Gaming system, gaming device, and method for providing a cascading symbols game with wild symbols usable for a designated quantity of symbol generations

• US 8,790,169 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2008
• Issued: 07/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Saunders, Brian F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, David L
• Assistant Examiner(s): MOSSER, ROBERT E
• Application Number:
  US12/178,429
• Publication Number:
  US 20100022297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,197 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463 16- 21, 463/42, 463/25
• US Class Current: 463/2
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3216 Construction aspects of a gaming system, e.g. housing, seats, ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3265 Influencing the position of stopped moving members to achieve a winning arrangement, e.g. nudging, shuffling, holding
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A plurality of columns each having a plurality of symbol positions are displayed. A gaming system generates and displays one of a plurality of symbols in each symbol position. At least one of the plurality of symbols is a designated symbol with an indicated quantity. The indicated quantity indicates whether the designated symbol is active or inactive. For each winning symbol combination containing at least one designated symbol, the indicated quantity associated with any designated symbol in the winning symbol combination is decremented and any non-designated symbols are removed from the display. Any designated symbols with an associated numeral of zero are inactive and are removed from each winning symbol combination. Any remaining symbols are shifted in a predetermined direction. For each empty symbol position, the gaming system generates and displays a new symbol and repeats the above steps until no winning symbol combinations remain.

Claims

1. A gaming system comprising:

at least one display device,

at least one input device,

at least one processor, and

at least one memory device which stores 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 display device and the at least one input device, for a play of a game, to;

(a) generate and display one of a plurality of symbols in each of a plurality of symbol positions, said plurality of symbols including;

(i) at least one active designated symbol, said at least one active designated symbol being associated with an initial indicated numeric quantity of generations said symbol will remain active, said initial indicated numeric quantity being greater than one, and

(ii) at least one non-designated symbol, said at least one non-designated symbol not being associated with any indicated numeric quantity;

(b) determine whether any winning symbol combinations are generated and displayed;

(c) for each generated symbol, determine said generated symbol as one of;

any designated symbols and any non-designated symbols;

(d) for each of any generated winning symbol combinations;

(i) cause an award to be displayed based on said generated winning symbol combination, and

(ii) remove at least one of any determined non-designated symbols of said generated winning symbol combination, each of said removed, non-designated symbols resulting in a displayed empty symbol position;

(e) for at least one of any determined generated designated symbols;

(i) modify the indicated numeric quantity associated with said generated designated symbol,

(ii) determine whether said designated symbol is inactive, said determination being based, at least in part, on the modified indicated numeric quantity associated with said designated symbol,

(iii) if said designated symbol is determined to be inactive, remove said inactive designated symbol, said removal resulting in a displayed empty symbol position, and

(iv) if said designated symbol is determined to be active, continue displaying said active designated symbol; and

(f) if any empty symbol position is displayed;

(i) reposition zero, one, or more of said generated symbols to zero, one, or more of the empty symbol positions to create zero, one, or more empty symbol positions,

(ii) generate and display one of the plurality of symbols in each of any displayed empty symbol positions, and

(iii) repeat (b) to (ef).

2. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least one designated symbol is a wild symbol.

3. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to determine the indicated numeric quantity associated with the at least one generated designated symbol based on one of the following:

a random determination, a predefined quantity, and any previous indicated numeric quantity.

4. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity.

5. The gaming system of claim 4, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity by a predefined quantity.

6. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols which is part of at least one winning symbol combination.

7. The gaming system of claim 6, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols based on a quantity of winning symbol combinations of which said designated symbol is a part.

8. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to determine whether at least one of any generated designated symbols is active based on whether the indicated numeric quantity exceeds a predefined indicated numeric quantity.

9. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the predefined indicated numeric quantity is zero.

