A multilevel game includes a base game in which game credits and free passes may be accumulated and saved for play in a bonus event. The bonus event comprises a tic tac toe-like game in which a player is required to correctly answer trivia questions in order to receive a marker in a space of a matrix. Upon correctly answering trivia questions or presenting free passes in lieu of correct answers to trivia questions associated with a prespecified number of spaces in a prespecified arrangement on the matrix, the player may be granted an award or access to a next-higher level of the bonus event. Nonwinners of the bonus event are returned to the base game. Various other features include “double-or-nothing” bonus play. The multilevel game may be effected by a gaming machine or a system that includes a gaming machine.