Rewarding players for completing team challenges

Abstract

In a method of rewarding players for completing a team challenge, an initiation of a team challenge by a player of an online social game is detected. Based on an online social network of the player, an option for the friend of the player to participate in the team challenge is generated. A completion of the team challenge by the player and the friend of the player is detected. A reward is provided to at least one of the player and the friend of the player based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 detecting an initiation of a team challenge by a player of an online social game;   based on an online social network of the player, generating, with at least one processor, an option for the friend of the player to participate in the team challenge;   detecting a completion of the team challenge by the player and the friend of the player; and   providing a reward to at least one of the player and the friend of the player based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the team challenge includes a task that each of the player and the friend of the player are to perform within the game before a time period expires. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating an amount of the reward based on a difficulty of the team challenge. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising calculating the time period based on a difficulty of the team challenge. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising communicating a progress of each of the player and the friend of the player toward the completion of the task. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 collecting information about the friend of the player from the online social network of the player; and   selecting the friend of the player as a candidate to participate in the team challenge based on the information.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein the online social network is separate from a game networking system of the online social game. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a friend of the friend of the player of the game with an option to participate in the team challenge, the friend of the friend of the player of the game not being a friend of the player of the game. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the providing of the friend of the friend of the player of the game with the option to participate in the team challenge being based on a selection of the friend of the friend of the player of the game by the friend of the player of the game. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 a processor-implemented game networking system configured to:   detect an initiation of a team challenge by a player of an online social game;   based on an online social network of the player, generate an option for the friend of the player to participate in the team challenge;   detect a completion of the team challenge by the player and the friend of the player; and   provide a reward to at least one of the player and the friend of the player based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor-implemented game networking system is further configured to calculate an amount of the reward based on a difficulty of the team challenge. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor-implemented game networking system is further configured to calculate the time period based on a difficulty of the team challenge. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor-implemented game networking system is further configured to communicate a progress of each of the player and the friend of the player toward the completion of the task. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor-implemented game networking system is further configured to:
 collect information about the friend of the player from the online social network of the player; and   select the friend of the player as a candidate to participate in the team challenge based on the information.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor-implemented game networking system is further configured to provide a friend of the friend of the player of the game with an option to participate in the team challenge, the friend of the friend of the player of the game not being a friend of the player of the game. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 detecting an initiation of a team challenge by a player of an online social game;   based on an online social network of the player, generating, with at least one processor, an option for the friend of the player to participate in the team challenge;   detecting a completion of the team challenge by the player and the friend of the player; and   providing a reward to at least one of the player and the friend of the player based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the team challenge includes a task that each of the player and the friend of the player are to perform within the game before a time period expires. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising calculating an amount of the reward based on a difficulty of the team challenge. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising calculating the time period based on a difficulty of the team challenge. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising communicating a progress of each of the player and the friend of the player toward the completion of the task.