Method of gaming, a game controller and a gaming system

1. A method of making an award, the method comprising:

establishing a credit balance associated with a player based on a credit input received from the player using a credit input mechanism, wherein the credit input mechanism comprises at least one of a coin input mechanism, a bill acceptor, a card reader, and a ticket reader;

receiving a wager for a first round of play from the player, wherein the wager decreases the credit balance;

in response to the wager, selecting a plurality of symbols for the first round of play from a set of symbols including at least one modifiable symbol having a defined space, wherein the plurality of symbols are displayed in a plurality of display positions;

determining a first award for the first round of play when a winning combination of the plurality of symbols is displayed in the plurality of display positions;

selecting at least one modifier, wherein the at least one modifier has a defined shape;

identifying a first modifiable symbol of the at least one modifiable symbol within the plurality of symbols that is configured to receive a modifier;

determining a modifier available for the first modifiable symbol by comparing the defined shape of the at least one modifier with the defined space of the first modifiable symbol, wherein the defined space of the first modifiable symbol is configured to receive a plurality of modifiers;

modifying the first modifiable symbol by adding the at least one modifier to the first modifiable symbol;

determining whether to make a second award for the first round of play based on the plurality of symbols as modified, wherein at least one of the first award and the second award increases the credit balance; and

initiating a payout associated with the credit balance using a cashout button.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein determining whether the modifier is available comprises determining whether the modifier matches the first modifiable symbol.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the defined space of the first modifiable symbol is configured to receive any-shaped modifier.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one modifier is configured to modify a plurality of modifiable symbols.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one modifier is configured to modify all of the modifiable symbols.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising displaying a plurality of modifiers.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the at least one modifier is associated with each of a plurality of subsets of display positions.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein each subset of display positions of the plurality of sets corresponds to a reel of a spinning reel game.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one symbol is not modifiable.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein selecting the at least one modifier comprises randomly selecting the at least one modifier.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the determination of whether to make the second award based on the plurality of symbols as modified is based solely on the at least one modifier with respect to the first modifiable symbol.

12. A game controller for making an award, the game controller arranged to:

establish a credit balance associated with a player based on a credit input received from the player using a credit input mechanism, wherein the credit input mechanism comprises at least one of a coin input mechanism, a bill acceptor, a card reader, and a ticket reader;

receive a wager for a first round of play from the player, wherein the wager decreases the credit balance;

in response to the wager, select a plurality of symbols for the first round of play from a set of symbols including at least one modifiable symbol having a defined space, wherein the plurality of symbols are displayed in a plurality of display positions;

determine a first award for the first round of play when a winning combination of the plurality of symbols is displayed in the plurality of display positions;

select at least one modifier, wherein the at least one modifier has a defined shape;

identify a first modifiable symbol of the at least one modifiable symbol within the plurality of symbols that is configured to receive a modifier;

determine at least one modifier available for the first modifiable symbol by comparing the defined shape of the at least one modifiers with the defined space included in the first modifiable symbol, wherein the defined space of the first modifiable symbol is configured to receive a plurality of modifiers;

modify the first modifiable symbol by adding the at least one modifier to the first modifiable symbol;

determine whether to make a second award for the first round of play based on the plurality of symbols as modified, wherein at least one of the first award and the second award increases the credit balance; and

initiate a payout associated with the credit balance using a cashout button.

13. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , comprising a symbol selector configured to select the plurality of symbols.

14. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , comprising a modifier controller configured to determine whether at least one modifier is available and modify any modifiable symbol.

15. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , comprising an award evaluator configured to determine whether to make the second award based on the plurality of symbols as modified.

16. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , comprising a processor arranged to execute program code stored in a memory.

17. A game controller as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the memory stores the symbol set.

18. A game controller as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the symbol set is constituted by a plurality of subsets corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of reels.

19. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 further configured to determine whether at least one modifier is available by determining whether the at least one modifier matches the first modifiable symbol.

20. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the defined space of the first modifiable symbol is configured to receive any shaped modifier.

21. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , wherein at least one modifier is configured to modify more than one modifiable symbol.

22. A game controller as claimed in claim 21 , wherein at least one modifier is configured to modify all of the modifiable symbols.

23. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 further configured to cause display of a plurality of modifiers.

24. A game controller as claimed in claim 23 , wherein at least one modifier is associated with each of a plurality of subsets of display positions.

