VGC Top Ten - Best RPG Minigames - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 08 September 2009 / 33,894 Views
Everybody knows the main draw of an RPG is the main story. But that doesn't mean we don't enjoy taking a break from saving the world and just pass time with no particular purpose. That's the reason minigames exist. Most are absurdly simple, but every now and then there's one that makes you forget about the villain you're supposed to be hunting to the end of the world and beyond. Here, we pick our 10 favorite minigames in an RPG.
10. Ritapon - Suikoden IV (PS2)
We start this with an addictive mahjongg-like minigame. There are 12 different types of tiles, of 4 different colors numbered from 1 to 3 (and you can represent each with any of the characters you have recruited), plus five tiles representing the main runes of the game. The objective is to make sets of three (either 1-2-3 of the same color or three of the same piece). It’s not difficult to learn, but it can lead to some interesting game, and in the end Ritapon is a fun simplified version of Mahjongg that’s sure to entertain you for a bit.
9. Insectron Battle/The Factory - Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
We couldn’t decide which of those two to pick, so we went for both. Let’s start with Insectron Battle, a breeding/battling game akin to Pokemon. Here you catch Insectrons by luring them with traps you set in the field, after they’re in your possession; you can feed them and mate them in order to get a more powerful one. And of course, when you have a good enough team, you can battle with them against opponents in the Insectron Tournament. Overall, it’s a pretty deep minigame. As for the Factory, it’s not as much a minigame as it’s a necessity to obtain some of the most powerful items in the game. Essentially, after you have the required elements to make a certain item; you have to build an assembly line that will make it. But it’s not as easy as it sounds, as you have a limited space to place the machines, you have to ensure that every machine has power supply, and on top of that, that the timing is correct, as a machine that blends two different elements into one has to receive them at the same time. So you have to make the process before take the same time for both parts and that often requires long and intricate tubes with the only purpose to delay. It’s a very engaging minigame that’s sure to test your engineering skills a bit.
8. Tin Pin Slammer - The World Ends With You (DS)
Next on our list is the game that all of Shibuya's youth seems to love. Tin Pin Slammer is a 2-4 player game where you use your pins to slam enemy pins off a board. This is not unlike a crazy version of Sumo Wrestling or a multiplayer version of marbles. As with most minigames Tin Pin Slammer is completely optional aside from a few initial skirmishes in the game, but the benefits outweigh the time spent, since you can actually get new pins to wear. To make this game even more fun you can play either the NPC's in the game, or actual people using wireless.
7. Rocket Game Corner - Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow (GB) - and subsequent games/remakes
We chose not because it’s fun (which it can be), but because, well, it’s like real gambling. I mean, after all, you play a slot machine over and over, only that now it’s a Pokémon-themed one. Yet, even though that may sound boring, it’s something that hooks you, that doesn’t let you go. Maybe it’s because you are mesmerized for the view of the spinning Pokémon, maybe it’s because losing in-game money is not as bad as losing real-life currency. Or maybe, it’s because one… more… spin… will… get… you… closer… to… that… so… coveted… Porygon
6. Chocobo Racing - Final Fantasy VII (PSX/PC)
In Final Fantasy VII, you eventually visit a place called the Golden Saucer, which is full of minigames. The best of the best in this area is the chocobo racing tournaments. Chocobo racing was a doozy of a minigame. At first it seems as if you only had to bet on said Chocobo racing and watch the races pan out, but that was only the first few games. Pretty soon, you are able to take control of the chocobos themselves, and even breed them in order to maximize your stats. Chocobo racing wasn't mandatory except for one spot in the game, but you actually had to do it if you wanted the strongest summon magic in the game: Knights of the Round. coupled with the aforementioned chocobo ranching and breeding, this was one of the more deepest minigames of its time.
