NL2015229B1 - A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network. - Google Patents
A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network. Download PDFInfo
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Abstract
A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network, wherein the game is hosted by a game server in the network, and wherein each player of the said multiplayer game participates in the game using a terminal connected to the network, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving, by the server, one or more request signals, wherein each request signal is associated with a terminal of said plurality of terminals; b) in response to each received request signal, by the server, uniquely associating with the terminal for which the respective request signal is received, a mathematical combination of a predetermined number of distinct data elements from a predetermined group of distinct data elements, and providing the associated combination to the respective terminal; c) issuing a voting round by the server, and receiving during said voting round one or more voting signals from the plurality of terminals, wherein each voting signal indicates a candidate data element from said group of data elements; d) selecting, by the server, based on said voting signals received during said voting round, a preferred data element, and storing the preferred data element in a memory; and e) repeating steps c) and d) until at least one of the associated combinations associated with the terminals matches a mathematical combination of the stored preferred data elements, and selecting the terminal associated with said matching combination as a winning terminal for allocation of said assets.
Description
P108640NL00
Title: A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network
Field of the invention
The present invention is directed at a method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network, wherein the game is hosted by a game server in the network, and wherein each player of the said multiplayer game participates in the game using a terminal connected to the network. The present invention is further directed at a method of operating a terminal for participating in a multiplayer game. Moreover, the invention is directed at computer program products for implementing these methods on a server or on terminals in a telecommunication system. Furthermore, the invention is directed at a game hosting server system for hosting a multiplayer game via a telecommunications network, the server system comprising a memory for storing data, a control unit, and a communications unit for communicating with a plurality of terminals via the telecommunications network.
Background
Multiplayer games, such as those playable via mobile terminals in a telecommunications network, are highly popular since the widespread of smart phones. In general, lottery games and dexterity games wherein prizes may be won by luck or by exercising a sufficient amount of skills, are amongst the most popular of such multiplayer games. However, the increasing popularity of these games combined with more and more users having a fair level of computer knowledge and programming skills, has led to an increase in computer crimes on the internet.
For multiplayer games wherein prizes can be won, like the lotteries or dexterity games referred to above, a main security risk is that hacker would be able to hack the game hosting server and tamper with it, such as to turn the odds to their benefit. As will be appreciated, this is highly undesired as it is detrimental to the game and unfair to other participants.
For this reasons, game hosting servers are usually well protected with a high level of security measures to prevent hacking and tampering with the system. Such measures are costly, require permanent updating to anticipate creativity of hackers, and provide only limited efficiency in preventing such fraud.
Summary of the invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide an effective solution to the abovementioned disadvantages of prior art gaming systems, and in particular provide a method of hosting a multiplayer game on a telecommunications network that is less prone to tampering.
To this end, in accordance with a first aspect, there is provided herewith a method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network, wherein the game is hosted by a game server in the network, and wherein each player of the said multiplayer game participates in the game using a terminal connected to the network, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving, by the server, one or more request signals, wherein each request signal is associated with a terminal of said plurality of terminals; b) in response to each received request signal, by the server, uniquely associating with the terminal for which the respective request signal is received, a mathematical combination of a predetermined number of distinct data elements from a predetermined group of distinct data elements, and providing the associated combination to the respective terminal; c) issuing a voting round by the server, and receiving during said voting round one or more voting signals from the plurality of terminals, wherein each voting signal indicates a candidate data element from said group of data elements; d) selecting, by the server, based on said voting signals received during said voting round, a preferred data element, and storing the preferred data element in a memory; and e) repeating steps c) and d) until at least one of the associated combinations associated with the terminals matches a mathematical combination of the stored preferred data elements, and selecting the terminal associated with said matching combination as a winning terminal for allocation of said assets.
