CN106163625B

CN106163625B - User interface for controlling a computer device

Info

Publication number: CN106163625B
Application number: CN201580017856.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: M·汉松; N·奥尔弗伯格; T·纽罗姆; R·雅克什
Original assignee: King com Ltd
Current assignee: King com Ltd
Priority date: 2014-01-31
Filing date: 2015-01-30
Publication date: 2020-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 2035-01-30
Also published as: JP2017510321A; WO2015114117A1; CN106163625A; KR20160114649A; EP3086869A1

Abstract

A computer device has: a user interface configured to display user actuatable game elements and configured to detect user input when a user interacts with a game element; and a processor configured to receive the detected user input and configured to control the user interface to remove at least three game elements from the display upon detection of a matching game condition and configured to provide alternative user actuatable game elements on the user interface, wherein the manner in which each alternative game element is provided has a graphical representation governed by a tile associated with each game element, wherein each tile has selectable physics governing at least one of: (i) each tile moves over it to fill the direction of the gap left by the removed user game element; and (ii) the speed at which each tile moves to fill the void.

Description

User interface for controlling a computer device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to controlling a user interface in response to user interaction with a displayed element on an interface of a computer device.

Background

In the field of computer-implemented games, there are many technical challenges facing designers of such games when considering how to control a user interface in the context of a computer device that can be used to play the game.

One technical challenge may relate to allowing games to be fun and engaging even when limited display resources are available, such as when playing games on a smartphone, tablet, or other microcomputer. Another significant challenge is user interaction. The interaction involves game play designed to be attractive and rewarded to the player. This typically requires that games be easily understood at their simplest or primary level, providing bonus play with fairly simple game mechanics, but becomes increasingly challenging so that players do not feel bored, but rather remain interactive and develop bonus skills. Effective interaction requires various forms of feedback to enhance the player's experience of success and completion.

An existing type of san xiao game is the so-called "switch over" game. Sanxiao game is a casual, mental game in which players need to find patterns on a plate that looks cluttered. The player must then match three or more of the same type of game elements on the game board and those matched elements will disappear later. In a switch game, a player swaps spaces onto adjacent game elements on a game board such that one or two of them produce a chain of at least three adjacent game elements of the same type. Those matching game elements will disappear thereafter. The game board is then refilled with game objects.

One such known game of the sanxiao type is known as candy crumbling under the trade name. In this game, the game board is refilled with game elements that are perceived to fall down onto the game board from the top edge of the screen according to which the game is played.

Disclosure of Invention

Aspects of the present invention provide an improved method of controlling a user interface in the context of a computer-implemented game of the sanxiao game type. They provide a solution to the technical problem of user interaction with limited screen resources and/or improve user interaction.

One aspect of the present invention provides a computer apparatus having: a user interface configured to display user actuatable game elements and configured to detect user input when a user interacts with a game element; a processor configured to receive the detected user input and configured to control the user interface to remove at least three game elements from the display upon detection of a matching game condition and configured to provide alternative user actuatable game elements on the user interface, wherein the manner in which each alternative game element is provided has a graphical representation governed by a tile associated with each game element, wherein each tile has selectable physics controlling at least one of: (i) each tile moves over it to fill the direction of the gap left by the removed user game element; and (ii) the speed at which each tile moves to fill the void.

In one embodiment of the game, the processor is configured to select the physics for each tile based on user input at the user interface.

The user input can be purposely generated user input to change the physics of the tile that will later govern how the game element is replaced. Alternatively, the user input can form part of playing a game, as discussed more fully below.

In the embodiments described below, the physics of the tiles are adjusted according to the direction in which the replacement tiles move over them. However, the speed at which the tile moves can also be adjusted by deliberate user input or by player participation in the game. Thus, tiles can be filled at various speeds depending on how the player plays the game. That is, a game element can arrive extremely fast, or can arrive more slowly in association with the visual animation it arrives.

The processor may be configured to select a physics for each tile based on where the at least three game elements were removed on the display. That is, a portion of the displayed game board is populated with game elements according to one physical property, and another portion will be populated with game elements having another physical property.

The computer device can include a graphics controller connected to receive information defining a graphical representation for the processor and connected to serve the graphical representation in a video sequence to the user interface based on the physics of the tile. For example, a game element can be perceived as falling or moving upward.

The user interface can be configured to display each tile and a visual indication, e.g., color, of its selected physics.

The user interface can be configured to display separators between tiles having a first physics and tiles having a second physics. In this case, the displayed portion of the game board may be shown in two colors representing two different physical properties. In the described embodiment, a tile having a first physics moves in a direction to fill a void down from an upper portion of the screen, and a tile having a second physics moves in a direction to fill a void up from a lower portion of the screen. The lower portion of the screen is purple, referred to herein as "lemonade. It can be referred to as water or soda or any fluid name. More generally, any highlighting nomenclature can be used. In lemonade, the block moves upward. The selectable physics control direction in any orientation of a cartesian or polar coordinate system for filling tiles from an exterior portion of the game board to an interior portion of the game board. In one gaming mechanism, the user interface is configured to display a balloon game element that changes the physics of the set of displayed tiles when a matching game condition of a game element associated with the balloon element is detected. The balloon element need not take the form of a balloon, and any container type icon would be suitable, e.g., a bottle. The balloon "explodes" and gives more play elements the physical property of "lemonade". The game elements are associated with the balloon elements by having a color that matches the balloon elements. If, for example, a match of a red game element is detected, the red balloon will "explode", increasing the level of "lemonade": the separator will raise the displayed portion of the game board one or more lines upwards. In one version of the game, the tiles are arranged in rows and columns. The separator extends transversely across the game board between two rows of lines.

In a grid-type arrangement, the set of tiles whose physics are changed by the balloon game element are the rows of tiles. Any other kind of set can be selected, such as three rows, from top to bottom, one column, etc.

To visually illustrate different physics to a user, the user interface can be controlled by the processor to sequentially apply a visual effect to the set of tiles, thereby indicating the physics of the tiles. The visual effect can be a highlight or a flashing effect, wherein the game element is temporarily enlarged and/or lightened.

In a grid arrangement, visual effects are applied sequentially to adjacent rows. To distinguish between different game physics, the visual effect is applied in a first direction in the set of rows above the separator and not in the set of rows below the separator.

In one version of the game, the number of replacement game elements is the same as the number of game elements in the matching condition. However, the number can be different, and the locations of the females can be set to fill the gaps according to the selected tile physics.

In a particular special optional feature, the game board of game elements is generated by the processor, but only a portion of the game board is displayed to the user, wherein a subsequent portion of the game board is displayed as a result of a scrolling action displayed on the user interface.

Another aspect of the invention provides an interface responsive to user interaction with a displayed game element on a user interface, the method comprising the following steps implemented by a processor of a computer device: detecting matching game conditions for at least three game elements in response to user input; generating replacement game elements to be displayed, each game element being associated with a tile; selecting a physics for each tile; controlling a graphical representation of a replacement game element on a user interface based on the selected tile physics, wherein the tile physics controls at least one of: (i) the direction in which the tile moves to fill the void left by the removed user game element; and (ii) the speed at which the tile moves to fill the void.

In a grid-type arrangement, the user interface displays the game board of game elements in rows, and where there is a visual indication of the tile physics associated with each tile in a row. All tiles in the same row have the same physics. Where separators are displayed on the user interface between adjacent rows having different tile physics, the position of the separator on the game board can be adjusted by user input causing the "balloon" element to be actuated, thereby increasing the number of tiles under the separator.

In one game mechanism, a game character is displayed on tiles having a first kind of physics, and movement of the character on the game board is affected by the tile physics of the set of tiles that surround the game character. For example, a character moves up in "lemonade" when a game element on it is removed. The target row is identified on the display (e.g., with a visual target such as a rubber ring) and one game target is to cause the game character to move up to the target row.

When the complete game board is not displayed on the user interface, a portion of the game board is displayed on the user interface, the displayed portion changing due to the scrolling action to display a different portion of the game board on the display.

The row of objects is not visible to the player when the first portion of the game board is displayed on the display, and wherein the row of objects enters the field of view of the player when the second portion of the game board is displayed on the display as a result of the scrolling action.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a computer apparatus having: a user interface configured to generate a game board having game elements for display for user interaction; and a processor configured to control the user interface to remove a game element from the display upon detection of a matching game condition and to provide an alternative game element on the display in response to user interaction with the game element, wherein a portion of the game board comprising the alternative game element is displayed, the portion being controlled to change by a scrolling action, wherein the enabled portion of the game board is newly displayed and a previously displayed portion of the game board is removed from the display.

Another aspect provides a method of controlling a user interface in a computer device to show portions of a three-way game board and to show different portions in scrolling the game board in response to user input at the user interface to detect and activate a matching game element.

Another embodiment provides a computer apparatus having: a user interface configured to display user game elements and configured to detect user input when a user interacts with a game element; and a processor configured to receive the detected user input and configured to control the user interface to provide a graphical representation of the one or more game elements upon detection of a game condition, wherein movement of the one or more game elements is controlled by a selectable physical property that controls a direction of movement thereof.

Another embodiment provides a computer-implemented method of controlling an interface in response to user interaction with displayed game elements on a user interface, the method comprising the following steps implemented by a processor of a computer device:

detecting a game condition in response to a user input;

generating a game element to be displayed;

selecting a physical property; and

controlling a graphical representation of one or more game elements on a user interface, wherein movement of the one or more game elements is controlled by a selectable physical property that controls a direction of movement thereof.

Another aspect provides a computer program product for implementing the above method.

Drawings

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a game board of a prior version of the Sanxiao game;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of how a game board may be refilled with replacement game elements;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an alternative operation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a scroll-type game board with visual indications of different tile physics;

figures 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams illustrating actuation of a balloon element;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of successful completion of a game level in which a character reaches a target row;

fig. 8a and 8b illustrate the operation of rolling the game board;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method of controlling an interface for scrolling a game board;

10a, 10b, 10c and 11 are schematic diagrams illustrating operation of a manually operated companion;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are schematic diagrams illustrating the operation of a novelty game element;

FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a novel game mechanism that exchanges a multicolor booster with packaged game elements;

FIG. 16a is a diagrammatic representation of tiles with different physics (up and down);

FIG. 16b is a diagrammatic representation of tiles with different physics (sideways);

FIG. 16c illustrates a data structure for managing tile physics;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a computer device;

FIG. 18 is a schematic architectural diagram of a background in which a computer device can be used for gaming;

FIG. 19 shows different matching possibilities; and

FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate alternative tiles with sideways physics; and

figure 22 shows a novel feature target with chocolate barrier.

FIG. 23 illustrates an embodiment of a novel game mode.

FIG. 24 illustrates one embodiment of a novel play mode.

FIG. 25 illustrates one embodiment of a novel play mode.

FIG. 26 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a stream of falling game elements.

FIG. 27 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a stream of falling game elements.

Detailed Description

The terms user and player are used interchangeably in this document and the use of one or the other is not intended to have a particular meaning unless the context indicates otherwise.

In the following description of the various embodiments of the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a legend called candy crumbling^TM3 has exchanged for the display of a known version of the game. Fig. 1 illustrates a game board 2 having a plurality of game elements 20. The game elements each have six different shapes and colors. Each game element is supported by block 22. The tiles are not readily visible to the player of the game, and the game elements are a primary concern for the player. However, the tiles govern game elements as will be described in more detail laterThe characteristic visible to the player.

In the known version of the 3-way switching game, the purpose of the game is to exchange candy-shaped game elements with each other to make movements on the game board. To obtain a score, the player must make a move that produces a match of at least three identical candies. In doing so, the player obtains a score and the matching candy is removed. As a result, new confections fall into the spaces from the top of the game board to fill any space created. In fig. 1, it is assumed that game element 20c is moved to the right by one space to form a three-line match with

game elements

20a and 20 b. Turning now to fig. 2, this has the effect of "disappearing" the

game board elements

20a, 20b and 20c, thereby producing a visual effect (animation) on the screen to indicate the disappearance, such as the minimized explosion effect indicated at 24 in fig. 2. The two game elements immediately above game element 20a will now fall down into the spaces created by the removal of

game elements

20a, 20b, and 20 c. Thus, game element 20e will end at the position of tile 22c, and game element 20d will end at the position of tile 22 b. In addition, three new tiles with game elements are "created" and dropped down into the game board to fill the remaining three spaces above tile 22 b. Game elements falling down into the game on the newly generated tile are randomly generated. The user then has a new game board showing the subsequent move. FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process implemented by software in a processor for performing the basic game mechanism just discussed. In step S1, the input made by the player on the screen is analyzed. In step S2, the game rules are applied to see if at least three element matches have been generated. If not, at step S3, the screen indicates to the user that the move was illegal and the player must try again. If a match has been detected, at step S4, an appropriate visual effect for display is generated to indicate the match of the game element and the disappearance of the game element that has been matched. At step S5, new game elements are generated for display, which fall from the top down to fill the display. The so-called physics of the generated tiles on a new game board after each move is always the same as in the existing version of the game known as candy crumbling. That is, the tiles fall downward from the game board at a set speed.

Physical properties of picture blocks

In an improved version of the game described herein, the physics of each individual tile can be changed based on the user's game play or based on instructions from the game software. Both the speed at which a tile can move and the direction in which a tile can move can be dictated by the play of the game. Figure 4 illustrates a game board of one embodiment of the present invention. The game board has two sections divided by a dividing line 40. In the upper section, the game mechanism is as just described with reference to FIG. 1. If a match is made, the game element is removed and a replacement tile with the associated game element falls down from the top of the screen into the new game board. However, if the game element is matched and thus removed from the area below the dividing line 40, the game element arrives to generate a new game board from below the screen in the direction of the arrow 42 in fig. 4. Thus, the physics of the tiles below the dividing line 40 is such that there is an upward movement to complete the display, rather than a downward movement in the upper section. The physics of the tile is dictated by the location of the tile vis-d-vis boundary 40. The demarcation is visible to the player by having a tile of one color above the demarcation and a tile of another color below the demarcation. The tiles below the demarcation line form a continuous background, which is referred to as "lemonade" in the game. This is merely an indication of the successive colors formed by the tiles below the demarcation line 40. The game element cannot fall into the "lemonade" from above the dividing line. Demarcation line 40 represents a barrier to further movement of the game element up or down.

