U.S. Patent No. 10,537,792: Touchscreen game mechanic involving sequences of arrangements of input areas
Issued January 21, 2020, to Darien Harte
Filed: July 10, 2017 (claiming priority to July 10, 2016)
Overview:
U.S. Patent No. 10,537,792 (the ‘792 patent) relates to a touchscreen game mechanic based on simultaneous touch inputs. The ‘792 patent details a method for a game testing dexterity and/or reaction time involving a sequence of two or more displays meant to be touched in multiple places simultaneously. The displays show input areas in a two-dimensional space which must be touched simultaneously for the player to advance to the next display and additional points, play time, or displays are awarded if the player completes the requirements quickly enough. Graphics may indicate the player touching the inputs or the change in display to the next display in the sequence. The ‘792 patent seems to be implemented in a game available on the Apple App Store, called FingerFlash – The Finger Sport.
Abstract:
The exemplary embodiments present a game mechanic for an electronic game playable on a computing device that has a display with a touchscreen configured to receive a plurality of touch inputs simultaneously. The graphical user interface of such a game displays a sequence of arrangements of input areas. For each such arrangement, the player must simultaneously touch some or all of the presented input areas in order to proceed to the next arrangement.
Illustrative Claim:
- A method for playing an electronic game testing manual dexterity and/or reaction time of a player, comprising a sequence of two or more displays on a touchscreen of a computing device with multi-touch functionality, wherein: the displays singly contain a plurality of input areas arranged in a two-dimensional space, all of which must be touched simultaneously by the player to proceed to the next display of the electronic game; and the electronic game automatically rewards the player with additional points, additional play time in a game session, and/or a display of graphics, the display of graphics indicating a touching of the input areas by the player and/or a progression by the player to the next display of the electronic game, when the player touches one or more arrangements of the input areas quickly based on a time period from the moment when the touchscreen of the computing device displays an arrangement of the input areas to the moment when the player simultaneously touches all of the input areas, wherein: the time period does not exceed a predetermined duration, wherein the predetermined duration is five seconds or less, and/or a combined duration of two or more time periods from the sequence of two or more displays does not exceed a predetermined threshold, wherein the predetermined threshold is five seconds or less multiplied by the number of the time periods.