AU2011265554A1 - Gaming console and system having dynamic feature game - Google Patents

Abstract

5 A gaming console or system including a video display, and a game control processor arranged to control images displayed on the video display. The game control processor is arranged to play a first game displayed on the video display and, if a winning combination results, the console or system pays a prize. The console or system is characterised in that the game control 10 processor includes a dynamic game feature whereby a feature game occurs upon a first trigger condition of the first game, and wherein a second trigger condition influences one or more gameplay aspects of the feature game such as to alter the likelihood of occurrence of at least one possible outcome of a set of possible outcomes of the feature game. F1 cvi

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Standard Patent Applicant: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited Invention Title: GAMING CONSOLE AND SYSTEM HAVING DYNAMIC FEATURE GAME The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method for performing it known to us: Gaming console and system having dynamic feature game Introduction The present invention relates to gaming consoles of the type known as slot machines arranged to play a large variety of card related and other 5 gambling games such as keno or bingo, and in particular the invention provides an improvement to a game played on such a machine. Description of the Prior Art Gaming or poker machines have been well known in the state of New 10 South Wales for many years and have more recently gained considerable popularity throughout Australia, with quite substantial amounts of money wagered on these machines. There is a growing tendency for State Governments to legalise the use of gaming machines by licensing operators, with resulting revenue gains through licence fees and taxation of monies 15 invested. The licensed operation of gaming machines is the subject of State legislation and regulation. This regulation most always dictates a minimum percentage payout for a gaming machine. For example, a minimum of 85% of monies invested must be returned as winnings, and manufacturers of gaming machines therefore must design their machines around these regulatory 20 controls. With the growth that has occurred in the gaming machine market there is intense competition between manufacturers to supply the various existing and new venues. When selecting a supplier of gaming machines, the operator of a venue will often pay close attention to the popularity of various 25 games with their patrons. Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games which are popular with players, as a mechanism for improving sales. Many various strategies have been tried in the past to make games more enticing to players, including the commonly known double-up feature, 30 whereby, if a player wins a particular game, they can then risk the winnings of that game in a double-or-nothing mode in which they gamble on a subsequent, and often different, game such as whether a red or black card will be the next card drawn. Other techniques adopted in the past have been to provide complexity 35 in the numbering and combinations of indicia which would result in a win, 2 thereby hoping to convince the player that there is a greater chance of winning and to keep their interest in a particular game. Summary of the Invention In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method 5 for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: 10 initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the feature game taking the form of a wheel divided into a number of sectors each indicating a feature game outcome, at least one sector being blank and at least one sector having a feature game prize; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, the game play of the feature game by is causing a further prize to be added to a blank sector of the wheel such that the apparent likelihood of the indicator indicating a sector having a feature game prize during the feature game is increased; and awarding a feature game prize if gameplay of the feature game concludes with an indicator indicating one of the sectors having that feature game prize. 20 In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to 25 cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the feature game taking the form of a board game having a plurality of positions each indicating a feature game outcome, at least one position being blank and at least one position having a feature game prize; 30 influencing, upon a second trigger condition, the game play of the feature game by causing a further prize to be added to a blank position of the board game such that the apparent likelihood of selecting a position having a feature game prize during the feature game is increased; and awarding a feature game prize if gameplay of the feature game concludes with the 35 selection of one of the positions having that feature game prize.