Game character release

The player can control the position of the boundary line 40 with respect to the displayed area of the game board. That is, they can move the dividing line 40 upward on the screen according to a specific game mechanism involving the explosion of the balloon-shaped game elements. Fig. 5 illustrates the game mechanism. The balloon 50 has reached the game board and is therefore available for explosion. In order for the balloon to explode, it is necessary to form a match of game board elements having the same color as the balloon. In this case. The L-shaped match of the red element is shown as having been made on the left corner of the display at 52. The match has been shown with a visual effect on the screen and the game elements will therefore disappear. This is shown in fig. 6, where the balloon 50 has now exploded, the game element of the match 52 has disappeared and the level of "lemonade" has now risen. Thus, the dividing line 40 is now in a new position one row above its earlier position in fig. 5. This movement is indicated by arrow 43 in fig. 5. In this way, the player can influence the number of tiles with changing physics, in this case, the number of tiles with physics that cause them to move the infill game board up from below the screen as opposed to moving down from above the screen: see fig. 16 a.

In an alternative embodiment shown in fig. 16b, 20 and 21, the game elements are moved in from one side to replace matching game elements. Fig. 20 shows five game elements moved from the left as new replacement elements.

FIG. 16c illustrates data structures for managing tile physics and schematically illustrates the interrelationship between data structures 1603 of graphics controller 180 and rendering engine 1600. Graphics controller 180 is illustrated in fig. 17. Data structure 1603 can be stored in any suitable storage circuitry, such as illustrated by memory 174 in fig. 17. Rendering engine 1600 drives a display on user interface 1602 that receives video output from graphics controller 180 illustrated in FIG. 17.

As mentioned, activity at the user interface 1602 can change tile physics. Data structure 1603 is responsible for managing how replacement tiles are delivered to the user interface. Each tile has a tile ID 1605. Tile ID 1605 can define a location on the user interface in which to populate a tile, which is governed by the vacancy that has been released by game play. This allows the rendering engine 1600 to generate the tile at the appropriate location on the user interface display 1602. Each tile ID 1605 is associated with tile data 1607, the tile data 1607 defining how the tile is displayed, i.e., what game elements it has associated with it, and whether it has any "obstacles" in addition to or instead of the game elements, or any foreground or background. Different alternatives for obstacles, foreground and background are discussed later.

In addition to tile data, tile physics 1609 is also stored in association with a tile identifier. The tile physics for a particular tile can be modified based on activity at the user interface 1602. Thus, after each play of the game, the tile identifier defining the location at which the tile is to be populated can have different tile physics associated with it, as modified by activity at the user interface 1602. The modified tile physics are stored in data structure 1603 such that the appropriate tile physics are used to populate the particular tile when the gap occurs the next time a game is played.

As the level of "lemonade" moves with the help of activity at the user interface, the tile physics associated with all tiles affected by the movement of the level are changed in the data structure 1603.

In the above-described embodiments, the physics of the tile is predetermined by the game software according to its location on the screen (particularly as to whether it is in "lemonade"). However, players can use boosters and/or companions to change the physics of tiles in a more general manner. For example, a companion can be provided when a change in the physics of some or all of the tiles is enabled. The tile whose physical property is changed can be preselected or determined by the user or the result of playing the game.

In the embodiments described above, changing the physics of a tile can change the speed or direction at which a game element can fill the gap left by a "matching" game element. In alternative embodiments, the physics of the tiles can affect how the game elements bounce off of each other.

A game object will now be discussed with reference to fig. 4 and 7. Figure 4 illustrates a row of rubber rings 44 across the screen. A teddy bear 46 is also illustrated. The requirement to accomplish this level is to release the teddy bear 46 from its air bubbles. This can be achieved by raising the level 40 of lemonade to a row containing rubber rings 44. The "antigravity" effect of the game pieces in lemonade enables the player to bring the bear up to the rubber ring. That is, if the bear was previously under a game element, the matching of those game elements will cause them to disappear and the bear 46 will therefore move upwardly towards the rubber ring. In fig. 4, it is shown in the row immediately below the rubber ring. In fig. 7, it is shown as being captured by the rubber ring 44 and thus released from its air bubbles. The transition between fig. 4 and 7 has been accomplished by exchanging game element 20f with element 20 g. Fig. 4 shows the game board 42 immediately after the player has provided input to generate the swap. The game element 20f is moving to occupy a position above the level 40 where three rows of green elements will be formed. One of the green elements of this row 20h is a balloon, whose matching will result in an increase in the level 40. Fig. 7 shows the game board 42 after the level rise has occurred. The bear has been raised up on the game board to meet the rubber ring and removed from the game board. A record of the removal of the bear is made with a bear icon to the left of the screen 48. The icon 48 indicates that there may be more than one bear available to the player on any particular game board.

The game software is programmed to visually indicate to the player the physics of the tile by a flashing or "Mexico Rev" effect. Highlighting can include simply enlarging or brightening the game elements in the row. That is, the rows of tiles above the boundary 40 are all highlighted in order to illustrate that the game elements fall down to the boundary. Conversely, the rows of game elements below the boundary are highlighted in reverse order to indicate that the game elements have reached up below the boundary. Alternatively, no highlighting can be done in lemonade.

Rolling game board

Another aspect of the invention relates to the manner in which the game elements are displayed as a game board. In a known version of the Sanxiao game known as candy crumbling, the game board has a fixed size (in FIG. 1; 8x5 elements) and is filled to the fixed size by the game elements that fall downward. The fixed size need not be 8x5 or indeed a matrix, but in known games it is a fixed size. According to an embodiment of the invention, there is instead a scrolling version of the screen illustrated in fig. 8a and 8 b. Note that in FIG. 8a, there are two rows R1 and R2 illustrated at the bottom of the display, and note that the dividing line 40 appears in the six rows above the bottom of the display. There are three visible rows above the dividing line. Now consider fig. 8b, where the screen has scrolled upwards so that the user is now unable to see both R1 at the bottom of the screen and only can see the top half of row R2. However, now an extra row R3 has appeared at the top of the screen, and half of another row R4 with a rubber ring has also appeared at the top of the screen. This allows the user to observe how progress is made by the lemonade to bring the teddy bear character 46 into interaction with the rubber ring 44. The effect of this is that the game board appears to move downwards relative to the background once the lemonade appears half way up the visible game board, allowing the player to observe the level of the rubber ring they have to reach, and the level of the rubber ring is not in the current view when the player starts the game.

One purpose of the scrolling is to follow the bear character 46 as if it were followed by the camera. This improves user interaction and interest in following the character's fate as the character moves toward the target. Other modes of moving the camera are available. Can be moved in any direction in the two-dimensional screen and control the camera to be centered on any particular tile based on predetermined conditions. For example, a condition can have the following components: the same state; (ii) a target to be met; a user input; a booster. In some embodiments, the user input can thus determine which character or tile is in the center of the camera view of the screen.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating steps performed by software executed by a processor in delivering the game mechanism discussed above. In step S90, a user input from a user input device is received and analyzed at the processor. In step S92, the game rules are applied and it is determined whether a match has been detected. If not, at step S94, the screen indicates illegal movement. If so, flow flows to step S96 to generate a visual effect for display to indicate a match. In addition, at step S96, the position of the match, i.e., whether it is above or below the boundary line 40, is detected. At step S98, tile physics are identified based on location (tile drop or tile rise). At step S100, a new game element is generated for display and arrives for display using the tile physics identified in step S98. When generating game elements for display, both the game elements and the potential tile colors are generated depending on where the tiles are to be located (above or below the dividing line), which in turn depends on where the match is made. At step S102, the position of the bear character is detected to determine whether scrolling of the screen is required. If scrolling is not required, the screen view remains fixed at step S104. However, if scrolling of the screen is required, the screen display is scrolled to show the player a new line of game elements at step S106. Scrolling of the screen is intended to keep the character in a central position.

Mate

Fig. 10a, 10b, 10c and 11 illustrate an operation of 3-way switching a partner in a game. A companion is indicated by reference numeral 100 and has an animated character within a frame 102. The animated character can be, for example, a frog. The load bar 104 can be visually loaded by gaming activities. That is, the color bar can move from left to right, indicating the degree of loading of the companion 100. The change bar is changed by matching a particular color (e.g., blue) of candy. In fig. 10a, the candy 20g has been moved to the 3 o' clock position, resulting in the removal of the

candy

20s, 20h, 20i (see fig. 10b) and a corresponding increase in the change of the carrier strip 104 represented by the animation effect visible in fig. 10 b. When the partner is fully loaded as shown in fig. 11, it can be activated by the user (by touch or mouse, etc.) and the effect is that a character such as frog 103 jumps out of frame 102 and destroys all candies of the same color as the partner. For example, in one embodiment, the frog is yellow and the frog jumps onto the plate and destroys all yellow candy.

Chocolate removal

Figure 22 illustrates a chocolate barrier at 110. The concept of 3 canceling obstacles in the switching game is described later. The goal of the novel game is to destroy all of the chocolate pieces on the game board. This is in contrast to existing versions of candy crumbling, where no such game object exists.

Fruit jelly bear

In known versions of the candy crumbling legend, some levels have special play elements known as "jelly pieces". As will be described later, the jelly pieces are placed on game pieces below the game elements. The jelly chunk can be removed by performing a match on the tile on which it is located. Figure 23 shows a game board with jelly pieces placed on it. On the game board, there is a tile 231 with jelly and a tile 232 without.

Fig. 24 shows the game board of fig. 23 at a later point in time after several pieces of jelly at the top of the screen have been removed. Disclosed behind the removed jelly pieces is another pair of

game objects

241a, 241b, each occupying several tiles. In one embodiment, these

game objects

241a, 241b may take the form of jelly bears.

One novel game goal that may be presented to a player may be to collect all of these jelly bears by removing all of the jelly pieces that cover them. Fig. 25 shows the game board after all jelly pieces covering the jelly bear 241b have been removed. Therefore, the jelly bear 241b is no longer presented on the game board, and the value of the counter 251 has been incremented by one. To successfully complete the level, the player must remove all jelly bears from the game board. Thus, it is not necessary to remove all of the jelly pieces, as in the previous embodiment of the game, but only those covering the jelly bear.

Colour candy booster

The concept of the booster is described later. Figures 12 and 13 illustrate the novel booster in the form of a colored candy. The colored candy looks like sugar inside the bubble as illustrated, for example, at 120 in fig. 12. In fig. 12, the sugar is an orange sugar. Exchanging a colored candy piece for one in its adjacent neighborhood will cause all occurrences of that neighborhood to change to the color of the colored candy piece. For example, exchanging an orange colored candy 120 with a purple candy such as 124 would change all instances of the purple candy, all indicated as 124 in fig. 12, to an orange candy as illustrated at 126 in fig. 13.

Exchange packaging candy

According to another embodiment of the invention, new dynamics are introduced when exchanging the color bomb with the packaged candy. This has the effect of destroying all of the candies on the scale. See, for example, fig. 14, where a colored bomb is indicated at 140 and the packaged candy adjacent thereto is shown at 142. Fig. 15 illustrates the effect of exchanging a colored bomb 140 with a packaged candy 142. Figure 15 also illustrates the numerical scores resulting from the breakage of the candy.

Description of architecture

Fig. 17 shows a schematic diagram of a computing device containing a central processing unit 172 and memory 174. The CPU172 functions according to an input given from an input device 170 (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch screen) via an input section 176. The computer bus 178 is used for communication between the input device and the CPU and between different controllers (e.g., graphics controller 180) and network controllers within the computer device. These controllers in turn communicate with external devices, such as a monitor for video output with which the graphics controller communicates, and the network controller communicates over a wireless or wired connection using, for example, the internet. A user interacts with the computing device through input devices such as a pointing device (e.g., a mouse) and a keyboard. The flowcharts of fig. 3 and 9 are implemented in software executed by CPU172 that can be stored in memory 174. The output screen is supplied to graphics controller 180 for supplying game video output to user display 1602 (FIG. 16 c).

FIG. 18 depicts an exemplary overall environment in which the present invention can be utilized. The virtual game is stored, for example, on the game server 210. A virtual game is to be played on a client device such as a computer 240, 250 or a smart phone or other handheld device 260. The client device can also be a kiosk, arcade game station, smart television or other device with computing capabilities, input device, and screen that can present the game to the user. The client devices communicate with the game server 210 and the social network server 230, for example, over the internet 220 or other network. It should be understood that the social network 230 and the game server 210 need not be located in different places, they can be on the same server or on multiple servers located in different locations. The environment in which the present invention may be implemented is described in PCT/EP2013/060641, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other devices besides the exemplary devices listed can also be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The techniques described in this patent can be deployed in many different gaming architectures. For example, a computer game can be implemented as a computer program stored on and running entirely locally on a processor of a PC, game console, tablet or mobile phone or other computing device. The game can be implemented solely as a computer program stored and fully run on one of many processors in a remote server, and data streams or updates are supplied to a client device (e.g., tablet, smartphone, etc.) to enable the client to render and display graphics and sound; this "web services" approach is becoming more and more popular.

Another aspect is a hybrid approach, where a backend server handles some elements of game play, and for example a Java game applet is provided to the client device and it is a locally running Java applet that generates graphics/sound/user interactions for game play on the player's client device. Specific data may be fed back to the back-end server to enable scoring, interaction with other players, and cross-platform synchronization. In general, the techniques described in this specification are not specific to any one gaming architecture but can be deployed on any suitable gaming architecture.

Games can be implemented that allow users to interact with them in different ways depending on the capabilities of the devices with which the users access the games. The user can interact with the game by using a touch screen, wherein the user can select and/or move elements on the game board with a finger or, for example, with a stylus. Games can also be played with a pointing device such as a mouse or other interactive device such as a keyboard.

The mobile device may have a touch screen interface where the player can interact with the game using a finger or a pointing device such as a stylus. Some mobile devices have hard keys that complement the touch screen interface. Such hard keys may take the form of buttons or joystick type interactions.

