- "If you stop on this space, Bowser will crash the party!"
- —Mario Party 7 instruction manual warning.
The Bowser Space is a common space featured in all installments of the Mario Party series. It is one of the most dangerous spaces. The Bowser space can be found in different areas on a board map. Bowser spaces are absent on Bowser Boards (Bowser's Pinball Machine, Bowser's Enchanted Inferno, etc.), despite their nature as Bowser creations. (However, Bowser's Warped Orbit does feature them.) Landing on a Bowser space will change the player's panel to red. When a player steps on the space, they are often transported to Bowser's Lair and must go through Bowser's different trials and mini-games. Most of the time the outcome of landing on a Bowser space has a negative effect on the players, although there are rare times where the Koopa King hands the player extra coins or an item to anyone who stops on his space. In later Mario Party games, Bowser starts introducing a new type of mini-game to the series that all characters must participate in. These mini-games are usually survival mini-games where the player must not be captured or harmed by Bowser. The player will receive coins from Bowser if they land on his space without any coins; the amount of coins received is determined by how many turns are left in the game.
Bowser Spaces are black and have the red Bowser logo on their face.
Recurring Bowser Events
While the events that Bowser hosts may change depending on the game, there are several events that appear in most Mario Party games. These events usually don't change and are vastly similar.
- Bowser's Revolution - Bowser will take all the coins from the player and divide them up evenly among all four players, leaving them with the same amount of coins. If there are an odd number of coins, then Bowser will round up to the next number.
- Bowser's Shuffle - Bowser will randomly shuffle the characters position on the board. If three or four players are all on a single space, Bowser will shuffle those characters to random spaces across the board.
- Ztar - In later Mario Party games, Bowser has a rare chance of giving the player a Ztar. A Ztar is the evil-version of the Star, and usually takes away coins or even a star from the player.
- Bowser's Item Give Away - Bowser will hand the player a free item when they play this event. The item is usually an item that is related to him, like a Bowser Mask or Bowser Phone.
- Bowser Mini-game - In later Mario Party games, Bowser will start a special-type of mini-game called a Bowser mini-game. When a Bowser mini-game is played, all four players are usually placed into a certain situation where they must survive, usually trying to avoid harm from Bowser. A player that unsuccessfully completes a Bowser mini-game usually ends up losing coins or their items.
History
Mario Party
The Bowser space debuted in the original Mario Party, and set the precedents for the Bowser space in later Mario Party games. In this game, Bowser's events are chosen randomly by a roulette wheel. Some of the vents include coins for Bowser, Bowser's revolution, and chance time. However, the roulette has a chance of selecting a special Bowser mini-game. The Bowser mini-game is a different variation of a normal mini-game in the game. In these mini-games, the players are either pitted against each other, or on their own. In these special mini-games, the players must avoid losing or Bowser will take coins from them. There is also a rare option that appears in gold letters which usually contains a phrase like "1000 coin present." Landing this option will cause Bowser to run away.
- Bowser's Balloon Burst - The characters must blow their balloon of Bowser up faster than their opponents. The first player that pops their balloon will win the mini-game, while Bowser takes coins away from every other player.
- Bowser's Face Lift - In the center of the screen, a portrait of Bowser's head will be distorted. The player must replicate the distored facial features of Bowser's head as close as possible. Any player that scores less than 90 points will lose coins. If every player scores 90 points, Bowser will take coins from whoever landed on the Bowser space.
- Bowser's Bash 'n' Cash (the roulette simply lists the minigame as Bash 'n' Cash)- One player (always the person who landed on the Bowser Space) will be dressed in a Bowser Suit while the other three will carry mallets. The three players carrying mallets must attack the player in the Bowser Suit. Every time the player in the Bowser Suit is hit, they will lose a certain number of coins. If the lone player wins without losing any coins, Bowser will take fifteen coins from the player out of spite.
- Bowser's Tug o' War - One player is dressed in a Bowser Suit, while three players are working as a team to pull the rope. The player in the Bowser Suit must prevent the team from pulling them into the giant Piranha Plant in the center of the canyon. The team or player that falls into the Piranha Plant's mouth will lose coins to Bowser.
Mario Party 2
Bowser's Lair as it appeared in Mario Party 2.
