Gaming machine with multi scatter game

Abstract

A gaming machine 10 has a display 14 and a game controller arranged to control images displayed on the display 14 . The game controller is arranged to play a game wherein at least one random event is caused to be displayed on the display means and, if a predefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize. The display 14 displays a plurality of spinning reels 18 , each reel 18 carrying symbols from a set of symbols. One of the symbols of the set is a scatter symbol and, in respect of at least one of the reels, the set comprises more than one occurrence of the scatter symbol. The scatter symbols on the at least one reel are arranged on the reel so that more than one scatter symbol is able to be displayed simultaneously when the reels are in a rest condition. When more than a minimum number of scatter symbols are displayed at any one time, all the displayed scatter symbols contribute to a single paying combination of the scatter symbols.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A gaming machine having a display means and a game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game wherein at least one random event is caused to be displayed on the display means and, if a predefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize, the gaming machine being characterized in that the display means displays a plurality of spinning reels, each reel carrying symbols from a set of symbols, one of the symbols of the set being a scatter symbol and, in respect of at least one of the reels, the set comprising more than one occurrence of the scatter symbol, the scatter symbols on said at least one reel being arranged on the reel so that more than one scatter symbol is able to be displayed simultaneously when the reels are in a rest condition and, when more than a minimum number of scatter symbols are displayed at any one time, all the displayed scatter symbols contributing to a single paying combination of the scatter symbols.  
     
     
         2 . The gaming machine of  claim 1  in which the display means is a video display unit and the display of the reels is constituted by a video simulation of spinning reels.  
     
     
         3 . The gaming machine of  claim 1  in which the set of symbols on each of the reels has more than one occurrence of the scatter symbol.  
     
     
         4 . The gaming machine of  claim 3  in which the set of symbols of each reel has at least two scatter symbols.  
     
     
         5 . The gaming machine of  claim 3  in which the scatter symbols are positioned on each reel such that up to three scatter symbols are able to be displayed together at any one time.