The 25 Coolest Mini Games

Image via Complex Original

Video Game: Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2012)

Chocobo racing in FFXIII-2 is a throwback to a similar mini game in Final Fantasy VII, which many consider to be the best FF game of all. Your chocobo has a number of stats, and you've got to strike a balance to have a hope of winning. It's quite similar this time around, though without the same breeding system found in the older game. Either way, it definitely pushes our nostalgia buttons.

Video Game: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011)

The Mario & Sonic series is another franchise built solely on multiplayer mini games played with both Mario and Sonic universe characters. Just like Mario Party and other similar games the mini games included can be hit or miss. But we love the taekwondo mini game, if only for watching Wario and the hedgehog trade spin kicks until one collapses. Ouch!

Video Game: Paper Mario Sticker Star (2012)

The Paper Mario games have a great history of including fun quiz mini games, and Sticker Star, for all its shortcomings, is no exception. You're forced to go through the dangerous quiz show "Snifit or Whiffit" for the main story, but you can replay it further to get more prizes. It even tempts you with a bonus round that reveals an important reward if you dare to take it on. It gets its title—and the danger—from the poison gas that plagues Mario as he attempts to answer the questions and bop enemies with his hammer.

Video Game: God Hand (2006)

God Hand was a very ridiculous game for very many reasons, not least of which is its Chihuahua Race mini game. Oddly, the races were accessed through the game's casino, which we think might be slightly distracting for the blackjack and poker players. Who are we to argue though? The mini game wasn't very fun—it functioned like horse races, where players would bet on the chihuahua they thought would win (hint: always pick Lucky Clover) and sit back and watch. But it gets points for sheer weirdness.

Video Game: Kingdom Hearts 2 (2006)

The gummi ship sections in the original Kingdom Hearts were tedious as hell, especially if you hit one that was too difficult and were forced all the back to the beginning. Then you'd have to hunt down some new gummi parts, upgrade your rig, and try again and again, just to get to a new level. In the sequel, though, they made it more of an optional side quest and beefed up the intensity, making it more of an intriguing distraction and less of a snooze-inducing frustration fest.

Video Game: Final Fantasy X (2001)

Blitzball is not difficult to describe. It's like underwater rugby, but with math. Yes, math. Final Fantasy X's protagonist Tidus was a star Blitzball player, but he also must have been a genius mathemitician, because you had to crunch some serious numbers to get that ball through the goal posts. Given the choice, we'll stick with Quidditch. Unfortunately that particular ridiculous fictional sport has not been made into a decent mini game yet. Just give it time, we say.

Video Game: Shenmue (2000)

Shenmue is a game that's mostly about doing chores, but somehow, like Animal Crossing, it doesn't get old. Part of that has to do with the abundance of great mini games in the Dreamcast classic, from bar fights to dart games to full ports of arcade games inside the game itself. The most ridiculous of these has to be the forklift races, though. Because just driving a forklift like normal isn't anywhere near exciting enough.

Video Game: Fable: The Lost Chapters (2005)

The chicken kicking competition was a special mini game included only in the "Lost Chapters" edition of the original Fable. This special edition of the game was originally created because Peter Molyneux promised players a dragon boss fight that didn't actually make it into the game. Eventually he remedied that with a new version that included the dragon fight and some other beefed-up content, including, naturally, a mini game to see how far players could punt a chicken. Bravo.

Video Game: Mario Party 7 (2005)

There are about a billion Mario Party mini games to choose from, but one that's always stuck out to us is Bowser's Funstacle Course from Mario Party 7 on GameCube. It was long and difficult, but it also provided some of the best platforming in the series. And any choice would be better than the tug-of-war from the first game-we still have the scars on our palms from spinning that control stick around.

Video Game: Mario Paint (1992)

Gnat Attack (also called "Coffee Break") was a bonafide game of its own within the SNES classic Mario Paint. In fact, one could probably argue that it was more of a game than the main game itself was. It was simple: use the SNES mouse peripheral to control the hand holding the fly swatter, and keep going until you beat all three levels. It even had a boss in the form of a menacing robotic wasp that took multiple hits to kill. And it would loop endlessly, getting harder every time you beat it and started again. Was it the original Dark Souls?

Video Game: Super Smash Bros. (1999)

The "Break the Targets!" game in the original Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros. was more than just a fun distraction in between story mode battle levels. It was a truly fun mini game that took advantage of each character's unique skills to provide a challenge perfectly tailored to that character. Some of them were damn difficult, particularly if you were going for perfect scores. But it was well worth it, as the rewards were plentiful.

Video Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

We're actually shocked when we remember how much time we spent just fishing in Ocarina of Time as kids. With the strategy guide open on our laps we'd hunt that elusive, massive catch until the wee hours of the morning. All for a heart piece? Hardly. It was the thrill of the hunt that really kept us going. Fishing has been replicated in other Zelda games, but in our minds the version in Ocarina of Time will always be the best.

