whenever a certain type of domino is dealt.

1 . A method of playing an electronic domino game, the method comprising:
 receiving a wager from a player for one or more dominoes to be dealt;   dealing the specified number of dominoes to the player in a starting row of a game display area;   receiving user input from the player representing flipping of one or more dominoes in the starting row;   dealing an additional row of dominoes to a second row of the game display area;   determining whether any of the dominoes in the starting row match the domino dealt immediately above it in the second row;   dealing another additional row of dominoes if there are any matches between the starting row and the second row; and   paying out a defined payout amount for any matched dominoes between the starting row and the second row.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the defined payout amount increases for each subsequent dealt row of dominoes. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 defining a domino representing a bonus game domino;   determining if the bonus game domino is dealt as part of any hand of dominoes; and   awarding a bonus game to the player if the bonus game domino is dealt.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 allowing the player to flip dominoes dealt to successive rows after the starting row; and   receiving user input from the player representing flipping of one or more dominoes in a subsequent row after the starting row.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising determining whether any of the dominoes in a row matches the domino dealt immediately above it in a subsequent row. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the domino game is an electronic game and wherein the player input is received electronically, comprising at least one of: the player touching a touch screen to indicate a choice, or the player entering commands through a keyboard to indicate a choice. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the domino game is a community game is displayed on a common display viewable by all of the participating players at one time. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the domino game is played by the user on an individual computing platform remotely coupled to one or more other computing platforms operated by other players over a wide area network. 
   
   
       9 . An electronic domino game system, comprising:
 a plurality of game machines each of which comprises,
 an output display device configured to display an electronic domino game; and 
 an input device configured to receive user input regarding game play; 
   a server configured to store instructions comprising a electronic domino game, wherein the server communicates with the plurality of game machines via at least one network, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the electronic domino game to be played on the plurality of game machines, the electronic domino game comprising:
 receiving a wager from a player for one or more dominoes to be dealt; 
 dealing the specified number of dominoes to the player in a starting row of a game display area; 
 receiving user input from the player representing flipping of one or more dominoes in the starting row; 
 dealing an additional row of dominoes to a second row of the game display area; 
 determining whether any of the dominoes in the starting row match the domino dealt immediately above it in the second row; 
 dealing another additional row of dominoes if there are any matches between the starting row and the second row; and 
 paying out a defined payout amount for any matched dominoes between the starting row and the second row. 
   
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the plurality of electronic domino games is distributed among a plurality of venues. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the server and plurality of electronic domino game is located at a venue. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the server and plurality of electronic domino game machines are coupled over the Internet, and wherein the server comprises a web server process accessed through web browsers executed on each of the plurality of electronic domino game machines. 
   
   
       13 . A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor cause a method to be performed, the method comprising:
 receiving a wager from a player for one or more dominoes to be dealt;   dealing the specified number of dominoes to the player in a starting row of a game display area;   receiving user input from the player representing flipping of one or more dominoes in the starting row;   dealing an additional row of dominoes to a second row of the game display area;   determining whether any of the dominoes in the starting row match the domino dealt immediately above it in the second row;   dealing another additional row of dominoes if there are any matches between the starting row and the second row; and   paying out a defined payout amount for any matched dominoes between the starting row and the second row.   
   
   
       14 . The medium of  claim 13 , wherein the player input is received electronically, comprising at least one of: the player touching a touch screen to indicate a choice, or the player entering commands through a keyboard to indicate a choice. 
   
   
       15 . The medium of  claim 14  wherein a plurality of additional players interacts with the player through respective game platforms. 
   
   
       16 . The medium of  claim 15  wherein the additional players are remotely coupled over a wide area network and wherein the respective game platforms comprise personal computer workstations. 
   
   
       17 . The medium of  claim 16  wherein the electronic domino game is an online game served by a web server, and wherein each of the respective game platforms comprises a computer executing a web browser.