Patent ID: 8568222

Claim:
A gaming system comprising: a plurality of wagering game machines, each wagering game machine comprising a wager input device for receiving wagers; and a controller operative to conduct a community game and to develop a standings chart tracking the standing of each player in the community game relative to other players in the community game and further operative to: detect, during the community game, an issuance of a challenge by a first player having a first standing on the standings chart of the community game against a specific selected second player having a second standing on the standings chart of the community game, and an acceptance of the challenge by the second player to participate in the challenge-play game within the community game, the first standing and the second standing reflecting respectively a first player's accumulated points in the community game and a second player's accumulated points in the community game; detect receipt of a funding input from at least one of the first player or the second player to enable the challenge-play game within the community game; initiate the challenge-play game between the first player and the second player within the community game by separately displaying on a display of a first player's first wagering game machine both the first player's challenge-play game and the second player's challenge-play game and separately displaying on a display of a second player's second wagering game machine both the first player's challenge-play game and the second player's challenge-play game, so that progress of each player in their respective challenge-play game is displayed to the other player; determine at least one outcome of the challenge-play game; determine a winner of the challenge-play game, between the first player and the second player, based on the at least one outcome of the challenge-play game; award at least a number of points to the winner of the challenge-play game, adding the number of points to the winner's accumulated community game points; adjust the positions of the first player and the second player in the standings chart of the community game consistent with the first player's accumulated points and the second player's accumulated points at a conclusion of the challenge-play game.