Patent ID: 11972656
Assignee: IGT
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 8:
9. A method, comprising:
initiating a gaming session for a grid-based game, the grid-based game being arranged as an array of cells to be populated with symbols on a display;
determining, during the gaming session, that a losing play of the grid-based game comprises a wild symbol;
storing a pointer that indicates a first cell position of where the wild symbol appeared in the array of cells for the losing play;
determining, after storing the pointer, that a number of consecutive losing plays exceeds a threshold;
providing, in response to determining that the number of consecutive losing plays exceeds the threshold, a player of the grid-based game with an option to reuse the wild symbol in a next play, wherein the option to reuse the wild symbol in the next play comprises an interactive feature displayed on the display that is made available to the player when the number of consecutive losing plays exceeds the threshold;
receiving, through the interactive feature displayed on the display, player input from the player that indicates a desire to reuse the wild symbol in the next play;
determining, based on the pointer, a second cell position of where the wild symbol appears in the array of cells for the next play;
generating, based on the player input, a sequence of symbols comprising the wild symbol; and
displaying, by the display, the sequence of symbols populated in the array of cells with the wild symbol in the second cell position in the array of cells.