Bowser Time
- “It's everybody's favorite time, BOWSER TIME!”
- —Bowser, Mario Party 7
Bowser Time is an event in the game Mario Party 7, occurring every five turns. It only happens in the Party Cruise mode. The gauge always starts at 0% when the game begins and each turn, after every minigame, the gauge will increase by 20%. The process repeats until the gauge is at 100%, at which Bowser will show up, do something that hinders a player or group of players, and the gauge resets itself at 0%. When the game winds down to its last five turns, the gauge does not appear or fill up. Depending on the number of turns in a match, Bowser Time may occur only once, or up to nine times. The gauge on the screen is the symbol on Mario Party 7's Bowser Spaces.
Bowser can perform any number of events on different boards. On all the boards except Bowser's Enchanted Inferno, one of the things Bowser can do is take a picture of the players, and make them pay 10 or 20 coins for it. Occasionally, Bowser "stumbles into" the photo, but this does not affect the cost at all. Either way, Bowser then leaves without giving the players their photograph, which Toadsworth points out to the dejected group.
On Grand Canal, Pagoda Peak, and Pyramid Park, he may take over one of the two Orb Shops on the boards until a player passes by, forcibly selling an unusable item to him/her for an unfair price. Afterward, Koopa Kid then takes whatever the player was forced to purchase.
The other things Bowser does are specific to individual boards, as listed below:
- He might destroy the bridges on the board and build his own bridges with Bowser Spaces on them, which remain for two turns.
- He might slam the mountain, forcing all the players down a few spaces.
- He might destroy a bridge for one turn so a player has to cut his/her turn short if he/she reaches it.
- He might destroy the bridges spanning the two sides of the board, forcing players to stay on one side or the other for three turns.
- He might take a Star from the player in first place and give it to Koopa Kid, who's somewhere on the board. This Star can then be taken by any player using a Chain Chomp, but Koopa Kid periodically moves his location (like how Bandit does in the Solo Cruise).
- He might steal coins from all the players and put them in the chest already containing twenty coins.
- He might steal a Star from the player in first and put it in the chest already containing a Star.
- He might put a Ztar in a chest.
- He might destroy a windmill (thus erasing any coins the players had invested in it) and build a new "blank" one without any coins.
- He might send a Koopa Kid to rob a windmill.
- He always sinks the island with the Star and, with the exception of the first Bowser Time, raises the island that was previously sunk. Players on the sunken island are sent back to the start and lose half of their coins.
Bowser Time reappears in Mario Party 9 triggered when a player lands on a Bowser Space. The following events can happen:
- Bowser Revolution: This event has the same effect as in past games, but, due to the removal of coins for this installment, Bowser instead takes everyone's Mini Stars and distributes them equally amongst the players.
- Lose Half of your Mini Stars: Bowser steals half of the captain's Mini Stars. If the captain is in last place, Bowser may double their total of Mini Stars or take none of the player's Mini Stars.
- Battle for half of your Mini Stars: Bowser will take half of everyone's Mini Stars and will initiate in a Free-For-All minigame to compete for them. The stars are distributed to the players based on the results of the minigame.
- Reverse Minigame: Bowser forces everyone to compete in a minigame with an objective opposite the one that the minigame normally requires. Afterward, Bowser will give ten Mini Stars to the player who came in last place. Four minigames that are playable are Tumble Temple, Thwomper Room, Billistics, and Chain Event.
- Give 5 Mini Stars to Last Place: Bowser forces the current captain to give five Mini Stars to the player currently in last place. If said player is the captain, Bowser will simply give him or her five Mini Stars.
- Give 10 Mini Stars to Last Place: Like with the event above, Bowser will force the captain to give ten Mini Stars to the player in last. If the player is the captain, Bowser gives him or her ten Mini Stars.
- Everyone Loses Special Dice Blocks: Bowser steals everyone's special Dice Blocks.
- Get 10,000 Mini Stars: Bowser will mock the captain for thinking that he'll actually give them 10,000 Mini Stars, ending the event with no further actions. If the captain is in last place, Bowser will state that he doesn't have 10,000 Mini Stars, but he will give them 10 instead.
