Patent ID: 6988948

Claim:
A method for a player to play a casino bonus game, the player placing a wager to play a gaming machine containing the casino bonus game, the method comprising: randomly entering the casino bonus game from play of the gaming machine, randomly displaying on a display in the casino bonus game a compound hidden pattern, the compound hidden pattern uncovered with a minimum number of player inputs based on optimal strategy, receiving player inputs from the player during play of the casino bonus game to uncover the compound hidden pattern, the received inputs from the player limited to a given number, after each received input, displaying whether a part of the compound hidden pattern is uncovered, based on the aforesaid part of the compound hidden pattern displayed in the display, using strategy by the player to provide the next player input, awarding a bonus amount to the player based on the number of received inputs used to uncover the compound hidden pattern, the largest bonus amount awarded to the player occurring with the minimum number of received inputs from the player using said optimal strategy to uncover the compound hidden pattern, the smallest bonus amount awarded to the player occurring with the given number of received inputs from the player to uncover the compound hidden pattern, ending the casino bonus game in response to awarding the bonus amount.