A minigame (sometimes spelled as "mini-game") is a short game which may reward coins, items, or higher scores. However, some main games may require completion of a minigame to access a new area or gain a more "key" item.
Wario Land 3
Wario Land 4
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars minigames
Mario Party series minigames
The Mario Party series has many types of minigames. Most award ten coins while some award items. In Mario Party, a few minigames can cause a player to lose coins, although this system was changed in later Mario Party games.
1-player minigames
1-player minigames are minigames played alone. These minigames are usually accessed by landing on the Star Space. If the player fails, he or she loses 5 coins but if he or she wins, the player wins 10 coins, unless it's a different kind of minigame, like Whack-a-Plant, where players can't win or lose.
4-player minigames
4-player minigames are minigames that pit all four players against each other. These minigames are made in a sense of equality between all players. This system has remained unchanged since the first Mario Party; however, in Mario Party 9, they are renamed, being called Free-for-All minigames
1 vs. 3 minigames
1 vs. 3 minigames are games that challenge a single player against the other three. They typically come in three forms, the three players trying to take down or hinder the single player, the single player trying to take down or hinder the other three players, or both the single and three players trying to achieve a similar goal, with the single player usually getting some form of advantage. In Mario Party 9, they are called 1-vs.-Rivals minigames.
2 vs. 2 minigames
2 vs. 2 minigames are minigames that have the player paired-up with another player. Players often need to work together and cooperate to beat these games. Mario Party 9 is the only Mario Party game (not counting Mario Party Advance) not to feature this category of minigames, but Shell Soccer qualifies as a 2 vs. 2 minigame.
Item minigames
Item minigames are games that a player can play to get an item. If the player gets Koopa Kid, they get nothing. They only appear in Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 3.
Bowser minigames
Bowser minigames are Bowser's own minigames. Bowser minigames are often extremely unfair to the players, as Bowser makes all the rules. Bowser minigames are also similar to 4-player and 1 vs 3 minigames (where the 1 is the player who landed on the Bowser Space), except that they produce a loser instead of a winner. The loser can lose coins, Stars (if he or she has one), or items.
Donkey Kong minigames
Introduced in Mario Party 5, Donkey Kong minigames are minigames run by Donkey Kong which are often short. They usually have players focus on collecting as many bananas as possible. After the Donkey Kong minigame is finished, players can trade their bananas to Donkey Kong for coins. They can also gain more depending on the DK Roulette.
Duel minigames
Duel minigames are minigames that involve two players to play a minigame against each other. Most usually have high stakes, some are common in various Duel modes. The challenging player can choose to either play for coins or Stars. This is provided that the challenging player himself has enough to wager. From Mario Party 7 onwards, the winner's prize was decided by a roulette wheel.
Mini minigames
Mini minigames are a type of minigame in Mario Party 4. It can only be played by a partier that has used a Mini Mushroom on themselves. There are two types of Mini minigames, those that involve winning items, like Item-Go-Round and Item Poker, and those that involve winning coins, like the Coin Slots and Tropical Fishing.
Battle minigames
Battle minigames are minigames that take coins from all the players, then gives them back in different amounts based on the results. The amount of coins taken can go from 10 (later 5) to 50 coins per player. Unlike other minigames, the rank order is important- a player can still win some coins for being in second place. Like the 4-player minigames, most minigames are evenly matched between the four players. The scoring for Battle games up to Mario Party 7:
- 1st: 70% of the total no. coins ; 50% for tie ; 33% for 3-way tie ; 25% if all players win/lose
- 2nd: 30% of the total no. coins ; 15% for tie ; 10% for 3-way tie
If the total number of coins is not a multiple of 10, one random player gets a bonus coin.
