Method of gaming and a gaming system

Abstract

A gaming system comprising a plurality of player terminals, each comprising a player display and a player instruction input mechanism, and a game controller coupled to the player terminals and arranged to cause each player display to display at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a player associated with the player terminal independently of a player or players associated with one or more other player terminals, whereby each player may seek to complete the task independently of each other player by operating their respective player instruction input mechanism, receive one or more player instructions related to completion of the task from at least one of the players, and process the player instructions to determine a winning player based on one or more criteria.

1 . A method of gaming comprising:
 displaying on each player display of a plurality of player displays at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a player associated with the player display independently of a player or players associated with one or more other player displays;   receiving one or more player instructions related to completion of the task from at least one of the players; and   processing the player instructions to determine a winning player based on one or more criteria.   
   
   
       2 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a criterion is the time taken to complete the task. 
   
   
       3 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the task displayed on each display is identical to each other task. 
   
   
       4 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the tasks displayed on at least two displays are different. 
   
   
       5 . A method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the different tasks are arranged to be equivalent in difficulty. 
   
   
       6 . A method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the different tasks are arranged to be of different difficulties. 
   
   
       7 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising awarding a prize to the winning player. 
   
   
       8 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising displaying the starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event. 
   
   
       9 . A method as claimed in  claim 8 , comprising displaying the starting portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a trigger event in a base game played by at least one of the players. 
   
   
       10 . A method as claimed in  claim 9 , comprising determining which player
 triggered the bonus game and providing the player who triggered the bonus game with an advantage to complete the task.   
   
   
       11 . A method as claimed in  claim 10 , comprising providing the triggering player with a clue to provide the advantage. 
   
   
       12 . A method as claimed in  claim 10 , comprising providing a time adjustment or an adjusted starting time and employing the time adjustment or adjusted starting time as an additional criterion to determining a winning player. 
   
   
       13 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  comprising displaying a starting instruction to each player at the same time. 
   
   
       14 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the sole criterion is which player takes the least time to complete the task. 
   
   
       15 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the task is to complete a memory game. 
   
   
       16 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the task is to complete a labyrinth game. 
   
   
       17 . A gaming system comprising:
 a plurality of player terminals, each comprising a player display and a player instruction input mechanism; and   a game controller coupled to the player terminals and arranged to:   cause each player display to display at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a player associated with the player terminal independently of a player or players associated with one or more other player terminals, whereby each player may seek to complete the task independently of each other player by operating their respective player instruction input mechanism;   receive one or more player instructions related to completion of the task from at least one of the players; and   process the player instructions to determine a winning player based on one or more criteria.   
   
   
       18 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein a criterion is the time taken to complete the task. 
   
   
       19 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the task displayed on each display is identical to each other task. 
   
   
       20 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the game controller is arranged to allocate different tasks to at least two player terminals. 
   
   
       21 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the different tasks are equivalent in difficulty. 
   
   
       22 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the different tasks are of different difficulties. 
   
   
       23 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the game controller is arranged to award a prize to the winning player. 
   
   
       24 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the game controller is arranged to cause each display to display the starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event. 
   
   
       25 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 24 , wherein the game controller is arranged to cause each display to display starting portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a trigger event in a base game played by at least one of the players. 
   
   
       26 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein the game controller is arranged to determine which player triggered the bonus game and provide the player who triggered the bonus game with an advantage to complete the task. 
   
   
       27 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 26 , wherein the game controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a clue to provide the advantage. 
   
   
       28 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 26 , wherein the game controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a time adjustment or an adjusted starting time and employing the time adjustment or adjusted starting time as an additional criterion to determining a winning player. 
   
   
       29 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the game controller is arranged to cause each display to display a starting instruction to each player at the same time. 
   
   
       30 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the sole criterion is which player takes the least time to complete the task. 
   
   
       31 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the task is to complete a memory game. 
   
   
       32 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the task is to complete a labyrinth game. 
   
   
       33 . A gaming system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the game controller is constituted by a processor executing program code stored in a memory. 
   
   
       34 . A game controller arranged to:
 cause each display of a plurality of player displays to display at least a starting portion of a task for completion by a player associated with the player terminal independently of a player or players associated with one or more other player terminals, whereby each player may seek to complete the task independently of each other player by operating their respective player instruction mechanism;   receive one or more player instructions related to completion of the task from at least one of the players; and   process the player instructions to determine a winning player based on one or more criteria.   
   
   
       35 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein a criterion is the time taken to complete the task. 
   
   
       36 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the task displayed on each display is identical to each other task. 
   
   
       37 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the game controller is arranged to allocate different tasks to at least two player terminals. 
   
   
       38 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 37 , wherein the different tasks are equivalent in difficulty. 
   
   
       39 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 37 , wherein the different tasks are of different difficulties. 
   
   
       40 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the game controller is arranged to award a prize to the winning player. 
   
   
       41 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the game controller is arranged to cause each display to display the starting portion of the task in response to a trigger event. 
   
   
       42 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the game controller is arranged to cause each display to display starting portion of the task as a bonus game in response to a trigger event in a base game played by at least one of the players. 
   
   
       43 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 42 , wherein the game controller is arranged to determine which player triggered the bonus game and provide the player who triggered the bonus game with an advantage to complete the task. 
   
   
       44 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 43 , wherein the game controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a clue to provide the advantage. 
   
   
       45 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 43 , wherein the game controller is arranged to provide the triggering player with a time adjustment or an adjusted starting time and employing the time adjustment or adjusted starting time as an additional criterion to determining a winning player. 
   
   
       46 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the game controller is arranged to cause each display to display a starting instruction to each player at the same time. 
   
   
       47 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the sole criterion is which player takes the least time to complete the task. 
   
   
       48 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the task is to complete a memory game. 
   
   
       49 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , wherein the task is to complete a labyrinth game. 
   
   
       50 . A game controller as claimed in  claim 34 , constituted by a processor executing program code stored in a memory. 
   
   
       51 . Computer program code which when executed by a computer causes the computer to carry out a computer implemented method of gaming in accordance with the method of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       52 . A computer readable medium comprising the program code of  claim 51 .