Stick and Spin

Stick and Spin
Appears in	Mario Party 7 Mario Party DS Mario Party: The Top 100 Mario Party Superstars
Type	Rare minigame (Mario Party 7) Puzzle minigame (Mario Party DS) Special minigame (Mario Party: The Top 100) Sports & Puzzles minigame (Mario Party Superstars)
Initial record	0 points (Mario Party 7) 20 points (Mario Party DS, Mario Party: The Top 100, and Mario Party Superstars)
Music track	A Rare Minigame (Mario Party 7, Mario Party: The Top 100, and Mario Party Superstars) Think It Out (Mario Party DS)
Music sample Mario Party 7: Mario Party DS: Mario Party: The Top 100: Mario Party Superstars:

Stick and Spin is a Rare minigame in Mario Party 7, a Puzzle minigame in Mario Party DS, a Special minigame in Mario Party: The Top 100, and a Sports & Puzzles minigame in Mario Party Superstars. Its name is a pun on either the phrase "thick and thin" or the name of a children's toy manufactured by Playskool called the Sit n' Spin. In Mario Party: The Top 100, this minigame is unlocked after 200 Mini Stars are obtained in Minigame Island.

Gameplay

The aim of the minigame is to make matches of five or more balls with the same color, and connected balls are indicated by lines linked between them. To control the circle, the player needs to spin the wheel with or . By pressing , a ball immediately drops to the bottom. In Mario Party Superstars, this minigame has different patterns for each of the colored balls. The objective is to clear a set number of balls to advance a level. The number of balls that are needed to be cleared is listed in the middle of the circle. As soon as a ball is going to be cleared, the number is decreased based on that quantity, although in Mario Party Superstars, the number decreases only after the cleared balls disappear completely. In both Mario Party 7 and Mario Party DS, the scoring is based on how many matches while the balls involved in scoring are present, where the number of points gained increases after every match made. In contrast, in both Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars, the scoring is based on the number of balls eliminated, where every ball eliminated grants points as long as it contributes to the objective.

After every five levels, starting with Level 6, the board resets and a brand-new board is presented, with a new gameplay element added, starting at Level 11. The Mario Party 7 version is also the only version where the balls on the conveyor belt can change their state when leveling up within a set of levels, so, for example, within Levels 96 to 100, the ball sizes get larger as soon as a level up occurs. On certain sets of levels, the drop speed of the balls might increase, making it so that they drop faster than before. The speed change in Mario Party 7 and Mario Party DS can be faster or slower between certain sets of levels, while in Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars, there are only speed increases after certain sets of levels. Another thing that may happen between sets of levels is that the size of the circle may change to become slightly smaller or larger, and the most drastic change happens at Levels 56 to 60, which shrink the circle to fit only one layer of normal-sized balls, where it happens only for this set of levels.

The minigame ends when 10 balls spill over and two seconds pass before the player can reduce the number of balls sticking out of the circle. If a ball is spilled over, it is indicated by dotted lines circling that ball. Balls that are cleared do not count as being spilled over. In Mario Party 7 and Mario Party Superstars, a checkpoint is reached every five levels, starting at Level 6. If this happens, the player can continue from the last checkpoint, but it costs them around half of their score provided that they have reached a new checkpoint. If they did not progress past the same checkpoint, the score deduction becomes greater for each successive Game Over until it starts from zero. In Mario Party DS, the player can continue from the last level they have gotten a Game Over on, but the score resets to zero. In Mario Party: The Top 100, the player cannot continue from one of the later levels, unlike in the other versions, so they can start only from Level 1 should the player get a Game Over. The minigame also ends in Mario Party 7 after the player clears Level 100, although this minigame is endless in every other version, where clearing Level 99 resets that particular level.

There are several types of balls introduced throughout the levels:

• Colored balls: Five or more like-colored balls are eliminated when they are linked, indicated by lines that join them when they touch each other. There are six different colors of balls in Mario Party 7 and Mario Party DS: red, light blue, yellow, green, purple, and dark blue. In Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars, there are only five colors: red, light blue, yellow, green, and purple. The Mario Party 7 version is also the only version where certain levels do not have a fixed set of colors based on the number of colors.
• Different-sized balls: The balls can come in different sizes compared to the standard size. Other than being of a different size, the balls work the same way as their normal-sized counterparts.
• Bubbles: These are transparent balls that, when a ball is dropped on them, pop. They do not pop if a ball drops on them as a result of another ball tumbling on them, nor do they pop when a match is made adjacent to them. In Mario Party Superstars, popping bubbles contribute to the number of balls needed to be eliminated.
• Gray balls: These balls require a match made next to them to eliminate, and they contribute to the total number of balls needed to be eliminated, except in Mario Party DS.
• Black and white balls: These are similar to colored balls in that five or more like-colored balls are eliminated when they are linked. Unlike colored balls, when a ball is dropped on them, a black ball is changed to a white ball, and vice-versa. They do not change color if a ball drops on them as a result of another ball tumbling on them.
• Numbered balls: Balls with numbers on them indicate the number of times a certain ball needs to be cleared before it completely disappears. Upon the conditions for eliminating the ball being met, if the number is more than one, it is decreased by one; if the number is one, the number disappears before the ball is eliminated completely. The number can be reduced further if an extra ball is added during a match before the linked balls disappear, including when a gray numbered ball is next to that match. In the case of numbered balls needing to be linked to be eliminated, the match keeps getting made as long as five or more balls are linked. However, in Mario Party Superstars, even if there are five or more like-colored numbered balls linked together after all the numbers are reduced by one but are not yet eliminated, another like-colored ball must be added to eliminate them again.

In Mario Party 7, the staff record for this minigame is 20,190 points in the American version, 49,320 points in the Japanese version, and 49,620 points in the European/Australian version. In Mario Party DS, it is 11,130 points in all versions.

Level summary

Every set of levels has different elements in play, and each version of this minigame contains differences. They are as follows (All = all versions; 7 = Mario Party 7; DS = Mario Party DS; TT100 = Mario Party: The Top 100; SS = Mario Party Superstars):