During the course of a player playing a game, data will be generated. This data can be, for example, game information related to the player's game performance or to the social network to which the game is connected. This data can be collected, stored and utilized, for example, to improve gaming. One example is by using a database to store the amount of time that a player has tried and on average has not been past a relationship. This data can be reviewed later and if the player appears to have failed a significant amount of time before completing the ranking, the difficulty can be adjusted accordingly. The difficulty can be adjusted by a score target for that level, increasing the available time or movement, or giving the player a booster, for example, to enhance game play.

There can be specific performance indicators for measuring the success of the game. These indicators can relate to, for example, player memory, viral nature of the game, and benefits of the game.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the different methods for implementing a game are not exhaustive and that the description herein is of certain game embodiments. The above-described modes can be implemented in many variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

3-game switching game

The following description describes the bonus game component of the 3-player game. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many other ways in which the present concepts can be implemented and that the description is not limited to only one embodiment. The following features can be used in combination with the novel game components described above.

Glossary/terminology

A game board: region in which matching and swapping of elements occurs: note that the entire game board is not visible to the player but can be scrolled to change the player's field of view.

Game elements: all elements appearing on the game board.

Standard game elements: there are six basic candies that are exchanged and color matched on the game board. In contrast to special game elements, standard game elements have no additional attributes or forms, which are only used for color combining or for generating new special game elements.

The components are as follows: one of the goals involved in completing the levels is to drop the component elements into the game elements in the level at the bottom of the game board.

Freezing the fruit blocks: game elements that are placed under other game elements and require one or two matches on top of them to disappear.

Special game elements: all elements that appear on the game board and that have a particular behavior and attribute.

Striped candies: special candies with a line explosion effect, which means that they remove one row or one column.

Wire explosion: the effect of a row or column is removed.

Movement and score levels: in this game mode you have a valid number of exchanges before running out of moves. You will not be able to pass this rating if you have not reached the point of getting the score indicating 1 star needs.

And (3) jelly grade: in this play mode, the play board behind the candy is covered in jelly. The jelly is removed by matching the candy on top of the jelly. You will not be able to pass this rating if you have not removed all of the jellies before using up the move.

Grading the components: in this play mode, the components will appear on the game board. These components are collected by bringing them to their point of delivery. On one side of the board, you will see how many component recipes you need to collect. You will not be able to pass this rating if you will not hit all components before using up the move.

Time-limited rating: in this game mode, there is a time limit. You will not be able to pass this rating if you have not reached the point of getting a score indicating 1 star needs when time has expired.

Candy order grade: in this game model, your task is to collect the number of candies. This is done by removing unwanted candy. You will not be able to pass the rating if you have not collected all of the desired candies before running out of the move.

Bomb element: the candy in the wrapper of the candy in the 3x3 square area was removed.

And (3) packaging the candies: the candy in the wrapper of the candy in the 3x3 square area was removed.

Color bomb: all colored candies that it exchanged with were removed.

A booster: an item that enhances game play and supports, assists or augments the ability or effectiveness.

Disorder: special game elements that are not exchangeable, require 1 or more matches close to them to disappear, and are on the way to drop the candy.

King by Game developer^TMDeveloped legends for candy crumbling^TMIs a game belonging to the category of three-dimension xiao. This means that the core basis of the game is to match three or more game elements sharing the same color with each other. In the candy crumbling legend, these play elements are implemented as candy. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a legend of candy crumbling^TMOf the first levelOne embodiment, where the candy must be matched to complete the grade.

The game has more than 350 different levels and not all of these levels have the same requirements to be fulfilled. Simply matching three or more game elements is not sufficient to complete all levels in the game and the player must also meet certain objectives. These goals can be to reach a certain score component before running out of movement or time; dropping certain game elements to the bottom of the screen; removing a certain amount of game elements before running out of the movement or collecting certain game elements by a certain match before running out of the movement.

If the game becomes difficult, a booster is present to assist the player in passing the level. These can be purchased from the game or received as a gift from Facebook friends.

The game also has a candy territory theme map view. The map view shows what level has been completed and how many levels remain to be played. Throughout the game and for each completed level, the player travels on the map and follows the girl's story traveling in the candy territory. The map is also divided into different areas, where each area has its own candy theme and a small story connected to the area.

If the player has connected to the social network via entering login details through prompts in the game, the progress of friends from the same network can be observed in the map by means of their avatar next to the highest level they have currently reached.

If the player connects to the social network Facebook while playing the game, the game will automatically synchronize and download or upload the latest changes in the progress of the game. For example, the player can have played the game on another computer via Facebook's own platform and if the player later decides to play on their iPhone, for example, the latest update will be sent to the device. Whenever a player is connected to the internet and has logged into Facebook via a game, the game will automatically synchronize and send data to Facebook so that the player can play on any computer, iOS device, or Andriod device without having to resume the game. This makes space play very flexible.

Rules

Basic movements and combinations

Move

To play a game, candy shaped game elements are exchanged with each other to make movements on the game board. To obtain a score, the player must make a move that produces a match of at least three identical candies. In doing so, the player obtains a score and the matching candy is removed. As a result, new candy pieces fill the game board to fill any blank spaces created. Fill in the game board depending on the physics of the tile associated with each game element. For all candies removed on the game board, the score will always be shown in the same color as the candy removed, e.g., three red candies will show a red score, green candy shows a green score, and so on. If the obstruction element were to be removed, the score shown would be in the same color as the matching candy from which it was removed.

Only exchange patterns that will produce at least one combination of at least three game elements of the same type are allowed.

A limited number of movements

Typical play patterns of candy crumbling stories provide a limited number of moves to reach a level goal for the player.

In some embodiments, additional movement can be obtained by good game play.

Game board

The game board is a scrolling game board. The display displays a grid of square tiles, each having a game element showing the portion of the level played (see fig. 5 and 6).

Different goals of completion level

In order to increase more diversity and make the candy crumble^TMFor more dynamic games, players must implement different criteria in order to complete different levels; these are called targets. Each level always has one or more goals that must be achieved in order to accomplish the level.

Reaching a set score before running out of movement

One of the most common goals of candy crumbling story is to collect a specific amount of scores before running out of movement. The scores are collected by making each combination on the game board. The more subtle the combination performed, the higher the score.

Reaching a set point before the end of use time

Candy crumbs are also said to have a timed rating. The goal to be achieved at these levels is to collect specific scores before the elapsed time. The more subtle the combination performed, the higher the score.

A knocked-down component

Some grades are referred to as component grades. Component ratings have two goals that need to be achieved in order to accomplish the rating:

the player must reach a particular target score before running out of movements.

The player must drop a specific amount of a so-called component to the bottom of the game board before running out of play. When the components reach the bottom of the game board they disappear and the candy on them takes up their place. The components are game elements shaped as fruits or nuts and are present only for that particular purpose. They are not matchable with other game elements but they can be exchanged with other game elements.

Clear jelly

One of the most common set of goals in candy crumbling story is the goal used for the grade containing the jelly bits. Jelly bits are game elements that are found below other game elements and require one or two matches on top of them to disappear (see description elsewhere). The goals that need to be achieved on a scale with frozen pieces are:

achieving target comminution before running out of movement (as described elsewhere)

Remove all jelly pieces before running out of movement

Collecting certain elements

Another type of grade in which candy crumbles have been introduced into their various play patterns is the so-called sequential grade. The order rank has two goals:

target crush is reached before running out of movement (as described elsewhere).

Collect a certain amount of candy by a certain match and strive to achieve making the combinations specified on the level of play.

Equilibrium mode

In this play mode, the player is required to collect an even number of two-color candies to complete the level. The grade objective can be indicated by a scale in which two different types of candy to be collected are placed on each side. When the counts are not balanced, one side of the scale begins to tilt, the larger the difference the faster it tilts. If one end touches the bottom, the level cannot be passed. The player is given a score based on the number of moves spent collecting the amount of two colors required.

Fade-in mode

The goal of this game mode is to illuminate all squares/cells on the game board. In some embodiments, the requirement to illuminate a cell is to combine the confectioneries that are in the cell. In other embodiments, the player must combine multiple candies in the same cell before it illuminates.

Excavation mode

In this play mode, the player is required to combine the candies in the cells adjacent to the obstacle to "dig" down in the level. When digging, the player can reveal the object that was originally covered.

Multiple game modes

All of the gaming modes described herein can also be used in any combination with one another. For example, a requirement to complete a grade can be to remove all jelly and drop components.

Basic rules

How to play

If the player attempts to move about two candies in a manner such that no candy will match at least two more of its own colors, the movement will not be allowed and the player will have to attempt to find another movement.

If no movement is possible on the game board, all the candies are reorganized so that there will always be at least one feasible movement available. If the player cannot see or find the movement to be made, the game assists the player by giving a prompt. The cues are displayed after a few seconds of inactivity and are shown by brightening and zooming in on the feasible moving candy in a flashing animation.

High level rules

Not only allows matching of 3 candies but also accomplishes matching of more candies; see fig. 19 for different possible matching patterns. Matches with more than 3 candies give more scores and to some extent the player should try and strive. The different acceptable matches are:

3 matches in one line.

Four matches on a vertical line.

Four matches on a horizontal line.

Four matches in a 2x2 square.

Five matches on a vertical line.

Five matches on a horizontal line.

Five matches in T shape.

Five are matched in an L shape.

6 matches or 4 more candies in a row, 5 in a row, T-shape and remolding combination.

As can be noted from the list of feasible matches, diagonal matches are not accepted. Diagonal matching and/or swapping can be allowed in some embodiments of the game.

Receiving combinations of particular elements

Matching by four or more candies not only gives more points but also awards the player special game elements. The particular game elements received from the portfolio have various positive attributes and can be used to obtain more scores and more easily pass through the ranking. The elements received from the different matches are:

4 in one row: striped candy

4 in 2x2 blocks: fish

L-shaped or T-shaped: packaged candy

5 in one row: color bomb:

if more than 6 candies are used for matching, it is likely that the combination will be a shape that is a combination of 4 rows, 5 rows, an L-shape, and a T-shape. If so, there is a hierarchy of what kind of special elements are received:

if there are 4 merges of a line and an L-shape or T-shape, then the particular game element received will be the same as from the L-shape or T-shape. The L-shape and T-shape give the same special game elements.

If there are 5 line and L-or T-merges, then the particular game element received will be the same as from the 5 line assembly.

How to trigger a particular element

To use a particular game element received from a combo, there are two different ways:

some special game elements are triggered by a standard match of two or more candies having the same color as the special game elements.

Some special game elements are triggered by exchanging spaces with any candy, whether or not 3 disappears.

Combining particular elements with one another

The special game elements received from the matching can be combined with each other in order to influence various positive effects of the game board. The striped candies, packaged candies, and color bombs can all be matched to one another. To trigger these combinations, they do not need to be matched by game elements of the same color and can simply be exchanged with each other for immediate triggers.

Score of

The scores given for different combinations and removals of blocks are:

3 in one row: score of 60

4 in one row: 120 score

5 in one row: 200 points of

T-shape: 200 points of

L-shape: 200 points of

Breaking the jelly pieces: 1000 points of

Breaking the frost cake: 20 score/block

Breaking up the chocolate mass: 20 score/block

The composition that gives the bottom of the screen: 10000 score

Use special game elements to remove other game elements: 60 score/each element removed

Game element

Standard game elements

In the candy crumbs legend, there are 6 standard play elements that all look like candy (see fig. 15):

purple candies in the shape of flowers

Blue candy in the shape of a ball

Green candy in the shape of a cube

Red candy in the shape of crooked beans

Yellow candy in the form of water droplets

Orange candy in oval shape

Special game elements

Special game elements can be received from special combinations or from automatic placement on the game board.

Special game elements received from a composition

Striped candy

How to produce striped candies

Striped candies are given by matching four candies of the same color on a horizontal or vertical line.

Appearance of the product

The striped confections have the same shape and color as the standard play elements, except that they have white vertical or horizontal lines on them. The color and shape of the striped confections will be the same as the color and shape of the confections matched to produce them.

If a match of four candies is done on a horizontal line, a candy with a vertical line will be given. If a match of four candies is done on the vertical line, a candy with a horizontal line will be given.

Effect

The striped candies remove an entire row or column depending on whether the striped candies are made in a vertical or horizontal combo. The white line on the candy indicates that it will remove a row or column. To trigger a striped candy it needs to match two more candies of the same color.

Striped candy also removes all of the candy pieces in a row or column if the game board is divided into two or more areas that are not connected. In this way, the player can remove the candy from areas where it would otherwise be difficult or impossible to find a combination. The impact of different game board designs is described elsewhere in this document.

Animation in use

When the striped candy is triggered, the animation ejects the striped candy after the row or column it is removing. The animation looks to some extent like a candy is stretched out and transformed into a line that is ejected with a sparkling effect. For all of the candy removed, the point for each candy will be shown in the same color as the candy removed.

Packaged candy

How to produce packaged candy

The packaged candy is given by having an L-shape or a T-shape combination.

Appearance of the product

The packaged candies have the same shape and color as the standard play elements but have packaging surrounding them. The color and shape of the packaged confectioneries will be the same as the color and shape of the confectioneries that are matched to produce them.

Effect

The packaged candy is triggered by matching it with two more candies of the same color. The result of the trigger was two explosions removing candy in the 3x3 square that surrounded the wrapped candy. The first explosion occurs immediately when the packaged candy is triggered, and the second explosion occurs after all the candy has been removed by the first explosion and replaced with a new candy. If the candy wrapper is at the edge of the game board, an explosion will occur but the portion of the explosion area outside the game board is not affected. When exchanged with a color bomb, all of the candies in the grade are destroyed.

Animation in use

When the packaged candy detonates, an animation with a flashing effect and an aperture is shown, wherein the packaged candy is in the center of the animation.

Color bomb

How to generate colour bomb

A colored bomb was received when five candies on a vertical or horizontal line were matched.

Appearance of the product

The colored ball looks like chocolate. With a spherical ball having a multi-colored flash thereon.

