JP2024090232A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable viewers to view play screens of multiple players without compromising the appeal of the game.
[Solution] The information processing device has a distribution control unit that distributes the play screen of each player playing a multiplayer game to a terminal operated by a viewer, and a posting control unit that controls whether or not to post to the second player from the terminal used by the viewer, depending on the relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information, when the viewer's viewing destination switches from the play screen of a first player having first identification information to the play screen of a second player having second identification information.
[Selection] Figure 11

Description

Application for exception to loss of novelty has been filed

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

In online games, multiple players can participate in the game. This type of game is called a multiplayer game, and can be broadly divided into games in which players are competitive and games in which players are cooperative.

JP 2020-5244 A

While viewers can freely watch the gameplay of multiple players during multiplayer games, in an environment where viewers are allowed to post freely, there is a risk that information that should be kept secret may be leaked to other players who are in competition through viewers' posts.
Therefore, Patent Document 1 describes a technique in which a player who is the viewer of a game control the viewer's viewing of the play screen of another player. By adopting this technique, Patent Document 1 realizes management of the risk of information leakage to other players through the viewer's posts.
On the other hand, a system in which a viewer's viewing of play screens of other players is controlled by the player currently being viewed impairs the enjoyment of the viewer being able to freely view a plurality of play screens.

The aim of the present invention is to allow viewers to watch the gameplay of multiple players without compromising the gameplay.

One aspect of the present invention is an information processing device having a distribution control unit that distributes the play screens of each player playing a multiplayer game to a terminal operated by a viewer, and a posting control unit that controls whether or not to post from the terminal used by the viewer to the second player in accordance with the relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information when the viewer's viewing destination switches from the play screen of a first player having first identification information to the play screen of a second player having second identification information.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to allow viewers to watch the gameplay screens of multiple players without compromising the playability of the game.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the flow of a game assumed in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a game space assumed in the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an object stops at a spot for a certain period of time. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of player B. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an example of a medium object used in a game. 1 is a diagram for explaining how to obtain points, in which (A) shows the arrangement of the hand card area just before all the white color cards are collected, (B) shows the arrangement of the hand card area just after all the white color cards are collected, and (C) shows the arrangement of the hand card area after points are obtained. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a server used in the first embodiment. 1 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the participation modes of players and the viewing destinations of viewers assumed in the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the relationship of switching viewing destinations corresponding to a case where there is a cooperative relationship between players before and after switching. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating examples of play screen displays when there is a cooperative relationship between players before and after switching, where (A) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user before switching of the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user after switching of the viewing destination. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a play screen viewed by a player. 13 is a diagram for explaining the switching relationship of viewing destinations corresponding to a case where there is no cooperative relationship between players before and after switching. FIG. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating examples of play screen displays when there is no cooperative relationship between players before and after switching, where (A) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user before switching of the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user after switching of the viewing destination. A figure explaining another example of a switching relationship of viewing destinations corresponding to a case where there is no cooperative relationship between players before and after switching. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating examples of play screen displays when there is no cooperative relationship between players before and after switching, where (A) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user before switching of the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user after switching of the viewing destination. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating other examples of display of a play screen corresponding to a case where there is no cooperative relationship between players before and after switching, where (A) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user after switching of the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of a play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user when a predetermined event that was in progress before switching during viewing has ended. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a period during which posting is restricted and a period during which posting is permitted. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating an example of control over whether posting is permitted or not based on differences in parameters of a player before and after switching. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating control of comment posting after switching according to information on a medium object held in a hand area by a player before switching, where (A) shows a case where comment posting is permitted after switching, and (B) shows a case where comment posting is not permitted after switching. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of control of whether or not a comment can be posted depending on the difference in viewing time immediately before switching. (A) is a control example when the viewing time immediately before switching is 2 seconds, and (B) is a control example when the viewing time immediately before switching is 15 seconds. The vertical axis in the diagram is the time axis. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating changes over time in medium objects in each player's hand area. 1 is a diagram illustrating a difference in the display mode of a play screen displayed on a viewing user's information terminal depending on the difference in tense, where (A) is a display example of a play screen viewed by a viewing user during time-shift viewing, and (B) is a display example of a play screen viewed by viewing user Y at the current time. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a play screen displayed by a play screen distribution control unit and a posting control unit, in which (A) shows an example of the play screen displayed on an information terminal of a player, and (B) shows an example of the play screen displayed on an information terminal of a viewing user who is viewing the player. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating another example of the play screen displayed by the play screen distribution control unit and the posting control unit, in which (A) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of the player, and (B) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user who is viewing the player. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating another example of the play screen displayed by the play screen distribution control unit and the posting control unit, in which (A) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of the player, and (B) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user who is viewing the player. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating another example of the play screen displayed by the play screen distribution control unit and the posting control unit, in which (A) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of the player, and (B) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user who is viewing the player. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating another example of the play screen displayed by the play screen distribution control unit and the posting control unit, in which (A) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of the player, and (B) shows an example of the play screen displayed on the information terminal of a viewing user who is viewing the player. A diagram explaining the control of posting of comments to a viewing destination after switching depending on whether or not a tip comment is posted. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a play screen display of a player and a viewing user before switching, where (A) is an example of a play screen displayed on an information terminal of a player who is the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of a play screen displayed on an information terminal of a viewing user before switching of the viewing destination. 13 is a diagram illustrating a play screen of a player that is the viewing destination before switching when a viewing user instructs to switch the viewing destination. FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a play screen viewed by a viewing user according to whether a player is allowed to post a comment, and FIG. 11B is an example of a display of a play screen when posting a comment to a player who is the viewing destination after switching is not allowed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The embodiment described below is merely an example of a form for carrying out the present invention, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below.
Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the following embodiments. For example, various modifications or improvements to the contents described in the embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
The various functional units described below are realized through the execution of programs by, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or other processors.

<Terminology>
First, the terms used in the embodiments will be described.
The term "program" is used as a general term for the OS (Operating System) and application programs.
"Game" refers to a computer game. The virtual space in which a game takes place is called the "game space." The setting of a game space may be, for example, a virtual city or a virtual country.
A "player" refers to a user who plays a game by operating an information terminal.

The information terminals operated by players are classified into dedicated and general-purpose terminals.
Dedicated machines include stationary game machines installed in game arcades, for example.
General-purpose devices include, for example, smart glasses, headsets, and smartphones that can be carried or worn by players. Smart glasses are glasses-type devices equipped with a small display and a light-guiding component that focuses the image displayed on the display on the retina.

The information terminals that execute the game include not only the information terminals operated by the players (hereinafter also referred to as "player terminals"), but also servers located on the Internet or other networks.
When a game is executed on a server, the player's terminal is used as a so-called input/output device. In other words, the player's terminal is used to display images related to the game and input operations. Note that some data related to the game may be stored in the information terminal, and the game may be executed using both the data stored in the information terminal and the game data stored in the server. Similarly, all game data may be stored on the information terminal, and the data being played there may be transmitted to an external video distribution server, from which the game may be made available for viewing by other users.
"Play screen" refers to the image displayed on the player's terminal. The play screen is generally a moving image. However, there is no prohibition on a still image being displayed on the play screen.

The play screen can be viewed by other users (excluding other players). In the following, other users who view the play screen are referred to as "viewing users" or "viewers." The information terminal operated by the viewing user or viewer is referred to as the "viewing user's terminal" or "viewer's terminal."
In the embodiment described below, a viewing user can view only one play screen at a time. The relationship between the viewing user and the play screen (or player) being viewed is managed by the server. For example, the accounts of the viewing user and the player are used. Note that the viewing user can freely move between multiple play screens. In the present embodiment, permission from the player being viewed is not required to move between play screens.

Games executed on a server include, for example, games that can be executed by storing some or all of the game data in the server and receiving operations from a player who operates the game via an information terminal. Social games are games that can be played by multiple people and incorporate elements of SNS (Social Networking Service).
The game can be played by one player alone (hereinafter also referred to as "single play"), or by multiple players who have a predetermined relationship (hereinafter also referred to as "multiplayer").
Depending on the game, it may only be possible to play single player, only multiplayer, or the option to choose between single player and multiplayer.

Multiplayer games include, for example, games in which players compete against other players (hereafter referred to as "competitive games"), games in which players compete against other players for game results (hereafter also referred to as "competitive games"), and games in which players cooperate to achieve a common goal (for example, clearing the game) (hereafter also referred to as "cooperative games"). Note that even competitive games may include competitive play against other players within the game.
Incidentally, the form of multiplayer also includes play in which multiple players cooperate to play against or compete against other players (hereinafter referred to as "cooperative play").

Although each player in cooperative play can play as an independent player, they participate in the game as a so-called group or team (hereinafter referred to as a "group"). Note that multiple players in cooperative play may have a master-servant relationship or an equal relationship. A master-servant relationship is one in which a specific player is solely supported by the other players. On the other hand, an equal relationship is one in which there is no fixed master-servant relationship and players cooperate with each other.
Incidentally, the other players you will be playing against may be players who have chosen single play, or players who are participating in the game as a group.

In the embodiment assumed below, at least one of the players is a user, but at least one of the players may be represented by a processor. This form may appear as a single-player game, but it is a type of multiplayer game.
Furthermore, when multiple players are to be distinguished from one another, they will be expressed as a "first player," a "second player," a "third player," etc. Similarly, when multiple viewing users are to be distinguished from one another, they will be expressed as a "first viewer," a "second viewer," a "third viewer," etc.

However, in the following description, the player that is the viewing destination before switching may be called the "first player," and the player that is the viewing destination after switching may be called the "second player." The terms "first player" and "second player" are used here for the purpose of specifying the context.
Hereinafter, a player who broadcasts a play screen is also referred to as a "broadcasting user." Furthermore, among viewing users, a player who competes in a game against the broadcasting user who is the viewing target is also referred to as a "participating user."

A "comment" refers to a post or the contents of a post that a viewing user uploads to a player as a destination. A comment is composed of a character string (text), a stamp, an icon, etc. A comment may also be called a "chat."
"Predetermined value" refers to information that can be exchanged on a network, such as electronic money, crypto assets, in-game currency, legal currency, points, etc. In the following, a comment that consumes a predetermined value is referred to as a "tipping comment," and a comment that does not consume a predetermined value is referred to as a message.

<First embodiment>
<System Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of an information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment.
The information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of a server 10 that runs a game, information terminals 20 (20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20X, 20Y) operated by players or viewing users, and a network N that connects these together so that they can communicate with each other.

In Figure 1, examples of players and viewing users include player A (first player), player B (second player), player C (third player), player D (fourth player), viewing user X (first viewer), and viewing user Y (second viewer).
The four players and two viewing users are shown for the convenience of explanation, and the actual number of players may be one, two, three, five or more. Also, the number of viewing users may be zero, one, three or more.
However, in the case of the single play described above, there is only one player. Also, although a player is required to execute the game, there may be zero viewing users.
In the following, when there is no distinction between players and viewing users, they will simply be referred to as users.

In the case of the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1, an information terminal 20A operated by player A, an information terminal 20B operated by player B, an information terminal 20C operated by player C, an information terminal 20D operated by player D, an information terminal 20X operated by viewing user X, and an information terminal 20Y operated by viewing user Y are connected to the server 10 via a network N.
Hereinafter, the information terminals 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20X, and 20Y will be collectively referred to as "information terminal 20."
The network N is, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a mobile communication system such as 4G or 5G. The network N may be a wired network or a wireless network. Also, the network N may be a combination of a wired network and a wireless network.

The server 10 is composed of one or more computers. The server 10 may be an on-premise server or a cloud server. Examples of cloud servers include IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), and SaaS (Software as a Service). The server 10 is an example of an information processing device.
The information terminal 20 is a terminal operated by a user who uses the distribution service provided by the server 10 .
The information terminal 20 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a notebook or desktop computer, a game terminal, a head-mounted terminal (a so-called headset), or a glasses-type terminal (a so-called smart glasses). The information terminal 20 has a communication function with the network N.

<Server hardware configuration>
The server 10 comprises a processor 11 that controls the overall operation of the terminal, a memory 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, and a communication interface 14. The processor 11 and each device are connected via a bus or other signal lines 15.
The processor 11 is, for example, a CPU.
The memory 12 is composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which a BIOS (Basic Input Output System) and the like are stored, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area for the processor 11 .

The auxiliary storage device 13 is, for example, a hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. In addition to the game program, the auxiliary storage device 13 stores, for example, information on the game space, information on players participating in the game, play screens of each player, information on viewing users who are viewing the play screens, information on comments posted by viewing users, and the like.
Information on players and viewing users is linked to accounts and other information that identifies each user.
The comment information includes the content of the comment, whether or not a predetermined value has been consumed, and the amount of the predetermined value consumed.
The communication interface 14 is a device that enables communication with an external terminal such as the information terminal 20. The communication interface 14 is required to have a function for realizing communication according to the network N used for communication.

