US 11,721,165 B2
Gaming machine and method with symbol redistribution feature
Richard Milosevich, Las Vegas, NV (US); John R. Vallejo, Henderson, NV (US); and George Bouvier, Henderson, NV (US)
Assigned to LNW Gaming, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)
Filed by LNW Gaming, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)
Filed on Nov. 18, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/529,661.
Prior Publication US 2023/0154273 A1, May 18, 2023
Int. Cl. G07F 17/32 (2006.01); G07F 17/34 (2006.01)
CPC G07F 17/3213 (2013.01) [G07F 17/3251 (2013.01); G07F 17/3267 (2013.01); G07F 17/34 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of operating a gaming machine comprising game-logic circuitry, the method comprising the operations of:
under control of the game-logic circuitry:
displaying, on an electronic display device, a plurality of symbol-bearing reels and a base game array, the base game array having a first configuration; and
spinning and stopping the plurality of symbol-bearing reels to populate the base game array with symbols from the stopped reels; and
in response to the symbols including a combination of bonus-triggering symbols:
displaying, on the electronic display device, a bonus game array having a second configuration, the second configuration being different than the first, wherein the base game array includes one or more symbol positions that do not correspond to any symbol positions in the bonus game array, and wherein the displaying of the bonus game array comprises animating reconfiguration of the array from first configuration to the second configuration; and
redistributing one or more of the bonus-triggering symbols from the base game array to the bonus game array for use in a bonus game, wherein the redistributing operation includes randomly redistributing only those bonus-triggering symbols located in the one or more symbol positions that do not correspond to any symbol positions in the bonus game array, wherein any other ones of the bonus-triggering symbols are carried over from their symbol positions in the base game array to corresponding positions in the bonus game array, and wherein the redistributing operation comprises animating movement of the bonus-triggering symbols from their positions in the base game array to their positions in the bonus game array.