Gaming system and method for providing a game which populates symbols along a path

A gaming system comprising:

• a housing;
• at least one display device supported by the housing;
• a plurality of input devices supported by the housing, said plurality of input devices including:
• (i) an acceptor, and
• (ii) a cashout device;
• at least one controller configured to operate with the at least one display device and the plurality of input devices to:
• (a) if a physical item is received via the acceptor, establish a credit balance based, at least in part, on a monetary value associated with the received physical item,
• (b) at a plurality of adjacent symbol display positions, display a randomly determined symbol,
• (c) randomly select a quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions, wherein said random selection of the quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions occurs prior to any display of any path formed by said at least two adjacent symbol display positions,
• (d) after randomly selecting the quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions, display a path formed by said selected quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions,
• (e) determine if any awards are associated with the randomly determined symbols of the randomly selected quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions of the formed path,
• (f) display any determined awards associated with the randomly determined symbols of the randomly selected quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions of the formed path, wherein the credit balance is increasable based on any determined awards associated with the randomly determined symbols of the randomly selected quantity of at least two of the adjacent symbol display positions of the formed path, and
• (g) if a cashout input is received via the cashout device, cause an initiation of any payout associated with the credit balance.