Granted Patent B2

US 8,795,059 · App. 13/654,246 · Granted Aug 5, 2014

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method for conducting a wagering game via a gaming terminal, the method comprising:

receiving, via an input device, a wager to play the wagering game;

displaying, on one or more display devices, a base array of symbol positions arranged in a plurality of columns;

randomly distributing a plurality of symbols such that each of the symbol positions in the base array of symbol positions is associated with one or more of the plurality of symbols, at least two of the plurality of symbols being reel-expansion symbols, each of the reel-expansion symbols bearing a respective number, the randomly distributing including associating two reel-expansion symbols with respective ones of the symbol positions in the base array of symbol positions;

indicating, via the two reel-expansion symbols, an extent by which the base array of symbol positions is to be expanded;

expanding the base array of symbol positions into an expanded array of symbol positions, the expanded array of symbol positions including at least one additional symbol position, the number of additional symbol positions being equal to a sum of the respective numbers of the two reel-expansion symbols; and

displaying, on the one or more display devices, the expanded array of symbol positions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the expanding includes expanding the base array of symbol positions into the expanded array of symbol positions such that at least two of the columns are increased in height by different amounts of additional symbol positions.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the two reel-expansion symbols is associated with a symbol position in different ones of the columns.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indicating includes indicating via the two reel-expansion symbols associated with symbol positions in a first one of the columns, and wherein the base array of symbol positions is expanded into the expanded array of symbol positions such that a second one of the columns increases in height to include the at least one additional symbol position.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indicating includes indicating via a first one of the two reel-expansion symbols associated with a first symbol position in a first one of the columns and via a second one of the two reel-expansion symbols associated with a second symbol position in a second one of the columns, and wherein the base array of symbol positions is expanded into the expanded array of symbol positions such that the second one of the columns increases in height to include a first portion of the at least one additional symbol position and a third one of the columns increases in height to include a second portion of the at least one additional symbol position.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

evaluating the plurality of symbols in the expanded array of symbol positions to determine if a winning symbol combination is present;

determining that a winning symbol combination is present, and

in response to the determining, providing an award for the determined winning symbol combination.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the base array of symbol positions is formed by a plurality of symbol-bearing reels, each of the columns being occupied by a single one of the reels.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising in response to an occurrence of a bonus triggering event, conducting a plurality of plays of the wagering game, wherein any additional symbol positions achieved during one of the plays remains in the expanded array of symbol positions for remaining ones of the plurality of plays of the wagering game.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the randomly distributing occurs one column at a time such that each of the symbol positions in a first one of the columns is associated with one of the plurality of symbols prior to the symbol positions in the other columns.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the randomly distributing includes, associating a first one of the reel-expansion symbols with one of the symbol positions in a last one of the columns, and wherein the base array of symbol positions is expanded into the expanded array of symbol positions such that the first one of the columns increases in height to include at least a portion of the at least one additional symbol position.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the randomly distributing includes, associating a first one of the reel-expansion symbols with one of the symbol positions in the first one of the columns, and the method further comprises displaying, on the one or more display devices, the symbols associated with the first one of the columns prior to displaying the symbols associated with the other columns.

12. A method for conducting a wagering game via a gaming terminal, the method comprising:

receiving, via an input device, a wager to play the wagering game;

displaying, on one or more display devices, a base array of symbol positions arranged in a plurality of columns;

randomly distributing a plurality of symbols among the base array of symbol positions such that each of the symbol positions is associated with one or more of the plurality of symbols;

in response to one of the symbol positions being associated with two or more of the plurality of symbols and is thereby a multi-symbol position, expanding the base array of symbol positions into an expanded array of symbol positions, the expanded array of symbol positions including at least one additional symbol position;

redistributing the two or more of the plurality of symbols associated with the multi-symbol position such that the multi-symbol position and the at least one additional symbol position are each associated with exactly one symbol; and

displaying, on the one or more display devices, the expanded array of symbol positions.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the base array of symbol positions is expanded into the expanded array of symbol positions such that the column containing the multi-symbol position increases in height to include the at least one additional symbol position.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising indicating the extent by which the base array of symbol positions is to be expanded via the number of symbols associated with the multi-symbol position.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the number of additional symbol positions is equal to the number of symbols associated with the multi-symbol position in excess of one.

16. A gaming system for conducting a wagering game, the system comprising:

one or more display devices;

an input device;

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by at least one of

the one or more processors, cause the gaming system to:

receive a wager from a player using the input device to play the wagering game;

display a base array of symbol positions arranged in a plurality of columns on at least one of the one or more display devices;

randomly distribute a plurality of symbols among the base array of symbol positions such that each of the symbol positions in the base array of symbol positions is associated with one or more of the plurality of symbols;

in response to one of the symbol positions being associated with two or more of the plurality of symbols and is thereby a multi-symbol position, expand the base array of symbol positions into an expanded array of symbol positions, the expanded array of symbol positions including at least one additional symbol position;

redistribute the two or more of the plurality of symbols associated with the multi-symbol position such that the multi-symbol position and the at least one additional symbol position are each associated with exactly one symbol; and

display on at least one of the one or more display devices the expanded array of symbol positions.

17. The gaming system of claim 16 , wherein the gaming system is further caused to evaluate the symbols in the expanded array of symbol positions to determine if a winning symbol combination is present.

18. The gaming system of claim 16 , wherein the base array of symbol positions is formed by a plurality of symbol-bearing reels, each of the columns being occupied by a single one of the reels.

19. A method for conducting a wagering game via a gaming terminal, the method comprising:

receiving, via an input device, a wager to play the wagering game;

displaying, on one or more display devices, a base array of symbol positions arranged in a plurality of columns;

randomly distributing a plurality of symbols such that each of the symbol positions in the base array of symbol positions is associated with one or more of the plurality of symbols and such that one of the symbol positions in a first one of the columns is associated with two or more of the plurality of symbols and is thereby a multi-symbol position;

indicating, via one or more of the plurality of symbols, an extent by which the base array of symbol positions is to be expanded;

expanding the base array of symbol positions into an expanded array of symbol positions, the expanded array of symbol positions including at least one additional symbol position;

redistributing the two or more of the plurality of symbols associated with the multi-symbol position such that the multi-symbol position and the at least one additional symbol position are each associated with exactly one symbol; and

displaying, on the one or more display devices, the expanded array of symbol positions.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the base array of symbol positions is expanded into the expanded array of symbol positions such that the first one of the columns containing the multi-symbol position increases in height to include the at least one additional symbol position.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the number of symbols associated with the multi-symbol position indicates the extent by which the base array of symbols is to be expanded.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the expanding includes expanding the base array of symbol positions into the expanded array of symbol positions such that at least two of the columns are increased in height by different amounts of additional symbol positions.

23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

evaluating the plurality of symbols in the expanded array of symbol positions to determine if a winning symbol combination is present;

determining that a winning symbol combination is present, and

in response to the determining, providing an award for the determined winning symbol combination.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the base array of symbol positions is formed by a plurality of symbol-bearing reels, each of the columns being occupied by a single one of the reels.

25. The method of claim 19 , further comprising in response to an occurrence of a bonus triggering event, conducting a plurality of plays of the wagering game, wherein any additional symbol positions achieved during one of the plays remains in the expanded array of symbol positions for remaining ones of the plurality of plays of the wagering game.

Assignments (12)