5. Xenocard - Xenosaga Ep.1: Der Wille Zur Macht (PS2)
Xenocard could be a game on its own, and it would be awesome, because its depth is nothing short of stunning. Featuring a rule set that rivals those of full-fledged trading card games, the game pits you with a deck composed of cards based on game characters/events against your opponent. With an excellent balance between powerful but costly cards and cheap but weak cards, don’t be surprised if you end up playing more Xenocard than the main story. The biggest fault here is the lack of tangible rewards to use in the game (unlike our number 2). But playing it “just for fun” is more than enough
4. Pazaak - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I and II (XBox/PC)
Pazaak is very simple, but also very addictive. It’s a fusion of Blackjack and a deck-building game that’s used as the “gamble game” so common in RPGs. Players have to draw numbered cards till they total 20 or close, without busting (identical to Blackjack’s 21), but with the twist added that you can throw his own cards to change the score (you can reduce or increase it according to the card you use). Don’t expect a game with a set of overly complicated rules, but it’s a game that you’ll enjoy going back time and again. In other words, what a minigame should be
3. Blitzball - Final Fantasy X (PS2)
I know this will raise eyebrows, as Blitzball splits opinions in two. The sport is a hybrid of water polo and football, but (as it’s made by Square) adds an RPG twist, in the sense of a heavy emphasis on character stats. Featuring even a league where you compete with other teams, and even player-signing, contracts and leveling up for players, Blitzball is a game you can waste many hours. After all, who cares about saving the world when there’s a final against the Luca Goers coming and you have a new signing you want to try?
2. Triple Triad - Final Fantasy VIII (PSX/PC)
I know most of you were expecting this to be no.1, but this isn’t the case. Still, that doesn’t mean Triple Triad isn’t a memorable minigame, because it is. The game features a 3x3 grid where you put cards, and the objective is to beat the opponent cards, as each has four numbers (one for each direction) that “battles” with the card that it’s in that direction. But of course, there’s no “almighty” card, as each of them has a weak point (a low number for at least one of the four directions), so the game involves careful planning. Add to this a big pool of cards to pick up and collect, a set of extra rules that change depending on what region of the game you challenge your opponents, and an excellent integration with the game (you can turn the most powerful cards into very good rewards for battles) and you got a winner. It’s no wonder that there are so many fan-made games based on this.
1. Cooking Contest - Suikoden II (PSX)
And we reach no.1. This isn’t on top because for being the deepest of them all, but for being the most complete. Essentially, it’s a contest between the cook of your castle against a challenger. You select an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert and get rated according to how much the panel of judges liked them. But there are lots of things that make this more than just a minigame. First, the panel of judges is drawn randomly from your recruited characters (remember, they’re 108), and each of them has a different favored taste, and it’s up to you to cater to it carefully. For example, Nanami loves the aptly titled Nanami Ice, that’s ice cream…with salt. Of course, the 5 stars she’ll give you will contrast with the very low scores the other judges will give. And so on, some are vegetarians, some like extra spicy food, everyone has a different taste. This also helps you learn a lot from their personality, starting from the hilarious introduction the presenter does to the panel of judges. And of course, you have to take into account the intrinsic story of the minigame, the particular history of each of the challengers with your cook and even an attempt of murder in the middle. Let’s not even forget the ridiculously catchy music that plays while you’re cooking, and the obvious TV show parody, and you got a minigame that transcends a simple “keep your attention for a while” to become something more, that’s as engaging as a full-fledged game.
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I expected Tetra Master to be on the list :P
nice list but WHAT the hell is that horrible boring thing blitzball doing there
it almost made me GIVE up on FFX as the competition thing took so long!
Not a big fan of the final fantasy mini games that were chosen besides Blitzball.
I guess I'm rare since I preferred Final Fantasy 9 card game over 8 and found chocobo racing (the minigame not the racing game spinoff) to be dull.
The cooking contest is amazing. A totally random yet highly enjoyable part of an already amazing game.
I spent hours on blitzball. Triple Triad was extremely addicting; played it more than the main quest!
No Arcomage?!
You guys need to play more than just the Japanese RPGs.
The card game that first came with Everquest 2 was an awesome minigame... so awesome they made it a full fledge game only a couple of months after
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Swoop racing was so much better than Pazaak.
the blitzball in FFX was really cool
good to see some KOTOR love
i was big on pazaak
I actually spent hours at the pokemon casino trying to get a porygon!
They should've added the mini-games from the FF IV remake! they were so addicting! or the card game from the .Hack// G.U. series! I was ranked 50th! that was huge for me!
but overall, I agree with the list!(have every game mentioned except for the star wars game)
Triple Triad was awesome! I hope they do something similar in a future game :-)
Nothing comes even close to Triple Triad !!! it's even related tot the story
@ Tridrakious Blitzball blitzball would be an amazing PSN game, put on local and internet multiplayer and it would be so awesome
lol most of theese ive played and loved, TT was awesome on FFVIII and the xenocard was good, i got the gold chocobo in VII through the chocobo races, insectron was cool i didnt get too into it though, and blitzball was my favorite.
ugh, i hate that bliztball game.