3 In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of 5 play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the feature game comprising an outcome altering stage, a subsequent random outcome indicating stage and an outcome indicator having a plurality of outcome indicating parts for displaying a 10 plurality of outcomes; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, one or more game play aspects of the feature game by altering the likelihood of occurrence of at least one possible outcome within a set of possible outcomes of the feature game during the outcome altering stage; and randomly selecting one of the outcome indicating parts during said random outcome 15 indicating stage, wherein prior to the random outcome indicating stage, the second trigger condition is operable to change at least one outcome displayed on the outcome indicator. In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being 20 arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, one or more game play aspects of the feature 25 game by altering the likelihood of occurrence of at least one possible outcome within a set of possible outcomes of the feature game during the outcome altering stage; and altering, upon the second trigger condition, the outcome odds of the feature game. In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means 30 arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the 35 feature game taking the form of a series of bonus games of the first game; 4 displaying, during the feature game, an initial set of possible outcomes of the feature game; dynamically altering at least one of the outcomes in the displayed initial set of possible outcomes in response to a second trigger condition arising during play of the feature game, to 5 provide and display an altered set of possible outcomes on the outcome display; and randomly selecting an outcome from the altered set of possible outcomes; and awarding a feature game prize if the randomly selected outcome is associated with that feature game prize, wherein during play of the feature game, the first trigger condition does not initiate a further dynamic feature game. 10 In accordance with a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to i5 cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the first trigger condition occurring when a random number coincides with a number of credits bet on the first game, the feature game comprising a different display format to the first game; displaying a plurality of first possible outcomes of the feature game, each possible 20 outcome associated with a prize value, wherein the outcome that eventuates from the plurality of first possible outcomes is determined by first and second random selection processes; selecting, in the first random selection process, at least one outcome from a plurality of second outcomes and displaying the selected outcome on the display, wherein if the outcome selected from the plurality of second outcomes comprises a 25 second trigger condition, then altering at least one aspect of the plurality of first possible outcomes; and selecting, in the second random selection process, one of the plurality of first possible outcomes, as altered due to the first random selection process; and awarding the prize associated with the selected first possible outcome. 30 In one embodiment, the first or second trigger conditions arise upon the occurrence of a predetermined sequence of events in the first game. In one embodiment, the first or second trigger conditions arise when a random number coincides with a number of credits bet on the first game. In one embodiment, the first or second trigger conditions arise upon the occurrence of a 35 player accumulation of a predetermined number of bonus points.

5 In one embodiment, the second trigger condition alters the value of an available prize prior to the feature game. In one embodiment, the second trigger condition alters a total number of possible 5 outcomes of the feature game. In one embodiment, the second trigger condition alters interaction of the feature game with other gaming machines in a distributed network of gaming machines. In one embodiment, the second trigger condition arises from a user selection of an aspect of the feature game. 10 In one embodiment, more than one type of trigger condition occurs in the first game, and wherein a corresponding one of a plurality of feature game types occurs depending on which type of first trigger condition arises. In one embodiment, the first game is a bonus game which has come about during play of a base game. 15 In one embodiment, occurrence of the second trigger condition causes the introduction to the feature game of an additional indicator. Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 20 Figure 1 illustrates a gaming console with a video simulation of a rotating reel display incorporating a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a gaming console control circuit; Figure 3 shows a first game and a dynamic feature game; Figure 4 illustrates a gaming system having a plurality of consoles; 25 Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of events of a second embodiment of the invention; and Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of events of a third embodiment of the invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments 30 In the following detailed description the methodology of the embodiments will be described, and it is to be understood that it is within the capabilities of the non-inventive worker in the art to introduce the methodology on any standard microprocessor-based gaming machine by means of appropriate programming. 35 Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in which a slot machine 10, of the type having a video 6 display screen 11 which displays a first game, in this instance including a plurality of rotatable reels 12 carrying symbols. is arranged to pay a prize on the occurrence of a predetermined symbol or combination of symbols. In the slot machine 10 illustrated in Figure 1, the game is initiated by a 5 push button 14, however, it will be recognised by persons skilled in the art that this operating mechanism might be replaced by a pull handle or other type of actuator in other embodiments of the invention. The top box 15 on top of the slot machine 10 carries an artwork panel which displays the various winning combinations for which a prize is paid on this machine. 10 The program which implements the game and game feature is run on a standard gaming machine control processor 20 as illustrated schematically in Figure 2. The processor 20 forms part of a controller 21 which drives the video display screen 22 of the console 24 and receives input signals from sensors 23. The sensors 23 may be touch sensors, a pull handle or another 15 type of actuator in other embodiments of the invention. The controller 21 also receives input pulses from a mechanism 25 indicating the user has provided sufficient credit to begin playing. The mechanism 25 may be a coin input chute, a credit card reader, or other type of validation device. The controller 21 further drives a payout mechanism 26 which for example may 20 be a coin output. Figure 3 illustrates the video display screen 11 of Figure 1 in more detail. In accordance with the present invention a first game is being played in a window 30 displayed on the video display screen 11, in this case being of a style which creates a matrix 31 of symbols and pays prizes for the 25 occurrence of predetermined combinations in the matrix 31. In this embodiment, an occurrence of the symbol 'K in position 32 constitutes the first trigger condition, causing a feature game to occur, in window 40. Although the feature game in the present embodiment appears on the same display means 11 as the first game, it is to be understood that the feature 30 game may appear on a second display means of the console 10, or may even appear on a second console. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may include a number of different first trigger conditions (for example, the occurrence of any one of a predetermined set of symbols in position 32), and the style of feature game occurring in window 40 may be dependent on 35 which first trigger condition occurs.