Effect

To trigger the color bomb, it can be exchanged for any candy without 3 disappears. When the color bomb is triggered, it removes all of the candy in the same color as the candy used to trigger it.

Animation in use

When a colored bomb is used. Blue colored lightning is emitted from the colored bomb to all of the candy pieces that are about to be removed.

Other special game elements

Miracle candy

How to produce mystery candy

The mystery candies are randomly placed on the game board and no special combinations need to occur.

Appearance of the product

The mystery candy has an oval flat shape which is slightly inclined and has a question mark drawn thereon. The mystery candy appeared in 6 standard candy colors.

Effect

In order to use the mystery candy, it needs to be included in standard 3 xiao having a candy with the same color as the mystery candy. The mystery candy will then turn into a random game element, which can have a positive or negative impact on the player. It can be converted, for example, into a striped candy or color bomb, or it can be converted into a less lucky piece, such as a scattered chocolate piece (see description elsewhere) or a bomb that counts down and explodes to end the game for the player.

Animation in use

When mystery candies are used in combination, they explode and transform into random elements.

Lucky candy

How to produce lucky candy

Lucky candy is automatically inserted on the game board when a pre-game booster has been selected that specifically adds lucky candy to the candy mix on the game board.

Appearance of the product

The lucky candy looks like a flattened ball with white scale lines drawn on top of it. The candy appeared in all 6 standard candy colors.

Effect

To use a lucky candy it needs to match two more candies of the same color. The lucky candy will then turn into a random positive play element.

Animation in use

When the lucky candy is matched, it looks as if it is unwrapped and behind its wrapper revealing a new game element.

Fish

How to produce fish

Fish are placed on the game board by selecting a pre-game booster to do so specifically. They can also be generated by generating a match of 4 candies in a 2x2 chunk. The fish can also appear randomly on the game board before play.

Appearance of the product

The fish looks like a candy jelly fish. It appeared in the same color as the standard 6 candies.

Effect

The fish is used by matching it with two more candies of the same color. Doing so will allow the fish to swim to the random element on the game board and remove it. If there are frozen pieces or other obstacles, the game will preferentially remove those pieces before removing the candy that stands on the blank square.

Boercha fish

How to generate Boerca sp

The fish is given when the fish is combined with a striped candy. The striped candies and fish need not be the same color. In addition, the polka fish will be triggered momentarily and cannot be saved for later use.

Appearance of the product

The boka fish looks like a standard candy fish but has the same kind of streaks as the striped candies.

Effect

The boka fish transforms the random candy into a vertically striped or horizontally striped candy, which is then momentarily triggered and produces a line explosion effect.

Animation in use

In one embodiment, as with standard candy fish and packaged fish, the resulting polka fish swim out of the field of view and back in two or more polka fish with the same color, which then swim to the location of the candy to be converted into the triggered line explosion element. After having reached their destination, the polka fish disappear.

Color-changing candy

How to produce color-changing candy

These candies are automatically placed on the game board. They can also be candies obtained when a mystery candy has been used.

Appearance of the product

Similar to a standard candy but with a soft light surrounding it and an animation of a rainbow passing over the surface of the candy.

Effect

The candy pieces vary between two colors for each exchange made on the game board.

Instantaneous shifter

This is a game element that is automatically placed in a fixed position on the edge of one of the cells in the game board. The transients will typically be placed in pairs on the game board with one of the transients serving as an entry point for candy falling onto the game board across the cell edge where the transient is located. The candy will then be introduced to where the entry point mover is located. Thus, if the candy normally falls down one way from the top of the game board to the bottom of the game board, the transient mover can move the candy up again on the game board or to another area of the game board.

The instant shifter does not fall or take space on the area where the swap is taking place and it is never contained in any color combination.

Jelly block

Jelly bits are introduced into the game early and a typical goal in completing the level is to remove all the jelly bits on the game board. Alternatively, the goal of the completion level may be to reveal a larger game object placed behind several pieces of jelly as seen in fig. 17.

The jelly pieces are placed behind the candy and snapped into place. They cannot be exchanged and they do not fall down when the candy below them is removed.

To remove the jelly cake, a match must be made on top of it. Sometimes jelly bits comprise two layers and then they need to be removed from the two matches on top of them.

Candy big gun

This is the visible game mechanism. In one embodiment, it can indicate where licorice, bomb and components are set to appear.

Combining special game elements

Special game elements can be combined with each other by a simple exchange. Doing so produces the powerful effect of helping players get more scores and pass through the ranking more easily.

The different combinations and effects received are:

two striped candies

Two packaged candies

One striped candy and one packaged candy

A packaged candy and a colored bomb

A striped candy and a colored bomb

Two colored bombs

Two fish

Two striped candies

Combining two striped candies triggers two simultaneous wire explosions, with one row and one column removed on a cross-shaped path, see fig. 24. Whether the combined striped candy is horizontal or vertical is irrelevant. Column and row explosions will be initiated from the location to which the moving striped candy pieces have been moved.

Two-pack candy

Exchanging any two packaged candies with each other will create a double explosion as with standard packaged candies, the difference being that the area of impact will be larger and any items in the 6x5 dice area or the 5x6 dice area will be removed depending on whether the packaged candies are placed horizontally next to each other or vertically next to each other.

A candy bar and a candy wrapper

Combining any striped candy with any packaged candy will trigger a 3 horizontal line explosion effect and 3 vertical line explosion effects. The result is that three adjacent rows are removed and three adjacent columns are removed thereafter.

A packaged candy and a colored bomb

Combining the two would remove all of the candy on the game board first. See, for example, fig. 14, where a colored bomb is indicated at 140 and the packaged candy adjacent thereto is shown at 142. Fig. 15 illustrates the effect of exchanging a colored bomb 140 with a packaged candy 142.

A striped candy and a colored bomb

The combination of these two special candies transformed all candies of the same color as the striped candies into randomly vertical striped or horizontal striped candies, which were then immediately triggered and the game board filled with the wired explosion.

Two colored bombs

Combining two colored bombs will remove all game elements on the game board except if the game elements are multi-layer obstacles (see description elsewhere). If the game element has more than one layer, one of the layers will be removed.

Two fish

Combining two fish allows three fish to swim out of the combined position to three random positions on the game board. The fish remove the game elements at the three locations they swim to.

Coconut wheel and color bomb

First, the game board has most of all the candy pieces therein to be removed. After those candies have been removed, the coconut wheel will roll over the plate and each candy it rolls over will turn into a strip.

Coconut wheel and striped candy

With this combination, the coconut wheel will roll over the plate and convert all of the candy it rolls over into a striped candy that is instantly triggered.

Coconut wheel and packaging candy

With this combination, the coconut wheel converts all of the candy it rolls through into a packaged candy that is then immediately triggered and packaged.

Disorder(s)

The game implements several different kinds of so-called obstacles. The obstacle is a passive game element that is on the player's way when one wants to match on different areas on the game board. The games described herein have new game goals associated with chocolate barriers.

Chocolate barriers not only block space on the game board but also multiply to block even larger areas of the game board. If the color combination is done close to a chocolate barrier, no chocolate piece will multiply and the chocolate piece will be removed. However, if a color match is made and the color mismatch is not near the chocolate pieces, one of the chocolate pieces on the game board will multiply and the other space on the game board will be filled with chocolate obstacles. The space to receive a new chocolate piece will always be adjacent to an existing chocolate piece, however, it will appear random from that chocolate piece on the game board. If all of the chocolate pieces on the game board have been removed, no new pieces will appear. Chocolate barriers cannot be exchanged and repositioned but get stuck where they should be. The chocolate barrier can only propagate to the candy occupied cells on the game board.

Booster

The novel booster discussed herein includes a colored candy and a manually operated companion.

In the game

Game board

A portion of the game board is presented to the player when playing the grade in the candy crumble story. The term game board implies an area containing candy and other elements such as components, jelly and frost, rather than surrounding scenes such as a point meter and a heart showing the amount of life remaining. The entire game board is not visible to the player; instead, the CPU can control the user interface to scroll the service to the player.

There is an audio control on the user interface for the music box sound effect. The amount of movement remaining for the player to complete the level is shown. The player's current score, expressed as an absolute score, is presented so that the player can follow the game play. The star quantifier shows an indication of how many points the player has with respect to a predefined goal needed to achieve a particular amount of stars. The game board is filled with normal candy in the normal cells and or the blocks. The number of lives remaining for the player is shown. Both the current level of the game and the symbols indicating what the goal of the level is are shown relative to the game board. The physics of the tiles govern where new candy enters the board when the existing candy is removed. For a portion of the game board (the upper portion in fig. 16), new candy is produced from the top and falls downward as shown by the arrows, and for the lower portion in fig. 16, candy is produced from the bottom and moves upward into position.

The entire game board is not visible to the player: instead, it can scroll up or down depending on how the game advances as described earlier.

Star measuring meter

In the most basic version, this feature serves the purpose of letting players learn their performance by showing which level of points they have completed while playing the game. The level of points is determined by the amount of scores collected and compared for a predefined level that will cause the player to obtain one star, two stars, or three stars. Stars are an indication of how well a player is performing on a level. At least one star needs to be implemented to pass the rating. Implementing more than one star indicates that the player performs better than the minimum required and is a factor that helps drive the interaction by making the player more proficient. The amount of scoring required to achieve one, two, or three stars is predefined and generally invariant for any level. However, in some embodiments, it is possible to have variable scores that are required for different amounts of stars, such as embodiments relating to the average score of all players playing the game.

In some implementations, there is an indication of the performance of other players displayed during the play level. This information is often based on data from previously completed levels, but it can also be correlated to levels that have been tried and that other players have not passed. The performance information can be derived, for example, from a social network connected to the game or from a database more directly related to the game. In some embodiments, players can see the scores of other players in real time, thus increasing the competitive elements of the game. Other players whose performance is to be displayed are sometimes selected by the player, sometimes automatically derived from the player's social network, and other events that can be based on other elements, such as the performance of all players of the game.

In some implementations, the player can see an indication of a previous high score achieved in the ranking while playing the game. It is also possible to not show an indication of the player's own previous scores.

In some implementations, indications of the performance of other players are shown relative to a score meter. Which can be an absolute indication and a relative indication. The indication can be in the form of a picture associated with the player. When the player passes another player's score or the player has achieved a previous best score, a message can be shown to encourage the player and indicate completion.

It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to using stored points to achieve performance by other players. In one embodiment, players are able to see the scores of other players currently playing the same level as they play the level, so that the indication of the scores of the other players can be moved in real time during game play.

The score comparison presented to the player can be given in percent scores and, where applicable, other indicators such as time of play or number of trials on the level

The appearance of the levels, as well as the overall appearance of the visual scene, can change as players perform better. For example, after a star is realized during the play level, the numbers shown when scoring the scores can be shifted to different colors. The perspective of the visual scene can become warmer and more colorful as more stars are available. The appearance of the game can also be changed according to other variables, for example, an in-game view change depending on how much movement is left to convey a sense of urgency.

The star meter also has other important functions. One function is that the scores of friends from the social network are shown on a meter if there is data available. This increases competition and encourages players to replay levels in order to beat the scores of friends.

Another function is that the amount of stars implemented on each level is shown close to the level on the map view. This gives players an overview of their overall performance in the game. Further, to complete the ranking, the player needs to achieve the amount of scoring needed to achieve at least one stars.

Soda crush end game

After the rating is completed, the candy crumbling story may display the word "candy crumbling" with audio stating the word. In one embodiment, the first thing that occurs after this display is that all special candies trigger next to one, moving other game elements and getting a score. Second, special game elements such as packaged candy, striped candy, etc. may be placed in random locations on the game board and momentarily triggered, removing additional game elements and obtaining a score. The number of game elements placed on the board may be equal to the number of movements remaining by the player after completing the level.

Candy fish

In some gaming models, players are rewarded for their remaining movement by a number of candy fish that lay eggs. The fish move proportionally to the remaining residual movement. The fish come from outside the game board and randomly find out the candy, which is removed after the impact. The player receives bonus points for when each fish hits a candy.

Packaged candy change

In a level where the player has a limited amount of time, there are specific candies marked with a "+ 5" symbol, meaning that they give an additional 5 seconds when ejected. If any of these candies remain at the end of time, they are converted into subsequently triggered packaged candies.

Before grade

Before starting the level, the player must select which level to play from the map view. The exception to this is the first time the game of candy crumbling story began when the rating started immediately. When a level is selected, the player is shown information about the level, such as the amount of points that are required, the available boosters that can be used, the goals of the level, and also the high scores of friends that have previously played the game.

The difference between the first level of play and the level previously completed in play is that the player's previous best score is displayed along with the amount of stars achieved. Further, the text that tells the player what is the target varies in score depending on how many stars the player has previously achieved. Having the game built in this way increases the ability to replay by focusing players on improving all the time without having to improve too much at once. If the first goal presented is a goal related to three stars, the player can feel insufficient when they get fewer scores than they would, even if the ranking were completed.

The player can choose a booster that will affect game play in some way before the level is started. Boosters are unlocked and captured as the player progresses through the game, but more boosters can also be purchased.

Friends can also be assisted by sending lives to them.

After grading

Completion level

When the level is completed, the player is presented with a screen showing the amount of points earned, the amount of stars realized, and the previous high scores of friends.

After the post-level screen has been closed, the player may be presented with yet another screen related to the performance of the level just completed.

Both the post-ranking screen and the screen shown when the friend has been defeated present the player with the option of sharing this information. The sharing part is done on the social network to which the game is connected. By sharing information such as which friends the player has defeated, competition is encouraged and viral spread of the game is increased since people not playing the game can also see such messages.

Friends can also be helped by sending lives from the screen. This can be done by clicking on an icon with a heart and letter on it near the friend's name. The tick marks indicate that the player has sent life to those friends. A player may send a life to any one buddy only once within a particular time period (e.g., once per day).

