Patent ID: 8469792

Claim:
An electronic gaming method comprising the steps of: constructing a field having a plurality of elements for an interactive game display of an electronic game machine wherein each element is filled by a game symbol from a plurality of available game symbols, not including a wild symbol, wherein the game symbols for each element are automatically determined such that there is no winning combination without player interaction; determining a maximum value of a winning combination for the constructed field for each play of an electronic game prior to display on the interactive game display; testing the field prior to display on the interactive game display to ensure that no winning combination more valuable than the maximum value is inadvertently generated in completing the field; receiving a player's selection of a play level and activating game play on the electronic game machine; presenting the field of game symbols to a player on the interactive game display of the electronic game machine; initiating a game timer for each play of the game having a time duration that varies with the maximum value for a winning combination; receiving the player's selection of a field element on the interactive game display as a location for a wild symbol before an expiration of the time duration associated with the game timer, and determining each winning combination of symbols that is formed by such selection; and displaying each winning combination of symbols on the field of game symbols.