7 The feature game shown in Figure 3 is of a 'spinning wheel' style, in which a wheel 41 having a plurality of sectors 42 is activated such that it appears to spin. After a random amount of time, the wheel comes to a stop, and. if the sector 42 adjacent to the indicator 43 contains a prize, the feature 5 game awards that prize. Both the first game and the feature game may be thematic, for example the spinning wheel may be represented as a spinning chocolate wheel and the spinning reel game (the first game) in window 30 may have a theme of a card game, for example the symbols representing the cards. 10 In accordance with the present invention, the controller 21 (see Fig. 2) includes a dynamic game feature wherein aspects of the feature game shown in window 40 are influenced by a second trigger condition of the first game shown in window 30. In the present embodiment, the second trigger condition is the occurrence of a winning combination along payline 33 in the 15 first game shown in window 30. When the second trigger condition occurs, that is when a winning combination occurs along payline 33 in the first game being played in window 30 under the control of controller 21, an aspect of the feature game being played in window 40 is influenced. In the present embodiment, each winning combination along payline 33 causes an 20 additional prize to be placed in a sector 42 which previously did not contain any prize. Alternatively, each sector 42 may contain a prize having a certain value, and the occurrence of the second trigger condition may cause the prize value in one or more of the sectors 42 to increase. The play of the feature game displayed in window 40 may constitute 'spinning' the wheel 41 until a 25 sector stops adjacent to the indicator, or alternatively the indicator may be set in motion about the wheel until it comes to a stop adjacent to a sector. If the sector situated adjacent to the indicator contains a prize, the player is awarded that prize. The following examples are given to assist in the understanding of the invention and are not intended to be limiting. 30 Example 1: A first trigger condition starts a feature game in window 40. During 10 consecutive games played in window 30, each occurrence of a symbol of, say, a $100 note anywhere on column 34 of matrix 31 constitutes the second trigger condition, and has the effect of making one sector 42, out of say a possible 30 sectors, of the chocolate wheel 41 change from merely 35 decorative form or from being a blank to a $100 note. At the end of the 10 games played in window 30 the player presses a button to activate the wheel 8 41 which is now made up of sectors containing $100 notes and sectors containing no prize. If the wheel stops with the indicator 43 indicating a sector 42 containing a $100 note, the prize is awarded. Example 2: A first trigger condition causes20 consecutive games to be 5 played in window 30, during which each occurrence of a bonus symbol, or of a second trigger condition giving entry into a 2nd screen, or another condition causing the game to access a central 'link progressive' jackpot, or a trigger condition which starts a bonus game series, etc; will make one segment of the chocolate wheel 41 change from a blank to the bonus symbol. 10 At the completion of the 20 games the player presses a button to activate the wheel spin. If the wheel 41 stops with the indicator 43 indicating a sector 42 containing a bonus symbol the bonus event or prize is awarded. Example 3: A first trigger condition causes 10 games to be played in window 30. during which each occurrence of a "wheel symbol" anywhere in column 15 34 constitutes the second trigger condition, which will decrement the number of blank segments, say 30, of the wheel 41. The wheel 41 might have 15 blank sectors and 15 sectors containing $100 notes. After the 10 games are completed, the player presses a button to activate a random spin of the wheel 41, and if the wheel comes to stop with the indicator 43 indicating a 20 sector 42 containing a $100 note, the player wins $100. These examples could be implemented consecutively, or individually. In the above described examples where blank or decorated sectors are changed to sectors which may provide a prize the player may be required to stake additional credit to effect that change, for example pay two credits to 25 add a fifty credit prize to the wheel. Hence when the first trigger condition occurs the player will be taken to the feature screen where the second trigger condition will be the staking of additional credit by the player to build up the sectors of the wheel. As shown in Fig 4 and in accordance with the second aspect of the 30 invention, it is to be appreciated that the present invention may be implemented on a distributed gaming system 50, wherein a central gaming controller 51 controls display means 52 of a plurality of gaming consoles 53, or on other types of gaming systems. Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of events of Example 2 35 of the invention, in which the first trigger condition arises during play of a base game, and the second trigger condition arises during play of a bonus 9 game. During play of the base game, a sequence of events follows flowchart elements 60, 61, 62, 63, 64. 65 and 66. A sequence of events during a bonus game further includes flowchart elements 67, 68, 69, 70 and 71. In more detail, it can be seen that following a start condition 60, 5 initialisation of variables occurs during process 61. Gameplay then awaits placement of a wager at decision 62. Upon placement of a wager, a gameplay process 63 occurs. As can be seen, until a first trigger condition causes the variable NUM_GAMES to be set to a value of 20, the sequence of events of the base game will be caused by decision 65 to continue play of the base 10 game, depending on placement of a wager as determined at decision 62. Once a first trigger condition has occurred, the variable NUM_GAMES is set to a value of 20 at process 66, and when the first trigger condition is met at 65, twenty bonus games will commence. If the second trigger condition has occurred, then decision element 67 causes the sequence of 15 events to proceed to process 71, in which a prize is added to a blank segment of the feature wheel, thereby increasing the likelihood of a winning outcome when feature gameplay occurs at 70. Flowchart element 69 prevents gameplay of the feature game from occurring until 20 bonus games have been played, during which time each occurrence of a second trigger condition 20 causes a prize to be added to a blank segment of the wheel. Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of events in an additional embodiment of the invention, in which occurrence of both the first and second trigger conditions is determined during play of the base game (flowchart elements 80-87). As for the embodiment shown in Figure 5, 25 following a start condition 80, initialisation of variables and/or gameplay elements occurs at process 81. Commencement of the base game is dependent on placement of a wager, as shown at decision 82. Following play of the base game at process 83, a determination is made as to whether either the first trigger condition and/or second trigger conditions have occurred. If 30 the second trigger condition has been met then process 86 causes a prize to be added to the wheel, increasing the likelihood of a winning outcome, at least until there are no blank segments remaining (decision 85). Following occurrence of the first trigger condition, decision 87 causes gameplay of the feature game to occur at process 88, in which the odds of winning will have 35 been influenced by the number of times the second trigger condition has occurred prior to feature game play.

