Gaming machine and methods of allowing a player to play gaming machines having replacement symbols

A method of allowing a player to play a gaming machine including a controller, a display device, and an input device, the input device including an acceptor device which accepts physical media associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance, the controller including a processor coupled to a memory device, the method comprising the controller performing the step of:

• receiving a signal from the acceptor device indicating a physical item associated with a monetary value being received from the player via the acceptor device and establishing a credit balance associated with the monetary value;
• receiving a signal from the input device indicating a wager being placed by the player on a game and adjusting the credit balance as a function of an amount of the wager;
• displaying, on the display device, a game including a plurality of reels being displayed in a display area, each reel having a plurality of symbols positions, at least one of the reels having a run of consecutive special symbol positions, each consecutive special symbol position populated with a first special symbol;
• randomly generating a first outcome, displaying the generated first game outcome in the display area, and responsively awarding a first award to the player based on the first game outcome;
• detecting if a triggering condition occurs in the first game outcome, the triggering condition being defined as at least a portion of the run of consecutive special symbol positions appearing on the at least one of the reels appearing in the first outcome;
• and
• randomly determining a number of second outcomes to be generated;
• and,
• for each second outcome, randomly selecting a special symbol and replacing the first special symbol in each of the consecutive special symbol positions in the previous game outcome with the selected special symbol;
• and
• providing a second award to the player based on the last generated outcome of the number of second game outcomes and responsively adjusting the credit balance as a function of the second award.

A method of allowing a player to play a gaming machine including a controller, a display device, and an input device, the input device including an acceptor device which accepts physical media associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance, the controller including a processor coupled to a memory device, the method comprising the controller performing the steps of:

• receiving a signal from the acceptor device indicating a physical item associated with a monetary value being received from the player via the acceptor device and establishing a credit balance associated with the monetary value;
• receiving a signal from the input device indicating a wager being placed by the player on a game and adjusting the credit balance as a function of an amount of the wager;
• displaying, on the display device, a game including a plurality of reels being displayed in a display area, each reel having a plurality of symbols positions, at least one of the reels having a run of consecutive special symbol positions, each consecutive special symbol position populated with a first special symbol;
• randomly generating a first outcome, displaying the generated first outcome in the display area, and responsively awarding a first award to the player based on the first outcome;
• detecting if a triggering condition occurs in the first game outcome, the triggering condition defined as at least a portion of the run of consecutive special symbol positions appearing on the at least one of the reels appearing in the first outcome including a predefined number of consecutive special symbol positions appearing in the first outcome, wherein the triggering condition is further defined as a run of consecutive special symbol positions appearing on two reels of the plurality of reels appearing in the first outcome;
• and
• responsively replacing the first special symbol in the run of consecutive special symbol positions with a second special symbol to generate a second outcome of the game, awarding a second award to the player based on the second outcome and responsively adjusting the credit balance as a function of the second award.

A gaming machine, comprising:

• a display device for displaying a game;
• a user input device configured to generate a signal indicative of a player's selection input, the user input device including an acceptor device configured to accept physical media associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance that may be used by the player to place a wager on the game;
• and
• a controller coupled to the display device and the user input device,
• the controller for receiving a signal from the user input device indicating a wager being made by the player, adjusting the credit balance by an amount of the wager, and displaying the game including a plurality of reels being displayed in a display area, the display area include a plurality of cells, each reel having a plurality of symbols being displayed in a plurality of symbols positions, at least two of the reels having a run of consecutive special symbol positions, each consecutive special symbol position populated with a first special symbol,
• the controller for randomly generating a first outcome and spinning and stopping the reels to display the generated first game outcome including a symbol being displayed in each of the plurality of cells in the display area,
• the controller for detecting if a triggering condition occurs in the first game outcome, the triggering condition being defined as each of the runs of consecutive special symbol positions of the at least two of the reels appearing in the first outcome, and
• for responsively generating and displaying a second outcome of the game including selecting a second special symbol, replacing each first special symbol in each of the runs of consecutive special symbol positions with the second special symbol, awarding an award to the player based on the second outcome, and responsively adjusting the credit balance as a function of the award.