Failure to complete grade

When the ranking fails to be completed, a screen similar to that shown when the ranking is completed is displayed. The difference is that the screen when failing to pass the grade has a broken heart thereon, and information stating why the grade failed. Failure to pass a rating can occur for a number of reasons (e.g., not reaching a minimum score for one star, failing to complete the goal, or through a bomb explosion). Informing the player why he failed the rating. Understanding why you fail a level increases the likelihood that the player will attempt to play the level again to reach the goal for the level. If it is desired to play the same level again, there is an option to do so. In one embodiment, the option of a level at which replay fails is presented with a large and visually prominent button.

Level progress and game play

Method for playing games

Games created using the techniques described herein can be played locally on a player's computer or handheld device. Games can also be played over the internet, where entire games or portions thereof are downloaded and executed on local machines or run on remote computers or servers. The user's progress and results in the game can be stored locally and compared to the user and other players on the local computer. Progress and results can be synchronized with other players in alternative embodiments, either directly or through a server or social network or gaming platform.

Cross-device and cross-game functionality

Three platforms are changing, among other things, the way people expect to play games. These three platforms evolve simultaneously and provide new input possibilities. To date, games have not absorbed all new input possibilities.

The first platform is Facebook. The skilled person will understand that where Facebook is referenced in this document, other social networking platforms may be used. The Facebook game may be a social game, a game you play with your friends. It is rare or unthinkable to publish games as paid games on Facebook (i.e., to play for the first time) because people playing games on Facebook do not expect payment to access the games. The Facebook game may be played after logging into Facebook, for example, from a personal computer (whether automatically or manually).

The second platform is a smartphone. The use of a smartphone is not always continuous. For example, you may use a smartphone on a bus for 5 minutes, and then use the smartphone on an intermodal train for 20 minutes. The use can have many starts and ends, unlike someone working at an office desk or at a desk at home. For example, the smartphone may be an iOS platform or an Android platform.

The third platform is a tablet computer. The tablet computer may function as a mobile device and as a non-mobile device. Tablet computers can be a substitute for personal computers. The user may want a seamless experience between using the game on a personal computer and on a tablet computer and on another mobile device. For example, the tablet may be an iOS platform or an Android platform.

Games running on multiple platforms, such as all three of the above platforms (or more) above, may provide a seamless experience of full synchronization of the connections. Therefore, multi-platform games are important. Key criteria for multi-platform games are: they are free of charge, they are social, it is feasible to stop starting use, and a seamless experience is provided. Such games may be played "anywhere," for example, in a mobile environment or in a non-mobile environment. Such games may also be played online or offline.

The game must be fun when used in a stop-start fashion and when even only a short interval is used. In an example, the game includes portions or levels, each of which runs for approximately 3 minutes, e.g., between 1 minute and 5 minutes. In an example, the game is structured by levels such that if successful in a game level, for example by scoring a minimum score, the user can progress from that level to the next level. In an example, the game has about 200 levels.

The game can be optimized after release. For example, if it is clear that too many users fail to advance through a particular rank, the minimum score to pass through that rank can be lowered. The optimized game may be provided as an application update from an application store. In the alternative, the game is optimized by the server sending a revised data file of the points required by each game level to the mobile device when the user's game state is synchronized with the server, wherein the application running on the device replaces the previous file of points required by each level stored on the device with the revised file of points required by each level.

The player's progress is also synchronized across devices, such as between a handheld device and a computer. This is described in more detail in appendix a. The player is able to play on one platform, save progress and then continue to play seamlessly on the other platform. The player is also able to play on an offline device and synchronize the game when a connection is available.

In some implementations, a player can be rewarded to play a game on multiple platforms. For example, a player active on a computer-based platform can obtain a prize that is also used to install the game on the handheld device.

The player can also be rewarded to play multiple games of interest, such as games from the same developer. When a new game is selected for play, the player can receive a prize in another game. This can be triggered by using a link from one game to another or by games that share information between each other, so that it automatically detects players who are playing more than one game and then awards them.

It is also possible that a game can have elements that are implemented to collectively enable a particular object (e.g., a booster) to be available in multiple games. These games can be located on the same server or on different servers. In some embodiments, the booster introduced in the candy breadcrumbs story can be used in another game with which it shares certain characteristics.

One example of an implementation with synchronization across platforms is as follows:

a first server (e.g., a server hosting a social network) having a first data store that stores data related to a state of a game. The first server is configured to communicate with a first plurality of devices (e.g., mobile phones or personal computers) via a first application program interface, wherein the first plurality of devices are associated with a first computing platform.

A second server (e.g., a server hosting a game platform) having a second data store that stores data related to a state of the game. The second server is configured to communicate with a second plurality of devices (e.g., mobile phones or personal computers) via a second application program interface, wherein the second plurality of devices are associated with a second computing platform.

A third server having a third data store configured to communicate with the first server and the second server. The third server is configured to synchronize the three data stores in a manner such that, when synchronized, the first data store, the second data store, and the third data store all relate to the synchronized game state.

Localization and updating

The implementation of the game can vary depending on the location of the player. For example, speech can be adapted and translated into different languages. It is also possible to have updates to the game incorporated at different times and locations to avoid interfering with the times of day at which the player is most active.

If an attempt is made to access the game online while the update is being made, as opposed to starting a local version that is held on the device, the player may encounter a message stating that the game is not accessible at that moment. Such messages can be displayed as placeholders in lieu of the game when it is acquired offline, e.g., to enable the game to be updated with new features and software.

Progress on several levels

Games can be implemented to enable players to progress through multiple levels that vary and often become increasingly difficult. The user interface can present a visual map layout of the gaming environment, displayed on a computing device used by the game player. As the player progresses through the levels in the game, his progress is represented as a trip along a path in the virtual map. Representing progress in this manner provides an additional layer of interaction for the player and also provides opportunities for viral transmission and monetization.

The virtual map includes stages having different numbers of levels. The user travels between levels and completes the levels one by one along the path by playing the associated game. When the player reaches the goal of the level, the next level is unlocked and the player is able to play the level in the game. The number of stages and levels can vary depending on the implementation. These levels can be numbered consecutively throughout the game or they can be numbered within a stage, it being understood that other ways of identifying stages and levels can be implemented. The new stage of the virtual map 12 can be added at any time by the game designer, so the game can be released with say 20 levels, and after a few weeks there can be a fifty level or a sixty level.

One way to unlock the new phase is to complete the last level on the latest phase. Users are sometimes challenged to unlock the next stage in the virtual map.

In one embodiment, once all levels on the stage have been completed, travel from one stage to another requires the assistance of, for example, three buddies. The player can seek friend help by sending in-game messages within the gaming environment or, for example, through a social network to which the game connects. Friends can have played the game and need not be "new" players, but they can be friends or not already on the same social network.

The player can also pay to gain immediate access to the locking phase. The player can use a combination of help from friends to unlock the new stage. When help from some buddies has been received instead of all required buddies, the cost of unlocking can be reduced in some embodiments to a fraction of the total number of required buddies.

A request for help is sent to buddies who then have the option of accepting help. The request for help can be sent using a social network to which the game is connected in some embodiments; an alternative embodiment is to send the request to someone outside the game who must join the game in response to the help request (via e.g. email, text message, instant message). This is one of the viral transmission techniques implemented in the game.

In addition to the virtual map layout, there can be other levels or stages that are not part of the progress along the path in the virtual map. Such a stage or level can be present in the game associated with the virtual map at all times or can be unlocked when the user reaches a particular in-game achievement. The gambling success rate can be, for example, to unlock the stage or level for completion of a particular level, to reach a predetermined high score (e.g., a particular number of stars are collected when the level is completed, high skill gambling play can cause the user to win three stars) or to pay a virtual currency.

The map layout can be used in games connected to or linked with a social network. It is common for users on such networks to have an avatar containing, for example, a picture of the user and/or the user's name. Such an avatar can be, for example, a signature or a picture. It should be understood that there are different embodiments showing where the user is currently on the map. This can be, for example, the latest level completed by the user, the level with the highest score or the last completed level along the traversed path.

The user can in some embodiments be given the option of selecting which users should be displayed on the virtual map. The user selected from them can be a friend on the social network, or the user can obtain a suggestion showing friends that meet certain criteria (e.g., friends with whom the player has interacted most in the past or friends living in the same geographic area as the player). The user can obtain options selected from other people who are not friends on the social network but who meet other specific criteria.

The user can play any level of unlocking on the map so the user can return and replay the already completed level to get a better score or defeat the high score of the friend.

In some embodiments, the player is awarded for a level of good game play (e.g., achieving a goal of shredding). In some embodiments, the user must reach a certain number of scores to complete the ranking, and achieving this target shredding can be represented by symbols such as stars. In one embodiment, stars are listed when the user reaches a particular score amount in the hierarchy. The user can get more than one star on each level and the levels can be replayed to get a higher score.

The total number of stars the player collects in the game can unlock the feature in some embodiments. The characteristics of unlocking can be, for example, capacity boost, in-game currency or prize level.

Symbols representing how well the user has played on each level can be displayed next to that level on the map.

If the game is connected to a social network or the user has connected with other players in the game, the ranking will present a leaderboard showing who has the highest score among the user's contacts. In some embodiments, if the user with the highest score among the friends is connected to the game, there can be a notification 11 shown on the map.

The type of the game mode or the game object for the level can be displayed as a symbol on the map.

Animation and interaction on virtual maps

The scene of the virtual map will typically have an animated sequence that gives the perception that the map is active and dynamic. For example, a tree on a map can sway with the wind, animals can move around and a player progressing from one level to another can be accompanied by an animation of the player's associated character moving on the map.

In some implementations, the player can interact with the objects on the map in a manner that causes the animation to be triggered. For example, clicking on a bird can fly it into the air and hovering over water can cause waves to appear.

It is also possible to have any combination of maps that are static but react to player input, static maps that do not react to player input, dynamic maps that react to player input, and dynamic maps that do not react to player input.

Combat championship game

The game can also be implemented to play over a continuum of levels for a limited time or a limited number of movements, or both. The points can be collected on several levels to give the player points for all levels of completion.

A player can play a game in a combat tournament for one or several other players in some embodiments. The player with the highest aggregate score at many levels will be the winner of the tournament. In some embodiments, the tournament is played with a real-time comparison of the player's scores, and in other embodiments, the player's scores are compared after the ranking is completed.

It is also possible to play in a tournament with a jackpot, where players play the same level using the same type of game elements.

Games can also be played in knockout competitions against other players.

Awards and prizes

The game can have a scheme for giving prizes and bonuses to the player. One reason for giving rewards is to increase player interaction and to some extent aid in monetization. For example, a player who is able to award continuous play for multiple days, awarding adherence and effort to some extent. In other embodiments, there is a daily prize available for each player to play online on that day, or for players passing a particular secret location on that day. By giving samples of existing boosters, they are given free previews of purchasable items that may ultimately lead to sales, which helps monetize the game.

Virtual scene

A virtual scene of candy crumbling story is presented to the player between levels. This is also referred to as "map view" and "virtual map" within this document. As more levels are completed in the game, the player follows a virtual path, which gives the feeling of moving forward.

Overall appearance

The appearance of the map view takes the form of a physically collapsible game board, such as the forms commonly used for board games. However, since candy crumbs say not a physical board game but a virtual board game, the board is much larger than the board displayed in a single screen. The player can view all available levels at any time while in the map view and also scroll through the entire map panel. Having such a pattern gives a strong sense of actually progressing forward in the game as more levels become unlocked.

Navigation

When navigating on a map in a game, it is sometimes difficult to find a desired place or area of the map if the map is, for example, too large. As mentioned earlier, the levels of the game may be grouped together into "stages". In one embodiment, a list of different stages of the game may be presented in an extensible tab. By clicking on one of the stages in the list, the screen jumps to the location of that stage on the main map, thereby allowing the player to quickly navigate the main map. In this document, we refer to the extensible tabs and minimaps as navigators.

Hidden navigator

If the player does not need to use a navigator, it is not necessary to have it take up valuable screen space. Thus, in one embodiment, the navigator is only in the full view when the player needs it; the remaining time it is hidden, of which only a small part is shown. Clicking on this small portion will expand the navigator and cause the player to use it. Clicking the same part again will hide the navigator again. In one embodiment, when the navigator is hidden, a small tab is placed at the bottom right edge of the screen, which will then expand the navigator when clicked.

In one embodiment, if the player wants to jump to the furthest reached location on the map, for example, there is a home button that takes the player directly there. Pressing the home button will not only bring the player to the current location but will also hide the navigator, giving the player a full view. With the home button, the player can always find their activity location at a glance.

Another implementation may be to provide the player with a filter and multiple choices of where to jump to on the map. There can be, for example, an icon that when pressed causes the player to select exactly which level to jump to. There can also be an alternative to receiving a list of levels to which a player can jump that meet certain criteria (e.g., all levels with limited movement and composition among them). The filter can provide many kinds of options.

Themes

General subject matter

The general theme of candy crumbling gives special ambiance to the game. Everything is a candy theme with bright and warm colors used in all animations and pictures. Words used to encourage play in the game (e.g., "sweet" and "deliciousness") are used as examples of the subject of the candy.

Individual region and level progression

As the player progresses through the game, the new zone/set is unlocked. Each collection has an associated story and often has miniature themes present in at least some of the levels in the area. Further, the same background picture is used in the same area in all levels. When reached, the new case is that the background image will change. Each set also has a particular color that is used to show a different set in the virtual scene view.

These collections all have different names, each with a candy theme about it, such as a candy town, a candy factory, a lemonade lake, a chocolate mountain, a lollipop forest, and so forth.

Within each set there is a set of levels. The division of the levels between sets is not completely linear. The first two sets each include ten levels and the third set further back each include 15 levels. This makes it easier for the player to start advancing, which can be important to some extent for the player's memory and interaction.

Route of travel

In a virtual scenario, the player follows a virtual path as the game progresses. After completing the level, the next level becomes unlocked and the player "travels" there over the virtual map. There is an indicator showing at which level the player is currently; in one embodiment, the indicator takes the form of an orange arrow that jumps up and down.

The virtual scene is divided into regions, each region representing a different set of games. The sets are also colored with different colors, with one color being used consistently throughout a set/region. The end of the episode is marked with a special kind of obstacle that can only be passed with the help of three friends or by purchase. When passing these kinds of obstacles, there is a celebratory animation accompanied by a channel informing the player that the player has progressed to a new focus of the game.