Level set	Starting layout	Colors	Other features	Balls required to be cleared
				7 and DS	TT100 and SS
1–5	All: No balls are in the circle.	All: Three colors at the beginning 7, DS: Four colors at Levels 3–4; five colors at Level 5 TT100, SS: Four colors at Levels 4–5	(None)	25 (all)	15/15/15/20/20
6–10	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	All: Three colors at the beginning 7, DS: Four colors at Levels 8–10 TT100, SS: Four colors at Levels 7–8; five colors at Levels 9–10	(None)	7: 25/22/35/25/20 DS: 25 (all)	15/15/15/20/20
11–15	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	All: Four colors at the beginning 7, DS: Five colors at Levels 12–15 TT100, SS: Five colors at Levels 14–15	All: The conveyor belt contains large and small colored balls, in addition to normal-sized colored balls.	30/25/20/25/20	20 (all)
16–20	7: A layer of bubbles in the middle ring above a layer of colored balls in the innermost ring DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized bubbles in the innermost ring	7, DS: Five colors at the beginning; six colors at Levels 18–20 TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors at Levels 17–19; five colors at Level 20	Note: Despite Level 16 introducing bubbles, the conveyor belt does not contain them.	30/25/30/25/20	20 (all)
21–25	7: Large gray numbered balls ("1") in the middle ring above normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized gray numbered balls in the innermost ring (no number shown in TT100)	All: Four colors throughout the levels	7, TT100, SS: Large gray numbered balls ("1") appear on the conveyor belt from Levels 23–24; even larger gray numbered balls ("1") appear on the conveyor belt at Level 25. DS: Normal-sized gray numbered balls ("1") appear on the conveyor belt from Levels 23–24; large gray numbered balls ("1") appear on the conveyor belt at Level 25.	30/25/30/25/30	20/20/30/20/30
26–30	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	All: Four colors at the beginning All: Five colors at Levels 28–30	All: The color of every ball on the conveyor belt is covered by a gray circle with a question mark, and it is revealed only after the ball falls from it.	30 (all)	20 (all)
31–35	7: Large gray numbered balls in the innermost ring and a number of large gray balls in the middle ring, all with either "3" or "4" DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized gray numbered balls in the innermost ring, all with either "3" or "4"	All: Four colors throughout the levels	7, TT100, SS: Large gray numbered balls ("3" or "4") appear on the conveyor belt from Levels 33–34. 7, TT100: Even larger gray numbered balls ("3" or "4") appear on the conveyor belt at Level 35. SS: Even larger gray numbered balls ("2" or "3") appear on the conveyor belt at Level 35. DS: Large gray balls appear on the conveyor belt at Level 35.	30/25/30/25/30	20/20/30/20/30
36–40	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	7, DS: Five colors throughout the levels TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors starting from Level 38 TT100: Five colors at Levels 39–40	7, DS, SS: The circle slowly rotates counterclockwise. TT100: The circle slowly rotates clockwise. Note: Turning the wheel against the rotation makes it spin very slowly, while turning with it makes it go faster.	30 (all)	25 (all)
41–45	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	All: Four colors throughout the levels	All: The conveyor belt contains large numbered bubbles ("2"), in addition to normal-sized colored balls; the large numbered bubbles can also start from "3" in addition to "2" at Level 43. All: Even larger numbered bubbles ("2") start to appear on the conveyor belt at Level 44, replacing the large bubbles; the even larger numbered bubbles can also start from "3" in addition to "2" at Level 45.	30/25/30/25/30	25/25/25/25/30
46–50	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring DS: Despite this set of levels starting with five colors, the starting layout has only four colors.	7: Four colors (red, green, light blue, and purple) throughout the levels DS: Five colors throughout the levels TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors starting from Level 48 TT100: Five colors at Levels 49–50	7, TT100, SS: The conveyor belt contains large colored numbered balls, in addition to normal-sized colored balls. From Levels 46 to 50, the numbers on the balls are 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. DS: The same applies as the other versions, except the colored numbered balls are normal-sized.	32 (all)	25 (all)
51–55	All: Normal-sized black balls and white balls in the innermost ring	7, DS: Besides black/white, three colors at the beginning and four colors at Levels 52–55 TT100, SS: Four colors and black/white throughout the levels	(None)	25 (all)
56–60	All: Normal-sized bubbles, black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring	All: Black/white balls throughout the levels	All: The circle's boundary is shrunken to hold only one layer of normal-sized balls for this set of levels only. 7, TT100, SS: The conveyor belt contains normal-sized numbered bubbles ("1"), in addition to normal-sized black/white balls; the numbered bubbles can also start from "2" in addition to "1" at Levels 59–60. DS: The bubbles on the conveyor belt do not have numbers.	27 (all)	25 (all)
61–65	7: Small colored balls (five colors), black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring DS: Small colored balls (five colors) in the innermost ring TT100: Normal-sized colored balls (three colors), black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring SS: Normal-sized colored balls (five colors), black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring	7, DS: Five colors and black/white throughout the levels TT100, SS: Besides black/white, three colors at the beginning, four colors at Level 68, and five colors at Levels 64–65	All: The conveyor belt contains large black/white balls, in addition to normal-sized colored balls.	25 (all)
66–70	All: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	7: Four colors (red, green, light blue, and purple) throughout the levels DS: Five colors throughout the levels TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors starting from Level 68 TT100: Five colors at Levels 69–70	All: Every colored ball from the conveyor belt is numbered. 7, DS: From Levels 66–70, the numbers on the normal-sized colored balls are 3 only, 3 or 4, 4 only, 4 or 5, and 5 only. TT100, SS: The numbered balls are large and start at "2" in the beginning; later at Levels 68–70, they start at "3" and become normal-sized.	25 (all)
71–75	7: Two layers of colored balls along with a few on the third layer DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring 7: Despite this set of levels starting with six colors, the starting layout has only five colors (red, light blue, yellow, green, and dark blue). SS: Despite this set of levels starting with three colors, the starting layout has five colors.	7, DS: Six colors throughout the levels TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors at Level 73; five colors at Levels 74–75	TT100, SS: At Levels 74–75, new balls from the conveyor belt become large-sized.	40/40/30/30/30	25/25/25/30/30
76–80	7: Two layers of colored balls along with a few on the third layer DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	7: Four colors at the beginning; five colors at Levels 77–80 DS: Five colors throughout the levels TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors at Level 78; five colors at Levels 79–80	7: Most of the balls within the circle are covered by gray circles with question marks, except the narrow area at the top of the circle. DS, TT100, SS: Only the top half of balls is revealed, while the bottom half of balls is covered by gray circles with question marks.	30 (all)
81–85	7: Two layers of colored balls along with a few on the third layer DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	7, DS: Four colors throughout the levels; five colors at Levels 82–85 TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors at Level 83; five colors at Levels 84–85	7, TT100, SS: In addition to the colored balls that come from the conveyor belt, colored balls occasionally gravitate to the middle from the corners.	30/25/25/25/25	25 (all)
86–90	7: Two layers of colored balls along with a few on the third layer DS, TT100, SS: Normal-sized colored balls in the innermost ring	7, DS: Five colors throughout the levels TT100, SS: Three colors at the beginning; four colors at Level 87; five colors at Levels 88–90	7, TT100, SS: New balls on the conveyor belt are large-sized starting from Level 89 instead of normal-sized.	32 (all)	30 (all)
91–95	All: Normal-sized colored balls, black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring	All: Three colors and black/white throughout the levels 7: The three colors are green, yellow, and light blue.	All: Every colored ball from the conveyor belt is numbered. 7, DS: From Levels 91–95, the numbers on the balls are 3 only, 3 or 4, 4 only, 4 or 5, and 5 only. TT100, SS: The numbers on balls start at 2, but later on Level 94, they start appearing at 3.	30 (all)
96–100	7: Small-sized colored balls, black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring DS: Small-sized colored numbered balls in the innermost ring, all with "5" TT100, SS: Normal-sized colored balls, black balls, and white balls in the innermost ring	7, DS: Five colors and black/white throughout the levels TT100: Besides black/white, three colors at the beginning, four colors at Level 98, and five colors at Level 99+ SS: Besides black/white, three colors at the beginning and four colors at Level 98+	7: The black/white balls on the conveyor belt are large. 7, TT100, SS: In addition to the balls that come from the conveyor belt, large black/white numbered balls ("2") occasionally gravitate to the middle from the corners. 7: The size of the balls on the conveyor belt gradually gets larger as more levels are cleared. 7: This minigame is finished after Level 100 is cleared. DS, TT100, SS: Clearing Level 99 sets the player back to Level 99, essentially making this minigame endless.	7: 32/32/32/35/35 DS: 32/32/32/35	30/30/30/35

