What are some of your favorite mini-games?

Whether they’re a nice little easter egg or their own self-contained entity, mini-games are always a nice addition to the larger games they live within. Even though mini-games are meant as an optional side activity, sometimes they become more than that — sometimes they become a focal point. There have only been a few games I’ve played that had comprehensive mini-games like that and it is not coincidence that their existence coincides with some of my favorite games.

Gwent — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This one shouldn’t be that big of a surprise because I haven’t stopped talking about Gwent since I began started playing the next-gen update of TW3. Gwent is a phenomenal card-based mini-game — its mechanics are easy to understand, there are a variety of different cards allowing for deck-building and customization, and there is a decent chunk of gameplay devoted to Gwent and Gwent-related activities. While these are completely optional in the grand scope of the main story, they’re well worth the time invested.

Chao World — Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

I spent hours upon hours as a kid playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle collecting power-ups and animals. None of this was to advance the story but instead to bring back to the Chao Gardens and help me raise my Chao — adorable little sprites that act as the games pets. Chao could be used to compete in mini-games like racing and karate or be cared for and nurtured in to light and dark versions of themselves, opening up worlds to raise more Chao in.

Skateboarding — Spyro: Year of the Dragon and Reignited Trilogy

One of the first commercials for Year of the Dragon showed my favorite purple dragon skateboarding and let me tell you, the younger version of me lost his mind. As a kid, I wasn’t actually able to play showed my favorite purple dragon skateboarding and let me tell you, the younger version of me lost his mind. As a kid, I didn’t have Year of the Dragon on PS1 and so I missed out on skateboarding but as an adult I was able to experience it in full when I bought the Reignited Trilogy and, while it’s not as deeply rooted of an activity to the main game as the previous too, it was still really enjoyable to play.

What are some of your favorite mini-games to play?