The method of the present invention described hereinabove uses a distributed voting scheme to obtain votes from the terminals participating in the multiplayer game for selecting preferred data elements based on the suggested candidate data elements. The distributed voting scheme in the method of the present invention provides addition security to the hosting of the game, because it is much more difficult to tamper with by hackers. The final selection of whether a specific uniquely associated mathematical combination of data elements is the winning combination, is based on votes provided by all of the terminals participating in the game. The invention is based on the insight that conventional lottery games and multiplayer games are usually controlled by a single server. This single server both issues the electronic lottery ticket while also performing the lottery itself and selecting the winner. Hacking such a hosting server provides several opportunities for a hacker to tamper with the system. Additionally, voting signals may be effectively protected by using standard encryption methods. As a result, the level of protection required to protect the game hosting server may be relieved without compromising security.
In the allocation method for allocating assets in a multiplayer game in accordance with the present invention, even if a hacker would be successful in accessing the hosting server, it is difficult to influence the voting method. This for example would require access to each vote, or the generation of false votes. Thus, attempts to do so may be easily detected e.g. by proper registration system.
In addition to the above, further security may be added for example by separating the step b) for providing the uniquely associated mathematical combinations from the steps c) and d) wherein the voting is performed. These steps may be performed on different surface.
The combinations that are uniquely associated with each of the participating terminals in response to each received request signal are unique in the sense that are no two participating terminals that receive a combination consisting of the same data elements in a same or different order. For example, if the group of distinct data elements from which the combination is made comprises the numbers ‘0’ to ‘9’, and a first terminal receives the combination of the numbers ‘3’, ‘8’, and ‘2’; then there is no second terminal that receives the numbers ‘3’, ‘8’ and ‘2’ in a different or same order (e.g. ‘823’ or ‘283’ or ‘238’ etc.). However, there may be a second terminal that receives the combination ‘8’, ‘3’, and ‘1’. Thus, although the numbers ‘8’ and ‘3’ where also assigned to the first terminal, the combination received by the second terminal includes the number ‘1’ (instead of ‘2’) and is therefore a different combination. Moreover, the data elements in each combination assigned to a terminal are distinct from the other data elements in the combination. Thus, the combination ‘383’ is an invalid combination as it only includes two distinct numbers ‘3’ and ‘8’.
As a further advantage to the present invention, the distributed voting scheme for selecting a winner of the game is welcomed by most participants because it provides the participants with influence on the outcome of the allocation method. As a result, if the participants provide their votes in a strategic manner (e.g. smartly selecting the candidate data elements and smartly timing the voting), the participants can influence the outcome of the allocation method and increase their chance of success. This aspect is enhanced by embodiments of the present invention wherein the voting rounds have a fixed duration, and even further if this duration is provided to the players as feedback through their terminals. For example, the game server may provide the duration of a voting round as a data signal to the terminals together with a trigger to communicate the beginning of the voting round. The terminals may then display the remaining duration of the voting round as a countdown clock or timer on the display screen of the terminals.
The aspect of strategic voting may be even further increased by embodiments wherein the method further includes a step of providing during said voting round in step c), by the server to the plurality of terminals, statistics data of received voting signals including a vote count or voting percentage of voting signals received for one or more of said data elements, for presentation of said statistics data by the terminals during said voting round.
By providing statistics data during the voting round, and in particular in those embodiments wherein these statistics data is provided realtime during voting and is constantly updating, each player or participant can strategically choose the correct timing for placing his vote or bet on the candidate data element of his choice. Moreover, having received the combination ‘382’, the user of the first terminal that is placing his bets in the first round, may wait a while to learn that more votes are received for data elements ‘8’ then for data elements ‘3’. He may then for example decide to first vote for data element ‘8’ in the first round, because data element ‘8’ has a higher chance of being selected as a preferred data element in the first voting round. This will increase his overall chance of winning the game. As will be appreciated, instead of merely being a lottery or a bingo game, as a result of the distributed voting scheme, the multiplayer game becomes more of a dexterity game wherein the skills of the player may influence his chance on winning.
In accordance with some further embodiments, the data elements of the group of distinct data elements from which the mathematical combinations are made include at least one of: numbers, alpha numeric characters, colors or graphics. As will be appreciated, any similar type of data element may be applied, and the above mentioned specific embodiments provide suitable types of data elements that may be issued in mathematical combinations to the respective terminals.
