Wagering game with player-selectable elements providing a scripted outcome

A method of conducting a wagering game, comprising:

• (i) providing at least a first award level and a second award level, each award level having at least one award associated therewith;
• (ii) determining to award a player the first award level;
• (iii) displaying, on a display, at least two player-selectable elements, at least one of the player-selectable elements masking a first indicium associated with the first award level and at least a second of the player-selectable elements masking a second indicium associated with the second award level, at least one of the indicia being randomly determined;
• (iv) requiring the selection of at least two player-selectable elements associated with the second award level to be selected for the second award level to be awarded;
• (v) selecting, via player selection associated with an input device, one of the at least two player-selectable elements;
• (vi) determining whether the selected element is associated with the first award level or the second award level;
• (vii) revealing the masked indicia for each of the at least two player-selectable elements;
• (viii) in response to the selected element being associated with the first award level,
• a) repeating steps (iii)-(vii) at least one additional time;
• and
• b) awarding the award associated with the first award level;
• and
• (ix) in response to the selected element being associated with the second award level,
• a) displaying at least two additional player-selectable elements, each of the at least two additional player-selectable elements masking an indicium associated with the first award level,
• b) selecting, via player selection, one of the at least two additional player-selectable elements,
• c) revealing only the masked indicium of the selected additional player-selectable element, and
• d) awarding the award associated with the first award level.

A gaming system for conducting a wagering game in which a special award may be awarded, the special award having at least a first award level and a second award level, the system comprising:

• a wager input device for receiving a wager from a player;
• a display for displaying the wagering game in response to receiving the wager from the player;
• a controller connected to the display and adapted to,
• (a) in response to the special award being awarded to the player in the wagering game, display a first set of player-selectable elements without informing the player that the first award level has been awarded to the player, the player-selectable elements masking at least one indicium corresponding to all or a portion of criteria for achieving the first award level and at least one indicium corresponding to a portion of the criteria for achieving the second award level, at least one of the indicia being randomly determined;
• (b) receive a player selection of one of the player-selectable elements from the first set of player-selectable elements and reveal the indicium for the player-selected element;
• (c) if the indicium for the player-selected element does not meet all the criteria corresponding to the first award level, display another set of player-selectable elements without informing the player that the first award level has been awarded to the player, the another set of player-selectable elements masking at least one indicium corresponding to all or a portion of the criterion for achieving the first award level and at least one indicium corresponding to a portion of the criteria for achieving the second award level;
• (d) receive a player selection of one of the player-selectable elements from the another set of player-selectable elements and reveal the indicium for the player-selected element;
• and
• (e) repeat steps (c) and (d) until a cumulative result of the revealed indicia corresponds to the criteria for achieving the first level award so as to inform the player that the first award level has been awarded to the player.