In Mario Party 8, the scoring was changed slightly:
- 1st: 70% of the total
- 2nd: 25% of the total
- 3rd: 5% of the total
In Mario Party DS, there are some big changes. Depending on the turn number ranging from 2-30, the players can pay up to 60 coins and the scoring is a bit different:
- 1st: 65% of the total
- 2nd: 30% of the total
- 3rd: 5% of the total
In Mario Party 9, the player(s) can engage in a battle minigame by landing on the "Battle Minigame" space. Once a player has done so, a Hammer Bro. will come and take three Mini Stars per person. The reward distribution is:
- 1st: (50%) 6 Mini Stars
- 2nd: (33.3%) 4 Mini Stars
- 3rd: (16.7%) 2 Mini Stars
- 4th: 0 Mini Stars
Sometimes landing on the space mentioned above, will cause a Fire Bro. to appear. The Fire Bro does not take any Mini Stars, but will make last place lose 10 mini stars, while the winners split the 10 of the results:
- 1st +5 Mini Stars ; +4 for tie ; +3 for 3-way tie ; +9 if three players tie for last place ; +6 if two players tie for 2nd place
- 2nd +3 Mini Stars ; +2 for tie
- 3rd +2 Mini Stars
- 4th -10 Mini Stars ; -5 Mini Stars for tie ; -9 for 3-way tie
Also, if a player lands on a Bowser Space the players can be forced into battling for half of each player's Mini Stars.
- 1st: (50%)
- 2nd: (33.3%)
- 3rd: (16.7%)
- 4th: (0%)
8-Player minigames
8-Player minigames are minigames only in Mario Party 7. They are played with 8 players, which is 4 teams of 2. The first player uses 
and 
while the second player uses 
and 
. They are only accessible in 8 Player parties.
Rare minigames
Rare minigames are special minigames that don't appear at all in parties. They are sometimes very long and have special options that other minigames don't.
Bowser Jr. minigames
Featured only in Mario Party 9, Bowser Jr. minigames are only played when landing on a Bowser Jr. Space. These minigames involve two players, the captain and a partner competing against Bowser Jr.
Boss Battles
Also appearing only in Mario Party 9, Boss Battles are played when the players reach a Boss Battle Space. Each board features 2 bosses. In these mini-games, players must defeat an enemy by working together (except Diddy's Banana Blast and DK's Banana Bonus), though each one tries to get more points by working more than the others. These minigames are timeless and end only when the boss health meter is empty. When half of the health meter is empty, the boss gets more diverse ways to attack.
Mario Party Minigame Lists
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! minigames
Single Player
Dual-Player
Mario Tennis: Power Tour minigames
Super Mario 64 DS minigames
Super Mario 64 DS features a grand total of 36 minigames, which are divided among the game's four playable characters. Two of each character's minigames are unlocked along with the characters themselves, while the remainder are unlocked by catching Rabbits. All of the minigames utilize the DS's touch screen.
Yoshi's Games
Yoshi's minigames are puzzle based.
- Wanted!
- Loves me...?
- Hide and Boo Seek
- Puzzle Panel
- Boom Box
- Tox Box Shuffle
- Which Wiggler?
- Mix-a-Mug
- Puzzle Panic
Mario's Games
Mario's minigames are action themed.
- Mario's Slides
- Bounce and Pounce
- Sort or 'Splode
- Trampoline Time
- Shuffle Shell
- Bounce and Trounce
- Connect the Characters
- Shell Smash
- Trampoline Terror
Luigi's Games
Luigi specializes in "table" games, also known as gambling games.
- Memory Match
- Pair-a-Gone
- Picture Poker
- Mushroom Roulette
- Mario Slot
- Lucky Stars
- Pair-a-Gone and On
- Memory Master
- Super Mario Slot
Wario's Games
Wario has the most diverse collection of minigames, almost no description applies to all of them.
New Super Mario Bros. minigames
New Super Mario Bros. featured minigames in much the same vein as Super Mario 64 DS. Indeed, some of the more popular Super Mario 64 DS minigames are copied exactly for New Super Mario Bros. However, most of the minigames are new, and many are multiplayer, something never seen in Super Mario 64 DS's games.
Vs. Battle
Action
Puzzle
Table
1 on 1
- Vs. Mario's Slides
- Bob-omb Sudden Death
- Jumping Brothers
- Lakitu Launch
- Jumping Sudden Death
- Vs. Trampoline Time
- Bob-omb Trampoline
- Vs. Pair-a-Gone
1 Player
Action
Puzzle
Table
Variety
Super Paper Mario minigames
Super Mario Galaxy minigames
New Super Mario Bros Wii minigames
These appear in Toad Houses within each world:
Super Mario Galaxy 2 minigames
Nintendo Land Attractions
Competitive
Team
- The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest
- Metroid Blast
- Pikmin Adventure
Solo
Game & Wario minigames
Game & Wario is a game for Wii U that has 15 minigames. These games usually try to showcase the Wii U GamePad's capabilities. All of their titles are based off of how the original Game & Watch's games had one name.