Area not reached

In the virtual scene, levels that have not been reached by the player are shown in a different manner than levels that are readily accessible. There is also a difference between an unreached zone in the unlocked zone and an unreached zone in the zone that has not been unlocked. As can be seen, it is grey in the not yet reached area. This facilitates the experience that gives the player the feeling of completing when a new area is reached, as it is reflected by the virtual scene that actually changes slightly.

Collaboration block

As already mentioned, there are special obstacles that prevent the player from reaching new areas in the game. These obstacles are "collaboration blocks," which means that the player needs to receive assistance from friends in order to pass. Help from friends can be requested through the social network and the new zone will not be unlocked until three friends accept help. This is a way to enhance viral transmission and player interaction. By helping each other, players get a sense of collaboration, and it is a competitive element to remind players how far friends have come.

The need to pass the buddy help to the next area can be avoided by paying it instead. The amount that must be paid can be reduced by having some friend help, even if the amount of help needed for passing without paying is not reached. For example, more must be paid with one friend helping the player than without, a lesser amount must be paid with two friend help than with one friend, and no payment at all is needed with three friend helping the player.

When a collaboration block is reached, which is at the end of each set in the game, except the first two sets, the player is prompted to select which friends to send the request to. The buddy needs to install a candy crumble story to be able to provide help, but is able to send a request to buddies that have not yet been installed.

Once all levels at this stage have been completed, travel from one stage to another requires the assistance of three buddies. These friends can already be playing games and do not have to be "new" players. However, immediate access can also be obtained using virtual currency. Help can be sought to a friend by clicking on the "seek friend Help" button or by the "+" sign to the right of the button. Once a phase has been unlocked with the help of three buddies, all levels within that phase are also unlocked.

The user can choose to request help from only the selected buddy or send a request to multiple buddies. There can be a limit to how many buddies a player can send requests to and also a time limit before a user can send a reminder or similar request.

A request for help is sent to buddies who then have the option of accepting help or declining help. The request can be sent using a social network to which the game is connected in one embodiment; an alternative embodiment is to send the request to someone outside the game who must join the game in response to the help request (via e.g. email, text message, instant message). This is one of the viral transmission techniques implemented in the game.

Mystery exploration

The present invention may be implemented with a way to obtain past collaboration blocks in addition to seeking help and paying for friends, which is the most common way through collaboration blocks. This can be done by using a "mystery quest" which gives the player the option to complete one or several challenges to unlock the block. Such a challenge can be, for example, one or several past levels of a toy with modified targets to go through a collaboration block, e.g., three levels, one for each lock.

These challenges typically take the form of re-playing a previously completed level but achieving with a new goal (e.g., a high score for the goal). In typical implementations, the score requirement is higher than the score requirement for playing the level normally, and there are no other goals that need to be achieved. For example, if the player begins to grade the toy with jelly with a new target high score, the player will not need to remove the specified amount of jelly as long as the target score is reached.

In a typical embodiment, this option for passing through cooperative pieces in a game is available in three cases; in the case where the player is not connected to the internet, in the case where the player has not connected the game to a social network, or in the case where the player is not connected to a social network or the internet. If the player is not connected to a social network or the internet, other options available for passing through the tile, such as sending a request to a friend, cannot be accommodated. However, this option can be made available to users who are both connected to the social network and also connected to the internet.

The combination by means of cooperative blocks can be made. For example, once a connection to a social network has been established, completing a mystery quest can enable a player to simply have to request assistance from two friends, or the player need not pay as much as purchasing a way through a collaboration block.

In some implementations, the mystery exploration is not tied to a particular collaboration block. For example, if the player reaches the collaboration block and completes a mystery quest, connects to the social network and receives assistance from three friends, the player will only have to complete two mystery quests the next time the option is selected to pass through the collaboration block. If the player then only completes one or more tasks and then continues to receive assistance from friends or to purchase a way to go, the player need only complete one level when the third mystery exploration is selected as a way to go through the collaboration block.

If the player chooses to play a mystery exploration to go through the collaboration block, the player will be taken to a screen showing three symbols representing the challenge to be completed and a description of which level to play and how many points are needed to complete the first challenge. In a typical embodiment, the game randomly selects a previously completed level and increments the score required by it. In other embodiments, the mystery exploration rating can be a new rating that the player has not previously completed.

If the player chooses to continue the exploration, another screen is presented, allowing the player to select a booster. This screen is very similar to the pre-normal level screen, with the difference that instead of the level number, which states "mysterious exploration", instead of the three stars, it shows a special padlock indicating that it is mysterious exploration, and a special symbol in front of the target score to further indicate that it is mysterious exploration and not the normal level.

If the player chooses to play the mystery exploration, the game progresses to the gameboard screen and the player can begin playing. If the player fails to achieve the goal shredding, a pop-up box shows why the player failed. In some embodiments, using the ranking previously completed as a mystery exploration, the normal goals for completing the ranking are listed as the reasons for failure and failure to reach the goal score. However, even if this is shown as the reason for failing the level, as long as the goal score is achieved, the player will in typical embodiments complete mystery exploration even if the other goals of the level are not achieved. In other embodiments, the player can be required to achieve both the goal score and other goals of the mystery exploration to be accomplished.

However, if the player tries to achieve the target score on the mystery exploration, the ranking will be completed. Completing the mystery exploration rating brings the player to a post-rating screen similar to the post-normal-rating screen but with the same differences as the pre-rating screen. After this, there will typically be an animation informing the player that the level has been completed, e.g., the padlock has changed from locked to unlocked. There can be other ways of ranking the screen after the animation of unlocking of the padlock has been shown.

After completing the mystery exploration and pressing the "done" button on the post-level screen, the player is typically brought back to the mystery exploration main screen. This screen will then show the player the overall progress on the mystery exploration, which in a typical embodiment includes three levels.

In some embodiments, the player may need to wait 24 hours between each of the three levels of mystery exploration. In other embodiments, the latency can be less or none at all. Other criteria can also be used to access the next mystery exploration, such as getting more stars at the previously done level.

Typically, the player will use life for each failed attempt to clear the mystery exploration rating, as is the case with the normal rating. It is also possible that the mystery exploration does not affect the overall life of the player, or that it uses up another kind of resource as e.g. a booster.

The mystery exploration can be used for reasons other than through the collaboration block. For example, there can be bonus levels within the game that can only be accessed by completing a mystery exploration. In some embodiments, the mystery exploration can be a way for players to obtain boosters in a game without having to purchase them. The mystery exploration can also be available only at specific times (e.g., between 9 pm and 10 pm of each day or on specific days).

Alternative ways of interfacing with other players for assistance or other requests

For players who are connected to friends through a social network or players who are connected but have only a very small social network, an alternative is to connect them to other players (if they wish) and find a proxy for the social experience provided for the existing network.

It is important to allow players who would otherwise be stuck at a collaboration block or other social interaction tool to also be able to progress in the game. This is important to minimize churning and to allow a game to have an interesting experience for a larger proportion of players.

One such implementation is to use a new channel (SMS, E-Mail, Twitter, etc.) to drive the installation of the game. This will promote the DAU, creating interactions, by creating social connections and communication channels with those connections. It may also increase revenue by keeping the player in the game.

Overall structure

This alternative method may be used for interaction, for example, when a player reaches a collaboration block or runs out of life. The game prompts the player to "seek help" from other players based on some user-derived player characteristics (e.g., location, player gaming experience). The player gets a prompt to get help with the generated but editable avatar and they "send" a message. If the player's Push Notification (PN) setting is set to OFF, then a request to turn the PN ON is included. The client registers the player with the server to request a user ID. The server randomly generates a response to the user request from 5 minutes to 55 minutes from the request. And transmits the PN to the player. After the player has completed a single cycle, a PN request grant is requested. They become able to receive help requests when they issue games.

Description of the features

This alternative approach gives independent players (friends who are not connected to the game or social network or have only a few "friends" connected to the game or social network) a way to extend their gameplay by seeking help when they reach an obstacle in the game. The player will be able to select where they seek help from via SMS, email, Twitter, etc.

After completing the loop, they will receive the requested help that allows them to continue in the game.

The method can be used for collaboration blocks where players can request life, other help in the game. It can also be implemented to enable players to send invitations to games and if an accepting party is to join a game, the inviting player can receive an award.

The player receiving the request for help can click on a link on his mobile device or computer, for example.

The recipient will be taken to the link destination where the client device was detected and identify whether the player has installed the game on the device. This can be done, for example, using a so-called URI scheme as described below. If the recipient does not already have the game installed, he is taken to the appropriate web page or application store to download or activate the game. This can be, for example, an Apple or android application store or Facebook application web page. There are different options available to implement this functionality and the identification of the device can be done on the specific device or on the server.

The player who has sent the help request will be notified when he receives the requested help.

Further explanation

When the player has run out of life or is stuck at a collaboration block, he or she can send a request for help via SMS. SMS includes a short message that describes what help and links are desired. The message and link can be sent to one or more recipients. The link contains information about who sent the request, what the request is for, and a timestamp. When the recipient clicks on the link, the requested help is sent. Link usage is tracked in the database and therefore links cannot be reused by the same user. If the player does not get help within a certain period of time, he or she gets help from themselves (looking like someone helps them). This is merely to reward the act of seeking things and its use is limited.

The link load includes:

5 byte user ID

1 byte transmission medium and request type

2 byte parameter (timestamp for Life request, aggregate level index for cooperative Block)

The data is then encoded/replaced with Base64 — replaced with an empty string. The link is a normal http link. The content is not stored on the server until the recipient clicks on the link.

Push notifications are used to close the loop and are also limited every 24 hour period. In some embodiments, they do not need help to obtain the transmission.

7.1 Notification

The player can choose to be notified of a particular event in the game. Once the player logs into the game, the notification may be "pushed" and only available at that time. Notifications can be sent on both the stationary computer and the mobile device, depending on the platform selected by the player. It is also possible to have notifications that stretch across multiple platforms, e.g., they can pop up on both Facebook and mobile devices at the same time.

"push technology" and subsequent "push notifications" describe communications in which a transaction request is initiated by a publisher or central server, as opposed to "pull technology" in which a recipient or client initiates a transaction request. Typically, the player can be configured in a way where push notifications should be received from a range of available options, such as:

banner-notifications are shown at the top of the screen and automatically disappear after a set period of time (typically a few seconds) unless the player interacts with them. The banner notification can state information related to the notification, or it can simply state which game the notification came from. In typical implementations, the banner notifications can be interacted with, for example, by clicking on their banner notifications. Clicking on the banner notification typically brings the player into the game.

Alert-notification requires interaction from the player before disappearing, usually they appear in the middle of the screen.

No notification-the player can also choose to turn off the notification entirely.

In typical embodiments, the player can choose which events to notify. In some implementations, the player can be selected to be notified when a new mystery quest is available or when the player has a full life. In other embodiments, the player can choose to be notified about various different events such as:

when friends pass them in the progression of the level.

When their score is defeated at a particular level or at any level.

When a new level has been added to the game.

When help has been received.

When help has been requested.

When a new friend from the social network or from the gaming platform starts playing the game.

When they have not played within a certain period of time.

When the game has been updated.

When a new game from the same developer has been added to the application store. When there is an offer in the in-game store.

In typical implementations, the player can choose to interact with the notification in various ways, such as:

temporarily silence the notification but keep it available.

A complete culling notification makes it removed and no longer visible.

Go directly to the game and start playing. In some implementations, this can be done by automatically starting a particular level, for example, if a friend has defeated the player's score on the level or if the player has been passed.

Respond directly to the notification, e.g., if a friend has requested help, the player can respond by allowing them to send help without actually scrutinizing one click of the game interface.

In some embodiments where notifications are pushed, the player will only get the first notification pushed, and subsequent notifications will not be visible until the player chooses to confirm the first notification. This is because the player should not feel annoyed or overwhelmed by the notification.

Notifications can also be implemented such that they are synchronized across platforms. For example, if a player has been notified about an event, it can be sent to both the mobile device and the Facebook platform, but after confirming the notification on one platform, it also disappears from the other platform. The notification can be sent in various ways such as:

e-mail messages

Messages sent through social networks to which games are connected

By messages sent on the game platform

By text messages, e.g. sent to the mobile device

Telephone call

Stars near the level nodes

To give players a better overview of their progress and overall performance in the game, the candy crumbling story shows the amount of stars that are realized on a level close to the level node. When hovering over a level node, a star is displayed instead of being adjacent to the thumbnail.

Social aspects

Connecting to social networks

Games created using the invention described herein can be connected to a network such as Facebook^TMOr Google +^TMOr with a game platform with different players able to interact and see each other's progress, such as Facebook^TMOr Google +^TMOr a game platform link with different players that can interact and see each other's progress. It is common for users on such networks to have an avatar containing, for example, a picture of the user and/or the user's name. Such an avatar can be, for example, a signature or a picture.

The social network can be located on a different server than the server on which the game is located, and the game and social network can also be located on the same server. In some embodiments, there is a direct active connection between the social network and the gaming platform that continuously synchronizes them, in other embodiments, the two platforms are synchronized at a particular interval, such as when a player logs into the game. When the player has played in an offline mode (e.g., completing the ratings and scores), such as where the player is traveling in a tunnel, the player progress can be synchronized when the player is connected to the internet.

The avatars of the user and his friends can be displayed in the game or in relation to different levels in the game to show the player's progress. The avatar can also be shown in relation to an indicator of the player's skill level or high score. In some embodiments, the avatars can be derived from a social network to which the game is connected, in other embodiments they can be derived from a database associated with the game. The avatar associated with the user can vary depending on the overall progress or performance in the game. For example, the avatar can become larger or visually more advanced as the player plays the game for a long time.

The user can connect with other users of the social network as "friends" on the social network or as "friends" within the gaming environment. The player can interact with other players that he is connected on the social network or who are playing the same game.

Games can be implemented to synchronize and/or retrieve game state information and user profiles for players connected to a social network. It can also be connected to a proprietary network associated with the game or game developer.