The Bowser space that appears in the later two installments is identical to the one that appeared in the original Mario Party game. However, the Bowser mini-games were discontinued in these games, and were replaced by different events. In Mario Party 2, three new events labelled "Bowser's Multiplying Toads", "Bowser's Appearing Act", and "Bowser's Coin Potluck" were added to the game. When the multiplying Toads option comes into play, two Toads will be scattered throughout the board. One Toad contained a real star, while another Toad is Baby Bowser in disguise that hands out a Ztar. If a player lands a Ztar, they will lose the twenty coins they paid for it. The "Bowser's Appearing Act" option is similar to the Bowser Bomb, where Bowser will appear on the board map and take all the coins from any character he passed. When "Bowser's Coin Potluck" comes up, Bowser will take coins from every player.
Mario Party 3
The Bowser space returns again in Mario Party 3. The events in this game are similar to the events that appear in Mario Party 2. However, in this game, Bowser gives more rewards to players if they land on his space. Sometimes he will give away free items, like a Bowser Phone, or a Bowser Suit to the player. The Bowser Phone is a special item that will summon a specific character to Bowser's lair when the phone is dialed. Another new event that appears in this game is the Bowser Curse and Bowser's Reverse Curse. These events act similar to both the Poison Mushroom and Reverse Mushroom respectively. However, all the players on the board map will be inflicted by the curse. The curse can be cancelled out by using a different Mushroom.
Mario Party 4
The Bowser space returns as a semi-common space in this game as well. Some boards have two Bowser spaces while others have four. Landing on a Bowser space often makes a Koopa Kid appear rather than Bowser himself. The Koopa Kid can take up to 30 coins from a player. There is a somewhat rare chance for Bowser to appear where he will either use Bowser Revolution, a mini-game, the Bowser Shuffle, or give away the rare Bowser Suit. There is an even rarer chance for Koopa Kid and Bowser to appear at once. It is notable that Bowser appears massive in size in this game compared to his other appearances in the Mario Party series.
Mario Party 7
In Mario Party 7, if a player lands on this space, then he/she will play a Single-Player or Multiplayer Bowser Minigame but if you have no coins, then Bowser will give you ten.
Mario Party 8
When the Bowser space is activated in Mario Party 8, Bowser will appear on the board. Depending on the board, Bowser will ruin the players chances usually by stealing a star or coins. Bowser spaces are only activated after the Donkey Kong Space has been stepped on.
Mario Party DS
In Mario Party DS, upon landing on a Bowser space, Bowser appears on the upper screen and can levy the following penalties:
- Gimme Stars!: The player loses a star.
- Gimme Coins!: The player loses twenty coins. Should they have fewer than 20 coins, the penalty is instead 10 coins.
- Gimme Charity!: The player forfeits 10 coins to each of his opponents. Should he have fewer than 30 coins, the player forfeits the floor of one-third of his coins to his opponents, and keeps any odd coins.
- Gimme Equality!: Bowser takes the sum of all players' coins and evenly distributes them to all players. This event is same as Bowser Revolution in earlier Mario Party games.
Mario Party 9
In Mario Party 9, after one has landed on his space, the screen changes to him in a fiery location where he selects the fate of the player:
- Reverse Mini-game: All players compete in a Reverse Mini-game where the player loses first is the winner. The winner receives ten Mini Stars from Bowser.
- Bowser Revolution: All player's Mini Stars gets divided evenly. Bowser keeps any leftovers.
- Lose Half of your Mini Stars: Bowser steals half of the captain's Mini Stars unless the captain is in last place. Bowser may double the last placer's Mini Stars instead of taking them. In Donkey Kong's Jungle Ruins, the Mini Stars are replaced by bananas.
- Battle for Half of your Mini Stars: Bowser takes half of everyone's Mini Stars and the players battle it out to win them back. The first placer receives an enormous amount of Mini Stars while the last placer receives none.
- Give 5 Mini Stars to Last Place: The player must give 5 of their Mini Stars to the person in last place. If the player in last place is the one who landed on the Bowser Space, then Bowser will give him/her 5 Mini Stars instead.
- Give 10 Mini Stars to Last Place: The player must give 10 of their Mini Stars to the person in last place. If the player in last place is the one who landed on the Bowser Space, then Bowser will give him/her 10 Mini Stars instead. ("What!? YOU'RE in last place!?")
- Everybody Loses Special Dice Blocks: Bowser steals everybody's Special Dice Blocks.
- Get 10,000 Mini Stars: Bowser will simply go away saying he won't give the player 10,000 Mini Stars. If the player who landed on the Bowser Space is in last place, Bowser will give the player 10 Mini Stars out of pity.
