Patent ID: 11922776
Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 7:
8. A method of controlling a level of return-to-player in a gaming system including a plurality of gaming devices, each being operable to display a plurality of columns, each of the plurality of columns having a plurality of symbol positions, each of the symbol positions having a background, and a server comprising at least one processor and memory storing a plurality of reel strips associated a first symbol set and a second symbol set, and instructions which, when executed, cause the at least one processor to at least in initiate a game instance, the method comprising:
determining at the at least one processor a threshold based on a number of symbol positions for each of the plurality of columns having symbols from the first symbol set;
determining which of the plurality of reel strips to select symbols from for each of the plurality of columns based on the threshold determined to control a probability of activation of the background when the first symbol set is selected for overlaying a respective background;
transmitting to a first gaming device of the plurality of gaming device a plurality of symbols being selected from the plurality of reel strips determined for the plurality of columns, based on a random value obtained from a random number generator;
upon a first symbol position in a first column animating one or more symbols from the first symbol set, transmitting to the first gaming device an activation of the background of the first symbol position to retain the background for a subsequent game instance;
upon all backgrounds in the first column having been activated, transmitting to the first gaming device an animation of a first award associated with the first column being presented; and
controlling the first gaming device to animate a second award being presented for a winning combination evaluated based on the plurality of symbols displayed and the first award.