Gaming Machine With Modified Prize Feature

A gaming system for playing a base game having a base game outcome, and a bonus game having a plurality of bonus game rounds, wherein each said bonus game round has a losing outcome or a winning outcome, and wherein said base game is suspended when the bonus game commences, the system comprising:

• a prize ladder showing a plurality of prize series selectable by a player, each prize series having a plurality of prizes, each prize having a value, wherein each of the prize series has a value, wherein the prize ladder has a ladder bottom, and wherein the prize ladder is arranged in an increasing order of respective values and difficulties starting with the ladder bottom, and wherein information related to the difficulty is displayed to the player;
• a selection prompt prompting a player selection of one of said plurality of selectable prize series;
• a strike count maintaining a count of losing bonus game round outcomes and a positive threshold;
• and
• a credit module awarding a current prize value from said selected prize series when said bonus game outcome is a winning outcome, indicating a subsequent prize value in said selected prize series to be subsequently competed for when said bonus game round outcome is a winning outcome, increasing said strike count when said bonus game round outcome is a losing outcome, terminating the bonus game in response to said strike count equaling said positive threshold, and recommencing said base game on said display when said bonus game has been terminated;
• and
• wherein said plurality of values comprise:
• at least one fixed prize value having a static value that remains unchanged over a period of time;
• and
• a variable prize value having a dynamic value, the dynamic value being determined by combining a prize modifier to a pre-determined prize value, wherein the combination of the prize modifier and the pre-determined prize progressively increases the dynamic value of the variable prize value over the period of time.