Like the server 10, the information terminal 20 has a processor, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and a communication interface, and further has a touch sensor, operation buttons, a display, a camera, a microphone, a speaker, and the like.
A device that integrates a touch sensor and a display is called a touch panel. The touch sensor, operation buttons, camera, and microphone make up an input device, while the display and speaker make up an output device.
The information terminal 20 in this embodiment is used as an input/output device for the server 10 .

<Game Flow>
The flow of the game assumed in this embodiment will be described below.
2 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the game assumed in embodiment 1. Note that the symbol S shown in the diagram stands for "step."
First, before the start of the game, matching is performed for users (who are not players at this stage) who will participate in the game (step 1). There are various methods for matching. For example, there is a method in which a predetermined number of users are selected by lottery from among users who applied to participate during the application period. The player of the game assumed in this embodiment is required to bring one of his/her own character cards into the game. Of course, depending on the type of game, bringing in a character card is not required.

Once the players participating in the game have been determined and the character cards that all players will bring into the game have been determined, the game begins (step 2). When the game begins, each player's object is placed in the game space. This allows each player to move the object in the game space through operations on the information terminal 20. When the game begins, each player's object is placed in the game space. This allows each player to move the object in the game space through operations on the information terminal 20. The character card is one of the items (hereinafter referred to as "medium object") used in the game.
The game is in progress when the game starts (step 3), and ends when a game ending condition is met (step 4).
In the game assumed in this embodiment, ranking is basically determined in descending order of game scores (hereinafter referred to as "scores") acquired during the game. Therefore, the score is a parameter used in determining the outcome of the game.

However, the media objects available in the game include one bottom card. A player who holds onto the bottom card until the end will be placed at the bottom of the rankings, regardless of their score. For example, a player with the highest score will be placed at the bottom if they hold onto the bottom card until the end. In this sense, the bottom card is a media object that affects the progress of the game. The bottom card is also a media object that is related to winning or losing the game. The bottom card is also a media object that confers unfavorable game effects on the player who holds it.

In addition, in the game assumed in the embodiment, after the end of the game, an opportunity is provided to accept votes from players who have held the lowest card until the end (step 5). In this vote, each player must vote for a player other than himself.
Once all players' votes have been confirmed within the time limit, the game will move on to confirming the voting results. Players who have not voted within the time limit will be considered as having not voted. In addition, the votes of players who hold the lowest card until the end will be considered as invalid votes.

As a result of the voting, those who answer correctly will be given a special reward in addition to the reward based on their ranking.
If no one answers correctly, the player who has kept the lowest card until the end will be ranked first, regardless of the score at the end of the game. This determines the final ranking (step 6). When the final ranking is determined, the player is given, for example, points, experience points, a title, special points for the attack power and HP of the character card used in the game, weapons that can be used in other games, magic and other abilities, new attributes, attribute level-ups, etc.
The game from step 2 to step 4 is an example of a so-called in-game, and the vote in step 5 is an example of a so-called out-game.

In this embodiment, the game is played multiple times, with the game flow shown in Fig. 2 counting as one round. Note that since the players for each round of the game are determined by the matching in step 1, the players for each round are not necessarily the same.
Hereinafter, a certain in-game will be referred to as a first game, and the next or subsequent in-game will be referred to as a second game.
However, the first game and the second game do not have to be the same type of game, that is, the first game and the second game may be different types of games.

<Game space>
Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a game space assumed in embodiment 1. The game space 100 shown in Fig. 3 is composed of three areas 101A, 101B, and 101C. In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the areas 101A, 101B, and 101C, they will be referred to as area 101. The area 101 is, for example, a room or a country.
The number of areas 101 in Figure 3 is just an example, and depending on the game there may be one, two, or four or more. In the case of Figure 3, the three areas 101A, 101B, and 101C are each connected to the other areas by a passageway.

Although the case where the game space 100 is composed of three areas 101A, 101B, and 101C has been described with reference to FIG. 3, the game space 100 may be composed of a plurality of stages.
3, spots 102A, 102B, and 102C where medium objects to be used in the game are distributed are disposed in three areas 101A, 101B, and 101C. In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the spots 102A, 102B, and 102C, they will be referred to as spots 102.

3, one spot 102 is arranged in one area 101, but multiple spots 102 may be arranged in one area 101, or there may be an area 101 with no spots 102 arranged therein. The form in which the spots 102 are displayed varies depending on the game. For example, a jar, a treasure chest, a shop, a church, or a swamp may be used to display the spots 102.
At least one medium object is associated with each spot 102, and one medium object selected by lottery is given to an object (i.e., an avatar or player character) that acts in response to the player's operation when the object stops near a spot 102 for a certain period of time.

4 is a diagram for explaining a state in which an object stops for a certain period of time at the spot 102. In Fig. 4, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
4, an object 103A of a player A, an object 103B of a player B, an object 103C of a player C, and an object 103D of a player D are added. In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the objects 103A, 103B, 103C, and 103D, they will be referred to as objects 103.

4, the position of object 103A of player A overlaps with spot 102A in area 101 A. If this state continues for a certain period of time or more, one of the medium objects linked to spot 102A is given to player A.
On the other hand, the position of object 103B of player B in area 101B is far from spot 102B in area 101B. Therefore, no medium object is given to player B from spot 102B. Similarly, no medium object is given to player C and player D.

The condition for granting the medium object is not limited to when the object 103A of player A stops with the position of the object 103A overlapping with the spot 102A for a certain period of time.
For example, a medium object may be awarded from spot 102A simply by the position of object 103A of player A overlapping spot 102A.
Alternatively, the condition for granting the award may be that the object 103A of the player A is within a predetermined range (for example, within a predetermined distance) of the spot 102A. In this case, the object 103A of the player A does not need to be stopped as long as the object 103A is within the predetermined range.

Furthermore, it is also possible to set a condition that the object 103A of the player A enters the area 101A in which the spot 102A is located. In any case, the condition for providing the medium object can be determined for each game.
In this embodiment, the medium objects distributed at spot 102 are assumed to be the aforementioned bottom cards, "color cards," and "attack cards." Note that the aforementioned character cards are also an example of medium objects, but differ from the bottom cards distributed within the game in that they are brought into the game by the player.
The color cards assumed in this embodiment are colored in one of five colors: red, blue, yellow, white, and black. Of course, the colors are not limited to those exemplified, and the number of colors is not limited to five.

In the game assumed in this embodiment, points are awarded when the colors of the color cards held by the player match.
In this embodiment, one point is awarded each time the colors of two color cards match. The points are accumulated for each player. The accumulated points (score) are used to determine the ranking at the end of the game.
Another reward may be two matching color cards tied to the player's acquisition item area.

A player who holds an attack card has the right to challenge other players to a battle event using a character card, and the right to accept such a challenge, subject to the consumption of the attack card (removal from the player's hand).

In this embodiment, the player who requests the activation of a battle event and the player who is requested to do so are required to be in the same area 101. However, a battle event may be possible between players who are participating in the game.
When one of the players requests a battle event to be started, the following two scenarios are possible.

(1) If the opposing player also chooses to consume an attack card, the outcome is determined by the attack power value of the character card that each player brings into the game. The player who holds the character card with the relatively larger attack power value is the winner, and the player who holds the character card with the relatively smaller attack power value is the loser.
The winning player takes one of the color cards held in the losing player's hand.

Basically, players cannot choose the color of the color card they acquire. However, depending on the rules of the game, the winner may be given priority in selecting a color card that matches the color of the color card they hold, or the winner may specify the desired color for the loser.
If the losing player does not have any color cards, no color cards are transferred from the losing player to the winning player, and instead, one point from the losing player may be transferred to the winning player.
Also, if the attacking powers are the same, the battle event is considered a draw and no color cards are moved. However, if the attacking powers are the same, the player who requested the battle event may win, or the player who was requested to play the battle event may win.

Note that two or more color cards may be transferred from the loser to the winner. When multiple color cards are transferred, color cards of different colors are transferred. This is because, when color cards of the same color match, they are removed from the hand, so there are no color cards of the same color in the hand. Therefore, color cards of the same color cannot be transferred from the loser to the winner.
By moving different colored cards from the losers to the winners, the chances of matching colors on the winning side increases.

(2) If the opposing player does not have an attack card, the player who requested the battle event will be the winner, and the player who was requested will be the loser. In this case, the winning player will take one of the color cards held by the losing player.

<Play screen>
Next, the play screen displayed on the information terminal 20 of each player will be described.
The play screen is also distributed to viewing users associated with each player via the server 10. The play screen is basically distributed in real time, but accumulated distribution is also possible. For example, when the play screen is viewed in a time-shifted manner, the play screen accumulated in the server 10 is distributed to the viewing user.
On the play screen, for example, an image seen from the viewpoint of a player who controls the movement and behavior of an object 103 (see FIG. 4) is displayed.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20 of player B. The play screen 200B shown in FIG. 5 is an example immediately after the start of play. The play screen 200B is a screen used by player B to operate object 103B. Therefore, object 103B is displayed near the center of the area screen 201.
5, an object 103B of player B is located in area 101B, so a spot 102B in area 101B is also displayed.
In the following, when distinguishing between players or viewing users, they will be referred to as play screens 200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200X, and 200Y, and when referring to them collectively, they will be referred to as play screen 200.

At the top of the play screen 200, information columns for supporting the play of player B are displayed. In the case of FIG.
The number of colors that must be matched to clear the game is displayed in the quota column 202. In the case of FIG. 5, it is "25 remaining." In other words, it is necessary to obtain at least 50 color cards from the spots 102 and match the colors of the color cards in hand.
The exchange timing notice field 203 displays the number of seconds until the next card exchange time.
The total value of points acquired in the game (i.e., score) is displayed in the score column 204. Card exchange refers to the exchange of game media (items) such as cards owned by players.

In addition, a hand card area 205 of player B is displayed at the bottom of the play screen 200. In the case of Fig. 5, only the character card C1 brought into the game space 100 by player B is placed in the hand card area 205. The play screen 200 shown in Fig. 5 is the screen immediately after the start of the game.
In the hand area 205, medium objects provided in the spot 102B, medium objects exchanged with other players, and medium objects acquired from other players as a winner of a battle event are also placed.

However, the maximum number of medium objects that can be placed in the hand area 205 is 5. As described above, since character cards are cards that player B brings into the game space 100, the maximum number of medium objects that can be obtained in the game that can be placed in the hand area 205 is 4. In Fig. 5, the positions where unobtained medium objects are placed are indicated by dashed lines.
When five medium objects are placed in the hand area 205, even if the object 103 is moved to the spot 102, a new medium object cannot be obtained from the spot 102.

Furthermore, when five medium objects are placed in the hand area 205, a new medium object cannot be obtained even if the player wins a battle event against another player.
However, even if five medium objects are placed in the hand area 205, a forced exchange of medium objects can be executed because the number of medium objects placed in the hand area 205 does not change even if a medium object is exchanged.

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a medium object used in a game, in which eight types of medium objects are illustrated.
The character card C1 is composed of a picture of a character (hereinafter also referred to as "character"), a value indicating the magnitude of the attack power (e.g., "Attack: 1000"), and a value indicating the magnitude of HP (e.g., "HP: 150") In addition, the character card C1 may also indicate, for example, the character's defense power, skills, and attributes.
HP, also called stamina value (parameter value), represents the vitality required to play. HP is set for each character.

"Attack power" refers to the strength of the damage inflicted on the opponent character. Therefore, a character with a high attack power value (parameter value) can inflict more damage on the opponent character than a character with a low attack power value. Conversely, a character with a low attack power value will inflict less damage on the opponent character than a character with a high attack power value.
In addition, attack power can also be evaluated based on the range of the attack (defined as two-dimensional space in the case of two dimensions, and three-dimensional space in the case of three dimensions), the time the attack lasts, the number of attacks, the hit rate, and the number of enemy characters that can be hit simultaneously.

"Defensive power" refers to the level of resistance to damage from attacks by opposing characters. For this reason, a character with a high defensive power value (parameter value) will lose less vitality than a character with a low defensive power value. Conversely, a character with a low defensive power value will lose more vitality than a character with a high defensive power value.

"Skill" refers to a special skill (ability) that provides an advantage in the game. Examples of skills include skills that nullify or reduce damage, skills that increase attack power etc. when combined with a specific attribute, skills that increase movement or movement speed when combined with a specific attribute, skills that recover or increase HP when combined with a specific attribute, and skills that stop or reduce attacks from other objects 103.

An "attribute" is one piece of information that gives a character's characteristics. Attributes include, for example, fire, water, lightning, earth, and wood. One or more attributes are given to a character. Attributes may be given permanently or temporarily.
In many cases, compatibility is determined between attributes. For example, a character with a water attribute is strong against a character with a fire attribute, a character with a lightning attribute is strong against a character with a water attribute, and a character with a fire attribute is strong against a character with a wood attribute.