In accordance with yet further embodiments, step b) is performed by: providing a control unit of the server with the predetermined group of distinct data elements, said control unit determining all available mathematical combinations of the predetermined number of distinct data elements from said group of data elements, and storing the determined available combinations in the memory; and using, by the control unit, for each request signal received by said server, a random selection method for performing said unique association of the combination with the terminal for which the respective request signal is received. This provides a suitable alternative for associating and issuing the combination. By pre-calculating the available combinations first, the associating of these combinations can be performed more efficiently without requiring calculation by the server after each received request. Thus, the present embodiments can be more easily implemented and do not require a large amount of processing capability on the side of the server.
Alternatively, the server may calculate and associate the combination ‘on the fly’ in response to each request signal, and then store the uniquely associated combinations for later reference and to prevent issuing the same combination twice.
In accordance with yet other embodiments, two or more terminals of the plurality of terminals form a terminal group, and wherein prior to step c) each terminal of the terminal group sends a data message to all other terminals of the terminal group, the data message comprising the uniquely associated combination of data elements for the sending terminal of the terminal group.
These embodiments have the advantage that they allow groups of players to form a team, wherein the players play together with a plurality of mathematical combinations associated to the terminals of their group. For example, points in the game may be allocated in the first place to the winning mathematical combination and in the second place to all terminals of the same group. For example, the terminal uniquely associated with the winning mathematical combination will receive most of the points, while a smaller amount of points may be provided to any terminal of the group. The amount of points provided to the other terminals of the group may even, in accordance with some specific embodiments, be dependent on whether or not these terminals have placed votes including one of the selected data elements of the winning mathematical combination. This not only increases the appreciation of the game by the players, but also increases the player’s motivation to continue playing the game in case the players success rate is moderate.
In the abovementioned embodiments, the terminal group may be formed by at least one of: the server selecting the two or more terminals for forming the group; or one or more terminals sending invitation messages to other terminals for joining said terminal group, wherein said other terminal is added to the terminal group upon sending an accept signal responsive to the invitation message.
In accordance with further embodiments of the present invention, the method, after step e), further comprises a step of: f) allocating the assets to the select terminal for allocation; wherein the assets are selected from a group comprising credits, points, a prize, a data file or a data stream.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a terminal for participating in a multiplayer game according to any of the previous claims, wherein the multiplayer game is hosted by a server in a telecommunications network, wherein the method comprises the steps of: a) sending, by the terminal to a server, a request signal for identifying the terminal with the server; b) receiving, by the terminal from the server, an associated mathematical combination of a predetermined number of distinct data elements from a predetermined group of distinct data elements, wherein said associated combination is uniquely associated with the terminal by the server; c) receiving, by the terminal from the server, an indication that a voting round is issued; d) sending, by the terminal, at least one voting signal during the voting round, wherein the voting signal indicates a candidate data element from said group of data elements; and e) repeating steps c) and d) until said terminal receives an indication from the server of a selected terminal which is selected for allocation of the assets. The method of the second aspect of the present invention cooperates with the method of the first aspect, in that it allows each of the plurality of terminals to participate in the game.
In accordance with some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further includes a step of receiving, by said terminal during said voting round in steps c) and d), statistics data of voting signals received by the server, said statistics data including a vote count or voting percentage of voting signals received for one or more of said data elements; and presenting, using a display screen of the terminal, said statistics data during said voting round. As will be appreciated, this step cooperates with some of the embodiments of the first aspect referred to above, wherein statistics data (realtime or non realtime) is provided to the terminals during the voting rounds. The presentation of statistics data during these voting rounds makes the distributed voting scheme of the present invention more attractive and interesting to the players participating in the multiplayer game via their terminals. For example, it allows to make a strategic vote for a carefully chosen candidate data element at a strategically chosen timing during the voting round. Moreover, by allowing strategic voting as a result of providing back feedback statistics data to the terminals, the players participating in the multiplayer game have the possibility to increase their odds on winning the game.
