Patent ID: 8678906

Claim:
A gaming system comprising: a plurality of gaming devices each configured to operate a wagering game upon a wager; at least one display device associated with the gaming devices; and a controller configured to operate with the at least one display device and the gaming devices to, for a play of a collection game independent from play of the wagering games of the gaming devices: (a) for each of a plurality of predetermined intervals, at least one of said predetermined intervals extending over a plurality of plays of the wagering game of at least one of the gaming devices: (i) simultaneously make one of a plurality of community elements available to a plurality of the gaming devices during said predetermined interval; and (ii)cause the at least one display device to display said one of the community elements; (b) for at least one of the gaming devices: (i) for a first one of the predetermined intervals, associate a first one of the community elements with said at least one gaming device (ii) for a second one of the predetermined intervals subsequent to the first predetermined interval, do not associate any of the community elements with said at least one gaming device; and (iii) for a third one of the predetermined intervals subsequent to the second predetermined intervals, associated a second one of the community elements with said at least one gaming device; (c) determine whether one of the gaming devices is associated with a predetermined combination of the community elements; and (d) if one of the gaming devices is associated with the predetermined combination of the community elements, cause said gaming device to provide an award to a player.