Systems and methods for supplementing a wagering game

A method of supplementing a plurality of mechanical reels of an electronic gaming machine with graphical content on a display device, the method comprising:

• displaying spinning a wheel in a feature game based on an outcome of a base game on an electronic gaming device, the feature game provides a plurality of mechanical reels and a display device;
• presenting a number of feature game symbols initially available for use during each play of the feature game on the wheel;
• displaying a plurality of symbol columns on the display device, each symbol column of the plurality of symbol columns is associated with a reel of the plurality of mechanical reels;
• spinning the plurality of mechanical reels in response to the player initiating a play of the feature game, the spin resulting in a primary play area from the plurality of mechanical reels, including one or more feature game symbols being displayed in the primary play area;
• animating a distribution of the number of feature game symbols into the plurality of symbol columns, the number of feature game symbols supplements symbols appearing physically on the plurality of mechanical reels;
• presenting an outcome of the play of the feature game based at least in part on attributing the feature game symbols in the plurality of symbol columns to their associated reels and in combination with the one or more feature game symbols in the primary play area;
• and
• awarding credit to the player based on the evaluating.

A non-transitory computer-readable media containing instructions embodied thereon which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

• initiate game play of a feature game based on an outcome of a base game, the feature game uses a plurality of mechanical reels and a display device;
• identify a number of feature game symbols initially available for use during each play of the feature game;
• cause display a plurality of symbol columns on the display device, each symbol column of the plurality of symbol columns is associated with a reel of the plurality of mechanical reels;
• perform a spin of the plurality of mechanical reels in response to the player initiating a play of the feature game, the spin resulting in a primary play area from the plurality of mechanical reels;
• in response to the player initiating the play, distribute the number of feature game symbols into the plurality of symbol columns based on an output of a random number generator, each feature game symbol being displayed in a determined symbol column of the plurality of symbol columns, the number of feature game symbols supplements symbols appearing physically on the plurality of mechanical reels;
• evaluate an outcome of the play of the feature game based at least in part on attributing the feature game symbols to their associated reels;
• and
• award credit to the player based on the evaluating.