Skillful multi-level games and gaming machines in which players are granted free play sessions

A gaming device, comprising:

• a memory;
• at least one processor;
• a display;
• a user interface;
• and
• a plurality of processes spawned by the processor, the plurality of processes comprising processing logic to:
• accept, by the gaming device, money from a player;
• provide a game, the game comprising a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• receive at least one player interaction, via a user interface of the gaming device, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• for each generated wagering opportunity, determine whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, generate a wagering event;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, determine whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first Return to Player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• award money to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, enable game play in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to increase an RTP percentage of at least one wagering event generated after the free play session of limited duration is over, to cause the RTP percentage of the at least one wagering event generated after the free play session to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game for at least a predetermined period of time.

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium having data stored thereon representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a gaming device, cause the gaming device to carry out a computer-implemented method comprising:

• accepting, by the gaming machine, money from a player;
• providing a game, the game comprising a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• receiving at least one player interaction, via a user interface of the gaming machine, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• for each generated wagering opportunity, determining whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, generating a wagering event;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, determining whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first Return to Player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• awarding money to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, enabling game play in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to increase an RTP percentage of at least one wagering event generated after the free play session of limited duration is over, to cause the RTP percentage of the at least one wagering event generated after the free play session to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game for at least a predetermined period of time.

A method of providing a game for a gaming machine, comprising:

• providing an existing a multi-level, console or arcade-type game;
• modifying the provided game to operate on the gaming machine and to accept money from a player;
• configuring the game to comprise a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• configuring the gaming machine to receive at least one player interaction via a user interface thereof, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• configuring the game such that:
• for each generated wagering opportunity, a determination is made whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, a wagering event is generated;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, a determination is made whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first Return to Player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• money is awarded to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, game play is enabled in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to increase an RTP percentage of at least one wagering event generated after the free play session of limited duration is over, to cause the RTP percentage of the at least one wagering event generated after the free play session to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game for at least a predetermined period of time.

A computer-implemented method of operating a gaming machine, comprising:

• accepting, by the gaming machine, money from a player;
• providing a game, the game comprising a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• receiving at least one player interaction, via a user interface of the gaming machine, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• for each generated wagering opportunity, determining whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, generating a wagering event;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, determining whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first return to player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• awarding money to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, enabling game play in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes at least one of:
• wagering events to be generated, independent of a skillfulness of the received player interactions, and respective awards of money given to the player according to a second payout schedule defining a second RTP percentage that is more advantageous to the player than the first RTP percentage;
• and
• tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to cause an RTP percentage of a predetermined number of wagering events generated after the free play session of limited duration is over to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game.

A computer-implemented method of operating a gaming machine, comprising:

• accepting, by the gaming machine, money from a player;
• providing a game, the game comprising a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• receiving at least one player interaction, via a user interface of the gaming machine, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• for each generated wagering opportunity, determining whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, generating a wagering event;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, determining whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first return to player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• awarding money to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, enabling game play in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes at least one of:
• wagering events to be generated, independent of a skillfulness of the received player interactions, and respective awards of money given to the player according to a second payout schedule defining a second RTP percentage that is more advantageous to the player than the first RTP percentage;
• and
• tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to cause an RTP percentage of a predetermined number of wagering events generated after the free play session of limited duration is over to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game for a predetermined period of time.

A gaming device, comprising:

• a memory;
• at least one processor;
• a display;
• a user interface;
• and
• a plurality of processes spawned by the processor, the plurality of processes comprising processing logic to:
• accept, by the gaming device, money from a player;
• provide a game, the game comprising a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• receive at least one player interaction, via a user interface of the gaming device, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• for each generated wagering opportunity, determine whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, generate a wagering event;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, determine whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first Return to Player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• award money to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, enable game play in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes at least one of:
• wagering events to be generated, independent of a skillfulness of the received player interactions, and respective awards of money given to the player according to a second payout schedule defining a second RTP percentage that is more advantageous to the player than the first RTP percentage;
• and
• tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to cause an RTP percentage of a predetermined number of wagering events generated after the free play session of limited duration is over to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game.

A gaming device, comprising:

• a memory;
• at least one processor;
• a display;
• a user interface;
• and
• a plurality of processes spawned by the processor, the plurality of processes comprising processing logic to:
• accept, by the gaming device, money from a player;
• provide a game, the game comprising a plurality of in-game assets, each of the plurality of in-game assets being configured to generate a wagering opportunity when interacted with by the player;
• receive at least one player interaction, via a user interface of the gaming device, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets;
• for each generated wagering opportunity, determine whether the received at least one player interaction was a skillful or unskillful interaction with the in-game asset with which the player interacted;
• and
• at least for each skillful interaction, generate a wagering event;
• responsive to the generation of the wagering event, determine whether to award money to the player according to a first payout schedule defining a first Return to Player (RTP) percentage or to award the player a free play session of limited duration;
• award money to the player according to the first payout schedule associated with the first RTP percentage when a determination to award money to the player is made;
• and
• when a determination to award the free play session to the player is made, enable game play in the free session, the game play being configured such that player interactions, received via the player interface during the free session, with at least some of the plurality of in-game assets causes at least one of:
• wagering events to be generated, independent of a skillfulness of the received player interactions, and respective awards of money given to the player according to a second payout schedule defining a second RTP percentage that is more advantageous to the player than the first RTP percentage;
• and
• tokens to be collected, each of the collected tokens being configured to cause an RTP percentage of a predetermined number of wagering events generated after the free play session of limited duration is over to be a maximum intended RTP percentage of the game for a predetermined period of time.