10. A gaming system comprising:

at least one display device,

at least one input device,

at least one processor, and

at least one memory device which stores 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 display device and the at least one input device, for a play of a game to;

(a) generate and display one of a plurality of symbols in each of a plurality of symbol positions, said plurality of symbols including;

(i) at least one designated symbol, said at least one designated symbol being associated with an initial indicated numeric quantity of generations said symbol will continue to be displayed if initially generated, said initial indicated numeric quantity being greater than one, and

(ii) at least one non-designated symbol, said at least one non-designated symbol not being associated with any indicated numeric quantity;

(b) determine whether any winning symbol combinations are generated and displayed;

(c) for each generated symbol, determine said generated symbol as one of;

any designated symbols and any non-designated symbols;

(d) remove at least one of any determined non-designated symbols included in each of any generated winning symbol combinations, each of any removed non-designated symbols resulting in an empty symbol position;

(e) for at least one of any determined generated designated symbols;

(i) modify the indicated numeric quantity associated with said generated designated symbol,

(ii) remove said designated symbol if the modified indicated numeric quantity associated with said designated symbol is equal to a predefined indicated numeric quantity, said removal resulting in an empty symbol position, and

(iii) continue displaying said designated symbol if the modified indicated numeric quantity associated with said designated symbol exceeds a predefined indicated numeric quantity;

(f) if any empty symbol position is displayed;

(i) reposition zero, one, or more of said generated symbols to zero, one, or more of the empty symbol positions to create zero, one, or more empty symbol positions,

(ii) generate and display one of the plurality of symbols in each of any displayed empty symbol positions, and

(iii) repeat (b) to (ef); and

(g) if no empty symbol position is displayed, display and provide an award based on at least one of any generated winning symbol combinations for said play of the game.

11. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the at least one designated symbol is a wild symbol.

12. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the indicated numeric quantity associated with the at least one generated designated symbol is based on one selected from the group consisting of:

a random determination and a predefined quantity.

13. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity.

14. The gaming system of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity by a predefined quantity.

15. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols which is part of at least one winning symbol combination.

16. The gaming system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols based on a quantity of winning symbol combinations of which said designated symbol is a part.

17. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein, for said play of the game, said award is based, at least in part, on at least one of:

a quantity of generated designated symbols, the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols, a quantity of generated winning symbol combinations, and a quantity of symbols included in at least one winning symbol combination.

18. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the predefined indicated numeric quantity is zero.

19. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein for at least one of any repeats of (b) to (e), the probability of generating the designated symbol in one of the displayed empty symbol positions changes.

20. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

(a) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to generate one of a plurality of symbols in each of a plurality of symbol positions, said plurality of symbols including;

(i) at least one active designated symbol, said at least one active designated symbol being associated with an initial indicated numeric quantity of generations said symbol will remain active, said initial indicated numeric quantity being greater than one, and

(ii) at least one non-designated symbol, said at least one non-designated symbol not being associated with any indicated numeric quantity;

(b) causing at least one display device to display the generated symbols in the symbol positions;

(c) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether any winning symbol combinations are generated and displayed;

(d) for each generated symbol, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine said generated symbol as one of;

any designated symbols and any non-designated symbols;

(e) for each of any generated winning symbol combinations;

(i) causing the at least one display device display an award based on said generated winning symbol combination, and

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to remove at least one of any determined non-designated symbols of said generated winning symbol combination, each of said removed, non-designated symbols resulting in a displayed empty symbol position;

(f) for at least one of any determined generated designated symbols;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to modify the indicated numeric quantity associated with said generated designated symbol,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether said designated symbol is inactive, said determination being based, at least in part, on the modified indicated numeric quantity associated with said designated symbol,

(iii) if said designated symbol is determined to be inactive, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to remove said inactive designated symbol, said removal resulting in a displayed empty symbol position, and

(iv) if said designated symbol is determined to be active, causing the at least one display device to continue to display said active designated symbol; and

(g) if any empty symbol position is displayed;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to reposition zero, one, or more of said generated symbols to zero, one, or more of the empty symbol positions to create zero, one, or more empty symbol positions,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to generate one of the plurality of symbols in each of any displayed empty symbol positions,

(iii) causing the at least one display device to display the generated symbols in each of any displayed empty symbol positions, and

(iv) repeating (c) to (g).