Multiplayer

Stick and Spin can also be played with two players. A few gameplay elements from the single-player game are present as well. The two-player game is played as a survival game. As it goes on, the balls drop faster and faster. Numbered balls are also present, and they fall on both players' screens. However, if one player makes big combos, more numbered balls will be sent to their opponent. The first player who has at least 10 balls sticking out of the ring for two consecutive seconds loses.

Controls

Mario Party 7

• – Spin the stage
• – Drop balls

Mario Party DS

• – Spin wheel
• – Drop piece

Mario Party: The Top 100

• Left / Right: Rotate field
• : Drop ball
  • (The game will end 2 seconds after 10 balls spill over.)

Mario Party Superstars

• (Left and Right) – Rotate Field
• – Drop Ball

In-game text

Mario Party 7

One Player

• Rules – "Connect 5 or more balls of the same color to eliminate them. When you clear a set number, you'll go to the next stage."
• Advice 1 – "The number in the center shows how many balls are remaining."
• Advice 2 – "If a stack gets too high, balls will flow over the top of the circle. If 10 balls overflow, you lose--so watch for the blue warning lights."

Two Players

• Rules — "Connect 5 or more balls of the same color to eliminate them. The first person to have 10 balls sticking out of the circle loses."
• Advice — "Use the special Vexing Balls to give your opponent no end of trouble!"

Mario Party DS

One Player

• Rules – "Rotate the cylinder to clear balls by connecting five or more of the same color. You have to clear a certain number of balls to clear a level."
• Tips – "If 10 or more balls stick out past the outer blue ring, your game will end after two seconds, so be careful!"

Two Players

• Rules – "Rotate the cylinder to clear balls by connecting five or more of the same color. You'll lose if 10 or more balls stick out past the outer blue ring."
• Tips – "If you clear a lot of balls, you can cause trouble for your opponent!"

Mario Party: The Top 100

• Description – "Rotate the field and connect 5 or more same-colored balls to clear them!"
• On-screen (Vs. mode) – "Connect 5 or more same-colored balls to clear them!"
• On-screen (Endless mode) – "Connect 5 or more same-colored balls and clear the number shown!"

Mario Party Superstars

• Free Play and Vs. Puzzles: "Connect five or more balls to remove them! Numbered balls go to your rival if removed. If 10 balls cross the edge, it's game over."
• Score Attack: "Connect five or more balls to remove them! Remove enough to clear a level. If 10 balls stick out past the edge, that's game over."

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	かいてんパズル[?] Kaiten Pazuru	Spin Puzzle
Dutch	Keren en kleven[?]	Spin and stick
French (NOA)	Attraction nucléaire[?]	Nuclear Attraction
French (NOE)	Magnepuzzle[?]	Portmanteau of "magnet" and "puzzle"
German	Kullerkoller[?]	Roly-poly
Italian	Pallapuzzle[?]	Ball Puzzle
Korean	회전 퍼즐(DS)[?] Hoejeon Peojeul	Spin Puzzle
	회전 구슬 퍼즐 (Superstars)[?] Hoejeon Guseul Peojeul	Spin Orb Puzzle
Portuguese	Roda de Grude[?]	"Sticky Wheel", pun on bola de gude ("marble")
Russian	Шародром[?] Sharodrom	?
Spanish	Atracción nuclear[?]	Nuclear Attraction

Trivia

• This is one of the two minigames not originally introduced in the first Mario Party to appear four times in the Mario Party series, the other being Block Star.