The game can also be implemented such that it is connected to multiple social networks. The user can be given the option of selecting what information can be derived and shared with which social network.

One example of how a game can be connected to a social network is Facebook^TMThe open graph of (a) allows websites and applications to extract and share information about more objects than just people, including photos, events and web pages and their relationships to each other. This extends the social graph concept to more than just the relationships between individuals and also applies it instead to virtual non-human objects between individuals. The games can typically share in-game time, e.g., have completed a level, the player has passed a friend in the game or has defeated the high score of the friend in the level. Games can also issue events, such as a player having purchased an object in the game or received an object from other players of the game.

High score list

When the pre-level screen is shown, the player is presented with a high score of friends. This gives the opportunity to know in advance what the goal is and to some extent increases the competing elements in the game. Information about the score of the friend is derived from the social network to which the game is connected. It is important to further increase player interaction and to some extent viral transmission, as players are constantly alerted about the performance of other players, which can motivate them to try harder.

In some embodiments, each area in the game can have a "candy king," meaning the player within the player's network who has the best performance on a level in that area.

Showing progress of friends and progress of players on a virtual path

Another feature of the increased competitive element in the game is that the progress of the friends on the virtual map is shown. Even if the player has not been unlocked or reached an area where friends are playing, their progress can still be shown by means of pictures associated with the player that are displayed close to the level they are currently in.

New players can also be invited to play the game. These can be invited through the game platform or through a social network to which the game is connected. In some implementations, the game suggests which players to invite. The suggestion can be, for example, based on whether the player has played other games from the same developer, whether they are active on the social network, or whether they appear to like other games in the same style. The suggestions can also be based on data from the social network, such as how often they interact with other players or how often they log into the social network.

One aspect of increasing the competitive elements of a game is that messages can be sent to friends that are, for example, more than relevant to beat their score or to progress in an overall level. In some implementations, the game prompts the player to send a message to notify that the friend has been defeated. The message can be edited by the player, or it can be a predefined version of the game advice.

The message can be generated on a server hosting the game or on a server of a social network to which the hosted game is connected. The information used in the message can be derived, for example, from one of the databases to which the game is connected or from a database related to the network to which the game is connected.

Sending gifts

One aspect of candy crumbling story that increases a player's viral transmission and interaction is the ability to send gifts to other players, which help them in the game. A particular gift can be given free of charge, such as an extra life. Options to send free lives are available, for example, in the pre-level screen and the post-level screen. When starting a game, a player is presented with a list of friends to which to send lives.

After this screen, the player is presented with a new message. Gifts sent from other players are displayed under the message, and specific free gifts such as lives can be given to each other easily.

In some implementations, the game prompts the player to send life to other players who have run out of life. When the player completes the ranking after receiving help from a friend, a "thank you" message can be automatically or manually sent to the friend. The message can contain an entry of a value. In some embodiments, a player assisting another player can obtain other benefits, such as special symbols or indicia displayed near their name. Recognition is another benefit that can be awarded to players who help others.

In a mobile version of the game, the player is presented with a message when logging in. The presented messages can be related to the player receiving the life and the friend requesting the life. After receiving the life from the friend, the player is requested to send the life back. If a life is chosen to be sent back in response, the friend that originally sent the life will not get a request to send back to another life. Thus, the string of events has two steps in the case where the player passes a life without requesting to start; step 1 is sending the life, and step 2 is the recipient sending the life back as a response. If the player starts with a request for life, the string has three steps; step 1 is requesting life, step 2 is receiving life, and step 3 is sending life back as a response.

It is also possible to purchase gifts in Yeti stores and send these gifts to friends. Such gifts take the form of boosters that can be used during or before a grade.

Additional moves are sent to players that are stuck on a level for a certain number of days/failed attempts.

Another way to help friends is to send additional movements. This is not always a matter of all players, but instead must meet certain criteria. The criteria relates to how long a player has been stuck at the same level. When the icon "play with buddy" is selected, a list of buddies is presented. Some of these friends will have been stuck for a hierarchically extended period of time, and the player then has the option of helping these players by sending three additional moves free of charge. These movements differ from a booster that gives five additional movements not only because the amount of additional movements is low, but also because the booster is only available and usable at a certain level. This is a more difficult way to promote gaming by receiving help from friends.

The game can also prompt the player to send additional movements to friends that have been stuck at the same level for an extended period of time. In some embodiments, the period of time is two days. In other embodiments, the criteria for a player to be stuck is related to the number of times they have tried and failed the rating. For example, a prompt is made when the player logs onto the game. This increases the interaction by helping players when the game is particularly difficult, and also increases the sense of cooperation and community among players. When the player has received additional moves, this is indicated by the ribbon enveloping the nodes in which the level of the move can be used.

In some implementations, a player can receive help from multiple friends. Assistance from multiple buddies can be used simultaneously or subsequently. When the player completes the ranking after receiving help from a friend, a "thank you" message can be sent to the friend. The message can have different implementations, such as the implementation described above with respect to sending a life-related thank you message.

Candy crumbs telling to have a story line through the game. The chief angle is a small girl who walks around to help people and beat various monsters. At the beginning of the game, and at the beginning of each new collection, there is an animation sequence. These sequences tell the girl how to walk around the world in a candy crumbling story and how she overcomes the story of the obstacles presented to her.

In some embodiments, the area will start slightly dirty with a sad atmosphere, becoming colorful and full of love and warmth as the player progresses through the levels. The area becomes even more enjoyable and colorful as the player gets more stars even at the previously completed level.

Invitation friend

In some implementations, the player may select a subset of all available buddies or filter the buddies to show only buddies that are also playing the game.

Friend selection may occur when a player is to send a request to other players or seek help. Exemplary embodiments may include:

-sending a move pop-up box

-sending a life pop-up box

Invite buddy popup

-other pop-up boxes prompting the player to select friends

By way of example, one embodiment in which a player can select to filter friends may be based on certain criteria, such as the level of interaction a friend has in the past or the skill level or progress in the game. These different criteria are illustrated using pre-filtering of the three tabs in the pop-up window in the game. The pop-up window can

Automatically initiated by the game or requested by the player, for example by pressing a button in the game.

The list of friends may be populated from the player's friends that are also active in the game or simply from friends on the social network. In one embodiment, the default mode is that friends have not been selected. Clicking on a friend's picture or name will select the friend and a tick mark may appear to indicate that it has been selected.

The listed friends may be prioritized in such a way that they are shown to the player in the list. One such criterion, which is shown in the order in which friends are listed, may be whether they have paid for an item in the game. Within the group, players may be ranked higher if they have spent more money or if they have spent more money within a particular time period. Another criterion may be that the listed friends have been active in the game for a certain period of time or have a certain activity level. Another criterion may be that the listed buddies are ranked based on how many total game invitations they have received so far, the highest being the first.

If the user does not have friends playing the game, the tab may be renamed to "friends playing other games," and the same prioritization may be applied to the gaming network players.

The tab may not appear if the user has no friends playing the game according to the filter criteria at all.

Buddies listed in different tabs may be further prioritized. The following relates to the tabs "all buddies" and "reminder buddies," but those skilled in the art will appreciate that this may also be applied to other filtered groups in some implementations.

Buddies are prioritized in the following manner:

1. paying players within the gaming company's network follow in order of CLV (customer lifetime value) (highest CLV being first), and then in order of invitations received until the date of the current game (highest being first).

2. Non-paying players within the gaming company's network follow the order of the CLV (if the CLV is > $ x; the highest CLV is first), and then follow the order of the invitations received until the date in the current game (the highest is first).

3. Non-users of the gaming company's network (highest first in order of invitation received until date in current game)

Ideally, the list can be easily reorganized. For example, in month 1, the focus may be on viral transmission, so we prioritize players of the gaming network known as viruses, but in month 2, we may want to focus on monetization, so we will want to prioritize players of costly gaming networks.

The prompt invitations may stop at some point so that they do not become spam. For example, invitees that have received >10 invitations should not appear in the list again.

Customizing a friend selection pop-up box

The buddy selector pop-up may be customized according to two factors: (1) the user who sees them, and (2) the current priority of the gaming environment in which they have been implemented.

For example: the game team wants to push monetization, so in the "send move" pop, the user's friends are arranged according to their cost, and thus only the friends with the highest cost appear in the pop.

The standard implementation for showing a pop-up is to show all buddies. Reasons for customizing the pop-up box can be several:

increasing spending (e.g. prioritizing buddies with high spending/CLV)

Increased memory (e.g. prioritizing inactive buddies)

Increase request transmission (e.g. prioritizing virus buddies)

Increasing the CTR on notifications by improving the target (e.g. by increasing the relevance of the recipients)

All of this gives game developers an additional tool to optimize the performance of the game.

What information can be used for the exemplary implementation?

Players may be ranked according to a set of metrics. For example:

cost (e.g. how much money the player has spent on the in-game item over a period of time)

Viruses (e.g. how active the player responds to notifications, help requests and other in-game virus effects)

Activity (e.g., how active the player is playing a game; when the player was last playing or how many levels the player has played)

These may also be combined, for example if a gaming team wants to reactivate falling spenders, they may want to display a send move pop-up showing each user's friends in order of spending, but only showing users that have been inactive for more than 10 days.

Examples of implementations in a System

There are many possible approaches. Customization can be done on a game-specific basis using information relating to only a single game (e.g., a game can customize a pop-up using game-only data): this information is stored in the game's own database. Customization can become much more powerful where it uses data from across the gaming company network, using data from all games. This information is typically stored in a database.

Customization on a game-specific basis-the server creates user rankings based on their past performance in the game and determines which users the server sends to the client. The client will simply display the selected user.

Customization on a gaming company network basis-we create user rankings based on information obtained from a database that covers all of their activities within the gaming company network. The ranking will be stored in the system, will be updated at least every day, and will be available to all games using the framework. The server of the individual game pulls the ranking from the system and determines which users to send to the client. The client will simply display the selected user.

Music, sound and effects

Candy crumbs convey both music and other audio effects that are important to the overall perception of the game. All sounds and music have the same sense of warmth to them as colors and animations.

Sound and effect

An audio effect is always played as soon as it happens in the game, whether it is due to input from the player or if it is some kind of automated event. For example, an automated event can be suggesting to the player that a gift should occur to a friend when the user starts a game and a pop-up box appears. When this pop-up occurs, there is a discrete swooshing sound to make the player aware that something is happening. Another automation event could be that before starting a level, the message screen shows what said to need to be done to go through the level before it automatically disappears again.

There is always a visual notification, sound, or both, for all objects that can interact in the game, so that the player knows the items in the interface with which he can interact. For example, in one embodiment, there is a store icon highlighted that begins to swing and sound a short sound as the mouse hovers over it.

The sound played to give an indication of the interactable object is always a non-disturbing sound that the player does not even consider (unless someone indicates the sound to him).

The sounds and effects do not only indicate there when the interaction is feasible. They also exist when interacting with an item or items, for example clicking a button will make a particular sound and sometimes change the appearance of some of the available buttons. In one embodiment, the play button looks like a wrapped candy and crumples when the wrap on the button is pressed.

Clicking on the candy when playing the level will also give a visual notification. In one embodiment, the candy will be highlighted and thus the player will know what candy has been selected. In another embodiment, the frame will appear around the selected candy.

When different kinds of exchanges are made, there are also different kinds of sounds and animations connected to these sounds. There is one sound when the player attempts to make an invalid movement, another sound for three disappears, another sound for four disappears, and so on. When the candy is removed, there is a small animation of stars in the empty space. This increases the visual perception of the game.

The game encourages the player to make good movements, and the sound made when a special candy is produced is an ocean sound and can give the player a feeling of satisfaction.

The trigger-specific candies also have their unique sound and visual effects. Animations with lines and stars are shown to emphasize how well these are used in the game and to what extent they help the player.

If a cascade of matches is obtained falling one after the other, there is a further sound and a message shown on the screen stating "deliciousness", "excellent", "sweet" and "good eating" depending on how many matches are made with just one movement. Along with these visual messages, there is speech that says them aloud in order to compliment and motivate the player and thus increase more of the perception of the game. The same happens when the level is completed, there is a voice and message saying "candy crumbling" so as to make the player feel like a good player.

Background music

Music is constantly played while the visual scene is displayed and while the game board is shown. In some implementations, there can be different music in the level than when viewing the visual scene.

Candy crumbling has realized background music that produces the state of mind of player's optimal interaction, viral dissemination, and monetization.

The music is waltz dance music.

Dance-the body tends to "dance" together naturally (even if it is simply subconscious)

A strong beat-down of about every second, a sensation synchronized with the heartbeat, an increased intrinsic perception of music

The entire thing works at a subconscious level to keep the players participating in the game-the mentally/subconsciously players singing/dancing together

First few grades: whistle

The addition of "human" sounds is smart-adding real levels to an otherwise hyper-realistic/virtual game

Used as questions and answers (Whistle provides answer/answer to open instrument question)

Guiding players to subconsciously "fill in" answers and whistles

All this again increases the level of absorption in the gaming experience

Middle level music (i.e. on the page "this is your score)

The strange and discordant downstream channel in the unusual mode produces a somewhat unpleasant and stressful feeling after contrast with the happy/active/happy music of the play, with subconsciously accelerating the player and proceeding to the next play screen, where the "normal" tone and harmony resume!

Speed of music in Play mode-Waltz dance music has three beats (one, two, three, etc.) on a bar

Although the strong beats of waltz dance fall every second, giving a gentle and calm impression, the actual beats (one, two and three) are very fast (i.e., three in one second) -this speed in music creates stress on the player.

The player is therefore actually immersed in the game and music and unknowingly motivated to play quickly (increased stress, feeling of challenge, excitement, no matter what you want to call) due to this constant push from the tempo of the music. There is still a feeling of calm.

Music experience is subtle, tricky and effective!

See, e.g., the methods and systems described in U.S. application 13/479,107 filed on 5/23/2012 and incorporated in this document.

The systems and methods described herein can be implemented with games where players can see their own and also their social network friends' game-level locations on a virtual path (or other virtual world) and where game state information is fully synchronized across different platforms (e.g., iOS, desktop, and Android) via Facebook or other online social networks, enabling players to seamlessly stop and resume game play on any of those different platforms.

