As a Wii owner, I've gotten awfully familiar with the concept of the mini-game. I imagine my fellow Wii fans are a little tired of them in fact. Mini-games, however, are not necessarily a bad thing and can bring vibrant variety to larger games when incorporated into the overarching play mechanics. Or at least that's their potential when utilized well. The best way to make use of a mini-game within the framework of the main game is to make it work within the context of the main game. When pulled off successfully, it enriches the experience. When not integrated well or even at all, the mini-game kills immersion.
Before I continue, let me offer a quick definition for mini-game. A mini-game is a task or challenge that works within its own set of rules and mechanics not present within the larger game that encompasses the mini-game. A simple example is the chocobo race in Final Fantasy 7. Even though you can ride chocobos outside of the mini-game, the birds operate differently and follow specific performance rules within the mini-game exclusively.
Speaking of Final Fantasy, as much as I enjoy the series in general I'll be tapping these games as providing my example for how not to use mini-games. The Sly Cooper series of games will be my example of how to do it right.
Suspension of Disbelief Failure.
Final Fantasy 8 worked hard to envelop gamers in its world. There were warring nations and enemies with mysterious motivations. The protagonists each had a hidden past and there were budding relationships to explore. There was also this card game called Triple Triad. I almost never actually played it, not because it wasn't a fun card game but because playing it seemed just so damned inappropriate. A prime example of what I mean occurred during an invasion of my base. I and my crew were running about, battling the enemy and saving our comrades in the midst of a deadly situation. However, in order to get some primo cards for my deck I had to put the disaster on hold and challenge an NPC to a card game.
Never mind the smoke and fire, the looming death ray, forget the screams of the wounded and the noise of gun fire; I gotta play me some cards. Nothing jerks me out of the experience faster than being slapped with a situation that screams “Hey!, you're playing a video game. These characters you're trying to connect with are freaking polygons and texture maps, now play some damn cards!.”
This is What Seamless Integration Plays Like.
After playing Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, I was struck by how these titles were bursting with mini-games. The main play mechanics of the Sly Cooper games involved lots of running and jumping, sneaking and climbing all over the environments. But there was also RC car racing and plane flying, pirate ship battles and ballroom dancing. Unique things to do were abundant, each complying with its own play mechanic and yet perfectly integrated into the game world's logic and plot.
RC Car challenge
Dancing with the Enemy
The best mini-games are ones that blend in to the point that they don't feel like mini-games at all.
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