WO2020096993A1

WO2020096993A1 - Monetary rewards system and method for mobile games

Info

Publication number: WO2020096993A1
Application number: PCT/US2019/059731
Authority: WO
Inventors: Myles HUTCHERSON
Original assignee: Hutcherson Myles
Priority date: 2018-11-05
Filing date: 2019-11-04
Publication date: 2020-05-14
Also published as: WO2020096993A8

Abstract

A monetary rewards system comprises a referral code unique to each user account, in-game currency earned when a user provides the referral code to others users of the monetary rewards system, and a storage system for recording the in-game currency. A game is operated on each user's client device, which displays an interface to the user and which communicates with a centralized server or servers.

Description

Monetary Rewards System and Method for Mobile Games

Background

[0001] Traditionally, creators of websites and mobile applications have designed these applications and websites with the goal of allowing the user to make money by simply using the application. They target the idea that people want to make money with little to no work. However, the primary flaw in these websites and mobile applications is that they are tedious, and usually require the user to download other games or watch advertisements for small amounts of money or in-game currency. The application or website rewards the user for repeatedly performing these tedious tasks with small amounts of money that eventually accumulate over time. There is a need for new ways for users to make money without the tedious steps of endlessly watching advertisements or downloading one new game after another.

Summary

[0002] A monetary rewards system allows a user to obtain a unique referral code and provide that unique referral code to other users of the mobile application or website, generating in-game currency for both users. This in-game currency can then be converted to real currency that can then be transferred to the user’s financial account. Therefore, all a user has to accomplish in order to make money is continue to have different users provide their unique referral codes, and watch their in-game currency grow. This eliminates the tedious steps of watching advertisements and downloading one new game after another, and allows the user to make real money through referrals.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0003] The detailed description makes reference to the accompanying figures wherein:

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram of the monetary rewards system in accordance with the principles disclosed herein.

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of obtaining real money from the in-game currency in accordance with the principles disclosed herein.

[0006] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of the in-game storage systems in

accordance with the principles disclosed herein. [0007] FIG. 4 illustrates a illustration of the display screen on a mobile device in accordance with the principles disclosed herein.

[0008] The figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the principles disclosed herein. The figures do not illustrate every aspect of the principles disclosed herein and do not limit the scope of the principles disclosed herein. Other objects, features, and characteristics will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description.

Detailed Description

[0009] A detailed illustration is disclosed herein. However, techniques, methods, processes, systems and operating structures in accordance with the principles disclosed herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and modes, some of which may be quite different from those disclosed herein. Consequently, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative.

[0010] None of the terms used herein, including“a,”“an,”“the,” and“their,” are meant to limit the application of the principles disclosed herein. The use of“or” is intended to include“and/or,” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms are used to illustrate the principles disclosed herein and are not intended to be limiting.

[0011] Disclosed herein is a monetary rewards system and method of gaining rewards for websites and mobile applications. The system is based on granting users in-game currency for providing their unique referral code to other users. Once a user inputs a different user’s unique referral code, both users will be granted in-game currency as a reward. Then, the in-game currency is converted to real currency for the user to transfer to their financial account. This system is further described below, but is not intended to be limiting or represent an exhaustive enumeration of the principles disclosed herein.

[0012] In one example (see FIG. 1), the monetary rewards system first requires a new user to create an account with the mobile application or website. Once a new user has created a new account, that user will be granted a referral code unique to their account. The user will then be prompted to input a different user’s unique referral code. If the new user inputs a different user’s referral code, both users will be granted in-game currency. For example, the in-game currency may take the form of cash, although other forms of in-game currency may be used as well. This in-game currency is then transferred to an in-game currency storage system. The user can then convert the in-game currency to real currency at a predetermined rate. The real currency is then transferred to the user’s financial account, and the in-game currency storage system updates to reflect the new quantity of in-game currency, which is the amount of in-game currency before conversion subtracted by the amount of in-game currency converted. One example of the conversion rate would be for every 100 units of in-game currency, the user is rewarded with $0.10 USD. However, different conversions may be used, and the conversion rate may be changed in game through actions or purchases. This system allows the user to continue to grow their in-game currency, and therefore their real currency, by referring different users to the mobile application, providing the user their unique referral code, and watching their wealth grow.

