Minigame

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The start of a Mini-game in Mario Party 9.

Minigames, also spelled as mini-games, are short games found throughout many games in the Mario series. They usually reward coins or items when won or completed.

Mario Party series minigames

In the Mario Party series, minigames are found in various categories. When a player completes a mini-game, he or she receives ten Coins or an item. The player may lose coins for losing minigames in Mario Party. This was removed in the following Mario Party games.

Purpose

One of the minigames in Mario Party: Island Tour.

Minigames appear at the end of each turn. They allow the players to fight for coins to aid them in their quest.

Based on the color of the space that a player lands on, that player is assigned to a different "team" for the duration of that turn's mini-game. Players who land on blue spaces are assigned to a blue team, and red spaces assigned to a red team. Players who land on green spaces will be assigned at random to be blue or red. If all four players end up on a single team, a 4-player mini-game is played. If the players are split 1-3, a 1-vs-3 mini-game is played in which the lone player confronts the partnership formed by the other three players. If the players are split 2-2, a 2-vs-2 mini-game is played with the two partnerships going against each other.

In a standard mini-game, the winning player or team receives ten coins for their victory. Should multiple players or teams fulfill the win conditions of the game, they are all declared winners. Should no players or teams fulfill the win conditions, the game is declared a draw and no coins awarded.

In some mini-games, there is no "winner"--these games generally involve some number of coins being present through the course of the gameplay. Each player or team keeps as a prize the coins that he or she collected during the game.

Genre

Mini-games are split into these main categories:

4-player Mini-games

A 4-player Mini-game is a game where all four players play against each other in various games in the Mario Party series. It can be played when all four players land on a space of the same color. Four-player mini-games have various types like racing, survival, and fighting. These games are easy to play in various Mario Party games while others are tough.

2 vs. 2 Mini-games

The four players are split into two teams, in which they have to work together to accomplish the mini-games. Some 2 vs. 2 mini-games can be played duel style.

1 vs. 3 Mini-games

A lone player confronts the partnership formed by the other three players. One vs. three games can either give the one player a disadvantage over the other three or an advantage.

1 Player Mini-games

Only in Mario Party, The player receives a chance of getting coins by competing in these.

Duel Mini-games

Two opposing players go at it in these type of mini-games wagering their coins or, in later Mario Party games, stars. This concept was introduced in Mario Party 3 (though similar ones appeared in Mario Party 2) in Mario Party DS the Duel Minigames are 4 players and 2 vs 2 Mini-games.

Mic Mini-games

Special type of Mini-games that are played in Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7 and Mario Party DS. They are usually 1 vs. 3 mini-games that usually involve an active player controlling the mic.

Donkey Kong Mini-games

Donkey Kong Mini-games are special mini-games that first appeared in Mario Party 5. Donkey Kong hosts the mini-games himself and before the Donkey Kong Mini-game begins, he spins the Banana Randomizer to see how many times of coins he will give per banana. This could go from either x1, x2, or x3. Once the mini-game ends, Donkey Kong will hand coins to all of the players that collected bananas.

Bowser Mini-game

Rain of Fire, a Bowser mini-game in Mario Party 5.

Bowser Mini-games are special mini-games that were technically first seen in Mario Party 4. In Mario Party, there were Bowser-tweaked mini-games but they weren't actually true Bowser Mini-games. Bowser Mini-games usually involve all players competing against Bowser who would try to take either half their coins, all of their coins, all of their items, or, rarely, their stars. It wasn't until Mario Party 7 that introduced Single-Player Bowser Mini-games where one player must compete against Bowser.

Item Mini-games

An Item mini-game is a special type of mini-game that appears in Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 3. An item mini-game allows a character to participate in a mini-game that allows them to earn an item. There is only one player that is allowed to play in an item mini-game at a time. When an item mini-game initiates, the player will have a chance to earn different items that are chosen at random. Each item mini-game has a different objective, which require different methods to acquire an item. Some item mini-games are random, while others are memory games. In Mario Party 2, all of the boards have their own mini-game, which is the only game that the characters can play. However, the item mini-games in Mario Party 3 were not limited to the board, and were chosen by a roulette wheel. Also in Mario Party 2, Baby Bowser appeared in the item mini-games. If a character manages to get Baby Bowser, then they will automatically lose the mini-game.

Bonus Mini-games

Bonus Mini-games are special type of mini-games that are present in every Mario Party game except for Mario Party 9. In these mini-games, players actually compete to collect coins within the mini-game itself meaning that they can earn more than the 10 coins that they usually win from regular mini-games. Bonus Mini-games can be identified by the gold lettering on the mini-game selection screen.