25. A game controller as claimed in claim 24 , wherein each subset of display positions corresponds to a reel of a spinning reel game.

26. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , wherein at least one symbol is not modifiable.

27. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 further configured to randomly select the at least one modifier.

28. A game controller as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the determination of whether to make the second award based on the plurality of symbols as modified is based solely on the modifier with respect to the first modifiable symbol.

29. A gaming system for making an award, the gaming system comprising:

a credit input mechanism configured to receive a credit input from a player, wherein the credit input mechanism comprises at least one of a coin input mechanism, a bill acceptor, a card reader, and a ticket reader;

a display; and

a game controller arranged to:

establish a credit balance associated with the player based on the received credit input;

receive a wager for a first round of play from the player, wherein the wager decreases the credit balance;

in response to the wager, select a plurality of symbols for the first round of play from a set of symbols including at least one modifiable symbol having a defined space, wherein the plurality of symbols are displayed on the display in a plurality of display positions;

determine a first award for the first round of play when a winning combination of the plurality of symbols is displayed in the plurality of display positions;

select at least one modifier, wherein the at least one modifier has a defined shape;

identifying a first modifiable symbol of the at least one modifiable symbol within the plurality of symbols that is configured to receive a modifier;

determine whether at least one modifier is available for the first modifiable symbol by comparing the defined shape of the at least one modifier with the defined space of the first modifiable symbol, wherein the defined space of the first modifiable symbol is configured to receive a plurality of modifiers;

modify the first modifiable symbol by adding the at least one modifier to the first modifiable symbol;

determine whether to make a second award for the first round of play based on the plurality of symbols as modified, wherein at least one of the first award and the second award increases the credit balance; and

initiate a payout associated with the credit balance using a cashout button.

30. A gaming system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the display forms part of a player interface further comprising a game play mechanism operable by a player to input at least one game play instruction, and wherein the game controller is operative to select the symbols in response to the game play instruction.

31. A gaming system as claimed in claim 29 , comprising a symbol selector configured to select the plurality of symbols.

32. A gaming system as claimed in claim 29 , comprising a modifier controller configured to determine whether at least one modifier is available and modify any modifiable symbol of the plurality of symbols.

33. A gaming system as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the modifier controller is configured to determine whether at least one modifier is available by determining whether the at least one modifier matches the first modifiable symbol.

34. A gaming system as claimed in claim 29 , comprising an award evaluator configured to determine whether to make the second award based on the plurality of symbols as modified.

35. A gaming system as claimed in claim 34 , wherein the award evaluator is configured to make the determination of whether to make the second award based solely on the modifier with respect to at least one symbol.

36. A gaming system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the game controller is configured to cause display of a plurality of modifiers.

37. A gaming system as claimed in claim 36 , wherein at least one modifier is associated with each of a plurality of subsets of display positions.

38. A gaming system as claimed in claim 29 , comprising a modifier selector configured to select the at least one modifier.

39. A gaming system as claimed in claim 38 , wherein the modifier selector is configured to randomly select the at least one modifier.

40. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program code which when executed causes a processor to implement a method of gaming, the method comprising:

establishing a credit balance associated with a player based on a credit input received from the player using a credit input mechanism, wherein the credit input mechanism comprises at least one of a coin input mechanism, a bill acceptor, a card reader, and a ticket reader;

receiving a wager for a first round of play from the player, wherein the wager decreases the credit balance;

in response to the wager, selecting a plurality of symbols for the first round of play from a set of symbols including at least one modifiable symbol having a defined space, wherein the plurality of symbols is displayed in a plurality of display positions;

determining a first award for the first round of play when a winning combination of the plurality of symbols is displayed in the plurality of display positions;

selecting at least one modifier, wherein the at least one modifier has a defined shape;

identifying a first modifiable symbol of the at least one modifiable symbol within the plurality of symbols that is configured to receive a modifier;

determining whether at least one modifier is available for the first modifiable symbol by comparing the defined shape of the at least one modifier with the defined space of the first modifiable symbol, wherein the defined space of the first modifiable symbol is configured to receive a plurality of modifiers;

modifying the first modifiable symbol by adding the at least one modifier to the first modifiable symbol;

determining whether to make a second award for the first round of play based on the plurality of symbols as modified, wherein at least one of the first award and the second award increases the credit balance; and

initiating a payout associated with the credit balance using a cashout button.