In accordance with some further embodiments of the second aspect, the method may further comprise a step of sending invitation messages to one or more further terminals for joining a terminal group. This cooperates with some embodiments of the first aspect referred to above.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product downloadable from a communication network and/or stored on a computer-readable and/or microprocessor-executable medium, comprising program code instructions for implementing a method according to the second aspect of the present invention on a terminal device connectable to a telecommunication network.
Yet, in accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product downloadable from a communication network and/or stored on a computer-readable and/or microprocessor-executable medium, comprising program code instructions for implementing a method according to the first aspect of the present invention on a server device or on a terminal, set server device or terminal being connectable to a telecommunications network.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a game hosting server for hosting a multiplayer game via a telecommunications network, the server system comprising a memory for storing data, a control unit, and a communications unit for communicating with a plurality of terminals via the telecommunications network, wherein the communication unit is arranged for receiving one or more request signals, wherein each request signal is associated with a terminal of said plurality of terminals; wherein the control unit is arranged for, in response to each received request signal, uniquely associating with the terminal for which the respective request signal is received, a mathematical combination of a predetermined number of distinct data elements from a predetermined group of distinct data elements, and for providing the associated combination via the communication unit to the respective terminal; wherein the control unit is arranged for issuing a voting round and receiving during said voting round one or more voting signals from the plurality of terminals, wherein each voting signal indicates a candidate data element from said group of data elements; wherein the control unit is arranged for selecting, based on said voting signals received during said voting round, a preferred data element, and storing the preferred data element in the memory; and wherein the control unit is arranged for repeating said steps of issuing a voting round, receiving voting signals, selecting a preferred data element, and storing the preferred data element, until at least one of the associated combinations uniquely associated with the terminals matches a mathematical combination of the stored preferred data elements; and wherein the control unit is arranged for selecting the terminal associated with said matching combination as a winning terminal for allocation of said assets.
In accordance with some embodiments, the control unit and the communication unit are further arranged for providing during said voting round statistics data of received voting signals to the plurality of terminals, the statistics data including a vote count or voting percentage of voting signals received for one or more of said data elements, for presentation of said statistics data by the terminals during said voting round.
Brief description of the drawings
The invention will further be elucidated by description of some specific embodiments thereof, making reference to the attached drawings. The detailed description provides examples of possible implementations of the invention, but is not to be regarded as describing the only embodiments falhng under the scope. The scope of the invention is defined in the claims, and the description is to be regarded as illustrative without being restrictive on the invention. In the drawings:
Figure 1 schematically illustrates a system in accordance with the present invention including a game hosting server and a plurality of terminals;
Figure 2 schematically illustrates a formulation of mathematical combinations from a group of distinct data elements in accordance with the present invention;
Figures 3A-3C schematically illustrate the conducting of voting rounds in the method in accordance with the present invention after mathematical combinations have been associated with terminals;
Figure 4 schematically illustrates the presentation of statistics data received from a game hosting server via terminal.
Figure 5 schematically illustrates an embodiment wherein group play or team play is performed.
Detailed description
Figure 1 schematically illustrates an environment within the telecommunications network for providing multiplayer game hosting services to a plurality of terminals. In figure 1, the telecommunications network is schematically illustrated by cloud 15. In the system 1, a game hosting server 3 is approachable via telecommunications network 15 by a plurality of terminals 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Terminals 5-12, for participating in a multiplayer game, connect to the game hosting server 3 via the telecommunications network. For example, terminals 5-12 may send a request signal to the server 3, and in response to receiving a request signal, the server 3 may provide each of the terminals 5-12 that have sent a request signal, with a uniquely associated mathematical combination selected from a group of predetermined data elements. Such data elements may be of any type, for example, these may include numbers, colored figures or colored in general, graphics, ASCII characters, game card icons such as 4, *, ¥, ♦ or any other data element. Also combinations of these are possible.