[0013] A user may, but not necessarily, need to fill the in-game currency storage system to a predetermined amount prior to converting their in-game currency to real currency (see FIG. 2). For example, the in-game currency storage system capacity may initially be set at 1000 units of in-game currency, which may then be upgraded to larger quantities through in-game actions or purchases. Once the amount of in-game currency the user has obtained reaches the capacity of the in-game currency storage system, then the user may convert the in-game currency to real currency to be transferred to their financial account. However, if the user desires to convert the in-game currency to real currency prior to filling the in-game currency storage system to the capacity, then a penalty may be applied, reducing the conversion rate of in-game currency to real currency by a predetermined amount. This incentivizes the user to fill the in-game currency storage system to capacity prior to conversion, and not prematurely convert the in-game currency.

[0014] A user can upgrade various in-game storage systems through the use of in game resources. For example, the in-game currency storage system may be upgraded to hold a larger capacity through the use of in-game resources. For example, the in-game resources may consist of rubies, gold, and at least one type of token, each resource with their own purpose (see FIG. 3). These resources may be generated through their own generators, which generate the resource at a predetermined amount per time period. For example, a gold generator may generate 1000 units of gold per hour, or a ruby generator may generate 1000 units of rubies per hour, but the rates of generation may vary. Then these resources are stored in their own storage systems, each with their own resource capacity. These resources may then be spent on upgrading resource generators, resource storage systems, or the in-game currency storage system (see FIG. 3).

[0015] The user may also purchase in-game resources to more rapidly upgrade their generators and storage systems, thereby maximizing the amount of real currency a user may obtain. The in-game store will allow users to purchase these resources in different bundles for real currency. For example, a user may purchase a set amount of gold for $9.99 USD, or other amounts of in-game resources. A user may also purchase a different type of in-game resource for boosting their resource generation or multiply the amount of in-game currency per referral. For example, these in-game resources may be tokens or legendary tokens, which are used for boosts or multipliers respectively. This in-game store may be found on one of the tabs found on the home display screen (see FIG. 4).

[0016] The user may also be rewarded in-game currency through completing achievements. The achievements tab is found on the home display screen (see FIG. 4).

Completing an achievement, such as collecting a certain amount of in-game currency, will award the user with a predetermined amount of in-game currency, which is then added to the in-game currency storage system. Each achievement may have at least one tier with different rewards for each tier.

[0017] As a user inputs a subsequent user’s unique referral codes, the subsequent user will be added to the original user’s friend list. The friend list will track the subsequent users who have had their unique referral codes entered by the initial user. The friend list will also allow the user to invite subsequent users to join a cooperative team made up of different users. The users may then participate in the player-to-player cooperative team mode, allowing the users to work together to reach predetermined goals. The top teams during each period of time are awarded in-game currency.

[0018] In some embodiments, one of the designated tabs (see FIG. 4) contains a cooperative team page for cooperative team members to communicate, post user generated videos, and view the status of the cooperative team. Within this tab, users may chat with other members of their cooperative team, post and watch user generated videos, and view the number of members in the cooperative team. It should be understood that each of the foregoing functionalities may be made into separate designated tabs as well. In one example, the cooperative team tab may show the user if the cooperative team is active or inactive, the current number of members on the cooperative team, a chat room for all the members of the cooperative team, user generated videos from cooperative team members to allow the viewing of other team members’ user generated videos, and buttons allowing cooperative team members to send private user generated videos and written messages with other cooperative team members. The cooperative team tab allows members of the cooperative team to communicate with each other directly through a private chat room. The private chat room may contain one member of the cooperative team, more than one member of the cooperative team, or all members of the cooperative team. This allows the members of the cooperative team to communicate with each other, share user generated video ideas or other ideas, and connect with other members of the cooperative team. The cooperative team tab also allows users to send user generated videos to the other cooperative team members. This allows users of one cooperative team to share their unique referral codes with other members of the cooperative team through a user generated video sent to one, multiple, or all members of the cooperative team at once, further spreading the user’s unique referral code to other users and benefiting all users involved.

[0019] In some embodiments, during a predetermined period of time, the monetary rewards system will host a user generated video competition for spreading around a user’s unique referral code to additional users. Users will send in their own user generated videos that contain their own unique referral code during each predetermined period of time. If a user generated video is selected, that user generated video may be posted to one of the designated tabs (see FIG. 4) for all other users of the monetary rewards system during that predetermined period of time to view. The user generated videos that win the competition for the predetermined period of time may be shown to all new users during the predetermined period of time, all users active during the predetermined period of time, or all users of the monetary rewards system during the predetermined period of time. This allows a user to share the user’s unique referral code through the user generated video with numerous users at once. Each user who enters the winning video’s unique referral code will then be rewarded in-game currency, as well as the user who made the user generated video. One example of a predetermined period of time may be once every 24-hours, but other time periods may be used as well. User generated videos that do not win the competition may still be shared to other members of the user’s cooperative team through the cooperative team designated tab described above.

