Patent ID: 11928915
Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 7:
8. A method of operating a game in a gaming system having at least one server operable to communicate with a plurality of gaming devices in a network, and comprising at least one processor and memory storing a first set of symbols and a second set of symbols, the first set of symbols sharing a plurality of common symbols with the second set of symbols, and instructions, which, when executed, cause the at least one processor to at least the game, the method comprising:
causing to animate at a first gaming device a first game instance for a first plurality of reels and a second game instance for a second plurality of reels, and a separator separating the first plurality of reels from the second plurality of reels;
causing to animate at the first gaming device a removal of the separator between the first plurality of reels and the second plurality of reels;
causing to animate a merging of the first plurality of reels, the second plurality of reels, and an additional group of reels replacing the separator removed and having the plurality of common symbols into a first merged game instance when a merging condition occurs; and
transmitting data to the first gaming device indicative of a new set of symbols selected, based on one or more random numbers generated by a random number generator, for the first plurality of reels and the second plurality of reels in the first merged game instance from the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols, respectively, to increase selectability of common symbols with the plurality of common symbols in the additional group of reels.