In accordance with the present invention, the server 3 issues voting rounds during which the players operating terminals 5-12 may vote for candidate data elements from the group 20 of data elements. Each voting signal may include a single candidate data element, and the server 3 may select a preferred data element or ‘winning’ data element at the end of each voting round. Thus, several subsequent voting rounds will be issued by the server 3 during which the voting signals may be received. This distributed voting signal increases the security level of the game hosting server 3, as it is very difficult to either obtain access to all or a substantial amount of the received votes by an unauthorized party or to generate a large number of false votes without the system noticing this. Moreover, the voting signals themselves may be effectively protected using standard encryption methods to make tampering therewith even more difficult.
The number allowable mathematical combinations of distinct data elements is determined by the number of predetermined data elements in the group, a number of data elements from which combinations are made (e.g. combinations of three data elements from a group of nine data elements), the type of data elements and the number of distinct data elements available. An example of allowed and unallowed combinations is schematically illustrated in figure 2. In figure 2, the server 3 starts with a group 20 of a number of distinct predefined data elements 30-39. The group in total has ten data elements including the numbers Ό’ to ‘9’ (respectfully numbered as 30, 31, 32....38, 39). A first combination of distinct data elements may for example include the numbers ‘9’, Ό’ and T’, illustrated as combination 24. Because the combination to be formed form the group 20 must be mathematical combinations, no other combination may consist of the same data elements in a same or different order. Therefore, the combinations ‘910’ shown as combination 41, ‘091’ shown as combination 42 and ‘109’ shown as combination 43, are no longer allowed in case combination ‘901’ shown as combination 24 is already selected by the server 3. Server 3 may for example uniquely associate mathematical combination 24 consisting of the numbers ‘901’ to terminal 5. Upon receipt of a request signal from terminal 6, the server 3 may issue a further mathematical combination. The mathematical combination 40 consisting of the numbers T, ‘9’ and T’ is an invalid combination because it contains the number T twice. However, the mathematical combination 25 consisting of numbers ‘2’, ‘1’ and ‘9’ is allowed as a unique mathematical combination. Although combination 25 also contains the numbers T and ‘9’ (which were already comprised by mathematical combination 24), combination 25 also contains number ‘2’ making the combination thereby distinct from combination 24. Mathematical combination 25 may be uniquely associated with terminal 6. Other valid combinations may for example be the mathematical combinations 26 (‘463’), mathematical combination 27 (‘872’) and mathematical combination 28 (‘167’). Respectively, combinations 26, 27 and 28 may be uniquely associated with terminals 7, 8 and 9. Suppose that terminals 5-9 participate in a same multiplayer game hosted by server 3, and that combinations 24-28 are respectively uniquely associated with terminals 5-9. Such a situation is illustrated in figure 3A. The figures 3A-3C will schematically illustrate how the distributed voting scheme on the method of the present invention is performed. Figure 3A schematically illustrates the first voting round. In figure 3A, terminals 5-9 have been respectively associated uniquely with combinations 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. The data elements comprised by each of the combinations 24-28 are illustrated in figure 3A. During the first voting round illustrated in figure 3A, each of the terminals 5-9 sends a voting signal to the game hosting server 3. These voting signals are respectively illustrated by 50, 52, 54, 55 and 56. Also illustrated in figure 3A is a order sequence wherein the votes 50-56 are sent to the server 3 by the respective terminals 5-9.
As follows from figure 3A, terminal 8 is the first terminal to provide its voting signal to server 3. Terminal 8 sends voting signal 50 which includes candidate data element 8. As follows from mathematical combination 27 that is uniquely associated with terminal 8, this combination contains the data element number ‘8’ as the first data element in the combination. During the voting rounds, server 3 provides statistics data to all of the terminals 5-9 participating in the game. Although this is not indicated in figures 3A-3C with an arrow back to the terminals, an example of the realtime statistics data that is provided to the terminals 5-9 and is presented on the display screens of these terminals, is exemplarily illustrated in figure 4 and will be discussed further below.
