Card selection game with feature

1. A gaming machine for playing a wagering game, the gaming machine comprising:

a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity;

an output mechanism configured to provide payouts to a player;

a first set of symbols comprising a plurality of standard symbols and a plurality of special symbols, the number of standard symbols to the number of special symbols forming a ratio;

a game controller configured, in accord with a wager made from the established credit balance, to a) play said wagering game comprising a base game, b) randomly select a symbol from the first set of symbols during said play of said base game, and c) to maintain said ratio at a fixed value for the base game;

a display having a plurality of display positions, and configured to display said selected symbol in a non-revealed manner in one of said display positions; and

a symbol characteristic nominator being player-actuatable to nominate at least one characteristic of a symbol; and

wherein said game controller is further configured to reveal the characteristic of the selected symbol after said nomination; and

wherein said display is further configured to display the selected symbol in a revealed manner; and

wherein said game controller is further configured to, in response to the revealed selected symbol being a special symbol having the nominated characteristic, award a feature game comprising a plurality of bonus plays, and

wherein in the feature game,

a) said game controller is further configured to vary said ratio of said first set of symbols to form a second set of symbols and to select a plurality of symbols from said second set of symbols during said play of a said bonus play of said feature game,

b) said display is further configured to display the selected symbols in a non-revealed manner in a plurality of the symbol positions,

c) said symbol position nominator is player-actuatable to nominate one of the symbol positions, and

d) said game controller is further configured to progress said feature game to a next bonus play in the plurality of bonus plays dependent on the nominated symbol position having a special symbol.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1 , and further including a jackpot prize; and

wherein said game controller is configured to award said jackpot prize if special symbols are selected in n consecutive bonus plays.

3. A method of providing a wagering game on a gaming system having a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, an output mechanism configured to provide payouts to a player, a game controller and using a plurality of symbols comprising a plurality of symbols with characteristics that match one at least two possible selections and at least one trigger symbol, and a number of the symbols to a number of the at least one trigger symbol forming a ratio, the method comprising:

establishing a credit balance via said credit input mechanism receiving the physical item;

commencing, in accord with a wager made from the established credit balance, a game play by receiving the wager staked on the outcome of the wagering game;

maintaining via the game controller the ratio at a fixed value for the wagering game;

selecting via the game controller a symbol characteristic from at least two possible selections of a characteristic of a symbol;

selecting via the game controller a symbol from the plurality of symbols; and

displaying on said display the selected symbol after the selecting of the symbol characteristic;

if the selected symbol is a trigger symbol having the selected characteristic, then providing via the game controller a feature game, said providing a feature game including

a) varying via the game controller said ratio between said number of symbols and said number of at least one trigger symbol and forming a different set of symbols including at least one progression symbol;

b) selecting via the game controller a symbol from the different set of symbols according to random criteria;

c) displaying on said display the selected symbol of the different set of symbols; and

d) repeating via the game controller step a) if a progression symbol is displayed, until either a progression symbol is not revealed, or until n cycles of step a) have been completed, where n is a fixed number and is at least 2;

e) ending via the game controller the current game play if a progression symbol is not revealed or n cycles have been completed;

f) awarding via the game controller an award;

if the selected symbol of the different set of symbols is a trigger symbol but does not have the characteristic that matches the characteristic received from the player, not providing the feature game to the player; and

if the selected symbol is not a trigger symbol and has characteristics that match the characteristic received from the player, awarding via the game controller an award to the player.

4. A method of providing a wagering game on a gaming system having a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, an output mechanism configured to provide payouts to a player, a game controller and using a plurality of symbols comprising a plurality of symbols with characteristics that match one at least two possible selections and at least one trigger symbol, and a number of the symbols to a number of the at least one trigger symbol forming a ratio, a game controller and using a plurality of symbols, comprising:

establishing a credit balance via said credit input mechanism receiving the physical item;

commencing, in accord with a wager made from the established credit balance, a game play by receiving the wager staked on the outcome of the wagering game;

maintaining via the game controller the ratio at a fixed value for the wagering game;

selecting via the game controller a symbol characteristic from at least two possible selections of a characteristic of a symbol;

selecting via the game controller a symbol from a set of the plurality of symbols; and

displaying on said display the selected symbol after the selecting of the symbol characteristic;

if the selected symbol is a trigger symbol having the selected characteristic, then:

a) varying via the game controller said ratio between said number of symbols and said number of at least one trigger symbol and forming a different set of symbols including at least one progression symbol;

b) selecting via the game controller symbols from a plurality of symbols including at least one progression symbol, according to random criteria;

c) displaying on said display a plurality of choices, each choice associated with a selected symbol;

d) receiving via the game controller a selection of one of the choices;

e) revealing on said display a symbol associated with the one choice of the different set of symbols;

f) if a progression symbol is revealed, repeating steps a) through e) until either a progression symbol is not revealed, or until n cycles of steps a) through e) have been completed, where n is a fixed number and is at least 2;

g) ending via the game controller the current game play if a progression symbol is not revealed, without awarding a jackpot prize; and

h) ending via the game controller the current game play if n cycles have been completed, and awarding a jackpot prize;

if the selected symbol of the different set of symbols is a trigger symbol but does not have the characteristic that matches the characteristic received from the player, no feature game is provided to the player; and

if the selected symbol is not a trigger symbol and has characteristics that match the characteristic received from the player, awarding via the game controller an award to the player.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of commencing a game play by receiving from a player a wager staked on the outcome of the wagering game and a selection from at least two possible selections for a characteristic of a symbol that forms part of the wagering game and the step of selecting a symbol from a set of a plurality of symbols that comprises symbols with characteristics that match one or other of the at least two possible selections and comprises at least one trigger symbol, and displaying each selected symbol after the selection of a characteristic has been received from the player are both repeated a plurality of times.