In addition, attributes in the broad sense also include the attack power, defense power, speed, skills, and obstacles mentioned above. For example, a character card C1 that has a defense power large enough against the attack power of another character card C1 will need to make many attacks to reduce the strength value of the other character card C1 to "0". For this reason, this other character card C1 has poor compatibility with the certain character card C1.

Color card C2 is a red card, color card C3 is a blue card, color card C4 is a yellow card, color card C5 is a white card, and color card C6 is a black card. In Fig. 6, for convenience of explanation, the color of each card is represented by letters. In reality, the entire card may be displayed in a specific color, or the picture or letters drawn on the card may be in a specific color. Also, a specific color may be displayed in only a part of each card.
A plurality of color cards C2 to C6 are prepared in the game. For example, 40 of each color card are prepared. However, the number of cards may be unlimited.

As described above, the attack card C7 is a card used not only to request the initiation of a battle event using the character card C1 against another player, but also to select whether or not to accept the request to initiate a battle event. A plurality of attack cards C7 are prepared in the game. For example, 40 cards are prepared. The number of attack cards C7 may be unlimited.
As described above, the bottom card C8 is a card that determines the ranking of the player who has held the card until the end of the game, and only one bottom card is prepared in the game. The bottom card C8 is also used for voting to guess the player who has held the card until the end of the game.

<Earn points>
Here, a method for acquiring points that are used for ranking at the end of the game will be described.
7A and 7B are diagrams for explaining how points are acquired. (A) shows the arrangement of the hand-card area 205 immediately before the white color cards C5 are collected, (B) shows the arrangement of the hand-card area 205 immediately after the white color cards C5 are collected, and (C) shows the arrangement of the hand-card area 205 after points are acquired.

The change in the arrangement of the hand card area 205 shown in FIG.
(a) When a color card is obtained from spot 102 (b) When the winner of a competitive event obtains a color card from the loser In the game assumed in this embodiment, when two color cards of the same color match in the hand-card area 205, the two corresponding color cards are removed from the hand-card area 205, and at the same time, one point is added to the player's score.

<Server functional configuration>
Next, the functional configuration of the server 10 will be described.
Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of the functional configuration of the server 10 used in the embodiment 1. Note that the functional configuration shown in Fig. 8 is an example of a functional unit realized through the execution of a program.
The server 10 includes a play screen delivery control unit 111 , a posting control unit 112 , and a storage unit 120 .
Of these, the storage unit 120 is realized by the memory 12 (see FIG. 1) and the auxiliary storage device 13 (see FIG. 1).

<Information stored in the storage unit>
Prior to describing the functional units, an example of information stored in the storage unit 120 will be described.
The memory unit 120 shown in FIG. 8 stores player information 121, viewing user information 122, spatial layout information 123, spot information 124, exchange timing information 125, medium object distribution rules 126, voting operation rules 128, final ranking determination rules 129, play screen display rules 130, posting rules 131, etc.

The player information 121 is information about the players who play the game. In the example of FIG.
The player information 121 includes, for example, a user ID (account) that identifies the user, identification information of the group to which the user belongs, the IP address of the information terminal 20, position information of the object 103 (see FIG. 4) in the game space 100 (see FIG. 3), information on the character card C1 (see FIG. 6) brought into the game, information on the medium objects C2 to C8 placed in the hand card area 205, information on the color cards C2 to C6 that were erased from the hand card area 205 when the colors of two color cards match (in other words, information on the items stored in the acquired item area), the time when the color cards C2 to C6 were exchanged, the total value of points acquired in the game (i.e., the score), rewards awarded according to the final ranking, and the elapsed time from starting to view the play screen to be viewed.

Identification information of a group to which a user belongs (hereinafter referred to as "group identification information") is information that is set when the user is matched (see FIG. 2). The group identification information may be defined by a number or code such as "1", "2" ..., or may be defined by a name such as "Group A", "Group B" .... In addition, if the player can select or input a name, the selected or input name is stored as the group identification information.
The group identification information is used to identify whether or not there is a competitive relationship between players. The presence or absence of a competitive relationship defines the relationship in a multiplayer game.

Players with the same group identification information belong to the same group, that is, they are in a cooperative relationship in the multiplayer game. Play by players in a cooperative relationship is an example of cooperative play.
On the other hand, players with different group identification information belong to different groups, which means that they are in a competitive relationship in the multiplayer game.
The group identification information here is an example of the first identification information and the second identification information.

The viewing user information 122 is information on viewing users who view the play screen. In the example of FIG.
The viewing user information 122 includes, for example, a user ID (account) that identifies the viewing user, an IP address of the information terminal 20, an ID that identifies the play screen being viewed (an ID linked to the player's account), a user ID (account) that identifies the player linked to the play screen being viewed, viewing time of the play screen being viewed, an ID that identifies the play screen being viewed before switching to the play screen being viewed, information that identifies an event that was progressing on the play screen before switching when the play screen was switched, the content and posting time of the message or tip comment, reward for posting the message or tip comment, whether or not comments can be posted, and specific players who are permitted to post comments.

The contents of the tip comment include information on the consumption amount (face value), and a user ID and IP address that identify the payment destination of the specified value.
Rewards for posting may include, for example, option rights to increase the offensive and defensive powers of the media object owned by the viewing user, option rights that can be used as a player when playing other games, and items and character cards that can be used in other games.

The user ID and the like stored as the player information 121 and the viewing user information 122 are linked to data relating to instructions and operations received from the information terminal 20 of the player or the viewing user, for example.
Alternatively, the user ID etc. is identified based on the IP address etc. of the information terminal 20 which is the source of the instruction or operation to the server 10 , and is stored in the player information 121 or the viewing user information 122 .

The spatial layout information 123 is information related to the layout of the game space 100. The spatial layout information 123 is so-called map information. The spatial layout information 123 identifies the layout of the game space 100, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and makes it possible to identify the position of the object 103.
The spot information 124 is information such as the positions of the spots 102 arranged in the game space 100, the types and numbers of the color cards C2 to C6 linked to each spot 102, the number of attack cards C7 linked to each spot 102, and the presence or absence of a bottom card C8 linked to the spot 102. Note that, in the case where the color cards C2 to C6 and the attack cards C7 linked to each spot 102 are replenished indefinitely every time they are distributed to the object 103, the spot information 124 does not need to include the types and numbers of the color cards C2 to C6 and the number of the attack cards C7.

The exchange timing information 125 is information that indicates the exchange timing that is executed periodically. Specifically, it is the count value of a counter that counts down from 30 seconds to 0 seconds. The timing specified by the exchange timing information 125 is common to all players. In other words, the same timing is applied regardless of the position of the player's object 103 within the game space 100. The counter that gives the count value of the exchange timing information 125 starts at the same time as the game starts. Furthermore, when the counter's count value reaches 0, it is reset to 30 and starts counting down. This operation is executed repeatedly until the end of the game.

The media object distribution rules 126 define the rules for the attachment of media objects to objects 103 in spots 102 .
The rules include distribution preconditions, which require that a condition be met, such as that the object 103 overlaps with the spot 102 for a certain period of time or more.
The rules also include a rule for randomly selecting one of the medium objects to be assigned to the object 103 that satisfies the prerequisites, specifically, the color cards C2 to C6, the attack card C7, and, if present, the bottom card C8.
This rule also includes, as an exception to distribution, a case in which the player to be awarded has five medium objects in his/her hand 205 .

The voting rules 128 define the rules for an outgame in which the player who holds the lowest card C8 until the end of the game is selected.
The rules stipulate that all players are given one vote, that they must vote for the other player they think is holding the last card within the time limit, that players who do not vote within the time limit will be treated as having not voted, that the vote of a player who holds the last card C8 until the end will be invalid, that players who answer correctly will be given a special reward in addition to the reward based on their ranking, and that if no one answers correctly, the player who held the last card until the end will be ranked first.

The final ranking decision rule 129 stipulates that, in principle, the ranking of players is decided in descending order of scores at the end of the game, and if no one votes correctly, the player holding the lowest card C8 will be ranked first regardless of the score, and second place and below will be decided in descending order of scores.

The play screen display rules 130 define rules regarding the display of the play screen visually recognized by the player and rules regarding the display of the play screen visually recognized by the viewing user.
The play screen display rules 130 permit the display of all information on the play screen when the play screen is displayed on the player's information terminal 20. This is because the player needs to be informed of information on the object 103 and area that he or she is controlling.
On the other hand, when the play screen is to be displayed on the viewing user's information terminal 20, two types of rules are prepared for the play screen display rules 130. One rule, like the rules for the player, permits the viewing user to display all information on the play screen, and the other rule causes at least some of the objects that affect the progress of the game to be displayed in an invisible manner.

The medium object in the hand area 205 can be displayed as invisible, for example, in the following manner.
(a) On the play screen 200 displayed on the information terminal 20 of the viewing user, nothing is displayed in the hand card area 205. In this case, a view of the area 101 in which the object 103 of the player who is the viewing destination is located is displayed in the position of the hand card area 205.
(b) On the play screen 200 displayed on the viewing user's information terminal 20, the entire hand placement area 205 is hidden by a blind object (for example, filled in with a single color).

(c) In the play screen 200 displayed on the information terminal 20 of the viewing user, the portion of the medium object placed in the hand area 205 whose contents are visible is hidden by a blindfold object (e.g., filled with a single color). However, the portion of the medium object whose contents are not visible is not hidden by the blindfold object and can be seen.
(d) On the play screen 200 displayed on the information terminal 20 of the viewing user, the front surface (the surface on which the contents can be confirmed) of the medium object placed in the hand area 205 is displayed in a turned-down state. In this case, it is possible to know how many medium objects are placed in the hand area 205, but it is not possible to know the magnitude of the attack power of the character card C1, nor is it possible to know what color card the player is holding, nor is it possible to know whether the player is holding an attack card C7, nor is it possible to know whether the player is holding a bottom card C8.

The posting rule 131 is a rule for determining whether or not a comment can be posted to the viewing destination after switching. In the case of the present embodiment, it is stipulated that if the two players before and after the switching are in a cooperative relationship, the viewing user is permitted to post, whereas if the two players before and after the switching are in a competitive relationship, the viewing user is not permitted to post.
Exceptional rules are also recorded in the posting rules 131. Specific examples of the exception rules will be described with reference to the second to ninth embodiments.

<Processing Executed in Functional Unit>
Based on the above, the specific processing contents of the play screen delivery control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112 will be described.

<Premise>
The following describes once again the situations in which the play screen delivery control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112 function. First, the form of player participation that is the premise of the play screen delivery control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112 will be described.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the participation modes of players and the viewing destinations of viewers assumed in the first embodiment.
9, four players participate: player A, player B, player C, and player D. Therefore, the game shown in FIG 9 is a multiplayer game.
In the case of Fig. 9, player A and player B belong to the same group A. Therefore, player A and player B are in a cooperative relationship.
Moreover, players C and D belong to the same group B. Therefore, players C and D are in a cooperative relationship.

On the other hand, there is no cooperative relationship between different groups. In other words, players A and B in group A and players C and D in group B are in a competitive relationship with each other.
However, it is also possible to define a cooperative relationship on a group basis. For example, it is also possible to define a cooperative relationship between group A and group B. The presence or absence of a cooperative relationship on a group basis is defined at the time of user matching (see FIG. 2) (in other words, before the game starts).
Note that a group may include only one player. For example, there may be a group C to which only player E belongs.

In the case of Fig. 9, viewing user X is viewing the play screen 200A of player A in group A. For convenience of explanation, the viewing destination of viewing user Y is not shown.
FIG. 9 shows two types of switching patterns for the viewing destination.
One is "switch #1" in which the viewing destination of viewing user X switches to player B who belongs to the same group A as player A, and the other is "switch #2" in which the viewing destination of viewing user X switches to player C who belongs to a different group B than player A.

<Play screen distribution control unit>
The play screen distribution control unit 111 (see FIG. 8) is a functional unit that distributes the play screen 200 of each player playing the multiplayer game to the information terminal 20 operated by the viewing user. The play screen distribution control unit 111 is an example of a distribution control unit.
In the case of FIG. 9, the play screen distribution control unit 111 distributes a play screen 200A of player A to an information terminal 20X operated by a viewing user X.

Of course, the play screen distribution control unit 111 displays each player's play screen 200 on the information terminal 20 of each player playing the multiplayer game. For example, the play screen distribution control unit 111 distributes player A's play screen 200A to the information terminal 20A operated by player A, distributes player B's play screen 200B to the information terminal 20B operated by player B, distributes player C's play screen 200C to the information terminal 20C operated by player C, and distributes player D's play screen 200D to the information terminal 20D operated by player D.

The play screen distribution control unit 111 in this embodiment distributes the play screen 200 of the player selected as the viewing destination as is to the information terminal 20 of each viewing user.
In other words, the viewing user assumed in this embodiment can view the same screen as the play screen 200 viewed by the player selected as the viewing destination.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 controls the posting of comments by viewing users to viewing destinations.

