Wagering game with enhanced cascading reel symbol feature
View Patent ↗A gaming system and method for conducting a wagering game during which a designated cascade-triggering outcome can cause some symbols to be removed from the display and can move adjacent symbols to cascade and replace the removed symbols in a cascade outcome. A cascade outcome that includes a winning outcome can pay the player a higher value than the same winning outcome that is not included in a cascade outcome.
1. A gaming system comprising:
at least one input device for receiving inputs from a player during a wagering game, the inputs including a wager amount;
at least one display device for displaying a symbol combination of symbols from a plurality of symbols on a plurality of reels;
one or more processors connected to the at least one input device and the at least one display device, and being operable to:
display the symbol combination comprising a randomly selected outcome selected from a plurality of outcomes, the plurality of outcomes including at least one cascade-triggering outcome and a plurality of winning outcomes, each of the plurality of winning outcomes having an associated initial game payout;
in response to the displayed symbol combination comprising the at least one cascade-triggering outcome, remove at least one symbol from the symbol combination, and move an adjacent symbol in the symbol combination to replace the at least one removed symbol to display a cascade outcome; and,
in response to the cascade outcome being one of the plurality of winning outcomes, award a cascade payout with a higher value than the initial game payout associated with that one of the plurality of winning outcomes such that the winning outcome, displayed as the cascade outcome, pays a higher value than the same winning outcome would if achieved from an initial random generation.
2. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the cascade-triggering outcome is one of the plurality of winning outcomes.
3. The gaming system of claim 2 , wherein, in response to the randomly selected outcome being the cascade-triggering outcome, the player is awarded an initial game payout associated with the cascade-triggering outcome.
4. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein, in response to the cascade outcome being one of the plurality of winning outcomes, the cascade payout is equal to the initial game payout associated with that one of the plurality of winning outcomes multiplied by a multiplier.
5. The gaming system of claim 4 wherein the multiplier is randomly selected.
6. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein, in response to the cascade outcome being one of the plurality of winning outcomes, at least a second symbol is removed, a second adjacent symbol is moved in the symbol combination to replace the second removed symbol, and the display displays a second cascade outcome including a plurality of winning outcomes.
7. The gaming system of claim 6 , wherein, in response to the second cascade outcome being one of the plurality of winning outcomes, a second payout amount is awarded in an amount greater than the initial game payout associated with that one of the plurality of winning outcomes.
8. The gaming system of claim 7 , wherein, in response to the second cascade outcome being one of the plurality of winning outcomes, the second payout amount is equal to the initial game payout associated with that one of the plurality of winning outcomes multiplied by a multiplier selected by the player.
9. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the symbols include at least one hold symbol, such that if the at least one hold symbol is part of the cascade-triggering outcome, the at least one hold symbol does not move.
10. The gaming system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one hold symbol is selected from the group comprising a wild symbol and a scatter symbol.
11. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one symbol is at least a part of the cascade-triggering outcome.
12. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, the method comprising:
conducting the wagering game on a gaming machine, the gaming machine having a plurality of reels with a plurality of symbols that indicate a randomly selected outcome of the wagering game, the randomly selected outcome being selected from a plurality of outcomes, the plurality of outcomes including a plurality of winning outcomes and at least one cascade-triggering outcome, each of the plurality of winning outcomes having an associated initial game payout;
displaying at least some of the plurality of symbols on a pay line;
in response to one of the displayed symbols indicating a cascade-triggering outcome, removing at least one of the symbols displayed on the payline and moving an adjacent symbol onto the payline to replace the at least one removed symbol;
after moving the adjacent symbol, displaying a cascade outcome on the payline; and
in response to the cascade outcome being one of the plurality of winning outcomes, awarding a player a cascade amount that is an amount greater than the initial game payout associated with that one of the plurality of winning outcomes such that the winning outcome, displayed as the cascade outcome, pays a higher value than the same winning outcome would if achieved from an initial random generation.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein all the symbols indicating the cascade-triggering outcome are removed.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the cascade-triggering outcome is one of the plurality of winning outcomes.
15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising a symbol-collection feature, the symbol-collection feature tracking the removed symbols until a predetermined number of symbols are removed.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein, in response to tracking a predetermined number of removed symbols, awarding a player a tracking award.
17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of symbols have a direction orientation, the direction orientation determining a direction the adjacent symbol moves to replace the removed symbol.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the direction orientation is a tilt, and the tilt of an adjacent symbol determines the direction that the adjacent symbol moves to replace the removed symbol.
19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the direction orientation of the adjacent symbol is determined by an outcome resulting from the move.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the direction resulting in the most winning outcomes is the direction of the movement of the symbol.
21. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of symbols is located on a distinct reel.
22. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of symbols are not in vertical alignment with one another, and the cascade-trigger outcome causes a movement of non-vertically aligned symbols.
23. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, the method comprising:
receiving a wager input into the gaming machine having a plurality of reels, the gaming machine including a pay table with winning outcomes and corresponding awards for the winning outcomes;
displaying a randomly selected outcome on a plurality of reels;
awarding a player the corresponding award in response to the randomly selected outcome being one of the winning outcomes;
removing at least one symbol from the displayed outcome, and moving an adjacent symbol on at least one of the plurality of reels to replace the removed symbol; and
awarding the player an amount greater than the corresponding award on the pay table in response to one of the winning outcomes being achieved after the symbol has moved such that the winning outcome, achieved after removing and replacing the at least one symbol, pays a higher value than the same winning outcome would if achieved from an initial random generation.
24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the awarding the player an amount greater than the corresponding award includes multiplying the corresponding award by a multiplier.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the multiplier is a player-selectable multiplier, and the method further comprising hiding the value of a plurality of multipliers and, in response to the player selecting one of the plurality of multipliers, revealing the value of the selected multiplier.