Different devices

Some embodiments of the game allow the game to be synchronized between different devices or platforms.

The game is played on the handheld device, for example, in an offline mode using information stored locally on the handheld device. The device can store all or some of the levels available to the player playing the game. Some of the features in the game can run locally on the device and rely on the local machine. This can be, for example, where the game is implemented to regenerate life after a certain period of time, the time can then be decided locally based on the clock on the device. In some implementations, the central game server clock can overwrite the local clock when the local device has synchronized with the server.

The game can be implemented such that the player knows whether he has synchronized data available to one or more central servers. This can be for example by a colour symbol or a check mark indicating that the information is up to date.

The game can also indicate whether a connection to a central server for synchronization has been established or whether a network connection is shown, for example. The case where the device is offline can be illustrated, for example, with a gray icon.

Different platforms (FB/Google +)

Games can be implemented to synchronize and/or retrieve game state information and user profiles for players who are connected to a social network such as Facebook or Google +.

One example of how a game can be connected to a social network is Facebook^TMThe open graph of (a) allows websites and applications to extract and share information about more objects than just people, including photos, events and web pages and their relationships to each other. This extends the social graph concept to more than just the relationships between individuals and also applies it instead to virtual non-human objects between individuals. The games can typically share in-game time, e.g., have completed a level, the player has passed a friend in the game or has defeated the high score of the friend in the level. The game can also post thingsPieces, for example, where a player has purchased an object in a game or received an object from other players of a game.

The features may be implemented using the invention described herein

Various elements are combined in the game.

There are six different game elements (candies). They can be combined in a series of 3, 4 or 5 in a line (row or column), in a 2x2 square or in a combination of shapes in T or L form.

Making game elements of a particular size

The game elements are of a particular size, all similar but not identical, so as to be able to have a particular maximum number of rows and columns with respect to the candy.

With a transparent area for the game board.

The game board is black, translucent and placed on top of a background picture relating to the story of the game.

With a specific area for each individual game element.

In the game board, each element has a square space bounded by a shallow horizontal line and a darker vertical line. These lines do not cover the complete square, but leave a void in all corners.

Adding additional obstacles and difficulty to complete the ranking

New special game elements are introduced throughout the game to increase the difficulty. For example, a layer that must be removed by matching a candy covered by a layer (jelly) or an impassable block (frosting) that must be removed multiple times by matching a candy adjacent thereto.

There is another challenge for this level.

Many grades have two separate goals, one relating to a specific action (removing jelly, getting fruit to the bottom) and the other relating to a score. This makes a more challenging game.

Rewarding player scores for matching against combinations

The player is awarded a score for each combination of at least 3 candies, enabling high score comparisons with other players and defeating their challenges.

Show what score a player is getting

The amount of the score obtained by the combination is shown in the same color as the candy used in the combination after the combination is completed.

Obtaining a particular amount of score for removing a particular amount of game elements

The scores given for the different combinations are not linear, but are formed in a way that encourages longer combinations and a more deliberate way of playing the game.

Bonus points in the form of a particular "theme" are given to the player when the ranking is completed earlier than necessary

Bonus points are awarded when the player completes the remaining moves. These bonus scores may be awarded by i) triggering any remaining special elements on the game board and ii) randomly placing special game elements on the board and then triggering them.

Article with three columns or rows removed

There is a booster that removes three rows by converting three candies into striped candies. The booster takes the form of a coconut wheel.

Returning special game elements in different combinations of game elements

By making certain combinations of candies, special game elements will be created. These game elements are formed by making a combination of 4 candies in a row or column (striped candies), 4 candies in a 2x2 grid (fish), 5 candies in a row or column (color bombs), an L-shape or T-shape of 5 candies (color bombs).

One game element removes all elements in that row or column when combined with the same color.

A colored bomb candy will be produced by combining 5 candies in a row or column. This item (in combination with normal candy) will remove all candy of a particular color, or it (in combination with bomb candy) will remove all elements on the game board, or it (in combination with striped candy) will turn all candy of the same color into a subsequently triggered striped candy.

One game element removes all elements in a particular radius

By combining 5 candies or 6 candies into an L or T shape, a bomb of candy will be created. This removes elements in a rectangle with three candy diameters.

Receiving special effects when stripe game elements are combined with each other

Striped candies can be combined and when doing so will remove one column and one row of candies.

Receiving special effects when combining striped game elements with bomb candies

Striped candies can be combined with bomb candies, and when doing so, three columns and three rows of candies originating from the location where the combination is made will be removed.

Receiving special effects when combining two bombs

Two bomb candies can be combined with each other. When doing so, a rectangle with a diameter of 5 candy pieces will be removed by each combined bomb candy piece.

Visualizing effects when combining stripe elements with elements received from L-shapes and T-shapes

When combining striped candies with bomb candies, a special visual animation in the form of a jumbo candy that first moves horizontally in two directions from the origin and then moves vertically is triggered.

Combinations with transitions to other elements

When a colored bomb is combined with a striped candy, all other candies of that color will also be converted into auto-triggering striped game elements.

Map with and showing games

The player progresses through the level of the game, which is visually presented on the map. This gives the player a more tangible way to see progress than just representing the level by a number.

With an indicator showing which level the player has reached

The highest level reached by the player is indicated by the corresponding node highlighting the orange color. This makes it easy for the player to find the current level and also facilitates the visualization of how far he has progressed.

Showing not yet playable levels or portions of a game

All available levels of candy crumbling can be observed in the map even though they have not been unlocked. However, a padlock symbol is shown to indicate that the level has not been unlocked and that it is not currently available for play.

With welcome message displayed at the beginning of the game

At the beginning of candy breaking, the player is greeted by the following encouragement messages: "your adventure starts today! Click here play level 2! "

With a course

Candy crumbling provides a tutorial at the beginning of the game to introduce new concepts to the player. The basic concepts, possible combinations and different game modes are explained, among others.

Multiple game modes

Different gaming modes play a greater variety of games. Candy crumbs provide at least seven different play patterns-scores, jellies, components, sequence, time, jelly bears, and lemonade.

Having blocks that must be removed before an object can pass

There are game elements in candy crumbs that must be removed before the objects can pass through the space they occupy. These elements take the form of frosting blocks and require matching of the candies next to them a certain number of times before they disappear.

Information to the player about the selected level and options to use additional boosters

When a grade from the map view is selected, information related to the grade is displayed along with an array of boosters that can be purchased and/or activated for the grade. The information includes previous scores for friends and specific instructions for the current level

Displaying high scores of friends

The previous high score of the buddy can be seen before the level of play, while the level of play, and after the level has been played (if the buddy had previously played the level). This increases competition and gives a sense of team at the same time.

Giving players the option of using additional boosters

The player can select boosters before and during the play level. The booster used in the two cases is different. This facilitates and increases more depth of play.

Sharing results with friends

After completing the ranking, the player will get feedback on how his score relates to the scores of the friends playing the game. Giving the option to share the results with friends may be accompanied by a message describing some content along the line that "i beat your score".

Showing players how well a level is completed

Providing real-time feedback to the player regarding the points during the level of play is accomplished by a filled meter, a dosimeter having three distinct levels represented by one star, two stars, and three stars, respectively.

With an aesthetic icon to show the results of the completed grade.

In the map view, the player can see the results of the previously completed levels in terms of how many stars were obtained in those levels. This makes a simple overview of the overall performance in the game.

Maximum amount of life given to a player to recover over time

The player starts with 5 lives, which are exhausted when failing to complete the level. These lives were then replenished with one life every 30 minutes.

Having algorithms for reorganization and identification when there are no remaining feasible movements

Candy crumbling very quickly identifies when there is no viable movement left. When that happens, the candy on the game board is reorganized. When reconstituted, there will be no automatically triggered combination, i.e. 3 or more candies are not placed adjacent to each other.

3-game with booster available across different platforms

3-switching games, where players can see their own and their social network friends' game level locations on a virtual path, where games are fully synchronized across different platforms (e.g., iOS, desktop, and Android) via Facebook, and where game play for each level can be enhanced by using the harvested items.

The collected items can be synchronized across all platforms in which the user plays the game.

3-o game with mode for landing object

3-switch game, wherein players are able to see the game level positions of themselves and their social network friends on a virtual path, and wherein the game board contains exchangeable elements that are able to match other exchangeable elements and exchangeable elements that are not able to match other exchangeable elements on the game board, wherein one goal of completing the level is to interact with the game board in such a way that a predefined number of non-matchable exchangeable elements are placed in a plurality of predefined areas on the game board.

3-game with multiple different goals

3-pass games, where the player must meet a number of criteria to complete the level within a limited number of moves; the criteria include at least one of:

achievement of target score

Reach matchable game elements to clear the path for unmatchable game elements to reach predefined areas on the game board

Clearing a predefined number of specific types of game items placed on the game board with matchable game elements and each placed game item, each placed game item being removable by removing the matchable game elements in the same position as the placed game item.

Bring game elements (bears in bubbles) to a predefined level of the game board.

Uncovering a game object that holds one or more tiles by removing jelly pieces that cover the game object (jelly bear).

FIG. 26 illustrates an alternative implementation in which new candy falls from the top of the game board and then changes direction to the right before beginning to fall upward again. The arrows in fig. 26 indicate the direction of the falling candy.

FIG. 27 shows another alternative embodiment of a flow of falling candy; the arrows indicate the direction of the candy.

Claims

1. A computer device, comprising:

a user interface configured to display user actuatable game elements and configured to detect user input when a user interacts with the game elements, wherein each game element has an associated tile;

a processor configured to receive detected user input and configured to control the user interface to remove at least three game elements from a display upon detection of a matching game condition and to provide replacement user actuatable game elements on the user interface, wherein the manner in which each replacement game element is provided has a graphical representation controlled in accordance with a selectable tile physics stored for each tile, wherein the selectable physics controls at least one of: (i) the direction in which each tile moves to fill the void left by the removed user game element; and (ii) the speed at which said each tile moves to fill said void;

wherein the processor is configured to select the physics for each tile by accessing a data structure in which each tile is associated with its position on the display and tile physics for the tile based on the position on the display at which the at least three game elements are removed, such that one portion of the display comprises tiles of a first physics and another portion comprises tiles of a second physics, wherein the user interface is configured to display each tile with a visual indication of its selected physics.

2. The computer device of claim 1, further comprising a graphics controller connected to receive information defining the graphical representation from the processor and connected to supply the graphical representation to the user interface in a video sequence based on the physics of the tile.

3. The computer device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the visual indication is a color.

4. The computer device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the user interface is configured to display separators between tiles having the first physics and tiles having the second physics.

5. A computer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a tile having the first physics moves in a direction to fill a void down from an upper portion of a screen and a tile having the second physics moves in the direction to fill a void up from a lower portion of the screen.

6. A computer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the selectable physics controls direction in any orientation in a cartesian or polar coordinate system for populating tiles from an exterior portion of a game board to an interior portion of a game board.

7. The computer device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the user interface is configured to display a container game element that changes the physics of the displayed set of tiles when a matching game condition of a game element associated with the container element is detected.

8. The computer device of claim 7, wherein a game element is associated with the container element by having a color that matches the container element.

9. A computer device according to claim 7, wherein the tiles are arranged in rows and columns, separators extend transversely across the game board between two rows of tiles, and the set of tiles whose physics are changed by the container game elements is a row of tiles.

10. A computer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the user interface is controlled by the processor to sequentially apply visual effects to a set of tiles, thereby indicating the physics of the tiles.

11. The computer device of claim 10, wherein the visual effect is a highlight or a flashing effect.

12. The computer device of claim 10, wherein the tiles are arranged in rows and columns and the visual effect is applied to adjacent rows sequentially.

13. The computer device of claim 4, wherein the visual effect is applied in a first direction in a set of rows above the delimiter and not applied in a set of rows below the delimiter.

14. The computer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the number of replacement game elements is the same as the number of game elements in the matching condition.

15. A computer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a game board of the game element is generated by the processor, but only a portion of the game board is displayed to a user, wherein a subsequent portion of the game board is displayed as a result of a scrolling action displayed on the user interface.

16. The computer device of claim 11, wherein the tiles are arranged in rows and columns and the visual effect is applied to adjacent rows sequentially.

17. A computer-implemented method of controlling a displayed game element on a user interface in response to user interaction with the interface, the method comprising the following steps implemented by a processor of a computer device:

detecting matching game conditions for at least three game elements in response to user input;

generating replacement game elements to be displayed, each game element being associated with a tile;

selecting a physics for each tile by accessing a data structure in which each tile is associated with its position on the display and tile physics for the tile based on the position on the display at which the at least three game elements are removed, such that a portion of the display comprises tiles of a first physics and another portion comprises tiles of a second physics, wherein the user interface is configured to display each tile with a visual indication of its selected physics; and

controlling a graphical representation on the user interface that replaces the game element based on the selected tile physics, wherein the tile physics controls at least one of: (i) the tile moves over to fill the direction of the void left by the removed game element; and (ii) the speed at which the tile moves to fill the void.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the user interface displays a game board of game elements in rows, and wherein all tiles in the same row have the same physics.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein separators are displayed on the user interface between adjacent rows having different tile physics.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the position of the separator on the game board is adjusted by a user input that causes a container element to be actuated, thereby increasing the number of tiles below the separator.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein a game character is displayed on a tile having the first physics, and wherein movement of the character on the game board is affected by the tile physics of the set of tiles surrounding the game character.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein a target row is identified on the display, and wherein a game target is to cause the game character to move up to the target row.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein a portion of the game board is displayed on the user interface, the displayed portion changing due to a scrolling action to display a different portion of the game board on the display.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the row of targets is not visible to a player when a first portion of the game board is displayed on the display, and wherein the target travels into a field of view of the player when a second portion of the game board is displayed on the display as a result of the scrolling action.

25. The method of any of claims 17-21, wherein a portion of the game board is displayed on the user interface, the displayed portion varying as a result of a scrolling action to display a different portion of the game board on the display.