Wagering games with unlockable bonus rounds

A gaming system primarily dedicated to playing at least one casino wagering game, the gaming system comprising:

• at least one gaming cabinet configured to house electronic components operable for conducting a wagering game;
• at least one electronic input device coupled to the at least one gaming cabinet and configured to receive a physical input from a player to initiate the wagering game and transform the physical input into an electronic data signal;
• at least one electronic display device coupled to the at least one gaming cabinet and operable to display aspects of the wagering game;
• at least one electronic random element generator configured to generate one or more random elements associated with play of the wagering game;
• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:
• initiate a base game of the wagering game in response to the electronic data signal generated by the at least one electronic input device responsive to the physical input from the player;
• determine an outcome of the base game of the wagering game based, at least in part, on the one or more random elements generated by the at least one electronic random element generator;
• display, via the at least one electronic display device, the outcome of the base game of the wagering game;
• transmit an indication of an award in response to the outcome of the base game meeting at least one predetermined award criterion;
• in response to a triggering event during play of the base game of the wagering game, display a plurality of bonus games via the at least one electronic display device, the plurality of bonus games including one or more bonus games available for play and one or more bonus games initially unavailable for play;
• in response to receiving a selection from a player for at least one of the available bonus games, initiate the selected available bonus game;
• after completing the selected available bonus game, resume the base game;
• and
• in response to the player achieving a certain eligibility ranking based on one or more game play criteria, unlock at least one of the one or more initially unavailable bonus games such that the unlocked bonus game is now among the one or more bonus games available for play in response to a subsequent triggering event during play of the resumed base game.

A method of operating a gaming system primarily dedicated to conducting a casino wagering game, the gaming system including at least one electronic input device configured to receive physical inputs from players and transform the physical inputs into electronic data signals, at least one electronic display device configured to display outcomes of the wagering game, at least one electronic random element generator configured to generate random elements associated with play of the wagering game, and at least one processor, the method comprising:

• receiving, via the at least one electronic input device, a first physical input from a player as an indication of a wager to play the casino wagering game;
• initiating, via the at least one processor, a base game of the casino wagering game in response to an electronic data signal generated by the at least one electronic input device responsive to a second physical input from the player to initiate the wagering game;
• randomly determining, via the at least one processor, an outcome of the base game of the casino wagering game based, at least in part, on one or more random elements generated by the at least one electronic random element generator;
• displaying, via the at least one electronic display device, the randomly determined outcome of the base game of the wagering game;
• transmitting, via the at least one processor, an indication of an award in response to the outcome of the base game meeting at least one predetermined award criterion;
• in response to a triggering event during the base game, displaying a plurality of bonus games via the at least one electronic display device, the plurality of bonus games including one or more unlocked bonus games available for play and one or more locked bonus games initially unavailable for play;
• receiving, via the at least one electronic input device, a third physical input indicating a selection from the player for at least one of the unlocked bonus games;
• initiating play of the selected at least one unlocked bonus game;
• after completion of the selected at least one unlocked bonus game, resuming the base game;
• and
• in response to the player achieving a certain eligibility ranking based on one or more game play criteria, unlocking at least one of the one or more locked bonus games such that the now unlocked bonus game is among the one or more unlocked bonus games available for play in response to a subsequent triggering event during play of the resumed base game.

An electronic gaming machine for playing at least one wagering game, the electronic gaming machine comprising:

• a gaming cabinet housing electronic components operable for conducting a wagering game;
• one or more electronic input devices coupled to the gaming cabinet and configured to receive one or more physical inputs from players and transform the one or more physical inputs into one or more electronic data signals;
• one or more electronic video display devices coupled to the gaming cabinet and operable to display aspects of the wagering game;
• and
• one or more controllers coupled to the gaming cabinet and including one or more random element generators configured to generate one or more random elements associated with play of the wagering game, at least one of the one or more controllers being configured to:
• receive, from at least one of the one or more electronic input devices, an electronic data signal generated in response to a physical input from a player to initiate a base game of the wagering game;
• initiate the base game of the wagering game in response to the received electronic data signal;
• determine an outcome of the base game of the wagering game based, at least in part, on one or more random elements generated by at least one of the one or more random element generators;
• direct at least one of the one or more electronic video display devices to display the outcome of the base game of the wagering game;
• transmit an electronic indication of an award in response to the outcome of the base game meeting at least one predetermined award criterion;
• in response to a triggering event during play of the wagering game, direct at least one of the one or more electronic video display devices to display a plurality of bonus games via the at least one electronic display device, the plurality of bonus games including one or more bonus games available for play and one or more bonus games initially unavailable for play;
• in response to receiving an indication of a selection from the player for at least one of the available bonus games via at least one of the one or more electronic input devices, initiate the selected available bonus game;
• after completing the selected available bonus game, resume the base game;
• and
• in response to the player achieving a certain eligibility ranking based on one or more game play criteria, unlock at least one of the one or more unavailable bonus games such that the unlocked bonus game is now among the one or more bonus games available for play in response to a subsequent triggering event during play of the resumed base game.