Patent ID: 8419519

Claim:
A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system with an input device and a display device, the method comprising: receiving a wager input via the input device; displaying, via the display device, an array of cells populated with a plurality of symbols, the displayed array including a playable portion and a non-playable portion, wherein the playable portion includes a first subset of the symbols displayed in the array and the non-playable portion includes a second subset of the symbols displayed in the array, the first subset of symbols indicating a first randomly selected outcome of the wagering game; after displaying the array of cells populated with the plurality of symbols, determining if the first randomly selected outcome of the wagering game in the playable portion includes a first winning symbol combination; in response to the first randomly selected outcome of the wagering game in the playable portion including the first winning symbol combination, designating within the displayed array of cells a first modified playable portion including a third subset of the plurality of symbols displayed in the array, the third subset of symbols indicating a second outcome of the wagering game, the first modified playable portion including at least one first new cell from the non-playable portion; determining if the second outcome of the wagering game in the first modified playable portion includes a second winning symbol combination; and in response to the second outcome of the wagering game in the first modified playable portion including the second winning symbol combination, designating within the displayed array of cells a second modified playable portion including a fourth subset of the plurality of symbols displayed in the array, the fourth subset of symbols indicating a third outcome of the wagering game, the second modified playable portion including at least one second new cell from the non-playable portion, wherein the symbols populating the playable portion, the non-playable portion, the first modified playable portion, and the second modified playable portion are displayed simultaneously in the displayed array of cells.