<Posting Control Unit>
The posting control unit 112 (see FIG. 8) is a functional unit that controls whether or not a posting can be made from the information terminal 20 used by the viewing user to the second player in accordance with the relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information, when the viewing destination of the viewing user switches from the play screen 200 of the first player having the first identification information (group A or B) to the play screen 200 of the second player having the second identification information (group A or B). When controlling whether or not a posting can be made, the posting control unit 112 refers to the posting rules 131 (see FIG. 8).

Here, the first identification information means group identification information corresponding to the first player, and the second identification information means group identification information corresponding to the second player.
For example, the first identification information and the second identification information are identification information of group A to which player A belongs, identification information of group A to which player B belongs, identification information of group B to which player C belongs, and identification information of group B to which player D belongs.
The first identification information and the second identification information here are determined based on the relationship between the viewing destination before switching and the viewing destination after switching of a certain viewing user.
Therefore, the first identification information and the second identification information may indicate the same group or may indicate different groups.

When determining whether or not a comment can be posted by a viewing user who has switched viewing destination to the second player who is the viewing destination after the switch, the posting control unit 112 identifies whether or not there is a competitive relationship between the first player (viewing destination before the switch) and the second player (viewing destination after the switch) based on group identification information that was set when matching players playing a multiplayer game.
The following describes the difference in appearance of the play screen depending on whether or not there is a competitive relationship between players before and after switching the viewing destination.

<Switch #1>
10 is a diagram for explaining the switching relationship of viewing destinations corresponding to the case where there is a cooperative relationship between players before and after switching (switching #1). The vertical axis in the diagram is the time axis.
At time T1, viewing user X is viewing the play screen 200A (200X) of player A. For convenience of explanation, other viewing users are omitted from FIG.
At time T2, the viewing user X instructs the server 10 (see FIG. 1) to switch the viewing destination. As a result, the server 10 distributes the play screen 200 of the instructed player to the information terminal 20X corresponding to the viewing user X.

At time T3, viewing user X is viewing the play screen 200B (200X) of player B. Here, player B belongs to the same group A as player A before switching the viewing destination. In other words, player B is in a cooperative relationship with player A before switching the viewing destination.

In this case, the posting control unit 112 permits posting of a comment to player B. This allows viewing user X to post to player B the content of the play screen 200A of player A that the viewing user X has been viewing until just before.
However, since players A and B are in a cooperative relationship, there is no problem even if information about the medium objects placed in player A's hand area 205 is leaked to player B. Rather, by conveying accurate information about player A to player B, the possibility of efficient point increase for the entire group A increases.

11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the play screen 200 when there is a cooperative relationship between the players before and after the switching. (A) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X before the switching of the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X after the switching of the viewing destination. In FIG. 11, the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
Here, player A is an example of a first player, and player B is an example of a second player.

Before the viewing destination is switched, the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X displays a play screen 200X (see FIG. 11A) that is the same as the play screen 200A of the player A who is the viewing destination.
Therefore, the viewing user X can visually confirm in real time information on the medium objects held by the player A. Specifically, it is possible to visually confirm that the player A holds a total of five medium objects, including the character card C1, three color cards (red, blue, and white), and the bottom card C8. The viewing user X also visually confirms the numerical value of the attack power of the character card C1.

After the viewing destination is switched, a play screen 200X (see FIG. 11B) that is the same as the play screen 200B of player B, who is the viewing destination, is displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X.
Therefore, the viewing user X can also view information of the medium object held by the player B, who is the viewing destination.
Meanwhile, a notification 211 indicating that posting to the viewing destination (i.e., player B) is possible is displayed as a pop-up in the lower right corner of the play screen 200X viewed by the viewing user X. Therefore, the viewing user X can confirm on the screen that posting of a comment to player B is possible.

The notification 211 is displayed only on the play screen 200X viewed by viewing user X, and is not displayed on the play screen 200 viewed by other viewing users (e.g., viewing user Y). Moreover, the notification 211 is not displayed on the play screen 200B viewed by the viewing destination player B.
Of course, even if a comment can be posted, it is also possible not to display the notification 211 on the screen, as in the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 11(A).
In this embodiment, the display of the notification 211 is controlled by the posting control unit 112 .
In either case, the viewing user X can post a comment to the player B.

Fig. 12 is a diagram for explaining a display example of a play screen 200B viewed by player B. In Fig. 12, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
A comment 212 posted by a viewing user X is displayed on the play screen 200B shown in FIG.
12, "A has red, blue, and white" is displayed on the play screen 200B. Note that a comment 212 saying "A has the lowest card" may also be displayed on the play screen 200B.

12 is displayed on the information terminal 20 of a viewing user who is viewing the game with player B as the viewing destination. That is, the color information of the color card held by player A is shared among all viewing users who are viewing the game with player B as the viewing destination.
However, the comments posted on the play screen 200B may be displayed only to the recipient player B and the viewing user X who posted the comment. In this case, other viewing users viewing the play screen 200B of player B cannot enjoy communication through sharing of information with other viewing users, but this reduces the possibility that information about the medium object placed in player A's hand area 205 will be indirectly leaked.

However, as in Switch #2 described below, even if the viewing destination is switched to Player C or Player D, who are in a competitive relationship with Player B, posting of comments is not permitted, so the effect of limiting posted comments to the player and poster to which the comment was posted is limited.
However, when the viewing destination is switched from player C to player D, as in switching #1, free posting is permitted, so by restricting the display of comments on player B's play screen 200B, the risk of media objects held by player A being leaked to player D can be reduced.

<Switch #2>
Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining the switching relationship of viewing destinations corresponding to the case where there is no cooperative relationship between the players before and after switching (switching #2). In Fig. 13, the parts corresponding to Fig. 10 are shown with the same reference numerals.
10. The viewing destination at time T1 is the same as in FIG. 10, and at time T2, the viewing user X instructs the server 10 (see FIG. 1) to switch the viewing destination, also in the same manner as in FIG.
Here, player A is an example of a first player, and player C is an example of a second player.

13, the viewing user X designates the play screen 200C of the player C as the viewing destination after switching.
However, as shown in Fig. 13, player C belongs to group B, which is different from player A who was watching before switching the viewing destination. That is, player C is in a competitive relationship with player A who was watching before switching the viewing destination. In this way, in the case of the present embodiment, the viewing user is free to switch the viewing destination even between players who are in a competitive relationship.

However, when the viewing destination is switched between the competitive players, the posting control unit 112 sets the posting of comments to the new viewing destination, Player C, to be disallowed. In other words, the posting control unit 112 restricts the posting of comments to Player C.
Therefore, the viewing user X cannot post to the player C the contents of the play screen 200A of the player A that the viewing user X had been viewing until just before.
This is because if player C, who is in a competitive relationship with player A, were allowed to post freely, player A would suffer a great disadvantage if information about the medium object placed in player A's hand area 205 were leaked.

Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the play screen 200 when there is no cooperative relationship between the players before and after the switch. (A) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the viewing user X's information terminal 20X before the viewing destination is switched, and (B) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the viewing user X's information terminal 20X after the viewing destination is switched. In Figure 14, the parts corresponding to those in Figure 11 are denoted with the same reference numerals.

Before the viewing destination is switched, the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X displays a play screen 200X (see FIG. 14A) that is the same as the play screen 200A of the player A who is the viewing destination.
Therefore, the viewing user X can visually confirm in real time information on the medium objects held by the player A. Specifically, it is possible to visually confirm that the player A holds a total of five medium objects, including the character card C1, three color cards (red, blue, and white), and the bottom card C8. The viewing user X also visually confirms the numerical value of the attack power of the character card C1.

After the viewing destination is switched, a play screen 200X (see FIG. 14(B)) that is the same as the play screen 200C of player C, who is the viewing destination, is displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X.
Therefore, the viewing user X can also view information of the medium object held by the player C who is the viewing destination.
Incidentally, a notification 213 indicating that posting to the viewing destination (i.e., player C) is not permitted is displayed as a pop-up in the lower right corner of the play screen 200X viewed by the viewing user X. Therefore, the viewing user X can confirm on the screen that he or she cannot post a comment to player C.

The notification 213 is displayed only on the play screen 200X viewed by viewing user X, and is not displayed on the play screen 200 viewed by other viewing users (e.g., viewing user Y). Moreover, the notification 213 is not displayed on the play screen 200C viewed by player C, who is the viewing destination.
In addition to the method of displaying the notification 213, the notification that comment posting is not permitted can also be given by disabling the comment posting operation by the viewing user X. When disabling the posting operation, it may be possible to simultaneously display a message indicating that posting to player C is not accepted. This type of display allows the viewing user to know the reason why posting to player C is not accepted.
In this embodiment, the display of the notification 213 is controlled by the posting control unit 112 .

<Switch #3>
Fig. 15 is a diagram for explaining another example of a switching relationship of a viewing destination corresponding to a case where there is no cooperative relationship between players before and after switching. In Fig. 15, the parts corresponding to those in Fig. 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The direction of switching of the viewing destination shown in Fig. 15 is opposite to that of switching #2, so the time axis shown in Fig. 15 continues from Fig. 13.
Therefore, the viewing destination of the viewing user at time T4 is Player C.

In this state, at time T5, the viewing user X instructs the server 10 (see FIG. 1) to switch the viewing destination.
Subsequently, at time T6, the viewing user switches the viewing destination to player A. That is, this is a case where viewing user X switches the viewing destination from player A to player C, and then switches from player C to player A. This switching is also a switching of the viewing destination between players in a competitive relationship.
For ease of explanation, player A here is an example of a first player, and player C is an example of a second player.

In this case, the posting control unit 112 restricts posting from the information terminal 20X operated by the viewing user X to player A, who is the new viewing destination.
In the cases of switching #1 and switching #2, viewing user X was permitted to post comments to player A, but in this case, player A is in a competitive relationship with player C, who was the previous viewing user. For this reason, if free posting of comments were permitted, player C would be at a greater disadvantage if information about a medium object placed in player C's hand area 205 were leaked to player A.

Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the play screen 200 when there is no cooperative relationship between the players before and after the switch. (A) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X before the viewing destination is switched, and (B) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X after the viewing destination is switched. In Figure 16, the parts corresponding to those in Figure 14 are shown with the corresponding symbols.

Before the viewing destination is switched, the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X displays a play screen 200X (see FIG. 16A) that is the same as the play screen 200C of the player C who is the viewing destination.
Therefore, the viewing user X can visually confirm in real time information on the medium objects held by the player C. Specifically, it is visible that the player C holds a total of five medium objects, including the character card C1, three color cards (yellow, white, and black), and an attack card C7. The viewing user X also visually confirms the numerical value of the attack power of the character card C1.

After the viewing destination is switched, a play screen 200X (see FIG. 16B) that is the same as the play screen 200A of player A, who is the viewing destination, is displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X.
Therefore, the viewing user X can also view information of the medium object held by the player A who is the viewing destination.
Incidentally, a notification 213 indicating that posting to the viewing destination (i.e., player A) is not permitted is displayed as a pop-up in the lower right corner of the play screen 200X viewed by the viewing user X. This notification 213 was not displayed on the play screen 200 of player A shown in FIG. 11(A) or FIG. 14(A).
However, by displaying the notice 213, the viewing user X can confirm on the screen that he/she cannot post a comment to the player A.

<Effects Obtained in the First Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, a viewing user who is viewing the play screen 200 can freely switch the viewing destination player at any time. This allows the viewing user to enjoy viewing a plurality of play screens. In other words, it is possible to allow the viewing user to freely switch the viewing destination while maintaining fairness between players.

On the other hand, if the players before and after switching viewing destinations are in a cooperative relationship, they can post comments to the player they are viewing without any restrictions. This allows the player to know information about media objects that affect the progress of the game held by the other player in the cooperative relationship. As a result, viewing users can support the progress of play among multiple players in a cooperative relationship in a multiplayer game by posting comments.

In contrast, if the players before and after the switching of viewing destination are in a competitive relationship, the posting of comments is restricted for the player of the viewing destination after the switch. This reduces the risk that information about media objects that affect the progress of the game held by each player will be leaked to other players in a competitive relationship through comments posted by viewing users. As a result, fairness between players can be easily maintained.

<Embodiment 2>
In this embodiment, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function that, when a specific event that was progressing on the play screen that the viewing user was viewing before switching the viewing destination has ended, does not restrict the viewing user's posting to the player that is the viewing destination after the switch.
This function is particularly effective when the players before and after the switching of the viewing destination belong to different groups, that is, when the players before and after the switching of the viewing destination are in a competitive relationship.

The predetermined event that is a prerequisite for this function is an event that has an effect on the progress of the multiplayer game. Therefore, the movement of the object 103 within the game space 100 does not fall under the "predetermined event" here.
The predetermined events include, for example, an event in which the object 103 acquires a medium object from the spot 102 in the area 101, an automatic exchange of a medium object, and a battle event.

