Gaming machine and methods of allowing a player to play gaming machines having replaceable reels

A method of providing an award to a player, including the steps of:

• receiving a wager from a player and responsively displaying a game on a display device, the game including a plurality of reels being displayed within a grid, each of the plurality of reels including a plurality of symbol positions being displayed with a corresponding symbol;
• randomly generating a first outcome and spinning and stopping the plurality of reels to display the first outcome;
• detecting a triggering condition with the first outcome and responsively selecting at least one reel of the plurality of reels and replacing the selected reel with a replacement reel, the replacement reel including a number of symbol positions being displayed in the grid that is less than a number of symbol positions included with the selected reel;
• randomly generating a second outcome and spinning and stopping the plurality of reels including the replacement reel to display the second outcome;
• and
• providing an award to the player as a function of the second outcome.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media, having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to:

• display a game on a display device, the game including a plurality of reels being displayed within a grid, each of the plurality of reels including a plurality of symbol positions being displayed with a corresponding symbol;
• randomly generate a first outcome and spin and stop the plurality of reels to display the first outcome;
• detect a triggering condition with the first outcome and responsively select at least one reel of the plurality of reels and replacing the selected reel with a replacement reel, the replacement reel including a number of symbol positions being displayed in the grid that is less than a number of symbol positions included with the selected reel;
• randomly generate a second outcome and spin and stop the plurality of reels including the replacement reel to display the second outcome;
• and
• provide an award to the player as a function of the second outcome.