[0020] A method of gaming utilizing the monetary rewards system is also

contemplated. This method includes initially activating an initial user account. Then, the monetary rewards system will generate a referral code unique to the initial user’s account. Next the monetary rewards system displays the referral code on the home display screen, which allows the initial user to share that referral code with subsequent users. Next, once the referral code has been provided to a subsequent user, the subsequent user will input the code into their monetary rewards system, granting both the initial user and subsequent user in game currency. This in-game currency is transferred into the in-game currency storage system, and then converted to real currency. Then the real currency can be transferred to the user’s financial account, and the monetary rewards system will update the in-game currency storage system to reflect the amount transferred. A method of updating the in-game storage systems through spending in-game resources is also contemplated.

[0021] Another method of gaming utilizing the monetary rewards system is also contemplated. This method includes initially providing the referral code to another user, then requesting the other user to join a player-to-player cooperative team. Next, the users will create a team of at least two players, then can compete with other cooperative teams of multiple players in contests that take place over a predetermined period of time. If the cooperative team is successful in the contest, then the cooperative team will be rewarded in game currency, which is then stored in the in-game currency storage system of each member of the cooperative team.

[0022] Another method of gaming which utilizes the monetary rewards system is also contemplated. This method is based on upgrading the in-game currency storage system through the use of in-game resources. First, the user must obtain the in-game resources through an in-game resource generator or by purchasing the in-game resources through the in-game store. Next, the user may use the in-game resources to upgrade the in-game resource generators or in-game resource storage systems. Once a predetermined amount of in-game resources are stored, then the user may upgrade the storage capacity of the in-game currency storage system using the in-game resources. Finally, the user will fill the upgraded in-game currency storage system with in-game currency for conversion to real currency (see FIG. 2).

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a flow diagram of the steps of using the monetary rewards system to generate real currency. In the first step 101 a user creates an account on the monetary rewards system. In the next step 102, the monetary rewards system generates and provides a unique referral code to the user. In the next step 103 the user provides this unique referral code to a subsequent user. In the next step 104 the subsequent user inputs the unique referral code into their monetary rewards system. Finally, in step 105, the monetary rewards system rewards both the initial user and subsequent user with a predetermined amount of in-game currency.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a flow diagram of the steps for converting the in-game currency to real currency, then transferring the currency into the financial account of the user. In the first step 201, a user receives the in-game currency by entering a different user’s unique referral code. In the next step 202, the in-game currency earned is transferred to an in-game currency storage system. In this embodiment, the in-game currency storage system has a predetermined capacity that the user must fill. If the user fills the in-game currency storage system, then the user will move to the left branch of step 203. However, if the user desires to convert the cash prior to reaching the predetermined capacity, the user will move onto the right branch of step 207. If the user fills the in-game currency storage system to capacity and moves past step 203, the next step 204 has the user convert the in-game currency to real currency at a predetermined rate without any penalty. If the user fails to fill the in-game currency storage system to capacity and moves to step 207, the next step 208 has the user convert the in-game currency to real currency at a predetermined rate, with a percentage subtracted from the final amount of real currency as a penalty for withdrawing prematurely. Once the money has been converted, in the next steps 205 and 209, the amount of real currency is transferred from the monetary rewards system of the user to the user’s financial account in the last steps 206 and 210, the amount of in-game currency in the in-game currency storage system is updated to reflect the quantity of in-game currency after conversion. This amount is the amount of in-game currency prior to conversion subtracted by the amount of in-game currency converted to real currency.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram of the multiple in-game storage systems and resource generators is shown. At the center is the in-game currency storage system 301, which has a predetermined capacity. This predetermined capacity can be upgraded through the use of in-game resources, which in this example is gold. The gold storage capacity 302 can be upgraded by a separate in-game resource, which in this example is rubies. The ruby storage capacity 304 is also upgraded through the use of gold. The primary way to make gold and rubies is through a gold generator 303 and a ruby generator 305. The gold generator 303 and ruby generator 305 both generate their respective resources at a predetermined rate per time period. For example, the gold generator 303 may generate 1,000 gold per hour, but it should be appreciated that different rates of generation may be used. The rate of generation of the ruby generator 305 and the gold generator 303 can be increased through the use of gold and rubies from the gold storage 302 and the ruby storage 304, respectively. In this embodiment, there are other in-game resources called tokens 306 and legendary tokens 307. Tokens 306 are used to boost the amount of gold and rubies generated by the gold generator 303 and ruby generator 305. Legendary tokens 307 are used to multiply the amount of in game currency per referral that goes into the in-game currency storage system 301. This is one embodiment of the in-game storage systems and generators, but other embodiments have been contemplated.

