# US 8,784,176 B2 · Electronic gaming device with contagious wild symbols > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,784,176 B2 - Document ID: US8784176B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/754,435 - Filed: 2013-01-30 - Published: 2013-12-05 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2012-06-04 - Assignees: Cadillac Jack - Applicants: Timothy Ryan - Inventors: Timothy Ryan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8784176B2 ## CPC - G07F 17/3262: {Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played} - G07F 17/326: {Game play aspects of gaming systems} - G07F 17/3265: {Influencing the position of stopped moving members to achieve a winning arrangement, e.g. nudging, shuffling, holding} - G07F 17/3288: {Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking} - G07F 17/34: depending on the stopping of moving members {in a mechanical slot machine}, e.g. "fruit" machines - G07F: COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS (coin sorting G07D3/00; coin testing G07D5/00; {handling coins or paper currencies apart from payment activated apparatus G07D; payment architectures, schemes or protocols G06Q20/00}) ## Abstract Examples disclosed herein relate to systems and methods, which may provide gaming options relating to contagious wilds, non-contagious wilds, dormant wilds, contagious dormant wilds, and/or blockers. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electronic gaming device comprising: a plurality of reels, the plurality of reels including one or more areas; a memory; a processor configured to generate one or more symbols to be located in the one or more areas, the one or more symbols include a first directional contagious wild symbol and a first dormant wild symbol, the processor configured to determine one of a plurality of different predetermined directional movement path patterns to expand the first directional contagious wild symbol, the processor configured to determine a first interaction determination that determines a selected predetermined directional movement path pattern from the plurality of predetermined directional movement path patterns, the processor configured to modify the first dormant wild symbol into at least one of a contagious wild symbol and a wild symbol based on the selected predetermined directional movement path pattern and the processor configured to expand the first directional contagious wild symbol based on the selected predetermined directional movement path pattern into the first dormant wild symbol. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The electronic gaming device of claim 1, wherein the first interaction determination is based on a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a first dormant wild symbol location. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The electronic gaming device of claim 2, wherein the first interaction determination is that the first directional contagious wild symbol location is one area away from the first dormant wild symbol location. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The electronic gaming device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify a first directional contagious wild symbol characteristic based on a second interaction determination. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The electronic gaming device of claim 4, wherein the second interaction determination is based on a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a contagious wild symbol location. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The electronic gaming device of claim 5, wherein the second interaction determination is that the first directional contagious wild symbol location is one area away from the contagious wild symbol location. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The electronic gaming device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify at least one of a first directional contagious wild symbol characteristic, a first dormant wild symbol characteristic, and a contagious wild symbol characteristic based on a third interaction determination. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The electronic gaming device of claim 7, wherein the third interaction determination is based on at least one of a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a first dormant wild symbol location, a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a contagious wild symbol location, and the first dormant wild symbol location and the contagious wild symbol location. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The electronic gaming device of claim 8, wherein the third interaction determination is at least one of that the first directional contagious wild symbol location is two areas away from the first dormant wild symbol location, the first directional contagious wild symbol location is two areas away from the contagious wild symbol location, and the first dormant wild symbol location is two areas away from the contagious wild symbol location. ### Claim 10 A method of providing gaming options via an electronic gaming device comprising: displaying a first directional contagious wild symbol; displaying a first dormant wild symbol; determining a predetermined directional movement path pattern from a plurality of different predetermined directional movement path patterns to expand the first directional contagious wild symbol; determining via one or more processors a first interaction determination that determines a selected predetermined directional movement path pattern from the plurality of predetermined directional movement path patterns; expanding the first directional contagious wild symbol based on the selected predetermined directional movement path pattern into the first dormant wild symbol; and modifying via the one or more processors the first dormant wild symbol into at least one of a contagious wild symbol and a wild symbol based on the selected predetermined directional movement path pattern. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the first interaction determination is based on a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a first dormant wild symbol location. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the first interaction determination is that the first directional contagious wild symbol location is one area away from the first dormant wild symbol location. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising modifying a first directional contagious wild symbol characteristic based on a second interaction determination. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the second interaction determination is based on a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a contagious wild symbol location. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the second interaction determination is that the first directional contagious wild symbol location is one area away from the contagious wild symbol location. ### Claim 16 An electronic gaming system comprising: a server including a server memory and a server processor, the server processor configured to display a plurality of reels which include one or more symbols, the one or more symbols include a first directional contagious wild symbol and a first dormant wild symbol; and the server processor configured to determine one of a plurality of different predetermined directional movement path patterns to expand the first directional contagious wild symbol, the server processor configured to determine a first interaction determination that determines a selected predetermined directional movement path pattern from the plurality of predetermined directional movement path patterns, the server processor configured to modify the first dormant wild symbol into at least one of a contagious wild symbol and a wild symbol based on the selected predetermined directional movement path pattern and the server processor configured to expand the first directional contagious wild symbol based on the selected predetermined directional movement path pattern into the first dormant wild symbol. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The electronic gaming system of claim 16, wherein the first interaction determination is based on a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a first dormant wild symbol location. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The electronic gaming system of claim 17, wherein the first interaction determination is that the first directional contagious wild symbol location is one area away from the first dormant wild symbol location. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The electronic gaming system of claim 16, wherein the server processor is further configured to modify a first directional contagious wild symbol characteristic based on a second interaction determination. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The electronic gaming system of claim 19, wherein the second interaction determination is based on a first directional contagious wild symbol location and a contagious wild symbol location.