Patent ID: 8506390

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of conducting a wagering game on one or more gaming machines of a group of gaming machines, the wagering game having a basic game providing access to a community bonus game for one or more eligible players at the one or more gaming machines of the group, comprising: receiving, via at least one input device, a wager from a first player to play the basic game at one of the one or more gaming machines, the basic game including randomly selecting an outcome from a first plurality of outcomes, at least one of the outcomes of the first plurality being a bonus-game-asset outcome; in response to the first player achieving the bonus-game-asset outcome in the basic game, providing, via at least one of one or more processors, the first player with a bonus-game asset that is usable in the community bonus game, the bonus-game asset having a current enhancement level and a next enhancement level, the next enhancement level providing a higher enhancement to an award value in the community bonus game than the current enhancement level; in response to a bonus-game triggering condition occurring during the basic game on one of the one or more gaming machines, conducting, via at least one of the one or more processors, a first play of the community bonus game including the one or more eligible players in which the bonus-game asset at the current enhancement level is used by the first player, the first play of the community bonus game comprising: determining, via at least one of the one or more processors and based on a randomly selected outcome, whether the bonus-game asset is available or unavailable to the first player for use in a second play of the community bonus game triggered by a subsequent bonus-game triggering condition during the basic game, and in response to the bonus-game asset being available to the first player for use in the second play of the community bonus game, altering, via at least one of the one or more processors, the bonus-game asset from the current enhancement level to the next enhancement level for use in the second play of the bonus game.