Gaming system and a method of gaming

Abstract

A gaming system comprising a clue entitlement mechanism arranged to determine based at least partly on a player's game play activity in respect of at least one primary game whether the player is entitled to a clue intended to assist the player in playing of a game, and a clue issuer arranged to issue a clue to a player entitled to a clue.

1 . A gaming system comprising:
 a clue entitlement mechanism arranged to determine based at least partly on a player's game play activity in respect of at least one primary game whether the player is entitled to a clue intended to assist the player in playing of a game; and   a clue issuer arranged to issue a clue to a player entitled to a clue.   
   
   
       2 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the clue is intended to assist the player in further play of the primary game. 
   
   
       3 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 1 , the clue is intended to assist the player in playing the secondary game. 
   
   
       4 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a gaming machine operable by the player to play the at least one primary game constitutes the clue issuer. 
   
   
       5 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a gaming machine operable by the player to play the at least one primary game is arranged to issue a clue entitlement to the player to enable a player to obtain a clue from the clue issuer. 
   
   
       6 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the clue issuer is arranged to issue the clue during play of the secondary game. 
   
   
       7 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein a gaming machine operable by the player to play the at least one secondary game constitutes the clue issuer and is arranged to issue a clue in response to a clue entitlement being provided by the player. 
   
   
       8 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 1 , a network and a plurality of gaming machines configured for play of the at least one primary game and each gaming machine provides a clue entitlement mechanism. 
   
   
       9 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the clue entitlement mechanism is a component in the network configured to process data obtained by a player tracking component of the network. 
   
   
       10 . joh A gaming system as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the clue issuer is one or more of a gaming machine in the gaming network, another component in the network or independent of the network. 
   
   
       11 . A method of gaming comprising:
 determining based at least partly on a player's game play activity in respect of at least one primary game whether the player is entitled to a clue intended to assist the player in playing of a game; and   issuing a clue to a player entitled to a clue.   
   
   
       12 . A method of gaming as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the clue is intended to assist the player in further play of the primary game. 
   
   
       13 . A method of gaming as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the clue is intended to assist the player in playing the secondary game. 
   
   
       14 . A method as claimed in  claim 13  comprising issuing the clue during play of the secondary game. 
   
   
       15 . A method as claimed in  claim 11  comprising issuing different clues based on one or more of: the primary game the player plays, the gaming machine the player plays, or the player's game play activity. 
   
   
       16 . A method as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the game play activity used as the basis for issuing a clue is one or more of: a game outcome, turnover, an amount bet, an amount of games played, time, or a gaming machine related event. 
   
   
       17 . A method as claimed in  claim 16 , wherein clues are divided into categories based on the extent to which they are intended to assist a player, and clues are provided from a category based on the player's game play activity. 
   
   
       18 . Computer program code which when executed causes a computer to implement the method of  claim 11 . 
   
   
       19 . A gaming system comprising:
 a piece entitlement mechanism arranged to determine based at least partly on a player's game play activity in respect of at least one primary game whether the player is entitled to a piece of a set of pieces intended to be redeemed for a prize; and   a prize issuer arranged to issue the prize when a player establishes their entitlement to the complete set of pieces.   
   
   
       20 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 19  comprising a piece issuer arranged to issue a piece to a player entitled to a piece, wherein the prize issuer is arranged to issue the prize in response to receipt of the pieces. 
   
   
       21 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 19 , arranged to issue the piece entitlement in the form of data provided to the player in material form. 
   
   
       22 . A gaming system as in claim  33 , arranged to issue the piece entitlement in the form of data provided to the player by associating data with a player record on a player tracking device or in a database. 
   
   
       23 . A method of gaming comprising:
 determining based at least partly on a player's game play activity in respect of at least one primary game whether the player is entitled to a piece of a set of pieces intended to be redeemed for a prize; and   issuing the prize when a player establishes their entitlement to the complete set of pieces.   
   
   
       24 . A method as claimed in  claim 23  comprising issuing a piece to a player entitled to a piece and issuing the prize in response to receipt of the pieces. 
   
   
       25 . Computer program code which when executed causes a computer to implement the method of  claim 23 .