Gaming machine and method with value-bearing symbol feature

1. A method of operating a gaming machine, the method comprising the operations of:

displaying, on an electronic display device, a plurality of reels and an array, the plurality of reels bearing a plurality of symbols; and

spinning and stopping a plurality of reels to land symbols from the plurality of symbols in the array, the landed symbols including standard symbols and value-bearing symbols; the value-bearing symbols having respective values displayed thereon;

randomly transforming one or more of the value-bearing symbols into respective wild value-bearing symbols that can act as any of the standard symbols; and

in response to one or more of the wild value-bearing symbols contributing to any predefined winning combinations, awarding, by game-logic circuitry, a first award for the winning combination and a second award based on values displayed on the contributing wild value-bearing symbols, each predefined winning combination consisting of a plurality of the standard symbols and the wild value-bearing symbols, wherein the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed into wild value-hearing symbols in the transforming operation cannot contribute to any of the predefined winning combinations and wherein the values displayed on the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed into wild value-bearing symbols in the transforming operation are not awarded.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transforming operation includes animating wild symbols that originate from a source external to the array and then land on the transformed one or more of the value-hearing symbols.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the value-bearing symbols display their respective values thereon both before and after the transforming operation.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the winning combination is a line pay.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subset of the standard symbols is less than all of the standard symbols, and wherein the contributing wild value-bearing symbols are less than all of the wild value-bearing symbols.

6. The method of claim 1 , further including not awarding, by the game-logic circuitry, an award for any of the value-bearing symbols or wild value-bearing symbols in the array other than the contributing wild value-bearing symbols.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, via a value input device, a physical item associated with a monetary value that establishes a credit balance;

receiving, via at least one of one or more electronic input devices, a wager input indicative of a wager drawn from the credit balance; and

receiving, via at least one of the one or more electronic input devices, a cashout input that initiates a payout from the credit balance.

8. A method of operating a gaming machine, the method comprising the operations of:

displaying, on an electronic display device, a plurality of reels, an array, and a source of wild symbols external to the array, the reels bearing a plurality of symbols including standard symbols and value-bearing symbols, the value-bearing symbols having respective values displayed thereon;

spinning and stopping the plurality of reels to land symbols from the plurality of symbols in the array;

dispensing one or more wild symbols from the source onto the array to randomly transform a subset of the landed symbols into the wild symbols that can act as any of the standard symbols; and

in response the subset including one or more transformed value-bearing symbols that contribute to any standard winning combinations, awarding, by game-logic circuitry, a first award for the standard winning combination and a second award based on values displayed on the contributing value-bearing symbols, each standard winning combination consisting of a plurality of the standard symbols and the transformed value-bearing symbols, wherein the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed in the dispensing operation cannot contribute to any of the standard winning combinations and wherein the values displayed on the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed in the dispensing operation are not awarded.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the value-bearing symbols display their respective values thereon both before and after the dispensing operation.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the standard winning combination is a line pay.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the subset of the landed symbols is less than all of the landed symbols, and wherein the contributing value-bearing symbols are less than all of the value-bearing symbols in the subset.

12. The method of claim 8 , further including not awarding, by the game-logic circuitry, an award based on values borne by any value-bearing symbols among the landed symbols other than the contributing value-bearing symbols.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, via a value input device, a physical item associated with a monetary value that establishes a credit balance;

receiving, via at least one of one or more electronic input devices, a wager input indicative of a wager drawn from the credit balance; and

receiving, via at least one of the one or more electronic input devices, a cashout input that initiates a payout from the credit balance.

14. A method of operating a gaming machine, the method comprising the operations of:

displaying, on an electronic display device, a plurality of reels and an array, the plurality of reels bearing a plurality of symbols; and

spinning and stopping a plurality of reels to land symbols from the plurality of symbols in the array, the landed symbols including standard symbols and value-bearing symbols, the value-bearing symbols having respective values displayed thereon;

randomly transforming one or more of the value-bearing symbols into respective wild value-bearing symbols that can act as any of the standard symbols; and

in response to one or more of the wild value-bearing symbols contributing to any predefined winning combinations, awarding, by game-logic circuitry, a first award for the winning combination and a second award based on values displayed on the contributing wild value-bearing symbols, but not awarding, by the game-logic circuitry, an award for any of the value-bearing symbols or wild value-bearing symbols in the array other than the contributing wild value-bearing symbols, each predefined winning combination consisting of a plurality of the standard symbols and the wild value-bearing symbols, wherein the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed into wild value-bearing symbols in the transforming operation cannot contribute to any of the predefined winning combinations and wherein the values displayed on the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed into wild value-bearing symbols in the transforming operation are not awarded.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the transforming operation includes animating wild symbols that originate from a source external to the array and then land on the transformed one or more of the value-bearing symbols.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the value-bearing symbols display their respective values thereon both before and after the transforming operation.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the winning combination is a line pay.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

detecting, via a value input device, a physical item associated with a monetary value that establishes a credit balance;

receiving, via at least one of one or more electronic input devices, a wager input indicative of a wager drawn from the credit balance; and

receiving, via at least one of the one or more electronic input devices, a cashout input that initiates a payout from the credit balance.

19. A gaming system comprising:

a gaming machine including an electronic display device configured to display a plurality of reels and an array, the plurality of reels bearing a plurality of symbols; and

game-logic circuitry configured to perform the operations of:

spinning and stopping a plurality of reels to land symbols from the plurality of symbols in the array, the landed symbols including standard symbols and value-bearing symbols, the value-bearing symbols having respective values displayed thereon;

randomly transforming one or more of the value-bearing symbols into respective wild value-bearing symbols that can act as any of the standard symbols; and

in response to one or more of the wild value-bearing symbols contributing to any predefined winning combinations, awarding a first award for the winning combination and a second award based on values displayed on the contributing wild value-bearing symbols, but not awarding an award for any of the value-bearing symbols or wild value-bearing symbols in the array other than the contributing wild value-bearing symbols, each predefined winning combination consisting of a plurality of the standard symbols and the wild value-bearing symbols, wherein the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed into wild value-bearing symbols in the transforming operation cannot contribute to any of the predefined winning combinations and wherein the values displayed on the value-bearing symbols that were not transformed into wild value-bearing symbols in the transforming operation are not awarded.

20. The gaming system of claim 19 , wherein the transforming operation includes animating wild symbols that originate from a source external to the array and then land on the transformed one or more of the value-bearing symbols.

21. The gaming system of claim 20 , wherein the value-bearing symbols display their respective values thereon both before and after the transforming operation.

22. The gaming system of claim 19 , wherein the winning combination is a line pay.

23. The gaming system of claim 19 , wherein the game-logic circuitry is configured to perform the operations of:

detecting, via a value input device, a physical item associated with a monetary value that establishes a credit balance;

receiving, via at least one of one or more electronic input devices, a wager input indicative of a wager drawn from the credit balance; and

receiving, via at least one of the one or more electronic input devices, a cashout input that initiates a payout from the credit balance.