Game Mechanics & Gameplay

Tencent received 1 patent covering a projectile throwing system that ties trajectory visualization directly to a character's current stamina level. As a character fatigues, the visual preview of a grenade or weapon throw updates in real time, letting players see the likely arc before they commit to the action. The result is a feedback loop where physical exhaustion becomes a tangible, visible factor in combat decisions rather than a hidden stat working in the background.

The Pokemon Company received 3 patents this period, all centered on the same core idea: rewarding players based on both their daytime activity and the quality of their sleep. Each filing describes a system where wake-time engagement generates a multiplier or accumulates points, but the actual value of that effort is determined by how well the player sleeps afterward. Because the relationship between the 2 variables is multiplicative rather than additive, poor sleep reduces the payoff of an active day, and an inactive day reduces the payoff of a restful night. Together, the 3 patents map out a game loop where neither element alone is sufficient to progress.

AMI Entertainment Network's 1 patent describes a trivia system built for bars and restaurants that pulls from live venue context to generate questions in real time. Rather than relying on question banks written months in advance, the system analyzes what music is currently playing on the jukebox, what content appears on nearby displays, and the demographics of the patrons present, then tailors questions accordingly. The approach replaces the static, one-size-fits-all model of venue trivia with something that shifts based on who is actually in the room.

Cygames filed 1 patent addressing a persistent problem in card and deck-based battle games: older content becoming obsolete as newer, more powerful cards enter circulation. The system assigns group identifiers to cards or content sets and uses those identifiers to generate dynamic effects during actual gameplay, so the balance between older and newer cards shifts based on what is active in a given match. Rather than applying fixed adjustments in advance, the balancing happens contextually, in response to what each player brings to the table.

Konami received 1 patent for a bingo-style lottery mechanic that treats the top and bottom squares of each column as adjacent to one another, as if the grid wraps around vertically. This changes the underlying probability of completing a line compared to a standard grid, where those squares would be considered endpoints with no shared neighbor. The visual presentation of the board stays familiar, but the adjacency rules beneath it fundamentally alter how lines form and how long players remain engaged.

Severex filed 1 patent for an educational game that teaches math by requiring players to solve equations in order to decrypt hidden phrases. Letters in a target phrase are concealed until every number in the corresponding equation has been placed correctly, so partial progress does not reveal partial answers. The system also supports numbers greater than 9, which expands the complexity beyond traditional cryptarithm puzzles, and includes a multiplayer competitive mode that lets players race against one another to decrypt phrases first.

Nintendo received 2 patents covering distinct gameplay mechanics. The first describes a creature-capture system where defeating a wild character opens a temporary window during which that character can be caught at a higher success rate, though the opportunity closes after a set time or number of attempts. The second covers a racing game mechanic where players collect special items during a race to permanently unlock new characters and costumes, expanding the playable roster through performance within normal race sessions rather than through external menus or separate challenge modes.

Pre-Emption Games filed 1 patent for a physical board game built around a playing surface that can physically transform before or during a session. Mechanical sections of the board open, close, or swap positions, creating distinct phases of play as the layout itself changes. The transformation is structural rather than representational, meaning the board does not simply track a changing game state but actually reconfigures its physical form to alter the space players are working with.