Enhanced electronic gaming machines and methods for same providing merged game matrices with merged symbol set

1. A method of playing a feature game on a gaming machine; wherein the gaming machine comprises a display, a game controller, a credit input, and a credit meter; wherein the credit input is configured to establish a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based on a wagering activity, and the credit meter is configured to monitor the credit balance; the method comprising the steps of:

determining, via the game controller, if a wager has been received;

upon determining that the wager includes a base game wager, displaying a first game instance formed from symbols from a first symbol set at a first plurality of display positions, and a second game instance formed from symbols from a second symbol set at a second plurality of display positions;

upon determining that the wager also includes an additional wager, displaying a set of additional display positions between the first game instance and the second game instance; wherein at least a portion of the first plurality of display positions, at least a portion of the second plurality of display positions, and the set of additional display positions form a third plurality of contiguous display positions; whereby the third plurality of contiguous display positions forms a merged game instance; wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are merged to form a merged symbol set; selecting a plurality of symbols from the merged symbol set; and displaying the plurality of symbols selected at the first plurality of display positions and the second plurality of display positions of the merged game instance;

determining, via the game controller, if the merged game instance includes a winning outcome; and

increasing the credit balance on the credit meter by an award based on the winning outcome.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set share a common symbol, the method further comprising selecting symbols from a special symbol set and displaying the symbols selected from the special symbol set in the set of additional display positions, wherein the special symbol set also shares the common symbol.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are different.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein selecting symbols from the merged symbol set further comprises selecting symbols for the set of additional display positions from the special symbol set.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the special symbol set further includes a blank symbol.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set includes respective different bonus symbols, and wherein the special symbol set further includes the respective different bonus symbols.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set include respective higher ranked symbols, and wherein the special symbol set further includes the respective higher ranked symbols.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting symbols from the merged symbol set further comprises selecting symbols from the merged symbol set for the first game instance and separately selecting symbols from the merged symbol set for the second game instance.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaming machine further comprises a plurality of buttons representing a plurality of different wagers, and wherein the set of additional display positions in the merged game instance includes more display positions for a higher wager.

10. A method of playing a feature game on a gaming machine; wherein the gaming machine comprises a display, a game controller, a credit input, and a credit meter; wherein the credit input is configured to establish a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based on a wagering activity, and the credit meter is configured to monitor the credit balance; the method comprising the steps of:

determining, via the game controller, if a wager has been received;

upon determining that the wager includes a base game wager, displaying a first game instance formed from symbols from a first symbol set at a first plurality of display positions, and a second game instance formed from symbols from a second symbol set at a second plurality of display positions; and

upon determining that the wager includes a base game wager and an additional wager, displaying a set of additional display positions between the first game instance and the second game instance; wherein at least a portion of the first plurality of display positions, at least a portion of the second plurality of display positions, and the set of additional display positions form a third plurality of contiguous display positions; whereby the third plurality of contiguous display positions forms a merged game instance; wherein a special symbol set is formed from a shared symbol common to the first symbol set and the second symbol; selecting a plurality of symbols from a special symbol set and displaying the plurality of symbols selected at the set of additional display positions;

determining, via the game controller, if the merged game instance, includes a winning outcome; and

increasing the credit balance on the credit meter by an award based on the winning outcome.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

selecting symbols from the first symbol set and displaying the symbols selected at the first plurality of display positions; and

selecting symbols from the second symbol set and displaying the symbols selected at the second plurality of display positions of the merged game instance.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are different.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the special symbol set further includes a blank symbol.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set includes respective different bonus symbols, and wherein the special symbol set further includes the respective different bonus symbols.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the gaming machine further comprises a plurality of buttons representing a plurality of different wagers, and wherein the set of additional display positions in the merged game instance includes more display positions for a higher wager.

16. A gaming machine comprising:

a credit input configured to establish a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based on a wagering activity;

a credit meter configured to monitor the credit balance;

a memory configured to store a first symbol set and a second symbol set;

a display having a first plurality of display positions and a second plurality of display positions;

a game controller configured to determine if a wager has been received,

upon determining that the wager includes a base game wager, to cause the display to display a first game instance formed from symbols from a first symbol set at a first plurality of display positions, and a second game instance formed from symbols from a second symbol set at a second plurality of display positions,

upon determining that the wager also includes an additional wager, to cause the display to display a set of additional display positions between the first game instance and the second game instance; wherein at least a portion of the first plurality of display positions, at least a portion of the second plurality of display positions, and the set of additional display positions form a third plurality of contiguous display positions; whereby the third plurality of contiguous display positions forms a merged game instance; wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are merged to form a merged symbol set; to select a plurality of symbols from the merged symbol set and to cause the display to display the plurality of symbols selected at the first plurality of display positions and the second plurality of display positions of the merged game instance, and

determine if the merged game instance includes a winning outcome; and

wherein the credit meter increases the credit balance by an award based on the winning outcome.

17. The gaming machine of claim 16 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set share a common symbol, wherein the game controller is further configured to select symbols from a special symbol set, and wherein the display is further configured to display the symbols selected from the special symbol set in the set of additional display positions, wherein the special symbol set also shares the common symbol.

18. The gaming machine of claim 17 , wherein the game controller is further configured to select symbols for the set of additional display positions from the special symbol set.

19. The gaming machine of claim 17 , wherein the special symbol set further includes a blank symbol.

20. The gaming machine of claim 17 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set includes respective different bonus symbols, and wherein the special symbol set further includes the respective different bonus symbols.

21. The gaming machine of claim 17 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set include higher ranked symbols, and wherein the special symbol set further includes the higher ranked symbols of the first symbol set and the second symbol set.

22. The gaming machine of claim 17 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set include respective higher ranked symbols, and wherein the special symbol set further includes the respective higher ranked symbols.

23. The gaming machine of claim 16 , wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are different.

24. The gaming machine of claim 16 , further comprising a plurality of buttons representing a plurality of different wagers, and wherein the set of additional display positions in the merged game instance includes more display positions for a higher wager.