Patent ID: 7850520

Claim:
A bonus feature for a gaming machine having a display window in which additional graphic features are displayed as overlays of the graphic imagery of the base game in the display window, said graphic imagery of said base game comprising symbols arranged in a first matrix of symbol containing elements wherein the elements in the base game are bounded by hexagonal figures and are staggered to allow nesting of contiguous hexagonal elements and wherein the first matrix of symbol containing elements are arranged into a plurality of parallel columns that rotates as a plurality of simulated inner reels through the display window, wherein each column of symbols of the columns of said first matrix comprises at least a three symbol containing elements of the rotatable inner reel, said additional graphic features comprising symbols in selected elements of a second matrix of elements wherein the second matrix of symbol containing elements are arranged into a plurality of parallel columns that rotate as a plurality of simulated outer reels through the display window so as to overlie the one or more of the plurality of inner reels wherein the plurality of simulated outer reels that are selected from a plurality of sets of simulated outer reels said set of simulated outer reels being selected from a plurality of sets of predetermined simulated outer reels, a random selection determining which set of said plurality of sets of pre-determined simulated outer reels is used for said bonus feature for each play of said base game and wherein a predetermined arrangement of said additional graphic feature trigger at least one bonus feature game and wherein the set of simulated inner reels rotate at a first rotational speed during play of the game and wherein the set of simulated outer reels rotate at a second rotational speed during play of the game so that elements of one or more of the plurality of sets of outer reels may be in registration with elements of one or more of the plurality of inner sets of reels when the elements are rotating through the window wherein when the elements are in registration, the registered elements of the outer and inner reel rotate through the display window at the same speed so as to maintain the registration therebetween while visible during the display window.