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In Fantastic Dizzy, the player has to complete a sliding puzzle to get an extra life.

Comparison of the Snow Game minigame in Final Fantasy VII (left) and Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding on mobile phones (right).

A minigame (also spelled mini-game or mini game and sometimes called a subgame) is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game. For instance, the Pokemon Stadium minigames involves merely pressing a few buttons at specific intervals, with little complexion.

Minigames occur variously as gameplay features, or as time fillers while levels are loading, or as Easter eggs. In the latter case, they are often called "secret games". In the former case, the successful completion of such minigames may or may not be required to finish the encompassing game.

The Final Fantasy series is notable for featuring minigames in every entry of the series, ever since the first Final Fantasy (1987), in which a sliding puzzle in the form of an Easter egg can be unlocked while boarding the ship. In Final Fantasy II (1988), a matching game can be unlocked while boarding the ice sled and meeting a certain requirement. Later in the series, Final Fantasy VII (1997) was the first video game to include within it at least thirty minigames, which remains the largest number of minigames for a role-playing game.

Minigame compilations

Some games, such as the WarioWare series, some Cinemaware titles like Defender of the Crown, or David Whittaker's Lazy Jones, are made up of many minigames strung together into one video game. Some similar games, such as the Mario Party series, are considered party games, specifically developed for multiplayer. In party games, minigames usually involve performing an activity faster or collecting more of a specified item than other players to win.

See also

• Casual game
• Casual gamer
• Party game
• Minigames of Final Fantasy

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Genre

The genre of Mini-games are categorized as compilations of Mini-games.

In Game

A Mini-game, not to be confused with microgame, is a game that is small and not big.

Well, there's more to it then that. Mini-games are typically small games that would be more appropriate as flash games that you play on your lunch break. Basically, games within games. They are included in bigger games for many reasons, such as breaking up the action, or offering some form of replay value. Games like Mario Party are entirely devoted to mini-games. Games like Banjo-Tooie allow you to replay mini-games in competitive multiplayer.

Mini-games are usually helpful in making a game better.

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