Gaming system and method with a value-bearing symbol feature

A gaming system comprising:

• a presentation assembly configured to present a plurality of reels and an array, the plurality of reels bearing a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising standard symbols and value-bearing symbols, each value-bearing symbol having an associated borne value;
• and
• game-logic circuitry operably coupled with the presentation assembly and configured to cause the system to perform operations to:
• present, via the presentation assembly, the plurality of symbols landed in the array in accordance with a first outcome;
• present, via the presentation assembly, an award for any winning combination of standard symbols according to a pay table;
• in response to a triggering event based on a predetermined number of adjacent value-bearing symbols appearing on a pay line, initiate a bonus game including:
• initialize a spin counter to a predetermined value;
• hold the value-bearing symbols that formed the triggering event in respective positions in the array;
• determine a set of linked symbols, the set of linked symbols including the value-bearing symbols that formed the triggering event and any other value-bearing symbol linked via adjacency to a value-bearing symbol of the set of linked symbols;
• present, via the presentation assembly, graphical connectors between symbols of the set of linked symbols, the graphical connectors visually identifying which value-bearing symbols of the set of linked symbols have the borne values thereof included in a determination of a bonus game award;
• present, via the presentation assembly, newly landed symbols of the plurality of symbols in unheld positions of the array in accordance with a second outcome;
• decrement the spin counter;
• in response to a newly landed value-bearing symbol being adjacent to a position of a symbol of the set of linked symbols, add the newly landed value-bearing symbol to the set of linked symbols, update the presented graphical connectors to include the newly added value-bearing symbol thereby visually updating which value-bearing symbols of the set of linked symbols have the borne values thereof included in the determination of the bonus game award, and reinitialize the spin counter to the predetermined value;
• repeat the operations of presenting newly landed symbols, decrementing the spin counter, and adding-and-updating until no spins remain on the spin counter;
• and
• present, via the presentation assembly, the bonus game award as a sum of the borne values of the value-bearing symbols of the set of linked symbols as visually identified by the graphical connectors, the bonus game award being determined without reference to a pay table.