In other words, a specified event is an event in which the combination of medium objects placed in each player's hand area 205 may change before and after its execution. This is because even if information about the medium objects before the change is leaked to another player in a competitive relationship, the impact on the player to whom the information is leaked is reduced.

17 is a diagram illustrating another example of the play screen 200 displayed when there is no cooperative relationship between the players before and after the switch. (A) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X after the viewing destination is switched, and (B) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of the viewing user X when a predetermined event that was in progress before the switch while viewing has ended. In FIG. 17, the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The play screen 200X shown in Fig. 17(A) is the same as the play screen 200X shown in Fig. 14(B). For this reason, a notice 213 stating "No posting" is displayed on the play screen 200X.

The play screen 200X shown in FIG. 17(B) is displayed after the event that was progressing on the play screen 200A of player A immediately before the viewing destination was switched has ended.
For example, an automatic exchange of media objects (in this case, two types of objects are exchanged: color cards and bottom cards C8) is performed between player A, who was the viewing destination before the switch, and another player, and the information of the media object placed in player A's hand area 205 changes, is displayed.
17B, a notification 211 stating "Posting Possible" is displayed in the lower right corner of the play screen 200X. This allows the viewing user X to post a comment to the player C who is in a competitive relationship with the player A.

18 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between a period during which posting is restricted and a period during which posting is permitted. The vertical axis in the diagram is the time axis.
In FIG. 18, the viewing destination before switching is player A, and the viewing destination after switching is player C.
In the case of Fig. 18, a predetermined event is in progress when the viewing destination is switched from player A to player C. Therefore, posting to player C is not possible until the end of this predetermined event. However, once the predetermined event ends, posting to player C becomes possible.

In addition, if a predetermined event does not end while viewing user X is viewing player C, posting of comments to player C will remain prohibited.
In addition, if the next player selected by the viewing user after player C is in a competitive relationship with player C, posting of comments to the new viewing destination is not permitted (i.e., is restricted) until a specified event that was progressing on player C's play screen 200 at the time of the switch is completed.
On the other hand, if the other player selected by the viewing user after player C has a cooperative relationship with player C, the player is allowed to freely post comments, as in switching #1 in embodiment 1.

<Effects Obtained in the Second Embodiment>
Even in the case of the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, when the viewing destination of the viewing user is switched to the play screen 200 of a competing player, the posting of comments to the new viewing destination player is not permitted while the event that was progressing on the play screen before the switch is continuing.
However, after switching the viewing destination, if an event that was progressing on the play screen of the player that was the viewing destination before the switch ends, the viewing user is permitted to post a comment to the player that is the new viewing destination.

This allows the viewing user to freely post comments even after switching viewing destinations if certain conditions are met. In this manner, in this embodiment, the posting of comments is permitted if certain conditions are met, so that the viewing user can enjoy posting more than in the first embodiment, in which the posting of comments is uniformly prohibited while viewing continues.
Note that even if viewing posting is permitted, the combination of medium objects placed in the hand area 205 of the play screen 200 before switching the viewing destination is likely to have changed due to the end of a predetermined event that was in progress. In other words, even if the viewing user posts information acquired by the viewing user as a comment, it does not necessarily mean that the player before the switch will be at a disadvantage.
Therefore, while ensuring fairness in play between players, viewing users are not deprived of the enjoyment of posting comments to the viewing destination.

<Third embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function of controlling whether or not a comment can be posted to player B or player C from the information terminal 20 operated by the viewing user, depending on the magnitude relationship between the parameters of player A, who is the viewing destination before the switch, and the parameters of player B or player C, who is the viewing destination after the switch.

In this embodiment, another example of the "relationship in a multiplayer game" in embodiment 1 will be described. Therefore, in this embodiment, it does not matter whether the viewing destination players are in a competitive relationship before and after the switch. In other words, it also applies when the new viewing destination is a player who has a cooperative relationship. In this respect, the posting control unit 112 in this embodiment differs in function from the posting control unit 112 in embodiment 1, which controls whether or not to post based on the presence or absence of a cooperative relationship.

In this embodiment, if the player who is the viewing destination before the switch is in a stronger position in terms of play than the player who is the viewing destination after the switch, the posting of comments to the player who is the viewing destination after the switch is permitted, but if the player is in a weaker position than the player who is the viewing destination after the switch, the posting of comments to the player who is the viewing destination after the switch is not permitted. In other words, a control is adopted in which a player in a stronger position is given a handicap relative to other players in a weaker position, but a player in a weaker position is not given a handicap relative to other players in a stronger position.

In this embodiment, "having a stronger position" means that the value of a specific parameter appearing on the play screen 200 of the player before switching is greater than the value of a specific parameter appearing on the play screen 200 of the player after switching by a predetermined value or more.
Conversely, "being in a weak position" means that the value of a specific parameter appearing on the play screen 200 of the player before switching is equal to or lower than the value of a specific parameter appearing on the play screen 200 of the player after switching, or is not greater than a predetermined value.
The predetermined value here is a so-called margin, although the predetermined value may be "0".

In this embodiment, the specific parameters are assumed to be the attack power and score of the character card C1.
The magnitude of the attack power of the character card C1 is a parameter that determines the outcome of a battle event. As described above, the player with the greater attack power becomes the winner and obtains one of the color cards held by the loser, so the magnitude relationship of attack power is an index for evaluating the strength of players in the game.
The size of the score is a parameter that indicates the total number of points each player has acquired since the start of the game. Since players with relatively high scores are closer to the end of the game than players with relatively low scores, the relationship between the scores serves as an index for evaluating the strength of players in the game.

19 is a diagram illustrating an example of control of whether posting is allowed or not depending on the difference in the parameters of the players before and after switching. In the case of FIG. 19, players A, B, and C each bring a different character card C1 into the game.
In the case of FIG. 19, the attack strength of player A's character card C1 is 850, the attack strength of player B's character card C1 is 1000, and the attack strength of player C's character card C1 is 900.

In this case, when the viewing destination of the viewing user switches from player A to player B, player B has a stronger position than player A. For this reason, posting to the switched-to player B is not permitted. Therefore, the viewing user cannot inform player B of a comment that includes information about a medium object placed in player A's hand area 205.
Conversely, when the viewing user switches from player B to player A, player B is in a stronger position than player A. For this reason, posting to the switched-to player A is permitted. Therefore, the viewing user can inform player A of a comment including information about the medium object placed in player B's hand area 205.

Regarding switching of viewing destination between players A and C and switching of viewing destination between players B and C, the posting after switching is similar to switching of viewing destination between players A and B.
In other words, when the viewing destination switches from a player with a greater attack power to a player with a lesser attack power, posting of comments to the viewing destination player is permitted, but when the opposite is true, posting of comments is not permitted.

<Effects Obtained in the Third Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, it is possible to control whether or not a comment can be posted to the player being switched to, regardless of whether the player being watched belongs to the same group (i.e., they are in a cooperative relationship) or a different group (i.e., they are in a competitive relationship).
Specifically, when a viewing user switches from a player in a relatively strong position to a player in a weaker position, the new player can be given an advantage over the previous player by allowing comments to be posted.

This allows the new viewing player to intentionally avoid a match event with the specific player who was the viewing user before the comment was posted. Also, the new viewing player can efficiently increase points through intentional automatic exchange of media objects with the specific player. Also, if it is known in advance that the specific player does not have a bottom card, the player can respond to the automatic exchange with peace of mind.
However, certain players may also be able to increase their points through automatic exchange, so they are not at a disadvantage.

In the case of this embodiment, even when switching viewing destinations between players in a cooperative relationship, it is possible to provide cases where posting of comments is permitted and cases where it is not permitted.
In addition, when switching viewing destinations between players in a competitive relationship, it is possible to provide cases where posting of comments is permitted and cases where it is not permitted.
In this way, by controlling whether or not comments can be posted based on the magnitude relationship of specific parameters between players before and after switching viewing destinations, it is possible to reduce the scores and progress between players through comments posted by viewing users.

<Fourth embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function that does not restrict the posting of comments from the information terminal 20 operated by the viewing user to another player at the switching destination if the play screen 200 of the player that the viewing user was viewing before switching the viewing destination does not include any specific medium object that will affect the progress of the play.

In this embodiment, other examples of "relationships in a multiplayer game" in embodiment 1 will also be described. Therefore, in this embodiment, it does not matter whether the viewing destination players are in a competitive relationship before and after the switch. In other words, this also applies when the new viewing destination is a player who has a cooperative relationship. In this respect, the posting control unit 112 in this embodiment differs in function from the posting control unit 112 in embodiment 1, which controls whether or not to post based on the presence or absence of a cooperative relationship.

In the case of the game assumed in this embodiment, the "specific medium object" is assumed to be, for example, the bottom card C8. A player who ends the game while holding the bottom card C8 will, with some exceptions, be ranked last among the players. For this reason, it is disadvantageous in the progress of the game if other players know that the player is holding the bottom card C8.
In particular, if the other players find out that a player is holding the lowest ranking card C8 just before the game ends, this has the same meaning as being confirmed as the lowest ranking player in the voting (step 5) (see Figure 2) that is carried out after the game ends.

The posting control unit 112 in this embodiment therefore provides a function that allows comments to be posted to the player who will be the viewing destination after the switch if the player before switching the viewing destination does not hold the Biri card C8, but does not allow comments to be posted to the player who will be the viewing destination after the switch if the player before switching the viewing destination holds the Biri card C8.

20 is a diagram illustrating control of comment posting after switching according to information on a medium object held by a player before switching in the hand area 205. (A) shows a case where comment posting is permitted after switching, and (B) shows a case where comment posting is not permitted after switching.
Fig. 20(A) shows a case where the viewing user's viewing destination is switched from player A to player B. In this case, player A does not have the bonus card C8. Therefore, the viewing user is permitted to post a comment to the switched-to player B. In the case of Fig. 20(A), a notification 211 stating "Posting possible" is displayed on the play screen 200 of the viewing user viewing player B.

Figure 20 (B) shows a case where the viewing user switches from viewing player B to player A. In this case, player B has a bonus card C8. Therefore, the viewing user is not permitted to post comments to the new player, player A. In the case of Figure 20 (B), a notification 213 stating "No posting" is displayed on the play screen 200 of the viewing user viewing player B.

<Effects Obtained in the Fourth Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, it is possible to control whether or not a comment can be posted to the player being switched to, regardless of whether the player being watched belongs to the same group (i.e., they are in a cooperative relationship) or a different group (i.e., they are in a competitive relationship).
Specifically, by not allowing the previous player to post comments if the previous player is holding a specific medium object such as a Bili card C8, the previous player can be prevented from being at a disadvantage in the progression of the game.

<Fifth embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function that does not restrict the posting of comments from the information terminal 20 operated by the viewing user to another player to whom the viewing user has switched, if the viewing time of the viewing user on the play screen 200 of the player that the viewing user was viewing before switching the viewing destination is less than a predetermined time.

In this embodiment, an additional function for the posting control unit 112 described in the first embodiment will be described. Therefore, in this embodiment as well, it is assumed that posting of a comment is permitted when the pre-switching player and the post-switching player belong to the same group (i.e., when they are in a cooperative relationship), but posting of a comment is not permitted when the pre-switching player and the post-switching player belong to different groups (i.e., when they are in a competitive relationship).

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the viewing time of the play screen 200 by the viewing user is short, such as less than a predetermined time (for example, 2 seconds). Note that 2 seconds is just an example, and it may be 1 second or 3 seconds.
In any case, when the viewing time is short, it is difficult to remember information about all objects displayed on the play screen 200. In the first place, switching of the viewing destination in a short time can occur when the viewing user makes a mistake in specifying the viewing destination. Also, when the viewing destination is wrong, the viewing user's attention is directed to the switching screen or switching operation to the correct viewing destination.

For this reason, even if an erroneously displayed play screen 200 is displayed on the information terminal 20, the attention of the viewing user is directed solely to the change in the play screen 200. Therefore, the actual time during which the medium object on the displayed play screen 200 is viewed is shorter than the apparent time.
Therefore, the posting control unit 112 in this embodiment controls whether or not a comment can be posted after switching, depending on the length of time that the player has been viewing the play screen 200 before switching.

21 is a diagram for explaining an example of control of whether or not a comment can be posted depending on the viewing time immediately before switching. (A) is a control example when the viewing time immediately before switching is 2 seconds, and (B) is a control example when the viewing time immediately before switching is 15 seconds. The vertical axis in the figure is the time axis.
The example shown in Figure 21 (A) represents a case where a viewing user who switches the viewing destination from player A to player C at time T21 switches the viewing destination from player C to player B at time T22, two seconds after time T21.

In this case, it is considered that the viewing user has hardly seen any information about the medium object placed in the hand area 205 of player C's play screen 200C. Furthermore, the new switching destination, player B, has a cooperative relationship with player A. Therefore, the viewing user is permitted to post comments for player B. In other words, if the viewing time immediately before the switch is short, the viewing of player C, who is the direct switching source, is treated as invalid, and viewing of the next player B is controlled based on the relationship with player A. Therefore, if the new viewing destination switched from player C is player D, the control is set to not permit the posting of comments.