After terminal 8 has sent his voting signal 50 to server 3, the second terminal to send his voting signal is terminal 9. Terminal 9 sends voting signal 52 that includes data elements T as a candidate data element. The other terminals 5, 6 and 7 that show the statistics data on screen, reveal to the players operating the terminals 5, 6 and 7 that votes have been received for numbers T and ‘8’. Terminal 7 is the third terminal to send his voting signal 54 to server 3 which includes candidate data element ‘4’. The player operating terminal 6 who may have first considered to vote for data element ‘2’, now sees that votes have been received for numbers T, ‘4’ and ‘8’. The player operating terminal 6 now smartly chooses data element T as being his candidate data element for voting and provides his voting signal 55 to server 3. Next, at terminal 5, the player operating terminal 5 evidently prefers to vote for candidate data element T’ because multiple votes for T have already been received. At the end of the first voting round, the server 3 selects data element T as the preferred data element, i.e. the winning data element in the first round as is schematically illustrated in box 58. This winning data element number T’ is stored in the memory of the server, which is schematically illustrated in cloud 59 in figure 3B. Figure 3B schematically illustrates a second voting round. As follows from figure 3B, the order in which the voting signals are received from each of the terminals 5-9 is different, as this is determined by the timing of each player placing his vote. Figure 3B, it follows that again terminal 8 is the first terminal to vote, and terminal 8 votes for candidate data element ‘7’ in voting signal 60. The second terminal to vote is terminal 6. In voting signal 62, terminal 6 includes data element number ‘2’ as the candidate data element. In all terminals 5-9, the realtime statistics data reveal that votes have been received for numbers ‘7’ and ‘2’. Terminal 9 now sees his chance to increase his winning odds, by placing a voting signal 64 which includes a candidate data element ‘7’. Terminals 5 and 7 respectively have no use for data element ‘7’ and alternatively choose to vote for numbers ‘5’ in voting signal 66 from terminal 7 and data element number ‘9’ in voting signal 68 from terminal 5. Server 3, at the end of the second voting round, determines that data element number ‘7’ is the preferred (or winning) data element of the second voting round. This number ‘7’ will be stored in memory 59.
In the third voting round, illustrated in figure 3C, terminal 9 is the first terminal to place his voting signal 70 which includes candidate data element ‘6’. The second terminal to vote is terminal 7, which also has use for number ‘6’. Voting signal 72 send from terminal 7 includes candidate data element ‘6’ as well as being the second vote received at server 3. The third terminal to vote is terminal 6. Voting signal 73 includes candidate data element ‘2’. Then terminal 8 sends its voting signal 74 including candidate data element ‘8’. Lastly, terminal 5 sends his voting signal 76 which includes candidate data element O’. The winning or preferred data element for the third round is determined by the server 3 to be data element ‘6’. As a result, the numbers now stored in memory 59, including the preferred data element number ‘6’ selected (see box 78) now clearly reveal that the mathematical combination 28 that is uniquely associated with terminal 9 is the winning combination. This is because combination 28 consists of numbers ‘1’, ‘6’ and ‘7’, which are also the numbers that are selected in the three voting rounds.
As will be appreciated, there may not be already a winning combination at the end of the third round. If, after the third round, no winning combination is found, the method simply continues with a further voting round. Alternatively, it is also possible, in particular if the number of voting rounds performed is greater than the number of data elements from which each of the mathematical combinations is formed (here three), it may be possible that suddenly there are multiple terminals that have combinations of data elements that can be formed from the eventually selected preferred data elements stored in the memory. In this case, between the two potentially winning mathematical combinations, there is always exactly one data element that is distinct in each combination (for example combinations ‘583’ and ‘683’). Several methods may be performed for resolving such a conflicting situation. For example it may be easily determined in which round each of the distinct data elements (in the example ‘5’ and ‘6’) has been selected as a preferred data element. The number (for example ‘6’) that was chosen as a preferred data element first, may determine the winning combination. Another possibility is that a further voting round is issued, wherein all players can vote for one of the two competing data elements ‘5’ and ‘6’, and the data element with most votes wins. A further possibility is that eventually no winner is selected in such a conflicting situation, and all of the voting rounds are performed anew. The skilled person may appreciate that other methods for resolving such a conflict may be applied in this case.
