Minigame

An in-game screenshot of Catchy Tunes, a minigame from Mario Party 7.

Minigames (alternatively spelled as "mini-games") are usually optional short games which may reward coins or items. However, some must be completed for high scores or access to a new area.

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 loses 5 coins but if he or she wins, the player wins 10 coins.

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.

1 vs. 3 minigames

1 vs. 3 minigames are games that challenges a single player against the other three.

2 vs. 2 minigames

2 vs. 2 minigames are minigames that have the player paired-up with another, random player. Players often need to work together and cooperate to beat these games.

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 the winner gets nothing and the losers lose coins, Stars (if they had 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
2nd: 30% of the total no. coins

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

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 the analog stick and the L button while the second player uses the C Stick and the R button. They are only accessible in 2 vs. 4 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.

List of Mario Party series 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.

Mario's Games

Mario's minigames are action themed.

Luigi's Games

Luigi specializes in "table" games, also known as gambling games.

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.

Action

Puzzle

Table

Variety

Vs. Exclusives

Super Paper Mario minigames

Super Mario RPG minigames

Super Mario Galaxy minigames

New Super Mario Bros Wii minigames

These appear in Toad Houses within each world:

Super Mario Galaxy 2 minigames

References

^ Name of minigame in mini game section of manual

[1] Name of minigame in mini game section of manual

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