Template:Item-infobox Mini Stars are small white stars, introduced in Mario Party 9. They originated from outer space, and are similar to Coins from the first eight Mario Party games, as players will need to collect these items while advancing on the stages. When collected, they add to the current player's Mini Star total.
In the solo mode of Mario Party 9, it is revealed that Bowser and Bowser Jr. have used a vacuum-like machine to suck all the Mini Stars from outer space, to 'put them into good use'. Therefore, Mario and the gang go to rescue the Mini Stars.
The dark counterpart of Mini Stars are Mini Ztars, which have the opposite function of deducting Mini Stars from the player's Mini Star total. When a minigame ends, certain amounts of Mini Stars will be awarded to players in different places. After boss battles, 'Captain Bonuses' are also given to the captain of the current turn. Mini Stars can also be obtained by landing on Mini Star Spaces, commonly found whenever the player lands on a Lucky Space. Captain Events also revolve around the players gaining Mini Stars in the form of special, board-specific events. The most common way to obtain Mini Stars, however, is to simply run into them on the board. On the board, they can be collected in groups of either three, five, or ten.
At the end of each stage, Bonus Mini Stars are given to each player. Each of the Bonus Mini Stars give the players 5 (in Solo Mode) or 10 (in Party Mode) Mini Stars.
The entire category of Bonus Mini Stars can be found here.
Mini Stars do not appear in the secret stage, DK's Jungle Ruins. Instead, they are replaced by Bananas. The same applies for Mini Ztars, which are replaced by Z-Bananas.