Another alternative or potential conflict may be that the end of one voting round, two or more data elements have received the same number of votes. Such a conflict may be resolved again in different manners. For example the duration of the voting round may be extended to allow more players to vote within the voting round. Another possibility is that players may change their vote by subsequently voting again for different or same data elements. A further possibility is that the voting round itself is performed anew.
The voting rounds have a fixed duration, and as illustrated in figure 4 the duration of the voting round is indicated as a timer by icon 88 on screen. Live statistics data 87 are also illustrated on screen providing a histogram of the received votes for each of the data elements. The histogram shown by mobile terminal 80 on the multitouch screen 86 shows the momentary situation near the end of the voting round, as is indicated by timer 88. In this situation, terminals 6, 7, 8 and 9 had already placed their votes, while terminal 5 still had to place its vote. As follows from bars 90, 92 and 94, bar 94 representing the number of votes received for data element number T is twice as high as each of the bars 92 and 90. Around indicator 95 is also illustrated on screen which provides the player with the rounds number that is presently played. Mobile terminal 80 comprises control buttons 83, 84 and 85 to control a number of functions of the device 80, including the multitouch screen 86 which allows further control and input by the user. For example on screen 86, the player may simply tap one of the icons 100-109 indicating the data element of his choice.
The specific examples and embodiments described herein above are not to be construed as being limiting on the present invention, the scope of which is solely determined by the appended claims. The specific exemplary features of the embodiments may differ between embodiments. For example, the predetermined group of distinct data elements from which the mathematical combinations are selected, may in other embodiments consist of the numbers T to ‘9’ from which mathematical combinations of three data elements are formed. Alternatively, this group may consist of the numbers T’ to T6’ from which mathematical combinations of four data elements are formed. In yet another embodiment, this group may consist of the numbers T to ‘25’ from which mathematical combinations of five data elements are formed. In many embodiments, the number Ό’ may not even be used, although of course the invention does not exclude embodiments wherein the number ‘0’ is used as one of the numbers of the predetermined group of distinct data elements. As will be appreciated, if more data elements are used for forming the mathematical combinations, more voting rounds are required and the game will take longer to complete. If the group of numbers becomes larger, the number of combinations that may be formed also becomes much larger, dependent again on the number of data elements forming the mathematical combinations.
Although the mathematical combinations mentioned herein before did not have a typical number ordering, preferably the mathematical combinations of data elements are presented to the players in an increasing order. Thus, the mathematical combination ‘463’ (element 26 in figure 2), would preferably be presented by terminal 7 as the combination ‘3 4 6’ rather than ‘4 6 3’. Mathematically, however, the combination ‘463’ is the same combination as ‘346’.
Further features of the present invention, as discussed, may include the fixed duration of the voting rounds, with or without feedback by a countdown (or count-up) timer. For example, a graphic representation of the timer may be displayed on screen, as illustrated in figure 4, element 88, or in a different layout (e.g. a bar, or counting digits). The fixed duration and the on-screen timer is preferred in some embodiments, because it adds on to enabling strategic voting. A player, for example, may wait until the very last moment to place his/her vote, or alternatively he/she may try to influence other player’s voting behavior by voting as early as possible.
Moreover, the team play features that are provided in accordance with some preferred embodiments by forming terminal groups, will greatly increase appreciation of the game by the players. A strong team that has agreed on certain voting strategies, may have a clear benefit in the game over other teams without such a strategy. This makes the game very interesting to all players. This team play may even be enhanced by enabling the possibility to chat with other players of the team (or even outside the team) via the terminals of these players.