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one designated symbol is a wild symbol.

22. The method of claim 20, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine the indicated numeric quantity associated with the at least one generated designated symbol based on one selected from the group consisting of:

a random determination and a predefined quantity.

23. The method of claim 20, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity.

24. The method of claim 23, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity by a predefined quantity.

25. The method of claim 20, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols which is part of at least one winning symbol combination.

26. The method of claim 25, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols based on a quantity of winning symbol combinations of which said designated symbol is a part.

27. The method of claim 20, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether at least one of any generated designated symbols is active based on whether the indicated numeric quantity exceeds a predefined indicated numeric quantity.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the predefined indicated numeric quantity is zero.

29. The method of claim 20, which is operated through a data network.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said data network is an internet.

31. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

(a) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to generate one of a plurality of symbols in each of a plurality of symbol positions, said plurality of symbols including;

(i) at least one designated symbol, said at least one designated symbol being associated with an initial indicated numeric quantity of generations said symbol will continue to be displayed if initially generated, said initial indicated numeric quantity being greater than one, and

(ii) at least one non-designated symbol, said at least one non-designated symbol not being associated with any indicated numeric quantity;

(b) causing at least one display device to display the generated symbols in the symbol positions;

(c) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether any winning symbol combinations are generated and displayed;

(d) for each generated symbol, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine said generated symbol as one of;

any designated symbols and any non-designated symbols;

(e) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to remove at least one of any determined non-designated symbols included in each of any generated winning symbol combinations, each of any removed non-designated symbols resulting in an empty symbol position;

(f) for at least one of any determined generated designated symbols;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to modify the indicated numeric quantity associated with said generated designated symbol,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to remove said designated symbol if the modified indicated numeric quantity associated with said designated symbol is equal to a predefined indicated numeric quantity, said removal resulting in an empty symbol position, and

(iii) causing the at least one display device to continue to display said designated symbol if the modified indicated numeric quantity associated with said designated symbol exceeds said predefined indicated numeric quantity;

(g) if any empty symbol position is displayed;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to reposition zero, one, or more of said generated symbols to zero, one, or more of the empty symbol positions to create zero, one, or more empty symbol positions,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to generate one of the plurality of symbols in each of any displayed empty symbol positions,

(iii) causing the at least one display device to display the generated symbols in each of any displayed empty symbol positions, and

(iv) repeating (c) to (fg); and

(h) if no empty symbol position is displayed;

(i) causing the at least one display device to display an award based on at least one of any generated winning symbol combinations for said play of the game, and

(ii) providing the displayed award.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the at least one designated symbol is a wild symbol.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the indicated numeric quantity associated with the at least one generated designated symbol is based on one of the group consisting of:

a random determination and a predefined quantity.

34. The method of claim 31, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity.

35. The method of claim 34, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols by decrementing the indicated numeric quantity by a predefined quantity.

36. The method of claim 31, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols which is part of at least one winning symbol combination.

37. The method of claim 36, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to change the indicated numeric quantity associated with each of any generated designated symbols based on a quantity of winning symbol combinations of which said designated symbol is a part.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein, for said play of the game, said award is based, at least in part, on at least one of:

a quantity of generated designated symbols, the indicated numeric quantity associated with at least one of any generated designated symbols, a quantity of generated winning symbol combinations, and a quantity of symbols included in at least one winning symbol combination.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein the predefined indicated numeric quantity is zero.

40. The method of claim 31, wherein for at least one of any repeats of (c) to (f), the probability of generating the designated symbol in one of the displayed empty symbol positions changes.

41. The method of claim 31, which is operated through a data network.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein said data network is an internet.