[0026] Referring to FIG. 4, an illustration of the home display screen of the monetary rewards system is shown. In this embodiment, a mobile device 401 is running the monetary rewards system. The display screen in this embodiment is a touch screen for illustration, but other screens may be used in other embodiments. The home display screen contains a tab 402 that displays the current amount of in-game currency the user has obtained. The home display screen contains at least one other tab 403 that displays the amount of in-game resources the user currently owns. The user’s referral code 404 is displayed on the home display screen, as well as the in-game currency storage system 405, achievements tab 406, settings tab 407, and profile tab 408. Lastly, the home display screen has a multitude of navigational tabs 409 at the bottom of the home display screen, each with a different purpose. In this embodiment, there are six total navigational tabs 409 at the bottom, but home display screens with more or less may be used without departing from the principles disclosed herein.

[0027] The detailed description is not intended to be limiting or represent an exhaustive enumeration of the principles disclosed herein. It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from the spirit of the principles disclosed herein.

Claims

Claims What is claimed is:

1. A monetary rewards system comprising:

a server configured to communicate with a plurality of mobile user devices;

memory communicatively coupled to the server;

wherein the server is configured to host a plurality of user accounts;

wherein the server is configured to generate a referral code unique to each of the plurality of user accounts;

wherein the server is configured to generate in-game currency when a referral code for a first user is received from a second user via one of the plurality of mobile user devices; wherein the server is configured to generate a virtual storage system to store in-game currency for each of the plurality of user accounts.

2. A monetary rewards system according to claim 1, further comprising in-game resources for upgrading the virtual storage system to store a larger quantity of in-game currency.

3. A monetary rewards system according to claim 2, wherein the in-game resources are generated through an in-game resource generator system and stored in an in-game virtual resource storage system.

4. A monetary rewards system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the in-game resources are gold.

5. A monetary rewards system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the in-game resources are rubies.

6. A monetary rewards system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the in-game resources are gold and rubies.

7. A monetary rewards system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an in-game store allowing users to purchase the in-game resources.

8. A monetary rewards system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising achievements each of a plurality of users can complete to earn additional in-game currency.

9. A monetary rewards system according to claim 8, further comprising a leaderboard based on the total amount of in-game currency earned by each of the plurality of users.

10. A monetary rewards system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a player-to- player cooperative team mode.

11. A monetary rewards system according to claim 10, wherein in-game currency is earned through the execution of the player-to-player cooperative team mode by two or more users.

12. A monetary rewards system according to claim 10 or 11, further comprising a virtual message center for two or more users in the player-to-player cooperative team mode to communicate with each other.

13. A monetary rewards system according to claim 12, wherein the virtual message center is configured to allow written messages.

14. A monetary rewards system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the virtual message center is configured to allow video messages.

15. A monetary rewards system according to any of claims 1 to 14, wherein a display screen contains a plurality of navigational tabs.

16. A monetary rewards system according to claim 15, wherein the display screen is a touchscreen.

17. A monetary rewards system according to any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the server is configured to receive a user generated video from the first user and provide the user generated video to one or more distinct users.

18. A monetary rewards system according to claim 17, wherein:

the server provides the user generated video to a third user when the third user activates a new user account on the monetary rewards system; and the user generated video is configured to include a referral code unique to a user account of the first user.

19. A method of providing a game, comprising:

activating an initial user account;

generating a referral code unique to the initial user account;

displaying the referral code on a screen which enables the initial user to provide the referral code to one or more subsequent users of the game;

in response to receiving the referral code from a subsequent user,

rewarding the initial user with in-game currency in a first virtual storage system associated with the first user’s account; and

rewarding the second user with in-game currency in a second virtual storage system associated with the second user’s account;

storing the in-game currency in a virtual storage system;

converting the in-game currency to real currency;

transferring the real currency to the initial user; and

updating the amount of in-game currency in the virtual storage system.

20. A method of providing a game according to claim 19, further comprising upgrading the virtual storage system in exchange for a predetermined amount of in-game resources.