A gaming machine, comprising:

• a display device for displaying a game;
• a user input device configured to generate a signal indicative of a player's selection input, the user input device including an acceptor device configured to accept physical media associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance that may be used by the player to place a wager on the game;
• and
• a controller coupled to the display device and the user input device,
• the controller for receiving a signal from the user input device indicating a wager being made by the player, adjusting the credit balance by an amount of the wager, and displaying the game including a plurality of reels being displayed in a display area, each reel having a plurality of symbols positions, at least one of the reels having a run of consecutive special symbol positions, each consecutive special symbol position populated with a first special symbol,
• the controller for randomly generating a first outcome, displaying the generated first game outcome in the display area, and responsively awarding a first award to the player based on the first game outcome,
• the controller for detecting if a triggering condition occurs in the first game outcome, the triggering condition being defined as at least a portion of the run of consecutive special symbol positions appearing on the at least one of the reels appearing in the first outcome,
• the controller for randomly determining a number of second outcomes to be generated and, for each second outcome, for randomly selecting a special symbol and replacing the first special symbol in each of the consecutive special symbol positions in the previous game outcome with the selected special symbol,
• the controller for providing a second award to the player based on the last generated outcome of the number of second game outcomes and responsively adjusting the credit balance as a function of the second award.

A gaming machine, comprising:

• a display device for displaying a game;
• a user input device configured to generate a signal indicative of a player's selection input, the user input device including an acceptor device configured to accept physical media associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance that may be used by the player to place a wager on the game;
• and
• a controller coupled to the display device and the user input device, the controller for receiving a signal from the user input device indicating a wager being made by the player, adjusting the credit balance by an amount of the wager, and displaying the game including a plurality of reels being displayed in a display area, each reel having a plurality of symbols positions, at least one of the reels having a run of consecutive special symbol positions, each consecutive special symbol position populated with a first special symbol, the controller for randomly generating a first outcome, displaying the generated first game outcome in the display area, and responsively awarding a first award to the player based on the first game outcome, the controller for detecting if a triggering condition occurs in the first game outcome, the triggering condition defined as at least a portion of the run of consecutive special symbol positions appearing on the at least one of the reels appearing in the first outcome including a predefined number of consecutive special symbol positions appearing in the first outcome, wherein the triggering condition is further defined a run of consecutive special symbol positions appearing on least two reels of the plurality of reels appearing in the first outcome, the controller for responsively replacing the first special symbol in the run of consecutive special symbol positions with a second special symbol to generate a second outcome of the game, awarding a second award to the player based on the second outcome, and responsively adjusting the credit balance as a function of the second award.

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of gaming devices, each gaming device including a user input device for accepting a player's selection input, each user input device including an acceptor device configured to accept physical media associated with a monetary value to establish a credit balance that may be used by the player to place a wager on the game and a display device;
• and
• a system controller coupled to each gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices for receiving a signal from a user input device of at least one gaming device indicating a wager being made by the player, adjusting a corresponding credit balance by an amount of the wager, and displaying a game on the at least one gaming device, the game including a plurality of reels being displayed in a display area, the display area include a plurality of cells, each reel having a plurality of symbols being displayed in a plurality of symbols positions, at least two of the reels having a run of consecutive special symbol positions, each consecutive special symbol position populated with a first special symbol,
• the system controller for randomly generating a first outcome and spinning and stopping the reels to display the generated first game outcome in the display area, and responsively awarding a first award to the player based on the first game outcome,
• the system controller for detecting if a triggering condition occurs in the first game outcome, the triggering condition being defined as each of the runs of consecutive special symbol positions of the at least two of the reels appearing in the first outcome, and
• for responsively generating and displaying a second outcome of the game including selecting a second special symbol, replacing each first special symbol in each of the runs of consecutive special symbol positions with the second special symbol, awarding a second award to the player based on the second outcome, and responsively adjusting the corresponding credit balance as a function of the second award.