Video Game: Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Grand Theft Auto IV is a truly massive game, and that's not just because of its huge Liberty City environment. There's also a shitload to do. Want to blow up entire city blocks and terrorize citizens with rocket launchers and machine guns? Fine. Want to play a surprisingly robust bowling mini game that nets you points with friends and even an achievement or trophy? Guess what—it's got that too.

Video Game: Test Drive Overdrive (2002)

Here's another example of a classic game—in this case the classic game—being included in a modern title basically as an afterthought. Pong was playable on the loading screen of this PlayStation 2-era Test Drive game. What else can we say? It's Pong.

Video Game: BioShock (2007)

Countless games feature cheesy hacking mini games, but BioShock's has to be the only one that we would actually play on its own, outside the main game. We used to play Pipe Dream all the time as kids, so when a steampunk-inspired clone of the classic game appeared as a hacking mini game in BioShock we were excited to relive it. Of course, after the billionth hack it did get old, and we don't blame Irrational for ultimately ditching it. But it's still more fun than Fallout 3's word searches.

Video Game: Final Fantasy VI (1994)

The opera house scene in FF6 is often cited as one of the best scenes in the entire Final Fantasy series. It's a stark mini game in its own right, and involves looking at a script and memorizing a set of lines that must then be recited during a live opera. The production features the only genuine chiptunes opera we've ever heard (it's fantastic). The whole thing concludes with a boss fight.

Video Game: Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (2002)

The Dead or Alive Xtreme series exists for one reason and one reason only: titillation. And to that end there are few things better than watching two of the beautiful women on the island literally bumping their hips together in what's probably the game's least horrible mini game of all. It may not be the pinnacle of fun to attempt to knock the other lady off her floating platform, but at least it's fun to watch.

Video Game: Animal Crossing (2002)

In the original Animal Crossing for GameCube, players could collect cartridges for the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that they could then legitimately play in their houses. Some of the games were easy to find, while others, like the original Super Mario Bros., were much rarer. Things did get a little surreal when we started taking breaks from our in-game chores (pulling weeds, catching bugs, etc.) to play in-game video games. It was a little too close to real life.

Video Game: Project Gotham Racing 2 (2003)

Yes, Geometry Wars was one of the first successful Xbox Live Arcade titles. But it actually got its start before that, as a mini game inside Project Gotham Racing 2 on the original Xbox. It was located inside an in-game garage, and it proved as fun then as it would in the years following. We would have never guessed how successful it would become.

Video Game: Tekken (1995)

There are several games on this list that feature entire other full games inside their virtual worlds, and one of our favorites is the Galaga game inside Tekken. Thanks to Namco's rich heritage, the publisher can afford to insert gems like the classic space shooter for no reason other than that it's awesome. You can play the game while Tekken loads, and beating eight stages even unlocks a special costume for one character.

Video Game: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006)

Motor Kombat has got to get a round of applause for being probably the most far out mini game on the whole list. The characters in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, a game whose very title invokes images of the apocalypse itself, would occasionally take breaks from ripping one another's spines out to partake in a bonafide Mario Kart clone. Each character had his or her own kart and special powers, and it was a ton of fun.

Video Game: Red Dead Redemption (2010)

Poker and blackjack are fine, but they're included in tons of games. Red Dead Redemption is the only one we've ever played with a game called "Liar's Dice," though. After looking at your own dice, you've got to try to calculate how many of each number will appear on the table every turn, then bet on the probability. It's actually quite fun. Oh, and if you buy the DLC you can play with zombies, of course.

Video Game: Metal Gear Solid 3 (2004)

The reward for completing all the Ape Escape-themed missions in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was an outfit called "banana camouflage." And in case that wasn't enough incentive, they were also pretty fun. The mini game involved sneaking through the jungle and attempting to wrangle up as many monkeys as possible. It actually didn't deviate too far from the core MGS gameplay, if you replaced enemy soldiers with cartoon monkeys. It doesn't seem like that much of a stretch in hindsight.

Video Game: Resident Evil 4 (2005)

Resident Evil 4 was a turning point for the series in countless ways. But its "The Mercenaries" mini game/mode was so freaking good that it eventually became its own standalone game on 3DS. The game involves taking control of different characters and simply surviving for as long as you can. Each character comes with a different loadout and abilities, providing for various play styles and difficulty levels. Even after the main game ended, we kept coming back for more Mercenaries.

Video Game: Wii Sports (2006)

Tennis is the game that, for us at least, essentially proved that the Wii was something special early on. It was a genius move by Nintendo to pack Wii Sports in with the console, as we may not have even given it a chance otherwise. But sure enough the Tennis mini game was the most fun we had with our Wii for months after it was released, even including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Once we figured out you didn't actually have to stand up and swing your arms around to play it, it lost some of its appeal. But it sure was fun while it lasted, and it will definitely go down in gaming history.