Gaming machine and methods of operating gaming machines to provide skill-based wagering games to players

A method of operating a gaming machine, the gaming machine including a display device, a user input device, and a controller, the method including the controller performing the steps of:

• displaying a skill-based wagering game on the display device including a game screen including a plurality of user input buttons arranged in a matrix using computer generated graphical images;
• receiving, from the user input device, a signal indicating a wager being placed by the player and adjusting a credit balance, the user input device including a player selection device, an accepting device, and a cashout device, the player selection device configured to generate a signal indicating a player's selection input associated with each of the user input buttons, the accepting device configured to accept an item associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, the cashout device configured to receive an input to cause an initiation of a payout associated with the credit balance;
• initiating an instance of the skill-based wagering game upon receiving the wager;
• accessing a database including a plurality of award paytables, each of the award paytables including a plurality of skill level values, each skill level value associated with a plurality of award values, each award value associated with a corresponding selection probability;
• generating a plurality of consecutive skill events associated with the instance of the skill-based wagering game, wherein each skill event includes an image being displayed in a corresponding user input button;
• and
• for each displayed skill event:
• detecting a player's selection input of a corresponding user input button in response to the displayed skill event;
• determining a player skill level value based on the received player's selection and determine the plurality of award values associated with the player skill level value;
• and
• randomly selecting an award value from the plurality of award values associated with the player skill level value based on the corresponding selection probabilities;
• and
• determining a total award amount based on each selected award amount value associated with the each displayed skill event and adjusting the credit balance based on the determined total award amount.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media, having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to:

• display a skill-based wagering game on a display device including a game screen including a plurality of user input buttons arranged in a matrix using computer generated graphical images;
• receive, from the user input device, a signal indicating a wager being placed by the player and adjusting a credit balance, the user input device including a player selection device, an accepting device, and a cashout device, the player selection device configured to generate a signal indicating a player's selection input associated with each of the user input buttons, the accepting device configured to accept an item associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, the cashout device configured to receive an input to cause an initiation of a payout associated with the credit balance;
• initiate an instance of the skill-based wagering game upon receiving the wager;
• access a database including a plurality of award paytables, each of the award paytables including a plurality of skill level values, each skill level value associated with a plurality of award values, each award value associated with a corresponding selection probability;
• generate a plurality of consecutive skill events associated with the instance of the skill-based wagering game, wherein each skill event includes an image being displayed in a corresponding user input button;
• and
• for each displayed skill event
• detect a player's selection input of a corresponding user input button in response to the displayed skill event;
• determine a player skill level value based on the received player's selection and determine the plurality of award values associated with the player skill level value;
• and
• randomly select an award value from the plurality of award values associated with the player skill level value based on the corresponding selection probabilities;
• and
• determine a total award amount based on each selected award amount value associated with the each displayed skill event and adjust the credit balance based on the determined award value.