A method of operating a gaming system, the method comprising:
- establishing, by a processor, a credit balance;
- receiving an actuation of a wager button;
- placing, by the processor, a wager on a play of a primary game for a player responsive to the actuation of the wager button;
- responsive to placement of the wager:
- initiating, by the processor, the play of the primary game,
- randomly determining, by the processor, a primary game outcome,
- displaying, by a display device, the primary game outcome,
- determining, by the processor, any primary game awards associated with the primary game outcome,
- displaying, by the display device, any determined primary game awards, and
- increasing the credit balance by any determined primary awards;
- responsive to an occurrence of a triggering event:
- receive a selection of one of a plurality of different versions of a skill-based game based on an input made by the player in a previous play of the skill-based game, each version of the skill-based game having a different degree of difficulty and a different time period, wherein a first time period of a first version of the skill-based game with a first degree of difficulty is less than a second time period of a second version of the skill-based game with a second, greater degree of difficulty, wherein a same maximum available award can be won in the first version of the skill-based game and the second version of the skill-based game,
- initiating, by the processor, a play of the selected version of the skill-based game,
- receiving a quantifiable skill input from the player during the play of the selected version of the skill-based game,
- terminating, by the processor, the play of the selected version of the skill-based game upon expiration of the time period for the selected version of the skill-based game,
- determining, by the processor, a skill-based game outcome based on the received quantifiable skill input,
- displaying, by the display device, the skill-based game outcome,
- determining, by the processor, any skill-based game awards based on the determined skill-based game outcome,
- displaying, by the display device, any determined skill-based game awards, and increasing the credit balance by any determined skill-based game awards;
- and
- responsive to receiving an actuation of a cashout button, initiating, by the processor, a payout associated with the credit balance.