Abstract: An incentive producing apparatus having a symbol displaying device, a player actuated device for changing the symbols on the displaying device, an accounting device for recording the changes in symbol displays caused by the operation of the player actuated device, and a processor responsive to the manner in which the player operates the device in such a way that the device responds to player input in the form of response time relative to the time of day or calendar time in order to adjust the operation of the apparatus to automatically, continually, proportionally, and subtly increase or decrease the difficulty of operation to maintain the incentive of the player to continue to operate the apparatus. The apparatus can be in the form of a slot machine game, an arcade game, a video action game or an education game. An embodiment of each type of such apparatus is disclosed.