Patent ID: 11887434
Assignee: nan
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A gaming device comprising:
a game display having a game grid of symbol positions showing portions of a plurality of game reels;
a wager input device structured to receive physical currency or currency based tickets, the currency or currency based tickets establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable or decreasable based at least on wagering activity; and
a processor configured to:
receive a first signal to initiate a first game of chance in response to placement of a first wager, the first wager decreasing the credit balance from a first credit balance amount to a second credit balance amount;
determine an outcome for the first game of chance by randomly determining symbols to be displayed in the game grid on the game display;
display the determined outcome of the first game of chance on the game display by spinning the plurality of game reels and stopping the plurality of game reels to show the determined outcome of the first game of chance in the symbol positions of the game grid;
provide any first awards for symbol combinations based on the determined outcome of the first game of chance, where the provided first awards increase the credit balance from the second credit balance amount to a third credit balance amount;
determine if an incrementing symbol appears on the game grid as part of the determined outcome for the first game of chance;
receive a second signal to initiate a second game of chance after any first awards are provided based on the determined outcome of the first game of chance, the second game of chance initiated in response to placement of a second wager, the second wager decreasing the credit balance from the third credit balance amount to a fourth credit balance amount, where the second game of chance is independent of the first game of chance;
when it is determined that an incrementing symbol appears on the game grid in the first game of chance and a second game of chance has been initiated:
increment the incrementing symbol by copying the incrementing symbol and replacing a symbol in an adjacent symbol position with a copy of the incrementing symbol, and
lock the incrementing symbol and the copy of the incrementing symbol in their respective symbol positions on the game grid during the second game of chance;

determine an outcome for the second game of chance by maintaining the positions of the locked symbols on the game grid and randomly determining symbols to be displayed in non-locked symbol positions of the game grid;
display the determined outcome for the second game of chance on the game display by spinning the plurality of reels while maintaining the positions of the locked symbols on the game grid, and stopping the plurality of game reels to show the determined outcome for the second game of chance in the symbol positions of the game grid; and
provide any second awards for symbol combinations based on the determined outcome of the second game of chance, where the provided second awards increase the credit balance from the fourth credit balance amount to a fifth credit balance amount.