However, if the viewing destination is switched to player D, who is in a cooperative relationship with player C, who only watched for two seconds, it is possible to assume that player C will not be disadvantaged and allow the viewing user to post a comment.
In this case, however, there is a possibility that information about the medium object held by player A may be known to player D, who is in competition with player A. However, in the case of embodiment 1, posting of similar comments is permitted.

The example shown in Fig. 21(B) represents a case where a viewing user who switches the viewing destination from player A to player C at time T21 switches the viewing destination from player C to player B at time T23, 15 seconds after time T21. The combination of switching destinations is the same as that in Fig. 21(A) except that the time difference between time T21 and time T23 is 15 seconds.
21(B), the viewing user has time to view the play screen 200 of player C for as long as 15 seconds. Therefore, the viewing user can view information on the entire screen, including information on the medium objects placed in the hand area 205 of the play screen 200C of player C.

For this reason, if viewing users were allowed to freely post comments to player B, who is the viewing destination after the switch, player C, who is in a competitive relationship with player C, would be at a significant disadvantage relative to player B.
Therefore, the posting control unit 112 in this embodiment controls so as to prohibit the viewing user from posting comments to Player B, who is the viewing destination after switching.

<Effects Obtained in Fifth Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, if the length of viewing time immediately before switching is less than a predetermined time, posting of a comment is permitted regardless of the relationship in the multiplayer game between the player immediately before switching and the player after switching.
This can avoid the inconvenience that viewers experience when the player they viewed just before switching is mistakenly specified. Specifically, viewers can be relieved from the inconvenience of being uniformly restricted from posting comments due to the formal relationship in a multiplayer game between the player just before switching and the player after switching.

However, the control of comment posting based on the relationship in the multiplayer game between the current viewing player and the switched player may be maintained, ignoring players whose viewing time is less than the predetermined time.
When player B in Figure 21 (A) is player D, even though the relationship between player A and player D (excluding player C) is competitive, allowing viewing users to post comments would put player A at a disadvantage compared to when the viewing destination is directly switched from player A to player D.

<Sixth embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
The posting control unit 112 in this embodiment has a function of switching and controlling the display mode of the play screen 200 displayed on the viewing user's information terminal 20 between so-called time-shift viewing and so-called real-time viewing.

In this embodiment, time-shift viewing refers to viewing of the play screen 200 at a past time that satisfies the condition that the leaking of information displayed on a player's play screen 200 to other players does not undermine fairness in play between players.
For example, in the case of this embodiment, at 30-second intervals, one of the color cards or the bottom-ranked card C8 held by players located in the same area 101 is randomly exchanged between them. Therefore, if one player knows the color of the color card held by the other player or the bottom-ranked card C8 held by the other player before the exchange is executed, the fairness of the automatic exchange will be compromised due to the asymmetry of information.
Therefore, in this embodiment, viewing of the play screen 200 from a time at least 30 seconds prior to the current time is assumed to be “time shift viewing.” However, the further back in time the viewer goes, the less impact the viewer has on the current play.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating changes over time in the medium objects in each player's hand area 205. In FIG.
FIG. 22 shows medium objects held by each player at two time periods: the current time and time T31, which is four minutes before the current time.
For example, at time T31, player A holds a character card C1, a red color card C2, and an attack card C7, while player C holds a character card C1, a yellow color card C4, a white color card C5, a black color card C6, and an attack card C7.

On the other hand, at the current time, player A holds a character card C1, a blue color card C3, a yellow color card C4, a white color card C5, and an attack card C7, while player C holds a character card C1, a white color card C5, and a black color card C6.
Over the course of four minutes, the number and contents of the medium objects held by each player change significantly.

23 is a diagram illustrating differences in the display mode of the play screen 200 displayed on the viewing user's information terminal 20 depending on differences in tense. (A) is a display example of the play screen 200Y viewed by viewing user Y during time-shift viewing, and (B) is a display example of the play screen 200Y viewed by viewing user Y at the current time.
In FIG. 23, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 17 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
23A (i.e., four minutes before the current time), the play screen 200Y viewed by viewing user Y is the same as the play screen 200C of player C. In this state, consider a case where viewing user Y changes the viewing destination from player C to player A.
Here, player C is the first player and player A is the second player.

When the viewing user switches the viewing destination, the display may switch to the play screen 200 at the same time as before the switch, or may switch to the play screen 200 at the current time.
First, if the display switches to the play screen 200 at the same time as before the switch, it is not possible to post a comment in the first place. Even if a comment could be posted, it would not affect the play of players A and C at the current time.

On the other hand, when switching to the play screen 200 for the current time, even if the type of medium object held by player C who was watching before the switch is posted as a comment to player A, the type of medium object held by player C at the current time is different from that four minutes ago, as described in Fig. 22. Therefore, even if a viewing user posts a comment to player A who is watching at the current time, there is no impact on the fairness of the play between player A and player C.
Therefore, a notification 211 stating "Posting possible" is displayed on the play screen 200Y shown in FIG. 23(B) (that is, the play screen 200Y at the current time).

<Effects Obtained in the Sixth Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, the display mode of the play screen 200Y can be switched depending on the time in which the viewing user Y views. For example, when time-shift playback is performed for a point in time that is a predetermined time or more away from the current time, even if information about the medium object is leaked to other players, there is no need to worry about the influence on the current play. Therefore, even if the viewing destination is switched from the play screen 200C of player C, who is viewing in time-shift playback, to the play screen of player A, who is in a competitive relationship, the posting of comments by the viewing user is permitted.

<Seventh embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function that does not restrict the posting of comments to the player who is the viewing destination after the switch when at least a part of a specific object that affects the progress of the game is displayed in an invisible manner on the play screen 200 of the player who is the viewing destination before the switch.

The function described in this embodiment is an exception to the control by the posting control unit 112 described in embodiment 1. In other words, even if the players before and after the switch are in a competitive relationship, this embodiment employs control that permits the posting of comments on the premise that a specific condition is met. The specific condition is that at least a part of a specific object that affects the progress of the game is displayed in an invisible manner.

When certain conditions are met, the viewing user will not be able to learn information that is unfavorable to the player they are watching, or the information they can learn will be limited, so there is little or no need to restrict the posting of comments to the new viewing destination after switching.
The specific objects here are assumed to be a character card C1, color cards C2 to C6, and a bottom card C8.

Below, we explain an example in which at least a portion of a specific object that affects the progress of the game is displayed in an invisible manner.

<Display example 1>
24 is a diagram illustrating an example of the play screen 200 displayed by the play screen distribution control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112. (A) shows an example of the play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20B of player B, and (B) shows an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X who is viewing player B.
Here, player B is an example of the first player.

In FIG. 24, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the case of FIG. 24, the difference between a play screen 200B viewed by the player B and a play screen 200X viewed by the viewing user X is the display mode of the hand placement area 205.
24(A), five medium objects (i.e., character card C1, color cards C2, C3, C5, and bottom card C8) are displayed in the hand placement area 205. Therefore, player B can play the game knowing that he or she must hand over bottom card C8 to another player through automatic exchange or a battle event.

24(B), no medium object is displayed in the hand area 205. Therefore, the viewing user X cannot know how many medium objects the player B holds in the hand area 205, or what type of medium object the player B holds.
Therefore, even if viewing user X switches viewing destination and posts a comment (for example, switching viewing destination from player B to player C and posting a comment), there is no risk of information about the medium object held by player B being leaked to other players (for example, player C) through the posting of a comment by viewing user X.

<Display example 2>
25 is a diagram illustrating another example of the play screen 200 displayed by the play screen distribution control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112. (A) shows an example of the play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20B of player B, and (B) shows an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X who is viewing player B.
In FIG. 25, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 24 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the case of FIG. 25 as well, the difference between a play screen 200B viewed by the player B and a play screen 200X viewed by the viewing user X is the display mode of the hand placement area 205.
Incidentally, the display form of the play screen 200B shown in FIG. 25(A) is the same as that of the play screen 200B shown in FIG. 24(A).

On the other hand, the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 25(B) differs from the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 24(B) in that the hand card area 205 is hidden by a blindfold object 220.
25(B) is expressed in a single color and a single pattern. The size of the blindfold object 220 is determined so that it can hide all of the medium objects even when the maximum number of medium objects (i.e., five) are placed in the hand placement area 205.

Therefore, in the case of the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 25(B), the viewing user X cannot visually see how many medium objects the player B is holding in the hand area 205, or what type of medium objects the player B is holding.
Note that the concealment object 220 is not limited to being in a state in which the concealed medium objects are not visible at all (i.e., opaque), but may have a transparency to such an extent that the number of concealed medium objects can be visually confirmed.

<Display example 3>
26 is a diagram illustrating another example of the play screen 200 displayed by the play screen distribution control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112. (A) shows an example of the play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20B of player B, and (B) shows an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X who is viewing player B.
In FIG. 26, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 25 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
26(B) as well, a blindfold object 220 is displayed on the play screen 200X visually recognized by the viewing user X. However, in the case of Fig. 26(B) , the blindfold object 220 does not hide the entire medium object placed in the hand placement area 205.

That is, the posting control unit 112 displays the blindfold object 220 in a manner that allows the viewing user X to view a portion of the medium object placed in the hand placement area 205 .
However, in the case of the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 26(B), the portion not hidden by the blindfold object 220 does not include information that allows the type of the medium object to be identified or estimated.

In this way, the positioning and dimensions of the concealing object 220 are determined so that the portion not hidden by the concealing object 220 does not contain any information that can identify or estimate the type of medium object placed in the hand placement area 205.
Therefore, even if the display mode of the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 26 (B) is adopted, there is no need to worry about the type of medium object held by player B in the hand area 205 being leaked to other players through comments posted by viewing user X.
On the other hand, in the case of the play screen 200X shown in FIG. 26(B), the viewing user X can know the number of medium objects that the player B is holding.

<Display example 4>
27 is a diagram illustrating another example of the play screen 200 displayed by the play screen distribution control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112. (A) shows an example of the play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20B of player B, and (B) shows an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X who is viewing player B.
In FIG. 27, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 26 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
27B, all of the medium objects placed in the hand area 205 of the play screen 200X visually recognized by the viewing user X are displayed upside down. In other words, the backsides of the medium objects are displayed.

Furthermore, the backs of all the medium objects have the same pattern and color tone, making it impossible to identify or guess the type of medium object (for example, character card C1, color cards C2 to C6, attack card C7, and bottom card C8).
In other words, the viewing user X cannot know the type of medium object held by the viewing target player B through viewing the play screen 200X. For this reason, the viewing user X cannot know, for example, that the player B is holding the Bili card C8.

Incidentally, in FIG. 27(B), a play screen 200X is described in which all of the medium objects placed in the hand area 205 are displayed face-down, but blindfold objects 220 (see FIG. 25) may be placed on the surface of the medium objects one by one.
In any case, in the display example shown in Figure 27 (B), it is possible to identify how many medium objects are placed in the hand placement area 205, but the type of each medium object can be kept confidential.
Therefore, there is no need to worry about the type of medium object held by player B in the hand area 205 being leaked to other players through the posting of a comment by viewing user Y.

<Display example 5>
28 is a diagram illustrating another example of the play screen 200 displayed by the play screen distribution control unit 111 and the posting control unit 112. (A) shows an example of the play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20B of player B, and (B) shows an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X who is viewing player B.
In FIG. 28, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 27 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the case of FIG. 28(B), only three of the medium objects placed in the hand area 205 of the play screen 200X viewed by the viewing user X are displayed face down, and the remaining two are displayed face up.

Therefore, the viewing user X can know that the player B, who is the viewing target, is holding five medium objects in his/her hand, two of which are the character card C1 and the red color card C2.
In this display example, the viewing user X can inform the new viewing destination, player C, of part of the hand information of player B by posting to the player C. This puts player B at a disadvantage relative to player C in a competitive relationship, but the attack power of the character card C1 is only used in the battle event.

In addition, because the color of only one color card is known, the impact on the progress of the game is less than if the information of all held media objects were leaked. Furthermore, knowing the color of one color card may increase the opportunities for automatic exchanges. As a result, the possibility of handing over the held lowest card C8 to the exchange partner increases. For this reason, displaying some of the information of held media objects in a manner that can be seen by viewing users is not necessarily disadvantageous to each player.

In the example of Figure 28, the types of the media objects for two of the five media objects placed in the hand placement area 205 are displayed in a visible manner, but the number of media objects displayed in a visible manner may be one, or three or more.
In addition, in this embodiment, no limitation is placed on the type of medium object to be visibly displayed, but the types of medium objects to be visibly displayed may be limited to a specific one or a combination of multiple ones. For example, the specific one type may be limited to the character card C1, the color cards C2 to C6, the attack card C7, or the bottom card C8.