An embodiment wherein group play or team play is performed is for example illustrated in figure 5. Here, a game server 3 communicated via network 15 with terminals 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, and 220. A first team is formed by terminal group 225, consisting of terminals 205 through 208. A second team is formed by terminal group 228, consisting of terminals 209 through 212. A third team is formed by terminal group 230, consisting of terminals 213 through 216. A fourth team is formed by terminal group 233, consisting of terminals 217 through 220. Although in the present embodiment, the groups are formed of four terminals per group, this is certainly not indicative in any way of the preferred group size. A group may be comprised of any desired number of terminals, e.g. ten, thirteen, thirty-four, or any other desired number of players. Moreover, the groups do not necessarily have to be of a same size and can be of different sizes, ranging from single players (no group) to duo’s and further to groups of ten or more players in a same game. The groups may be formed by the game server 3, but these may also be formed amongst the players themselves, e.g. by sending invitations to one another. Each group member receives it’s own mathematical combination of distinct data elements. Thus, within group 225, the four players together have four combinations, each combination being assigned to (associated with) one of the players 205 to 208.
For each player in the group, voting behavior may primarily be focused on the mathematical combination of that particular player.
However, while the game progresses, some of the players 205 to 208 will find out that the odds of personal win will decrease and even become illusory. In that case, the players may decide to support the group members having the best odds on winning the game, and change their voting strategy. Some teams, let’s say team 230, may have agreed a voting strategy wherein they aim for a group win from the onset of the game. Thus in group 230, the players 213 through 216 may all have agreed to adapt their voting strategy such as to always vote for the mathematical combination within group 230 that has the best odds. Points may be gained for personal win, and also for group win. Even further, optionally, more point may be gained by members of a group that have voted for the eventually winning mathematical combination of that group (e.g. if not their own combination). As may be appreciated introduction of a chat functionality will improve team play.
The abovementioned features, although they may have been described within the described embodiments in a certain combination, may at will be combined, left out, interchanged, or combined with even new features that are not specifically described herein, to form other embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is only limited by the appended claims.
The distributed voting scheme has the benefit of providing a much better protection against hacking and fraud, but has the beneficial side effect that, in the present game setup, real time influence on the course of the game by the players becomes possible. This makes the game more attractive to players, and preferential over games of chance that are merely governed by the principles of randomness in the selection of a winner.
The present invention has been described in terms of some specific embodiments thereof. It will be appreciated that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described herein are intended for illustrated purposes only and are not by any manner or means intended to be restrictive on the invention. It is believed that the operation and construction of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing description and drawings appended thereto. It will be clear to the skilled person that the invention is not limited to any embodiment herein described and that modifications are possible which should be considered within the scope of the appended claims. Also kinematic inversions are considered inherently disclosed and to be within the scope of the invention. In the claims, any reference signs shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The term 'comprising' and ‘including’ when used in this description or the appended claims should not be construed in an exclusive or exhaustive sense but rather in an inclusive sense. Thus the expression ‘comprising’ as used herein does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps in addition to those listed in any claim. Furthermore, the words ‘a’ and ‘an’ shall not be construed as limited to ‘only one’, but instead are used to mean ‘at least one’, and do not exclude a plurality. Features that are not specifically or explicitly described or claimed may be additionally included in the structure of the invention within its scope. Expressions such as: "means for ...” should be read as: "component configured for ..." or "member constructed to ..." and should be construed to include equivalents for the structures disclosed. The use of expressions like: "critical", "preferred", "especially preferred" etc. is not intended to limit the invention. Additions, deletions, and modifications within the purview of the skilled person may generally be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as is determined by the claims. The invention may be practiced otherwise then as specifically described herein, and is only limited by the appended claims.
Claims (15)
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL2015229A NL2015229B1 (en) | 2015-07-28 | 2015-07-28 | A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network. |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL2015229A NL2015229B1 (en) | 2015-07-28 | 2015-07-28 | A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network. |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| NL2015229B1 true NL2015229B1 (en) | 2017-02-20 |
Family
ID=58448733
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL2015229A NL2015229B1 (en) | 2015-07-28 | 2015-07-28 | A method of allocating assets in a multiplayer game played via a telecommunications network. |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| NL (1) | NL2015229B1 (en) |
-
2015
- 2015-07-28 NL NL2015229A patent/NL2015229B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
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