We all love to play video games, but sometimes what’s even more fun are the games we find within video games. Whether they’re based on random games of chance or devious tests of skill, minigames can be an incredibly exciting and engaging part of the games we play, and we wanted to honor their legacy. As such, here are five of our favorite minigames that we love almost as much as the games they come from.
Voltorb Flip – Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
A cross between Minesweeper and Picross, Voltorb Flip is a nonogram-style game that sees players risking it all, flipping over a five-by-five grid to earn coins and multipliers, but flip the wrong card and Voltorb will self-destruct, making you lose all coins you took whilst in your current multiplier, and end the game with what you’ve collected.
Voltorb Flip requires a lot of patience and logic, but the massive payouts make it a worthy investment, especially when these coins can be spent on some valuable TMs, held items, and even Pokémon! Voltorb Flip is a fun Western alternative to the equally fun slot machines found in the Japanese version of the game, which sees players spinning reels and trying to match icons for big payouts. These versions are similar to the ones you can play on today’s most trusted real-money fruit machine websites like those currently featured on the globally renowned www.johnslots.com/en/website.
Gwent – The Witcher 3
A minigame so good it just had to become its own game. Whilst The Witcher 3 offers an all-time great story quest, full of rich characters, shocking twists and deep emotional connections, many of us were willing to put it all on hold just to play a few rounds of Gwent. You know, in between all of the world-ending cataclysmic shenanigans. Gwent is both incredibly easy to play and hard to master, with the aim simply being to have more cards with a higher point score in play than your rival. Things get very tactical and strategic very quickly though, as making the most of your cards’ powers to boost your points and cut down your rivals is essential.
An incredibly similar minigame was even introduced to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth earlier this year, with Queen’s Blood being a very similar game to Gwent, just played horizontally instead of vertically. Whilst it’s great on its own and entirely worthy of being a headliner on this list, it just can’t beat the original, Gwent is just too good.
Minigames – New Super Mario Bros.
Yeah, we can’t even just choose one. New Super Mario Bros. from the Nintendo DS offers a wealth of minigames, from puzzles to action games to everything in between. Honestly, we probably spent as much time on these minigames as we did with the main game. Perhaps my favourite was Wanted!, where a Wanted poster is displayed on the top screen, and players must tap the corresponding character on the bottom screen. It starts easy, but gets a lot harder, as the icons start to multiply, overlap and sway around.
Wanted! is just one of the many addicting games found in New Super Mario Bros. though, with other classics like Mario’s Slides, Picture Poker, Whack-a-Monty and Trampoline Time also being worth a mention. It’s no surprise Mario lends himself so well to minigames, given the existence of Mario Party, Nintendo knows how to make a game fun both big and mini.
Card-Jitsu – Club Penguin
Okay, hear us out! This one is certainly a little out there, but anyone who played Club Penguin as a kid knows exactly what I mean when I say Card-Jitsu was incredibly fun. Penguins had to make their way to the Dojo, and rise their way up the ranks earning new Card-Jitsu belts as they progressed through this addicting card game. The game worked similar to rock, paper, scissors, with fire cards beating snow, snow beating water and water beating fire. If players played the same element of card, then whichever had the higher number printed on them would win.
Not only was Card-Jitsu incredibly fun to play within Club Penguin, but it also earned its own fandom outside of the game with a real-life trading card game! A minigame must be good for it to find a real audience, and I was one of those lucky kids who managed to build and play with their own Card-Jitsu decks on the playground. Good times!
Five Finger Fillet – Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar Games are known for their fun side activities, especially in their grounded yet occasionally wacky worlds of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. My personal favorite however has always been Five Finger Fillet. Players must bet money against their opponents, then press the buttons displayed in the right combination as they stab a knife between the spaces in each finger and back to the starting point. Linger too long or press the wrong button and the knife will miss, and stab your hand.
Not only is this game fun mechanically, with the button combinations echoing the way your brain would actually get confused trying to play Five Finger Fillet in real life (which you shouldn’t!), but the way you need to keep your focus on screen and watch for button prompts keeps your eyes on the knife. As squeamish as you may be, you can’t help but watch as you smash away at the buttons and hope for the best.
And that’s our list! Five of the best minigames we’ve encountered in video games. What are your favorite minigames found within video games? Did we miss any out? Sound off in the comments below!