Conversely, the types of medium objects to be excluded from being visibly displayed may be determined in advance. For example, attack card C7 and bottom card C8 may be excluded from being visibly displayed on their front faces. This is because even if two players are allies, receiving bottom card C8 puts them at a disadvantage in the ranking within the group.

<Effects Obtained in the Seventh Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, when at least a portion of a specific medium object that affects the progress of the game is displayed in an invisible state on the play screen 200 of the viewing user, the importance of comment posting by the viewing user can be increased compared to a case in which the posting of comments to the viewing destination after switching is uniformly controlled according to the relationship in the multiplayer game.
Furthermore, fairness among players can be prevented from being compromised by adjusting the number and types of medium objects that can be viewed by viewing users.

<Eighth embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function that does not restrict posting of comments to the player who is the viewing destination after switching when the viewing user has given a predetermined value to the player who was the viewing destination before switching.

The function described in this embodiment is also an exception to the control by the posting control unit 112 described in embodiment 1. In other words, even if the players before and after the switch are in a competitive relationship, in this embodiment, when a direct benefit of a predetermined value is given to a player, in return, a control is adopted that permits the posting of a comment to another player.
The "predetermined value" here refers to information that can be exchanged on a network, such as electronic money, cryptocurrency, points, etc. In this embodiment, the predetermined value is given to the player through the posting of a tipping comment. However, the payee of the predetermined value may be the operator who provides the venue for the game.

29 is a diagram for explaining control of posting of comments to a viewing destination after switching depending on whether or not a tipping comment is posted. The vertical axis in the figure is the time axis.
At time T41, the viewing user X posts a tipping comment to the viewing destination, player A. For convenience of explanation, other viewing users are omitted from FIG. 29 .
At time T42, viewing user X instructs the server 10 (see FIG. 1) to switch the viewing destination. As a result, the server 10 distributes the play screen 200 of the specified player to the information terminal 20X corresponding to viewing user X. Here, player C is specified as the viewing destination after switching.

At time T43, viewing user X is viewing the play screen 200C (200X) of player C. Player C belongs to a different group from player A. For this reason, under the control of the posting control unit 112 in the first embodiment, posting of comments to player C is restricted.
29, however, a tipping comment has been posted by the viewing user to player A, who is the viewing destination before the switch. Therefore, at time T43, the viewing user is permitted to post a comment to player C, who is the new viewing destination after the switch.

In addition, the condition for allowing comments to be posted to the new viewing destination after switching is not limited to whether or not a tip comment has been posted during the viewing period.
Only when the number of times that a tip comment has been posted since the start of the game is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the posting of comments may be permitted even if the players before and after the switch are in a competitive relationship. The number of posts may be the number of posts per player to which the comment is posted, or may be the number of posts regardless of the player to which the comment is posted. Each number is counted within one multiplayer game.

For example, in the case of Fig. 29, when a tipping comment is posted to player A three or more times, posting of a tipping comment may be permitted when the viewing destination is switched to another player who is in a competitive relationship with player A. Note that the number of posts may be the total number of tipping comments posted since the start of the game, or the number of tipping comments posted within a predetermined time period going back from the current time.
In addition, when adopting the number of posts regardless of the player, the condition may be that a tip comment was posted to at least the player before the switch.

In addition, the condition may be that the amount of a predetermined value consumed by a tip comment exceeds a threshold. For example, in the case of a post of 100 points, control may be performed to not permit the posting of a comment to the switched viewing destination, but in the case of a post of 1000 points, control may be performed to permit the posting of a comment to the switched viewing destination.
The consumption amount here may be a cumulative value of the predetermined value consumed in multiple posts. Even if the consumption amount of the predetermined value consumed in each post is less than a threshold, if the consumption amount of the predetermined value for the player who is the viewing destination before switching exceeds the threshold, posting of a comment for the player who is the viewing destination after switching may be permitted.

<Effects Obtained in the Eighth Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, it is possible to differentiate between viewing users who have posted tipping comments involving the consumption of a predetermined value and other viewing users who have not posted tipping comments. In other words, viewing users who have posted tipping comments involving the consumption of a predetermined value can be permitted to post comments to the player they are viewing after the switch, even if the players before and after the switch are in a competitive relationship.

As a result, the viewing user immediately before the switch will suffer a disadvantage in the game progress because information about the media object etc. that he or she holds will be made known to a competing player, but on the other hand, he or she will be rewarded with the acquisition of a specified value.
In addition, instead of posting a tip comment, giving a gift purchased by a viewing user by spending a predetermined value to the player being viewed may be used as a trigger event that allows the posting of a comment to the player being viewed after switching.
Furthermore, the purchase of a ticket by a viewing user consuming a predetermined value may be used as a trigger event that permits the posting of a comment to the player that is the viewing destination after switching.

<Ninth embodiment>
In this embodiment as well, other display functions of the posting control unit 112 will be described on the basis of the information processing system 1 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the posting control unit 112 is added with a function that, when a viewing user switches viewing destinations, if the player who is the current viewing destination allows posting to the new viewing destination inquired about by the viewing user, does not restrict the posting of comments from the information terminal 20 operated by the viewing user to the player who is the new viewing destination after the switch.

30 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the play screen 200 of the player and viewing user before switching. (A) is an example of the play screen 200B displayed on the information terminal 20B of player B, who is the viewing destination, and (B) is an example of the play screen 200X displayed on the information terminal 20X of viewing user X before switching the viewing destination. In FIG. 30, the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 16 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
A play screen 200B of player B shown in Fig. 30(A) and a play screen 200X of viewing user X shown in Fig. 30(B) are basically the same. In other words, the viewing user can view all information on the play screen 200B of player B, who is the viewing destination.

30B, a switching destination designation screen 230 for designating a switching destination of the viewing destination is displayed on the play screen 200X of the viewing user X. This switching destination designation screen 230 is displayed as a pop-up by clicking a switching button for switching the viewing destination on a menu screen (not shown).
The switching destination designation screen 230 shown in FIG. 30(B) displays buttons 231 corresponding to other players participating in the multiplayer game, an explanation 232 of the operation requested of the viewing user X, and an “Execute” button 233.

In the case of this embodiment, four buttons corresponding to player A, player C, player D, and player E are displayed as the buttons 231.
Additionally, the instruction text 232 states, "Select a button and press the 'Execute'button."
Fig. 31 is a diagram illustrating a play screen 200B of player B, which is the viewing destination before switching, when a viewing user X instructs to switch the viewing destination. In Fig. 31, the parts corresponding to those in Fig. 30 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

31 displays a query screen 240. A switching notification 241, an "OK" button 242, and an "NG" button 243 are displayed on the play screen 200B.
The switching notification 241 includes, for example, information about the player who is the next viewing destination of the viewing user who is viewing his/her own play screen 200B, and an explanatory text requesting permission to post. The switching notification 241 shown in Fig. 30 includes the description "Viewing user X is requesting permission to post a comment to player D." In this example, the switching notification 241 includes information about the viewing user, but may include only information identifying player D who is the switching destination.

When the player B clicks the "OK" button 242, the switching of the viewing destination of the viewing user X becomes effective, and the posting of comments is also permitted.
On the other hand, when the player B clicks the "NG" button 243, the switching of the viewing destination of the viewing user X becomes valid, but the posting of comments is set to be prohibited.
32 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of a play screen 200D viewed by a viewing user X depending on whether or not a player is allowed to post a comment. (A) is an example of the display of the play screen 200X when posting a comment to player D, who is the viewing destination after switching, is permitted, and (B) is an example of the display of the play screen 200X when posting a comment to player D, who is the viewing destination after switching, is not permitted.

In FIG. 32, it is assumed that the viewing destination is Player D.
32(A), when player B permits posting of a comment to the switched viewing destination, a notification 211 stating "Posting allowed" is displayed on the play screen 200X of viewing user X. This allows viewing user X to know that posting of a comment to player D is possible.
32(B), if player B does not permit posting of a comment to the switched viewing destination, a notification 213 stating "Posting not permitted" is displayed on the play screen 200X of viewing user X. This allows viewing user X to know that he or she cannot post a comment to player D.

In reality, there are many viewing users. Therefore, if many inquiry screens 240 are displayed at once on the play screen 200 viewed by each player, it may hinder the progress of the player's play. Therefore, the player may be given the authority to set whether or not to display the inquiry screen 240, or the authority to specify the number of inquiry screens 240 to be displayed.
Furthermore, in the case where the inquiry screen 240 is not displayed on the play screen 200, as described in the first embodiment, the posting control unit 112 may control whether or not to post depending on the relationship between the players in the multiplayer game before and after the switch.
In addition, in cases where each player has specified in advance other players who are permitted to post comments after switching viewing destinations, the posting control unit 112 may automatically determine whether or not to allow a comment to be posted and provide feedback to the viewing user.

<Effects Obtained in the Ninth Embodiment>
According to the control of the server 10 described in this embodiment, it becomes possible for the player to manage whether or not a viewing user can post a comment after switching the viewing destination.
Therefore, as an exception to the control of comment posting based on relationships in a multiplayer game, each player can manage whether or not a comment can be posted after switching viewing destinations.

<Other embodiments>
The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the elements of the embodiments can be appropriately combined.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, three types of medium objects were given as examples distributed within the game: "color cards,""attackcards," and "billicards." However, the objects may also be currency used within the game, items traded within the game, monsters and other characters, equipment or abilities equipped to object or character cards, or so-called playing cards with numbers and pictures drawn on them.

(2) In the above embodiment, points are awarded to the player when the color of one of the color cards C2 to C6 newly associated with the hand card area 205 matches the color of any one of the color cards C2 to C6 already placed in the hand card area 205 (i.e., when two cards match in color), but points may be awarded on the condition that three or more cards match in color.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the maximum number of medium objects C that can be placed in the hand area 205 is set to five, but the maximum number may be six or more, or the limit on the maximum number may be eliminated.

(4) In the above embodiment, when a position condition is satisfied, such as the object 103 operated by the player being located in the spot 102 for a certain period of time or more, one medium object selected from among the medium objects C2 to C8 linked to the target spot 102 is associated with the player's hand area 205 corresponding to the object 103. However, the number of medium objects C that can be granted or obtained at one time in the spot 102 may be two or more.

(5) In the above embodiment, when a position condition is satisfied, such as the object 103 operated by the player being located in the spot 102 for a certain period of time or more, a selected one of the medium objects C2 to C8 linked to the target spot 102 is associated with the player's hand area 205 corresponding to the object 103. However, the number of medium objects C granted or obtainable in the spot 102 may be determined randomly each time. For example, it may be 0 or 2.

(6) In the above embodiment, points are awarded when the colors of color cards available in the game are matched, but a specified game effect may also be awarded as a bonus.
For example, an effect of increasing the attack power of the character card C1 brought into the hand may be imparted. The period during which the game effect is activated may be limited to, for example, 30 seconds.
For example, the probability that the medium object distributed to spot 102 will match the color of the cards in one's hand may be increased.
For example, the possibility of matching colors may be increased in the case of automatic exchange with another player.

(7) In the above embodiment, the Biri card C8 was given as an example of a specific object that gives a disadvantageous game effect to the player, but other types of medium objects may be used. For example, a medium object with various roles such as a joker in a card game may be used. In addition, the specific object may be a special color, number, etc.

(8) In the above embodiment, a game effect disadvantageous to a player is activated at the end of a game. However, the game effect may be activated during the game.
For example, a player who holds a specific object may be at a disadvantage in the random selection of medium objects at spot 102 for a certain period of time, may be skipped one or more times from the periodically executed automatic exchange, may be at a disadvantage in medium objects received from other players in the periodically executed automatic exchange, may have a slower in-game movement speed, or may be at a disadvantage in competitive events against other players.

(9) In the above embodiment, the automatic exchange of specific cards between players is performed every 30 seconds. However, the automatic exchange of specific cards between players may be performed irregularly. In this case, the value in the exchange timing notice field 203 changes randomly each time it is performed.

(10) In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a player brings into the game one of his or her character cards C1, but multiple cards may be brought into the game. On the other hand, in a game in which the character card C1 is not used, it is not necessary to bring in a character card C1. Conversely, multiple character cards C1 may be brought into the game to form a deck.

(11) In the above embodiment, the medium objects placed in the hand area 205 are described as being hidden by the blindfold object 220, but the quota field 202 and the score field 204 may also be hidden by the blindfold object 220. This is because knowing the score allows the player to know the ranking relative to the player, which changes the strategic nature of the game progression.

(12) In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the entire medium object placed in the hand area 205 is concealed by the concealment object 220, or a case has been described in which the medium object is concealed by the concealment object 220 so that the type or content of the medium object cannot be seen or guessed (see, for example, FIG. 25). However, it is also possible to set only the attack power portion of the character card C1 as an area to be concealed by the concealment object 220.

(13) In the above embodiment, the medium object held by the player was described as being hidden by the blindfold object 220. However, depending on the type of game, actions on the play screen of the object 103 that affect the progress of the game, or objects placed on the play screen due to actions, may be displayed in an invisible manner. For example, an action to set a pitfall or a wall restricting movement in the area 101, or a pitfall or wall placed due to an action, may be made invisible to the viewing user.

