Patent ID: 7578738

Claim:
A gaming system comprising: at least one input device; at least one display device; at least one processor; and at least one memory device storing a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one input device and the at least one display device to: (a) generate and display a plurality of symbols, each of said plurality of symbols being displayed at a separate one of a plurality of positions; (b) determine if any winning symbol combinations are displayed at the positions; (c) for each displayed winning symbol combination, display an award associated with said winning symbol combination; (d) determine if a designated number of swapping indicators are displayed in a predetermined configuration in association with the displayed symbols, wherein the designated number of swapping indicators is at least two; (e) if the designated number of swapping indicators are displayed in the predetermined configuration in association with a set of displayed symbols, indicate said symbols of said set and, for each of a designated number of rearrangements, wherein the designated number of rearrangements is at least four: (i) automatically rearrange each of the indicated displayed symbols by moving each of the indicated symbols to be displayed at the position of another of the indicated symbols in a manner dictated by the predetermined configuration of the swapping indicators, and (ii) after rearranging each of the indicated displayed symbols, determine if the plurality of displayed symbols include any winning symbol combinations resulting from the rearrangement of the symbols; and (f) display a total award based on any awards associated with winning symbol combinations resulting from each of the rearrangements of the designated number of rearrangements of the symbols.