10 As will be evident, in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the second trigger condition may arise in either the base game or the bonus game. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples. it will be appreciated that it may be exemplified in other 5 forms. For example, the idea of dynamically changing the segments of a wheel can also be applied to making up the segments of a board game. The elements of the board game, bonuses, etc will be awarded to a player as the result of landing on a position given the result of throwing dice (or a die) one or more times. Aspects of the feature game which may be influenced by the 10 second trigger condition of the first game might include: the faces of a die or dice; the make up of a grid of squares such as bingo; the actual scorecard of a section of a game; or the make up of one or more spinning reels. The feature game may be free or may be bought by the player in which case the player may be required to stake additional credit when playing the base is in order to be eligible for the feature game. Typically the feature game will come about through chance, whether it is bought or free. Aspects of the feature game may be influenced by random events of the first game, user selections made in respect of the first game, random events occurring separately to the first game, or user selections made separately to the first 20 game. The second trigger condition might even constitute a user selection of an aspect of the feature game, the user selection being made available upon the occurrence of the first trigger condition. In this instance, the user selection may be made on a display separate to the first game, for example in a separate display window, in which a player chooses say 10 out of 20 boxes 25 to make up the feature game. The feature game could be any bonus game or series as are known in the art. The feature game may commence immediately or may be conducted over a number of repetitions of the first game or may even be played at the player's discretion. 30 The first and/or second trigger conditions may occur in a basic game, or a separate bonus game. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the 35 invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (16)

1. A method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control 5 means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the feature game taking the form of a wheel divided into a number of sectors each indicating a io feature game outcome, at least one sector being blank and at least one sector having a feature game prize; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, the game play of the feature game by causing a further prize to be added to a blank sector of the wheel such that the apparent likelihood of the indicator indicating a sector having a feature game prize during the feature 15 game is increased; and awarding a feature game prize if gameplay of the feature game concludes with an indicator indicating one of the sectors having that feature game prize.