(14) In the above embodiment, a card-shaped object was given as an example of a medium object used in the game, but it may also be an object representing a character, item, etc. used in the game.

(15) In the above embodiment, group identification information was exemplified as information that determines relationships in a multiplayer game, but player information 121 (see FIG. 8) may be used to determine relationships in a multiplayer game. For example, groups may be determined using the age group or region to which the players belong, the playing record of the players, etc.

(16) In the above-mentioned third embodiment, the attack power of the character card C1 and the score obtained in the game were given as examples of parameters that indicate the players'"multiplayer game relationship" before and after switching the viewing destination. However, the parameters may also be the defense power of the character card C1, the player's HP value, the player's experience points, the ability values of the object 103 (e.g., movement speed, skills, attributes), or the type and strength value of an item held by the object 103.
When attributes are used as parameters, the strength of a position is determined by the compatibility between the attributes.

When items are used as parameters, the strength of a character's position is determined by the compatibility between the items.
When the strength value of an item is used as a parameter, the strength of the position is determined according to the magnitude relationship of the strength values.
The parameter here may be a player's rank that reflects past playing results.

In addition, when multiple character cards C1 can be brought into the game, or when playing using a deck consisting of multiple character cards, the parameters here may be the overall strength of the multiple character cards (for example, the total attack power and defense power, or the maximum attack power or defense power of the multiple character cards).

(17) In the fourth embodiment described above, the "specific medium object" is assumed to be the Bili card C8. However, the specific medium object may be, for example, a medium object that is advantageous in the progression of the game.
For example, if other players are aware that a player has a character card C1 with the strongest attacking power, the player will lose the opportunity to obtain a color card from other players in a battle event. Note that the strongest attacking power may be replaced by the strongest defensive power or ability. Also, the object 103 may be a medium object that specifies that the object 103 has a specific ability value (e.g., movement speed, skill, attribute).

In the above embodiment, one game example has been described as an example, but the functions described in the present application are not limited to the above game and may be applied to other games, such as a fighting game in which users fight each other by controlling characters, a game in which users fight each other using a puzzle game, or a shooting game in which users compete for points by destroying objects.
Similarly, it may be applied to educational content other than games, making test answers invisible or test hints invisible. Also, the viewing of the viewer at the destination of the distribution screen and a predetermined operation during viewing may be controlled according to the relationship between users who are solving related problems.
Each embodiment may be implemented in combination with any other embodiment as appropriate.

<Summary>
The main features of the information processing device, the information processing method, and the program described in the embodiments will be described below.
[General-purpose Project]
One of the objectives of the present invention is to reduce information leakage based on a viewer's playback of multiple broadcasters' broadcasts.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 1] One of the objectives of the present invention is to enable viewers to view gameplay screens of multiple players without compromising the playability of the game.
[Supplementary Note 1] An information processing device having a distribution control unit that distributes the play screen of each player playing a multiplayer game to a device operated by a viewer, and a posting control unit that, when the viewer's viewing destination switches from the play screen of a first player having first identification information to the play screen of a second player having second identification information, controls whether or not to post from the device used by the viewer to the second player, depending on the relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information.
This information processing device enables viewers to view play screens of multiple players without compromising the appeal of the game.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 2] One of the objectives of the present invention is to protect a first player by restricting postings to a second player when the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship.
[Supplementary Note 2] In the information processing device described in Supplementary Note 1, when the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship, the posting control unit restricts postings to the second player from a terminal operated by a viewer.
This makes it possible to protect the first player by restricting postings to the second player when the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 3] One of the objects of the present invention is to make it possible to set competitive relationships for each multiplayer game.
[Appendix 3] An information processing device described in Appendix 2, in which the posting control unit identifies whether or not there is a competitive relationship between the first player and the second player based on group identification information set when matching players playing a multiplayer game.
This allows competitive relationships to be set for each multiplayer game.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 4] One of the objectives of the present invention is to protect a second player by restricting postings to a first player when the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship.
[Appendix 4] An information processing device as described in Appendix 2, in which, when the viewer's viewing destination returns from the play screen of the second player to the play screen of the first player, the posting control unit restricts posting to the first player from the terminal operated by the viewer.
This makes it possible to protect the second player by restricting posts to the first player when the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship.

Problems associated with [Supplementary Note 5] One of the objects of the present invention is to increase the enjoyment of posting by viewing users, as compared to a case in which posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.
[Appendix 5] An information processing device as described in Appendix 1, in which, when a specified event that was progressing on the play screen of a first player that the viewer was watching before switching the viewing destination ends, the posting control unit does not restrict the viewer's posting to the second player, which is the viewing destination after the switch.
This can increase the enjoyment of posting comments by viewing users compared to a case where posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 6] One of the objectives of the present invention is to control postings to a second player depending on whether or not there is a competitive relationship between the first player and the second player.
[Appendix 6] An information processing device as described in Appendix 1, in which, when the first player and the second player are in a cooperative relationship in the multiplayer game, the posting control unit does not restrict postings to the second player from a terminal operated by a viewer, and when the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship in the multiplayer game, the posting control unit restricts postings to the second player from the terminal operated by the viewer.
This makes it possible to control posts made to the second player depending on whether or not there is a competitive relationship between the first player and the second player.

Problems associated with [Supplementary Note 7] One of the objectives of the present invention is to control whether posting based on relationships other than competitive relationships is permitted.
[Supplementary Note 7] An information processing device described in Supplementary Note 1, in which the posting control unit controls whether or not a post can be made to the second player from a terminal operated by a viewer depending on the magnitude relationship between the parameters of the first player and the parameters of the second player.
This makes it possible to control whether or not posting based on relationships other than competitive relationships can be made.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 8] One of the objects of the present invention is to give a handicap to those with larger parameters.
[Appendix 8] An information processing device as described in Appendix 7, in which, when the parameters of a first player having first identification information are greater than or equal to a predetermined value than the parameters of a second player having second identification information, the posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by a viewer.
This allows a handicap to be given to the player with the larger parameter.

Problems associated with [Supplementary Note 9] One of the objects of the present invention is to increase the enjoyment of posting by viewing users, as compared to a case in which posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.
[Appendix 9] An information processing device as described in Appendix 1, in which if the play screen of a first player having first identification information that the viewer was viewing before switching viewing destination does not include a specific object that affects the progress of the game, the posting control unit does not restrict posting to a second player from the terminal operated by the viewer.
This can increase the enjoyment of posting comments by viewing users compared to a case where posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.

Problems associated with [Supplementary Note 10] One of the objects of the present invention is to increase the enjoyment of posting by viewing users, as compared to a case in which posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.
[Appendix 10] An information processing device as described in Appendix 1, in which if the viewer's viewing time of the play screen of the first player that the viewer was viewing before switching the viewing destination is less than a predetermined time, the posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from the terminal operated by the viewer.
This can increase the enjoyment of posting comments by viewing users compared to a case where posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.

Problems associated with [Supplementary Note 11] One of the objects of the present invention is to increase the enjoyment of posting by viewing users, as compared to the case where posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.
[Appendix 11] An information processing device as described in Appendix 1, in which when at least a portion of a specific object that affects the progress of the game is displayed in an invisible manner on the play screen of the first player that the viewer was watching before switching the viewing destination, the posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from the terminal operated by the viewer.
This can increase the enjoyment of posting comments by viewing users compared to a case where posting of comments is uniformly prohibited.

Problems associated with [Supplementary Note 12] One of the objects of the present invention is to increase the enjoyment of posting by viewing users on the condition that a predetermined value is given.
[Supplementary Note 12] In an information processing device described in Supplementary Note 1, when a viewer gives a predetermined value to a first player, the posting control unit does not restrict posting to a second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
This makes it possible to increase the enjoyment of posting by viewing users on the condition that a predetermined value is given.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 13] One of the objectives of the present invention is to enable management of posts by players who are the source of information leaks.
[Appendix 13] An information processing device as described in Appendix 1, in which, when a viewer switches viewing destinations, if the first player allows the viewer to post to the new viewing destination, the posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from the terminal operated by the viewer.
This makes it possible to manage posts by players who are the source of information leaks.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 14] One of the objectives of the present invention is to enable viewers to view play screens of multiple players without compromising the playability of the game.
[Appendix 14] An information processing method in which a processor executes a process of distributing the play screen of each player playing a multiplayer game to a terminal operated by a viewer, and a process of controlling whether or not to allow a post to be made to the second player from the terminal used by the viewer, depending on the relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information, when the viewer's viewing destination switches from the play screen of a first player having first identification information to the play screen of a second player having second identification information.
This information processing method enables viewers to view play screens of multiple players without compromising the appeal of the game.

Problems corresponding to [Supplementary Note 15] One of the objectives of the present invention is to enable viewers to view play screens of multiple players without compromising the playability of the game.
[Appendix 15] A program that causes a processor to distribute the play screen of each player playing a multiplayer game to a terminal operated by a viewer, and when the viewer's viewing destination switches from the play screen of a first player having first identification information to the play screen of a second player having second identification information, controls whether or not to post from the terminal used by the viewer to the second player, depending on the relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information.
This program allows viewers to view the gameplay of multiple players without compromising the gameplay.

1...information processing system, 10...server, 11...processor, 12...memory, 13...auxiliary storage device, 14...communication interface, 20, 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20X, 20Y...information terminal, 100...game space, 101, 101A, 101B, 101C...area, 102, 102A, 102B, 102C...spot, 103, 103A, 103B, 103C, 103D...object, 111...play screen distribution control unit, 112...posting control unit, 120...storage unit, 121...player information, 122...view Listener information, 123...space layout information, 124...spot information, 125...exchange timing information, 126...medium object distribution rules, 128...voting rules, 129...final ranking decision rules, 130...play screen display rules, 200...play screen, 201...area screen, 202...quota column, 203...exchange timing notice column, 204...score column, 205...hand placement area, 211, 213...notification, 212...comment text, 220...blindfold object, 230...switch destination designation screen, 240...inquiry screen

Claims (15)

a distribution control unit that distributes play screens of each player playing a multiplayer game to a terminal operated by a viewer;
a posting control unit that controls whether or not a post can be made from a terminal used by the viewer to the second player in accordance with a relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information, when a viewing destination of the viewer is switched from a play screen of a first player having first identification information to a play screen of a second player having second identification information;
An information processing device having the above configuration. If the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship,
The posting control unit restricts posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . The posting control unit identifies whether or not there is a competitive relationship between the first player and the second player based on group identification information set when matching players who will play the multiplayer game.
The information processing device according to claim 2 . When the viewer's viewing destination returns from the play screen of the second player to the play screen of the first player,
the posting control unit restricts posting to the first player from a terminal operated by the viewer,
The information processing device according to claim 2 . When a predetermined event that was progressing on the play screen of the first player that the viewer was viewing before switching the viewing destination ends,
The posting control unit does not restrict the posting of the viewer to the second player which is the viewing destination after switching.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . If the first player and the second player are in a cooperative relationship in the multiplayer game,
the posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer,
If the first player and the second player are in a competitive relationship in the multiplayer game,
The posting control unit restricts posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . the posting control unit controls whether or not to allow posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer, depending on a magnitude relationship between the parameter of the first player and the parameter of the second player.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . When the parameter of the first player having the first identification information is greater than the parameter of the second player having the second identification information by a predetermined value or more,
The posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 7. When a specific object that affects the progress of a play is not included in the play screen of the first player having the first identification information that the viewer was viewing before switching the viewing destination,
The posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . When the viewing time of the viewer regarding the play screen of the first player that the viewer viewed before switching the viewing destination is less than a predetermined time,
The posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . When at least a part of a specific object that affects the progress of a game is displayed in an invisible manner on the play screen of the first player that the viewer was viewing before switching the viewing destination,
The posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . When the viewer gives a predetermined value to the first player,
The posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . When the viewer switches viewing destinations, if the first player allows the viewer to post to a new viewing destination,
The posting control unit does not restrict posting to the second player from a terminal operated by the viewer.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . A process in which the processor distributes a play screen of each player who is playing the multiplayer game to a terminal operated by a viewer;
When a viewer's viewing destination is switched from a play screen of a first player having first identification information to a play screen of a second player having second identification information, a process of controlling whether or not a post can be made to the second player from a terminal used by the viewer in accordance with a relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information;
An information processing method for performing the above. causing the processor to distribute play screens of each player playing the multiplayer game to terminals operated by viewers;
a processor that controls whether or not a post can be made from a terminal used by the viewer to the second player in accordance with a relationship in the multiplayer game between the first player playing with the first identification information and the second player playing with the second identification information, when a viewing destination of the viewer is switched from a play screen of a first player having first identification information to a play screen of a second player having second identification information;
A program that executes a process.

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