Games within games – why I love mini-games

Mini-games are an interesting and fascinating part of many major video games. All you need to do is recall the Pazaak from Knights of the Old Republic. The player could escape from the general course of the game, relax and enjoy the wonderful card battles.

Another example that comes to mind is mini-games for breaking locks and computers in Fallout, Deus Ex, and Bioshock. Their passage was not always mandatory, but each time the player received something for their efforts.

However, mini-games do not often attract the serious attention of the public and critics. Perhaps the point is exactly how they fit into the main game. They are not distracting, are not required, are not difficult; they just live peacefully on the expanses of the game world. But some of them are so great that it is very hard to forget about them. In this article, you will find examples of several interesting mechanics and thoughtful integration and why mini-games are excellent in games.

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 is an outstanding shooter with decent gameplay and plot. However, in addition to the main campaign, you can enjoy playing mini-games, and one of the most popular games is poker, where you can lose and gain a lot of money at the same time. It makes the gaming experience more pleasurable.

Supposedly, besides poker, the developers wanted to include online baccarat for real money, where a player could try online casino games with the help of a computer. The basic reason behind this idea was to make the game more realistic. As baccarat has a lot of popularity among players, developers thought that if a player was given a choice to play casino games on the Internet, it would be even more fascinating. However, this plan failed to materialize, and you can only play poker in the game, and it makes the plot further enchanting.

Witcher 3

After the release of the third Witcher, Gwent was more likely to be a joke. Here is a harsh, cruel medieval world filled with monsters, liars, and murderers. And among all this, merchants, barons, and criminal bigwigs calmly invite the player to sit at the table and spend a party with them.

But still, there are several reasons why in the end everyone likes Gwent. This is an independent, serious game, rewarding for patience, judgment, and the ability to think ahead. Gwent fits very conveniently into the whole game system.

Cards could be bought from merchants, won in parties, or in some cases even stole. From time to time, additional quests and storylines related to Gwent appeared. In one task, the player had to beat the most sophisticated players to get the information he needed. And in another – to engage in battle, not for life, but death, in order to knock out three powerful cards from enemies.

Even Pazaak didn’t integrate well into the Knights of the Old Republic gameplay. Whole stories are associated with some cards, so the player has even warmer feelings for them than those that they deserve for their strength.

This mini-game makes the story of Witcher even more fantastic, and we feel the atmosphere of the game to its maximum.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Poker in Red Dead Redemption has its own special spirit. How it is included in the main game strengthens the player’s feeling that he is in the ruthless, cruel world of the Wild West. When a player has the opportunity to play poker with a random opponent or during the execution of an additional task, he is not obliged to play a regular game full of bluffs, checks, calling and raising bets. He can, if he wants, imperceptibly for the opponents to cheat or even grab his six-shot revolver and engage in a bloody shootout.

Annie Mitsoda, who is an independent developer, explained that the violence was completely random and spontaneous, and because of this, it was much easier to believe in the atmosphere of the Wild West.

She herself liked blackjack. For her, it is simpler, and you do not have the feeling that you are opposing AI. In gambling in the real world, it may be repulsive that you cannot beat a casino, but in a video game, you can enjoy the excitement without risking it.

Conclusion

Developers can learn a lot if they try to recreate such mini-games in their projects. While most players focus on the main storyline and side quests, some of them enjoy various mini-games. It only enriches the gaming process even more.