2. A method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game 20 control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the 25 feature game taking the form of a board game having a plurality of positions each indicating a feature game outcome, at least one position being blank and at least one position having a feature game prize; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, the game play of the feature game by causing a further prize to be added to a blank position of the board game such that the apparent 30 likelihood of selecting a position having a feature game prize during the feature game is increased; and awarding a feature game prize if gameplay of the feature game concludes with the selection of one of the positions having that feature game prize. 35

3. A method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control 12 means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the 5 feature game comprising an outcome altering stage, a subsequent random outcome indicating stage and an outcome indicator having a plurality of outcome indicating parts for displaying a plurality of outcomes; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, one or more game play aspects of the feature game by altering the likelihood of occurrence of at least one possible outcome within a 10 set of possible outcomes of the feature game during the outcome altering stage; and randomly selecting one of the outcome indicating parts during said random outcome indicating stage, wherein prior to the random outcome indicating stage, the second trigger condition is operable to change at least one outcome displayed on the outcome indicator. 15

4. A method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: 20 initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game; influencing, upon a second trigger condition, one or more game play aspects of the feature game by altering the likelihood of occurrence of at least one possible outcome within a set of possible outcomes of the feature game during the outcome altering stage; and altering, upon the second trigger condition, the outcome odds of the feature game. 25

5. A method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning 30 combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the feature game taking the form of a series of bonus games of the first game; displaying, during the feature game, an initial set of possible outcomes of the feature game; 13 dynamically altering at least one of the outcomes in the displayed initial set of possible outcomes in response to a second trigger condition arising during play of the feature game, to provide and display an altered set of possible outcomes on the outcome display; and randomly selecting an outcome from the altered set of possible outcomes; and 5 awarding a feature game prize if the randomly selected outcome is associated with that feature game prize, wherein during play of the feature game, the first trigger condition does not initiate a further dynamic feature game.

6. A method for providing games on a gaming machine having display means and game 10 control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game comprising a first game and a feature game, to cause representations of play of the game to be displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, to cause payment of a prize, the method including the steps of: initiating a dynamic feature game upon a first trigger condition of the first game, the 15 first trigger condition occurring when a random number coincides with a number of credits bet on the first game, the feature game comprising a different display format to the first game; displaying a plurality of first possible outcomes of the feature game, each possible outcome associated with a prize value, wherein the outcome that eventuates from the plurality of first possible outcomes is determined by first and second random selection processes; 20 selecting, in the first random selection process, at least one outcome from a plurality of second outcomes and displaying the selected outcome on the display, wherein if the outcome selected from the plurality of second outcomes comprises a second trigger condition, then altering at least one aspect of the plurality of first possible outcomes; and 25 selecting, in the second random selection process, one of the plurality of first possible outcomes, as altered due to the first random selection process; and awarding the prize associated with the selected first possible outcome.

7. A method according to any one of claims I to 6 wherein the first or second trigger 30 conditions arise upon the occurrence of a predetermined sequence of events in the first game.

8. A method according to any one of claims I to 5 wherein the first or second trigger conditions arise when a random number coincides with a number of credits bet on the first game. 35 14

9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the first or second trigger conditions arise upon the occurrence of a player accumulation of a predetermined number of bonus points. 5

10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second trigger condition alters the value of an available prize prior to the feature game.

11. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second trigger condition alters a total number of possible outcomes of the feature game. 10

12. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second trigger condition alters interaction of the feature game with other gaming machines in a distributed network of gaming machines. 15

13. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second trigger condition arises from a user selection of an aspect of the feature game.

14. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein more than one type of trigger condition occurs in the first game, and wherein a corresponding one of a plurality of 20 feature game types occurs depending on which type of first trigger condition arises.

15. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first game is a bonus game which has come about during play of a base game. 25

16. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein occurrence of the second trigger condition causes the introduction to the feature game of an additional indicator.