I just played through the scene in Suikoden 2 where the other chef challenges your chef to that game. It seemed more like an entertaining diversion. I won, but I didn't even realize it was a game, I thought it was a scripted sequence. Triple Triad was the best minigame, but FF9's should have been somewhere on the list, it wasn't as good as Triple Triad, but better than others on the list.
Haha Ritapon. Everytime i tried to get farther in Suikoden 4 i'd instead just play that for 3-4 hours.
Wow, only one wrpg. Bah...
Never heard arcomage for example?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcomage
http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/r/realms_of_magic-24782-1.jpeg
Why on earth would you take Pazaak over Swoop Racing in KOTOR?
.... Blitzball.. That game felt like I was going to hate it but then I got really hooked to it I played almost like a hundred games.... Also Triple Triad is a win!
I spent countless hours into Blitzball. It's an amazing game on it's own.
Square-Enix should turn it into a PSN game.
Loved Blitzball. The FFX-2 spin on it sucked.
Simulacrum said:
"I prolly played Blitzzball more than real story.."
Me too :) I spent hours upon hours playing that.
Chocobo Racing in FFVII was Great never did get the Gold or Black chocobos though to hard and never really put effort into it, yet somehow i still got Knights of the Round...?
Never played FFVIII's Mini game so no opinion but it shouldn't be that high on the list, Pokemon originals should have on the GB/GB Color.
Blitzball was FUN no doubt really enjoyed it at the time, it was one of the only things that made me play it more then KH1.
And lastly... WTF IS "Xenocard - Xenosaga Ep.1: Der Wille Zur Macht" O__O I have nearly ALL Xenosaga games and i've NEVER seen this mini game option before!!! Help someone! i'd like to try it!
@ Pullus
Yes that's true, but FF9 improved on FF8's system.
I also think Chinchirorin (sp?) in Suikoden I and II was fun.
Totally agree with the Top 3, except I'd put Triple Triad first, Blitzball second and cooking third.
The problem with Suikoden II cooking was that you were limited to how many you could do, but yes, it was tons of fun.
FF8 came first, so thats why
its the same idea too.
@ Naum
I thought the same. It's much better than the FF8 one.
Umm where is FFIX cardgame? that one was better then all these.
I think Blitzball was the best part of Final Fantasy X. I had a lot of fun with that little minigame.
@Riachu
oh THANK THE LORD you don't need to win that compulsory blitzball match!
if you had to I would have given up on what was to be my favorite FF ever!
I want to like Blitzball but I'm so terrible at it.
So true about pokemon, i remember i couldn't stop spinning and spinning over and over again. Good times :P
Great mention with Blitzball. I spent more time playing that than the game itself. Great choice!
I do wonder about FF8's card game, because I thought most people accepted FF9's to be better. I mean, they remade the FF9 card system for FF11 and not FF8s.
SOme of these selections are definitely great, such as both of the Suikoden selections (which a version of Ritapon appears in most Suikoden games) and Triple Triad. However, Blitzball....that just makes you wonder. Its not so much a mini-game as a forced sidequest that amounts to a rock/paper/scissors emulator that you can later play for countless hours to obtain ONE item. Yes, it does sport RPG stats and makes you feel like your playing a sport, but only at its bare bones.
I would venture to state a few major mini games were overlooked. Such as Parchisi Boards in Dragon Quest (known as 'TnT' boards in the recent release of Dragon Quest V). Countless hours can be played on these quazi board game emulators. Searching for rare items, fighting monsters, upgrading your stats (or losing stats) and even dying. The mini games are so big, they even have their own stores and inns scattered along the board. In short, the Perchisi boards are almost stand alone games in and of themselves. Which is not surprising, as their creator spawned a Board Game/RPG hybrid series just like them in Japan.
Witcher's Dice minigame is better than most of this
It looks like everyone has problems with that list. I have to agree with those sentiments. I am disappointed the chocobo racing game made it and not snowboarding. I also think ff9's hot and cold game should be on there as well.
@Son1x
Blitzball was a low point in an otherwise great game. Fortunately, the one game you are required to play doesn't require you to win.
God, not blitzball. That thing (yes, thing) is the reason I stopped playing FF X for like half a year, just because of that one blitzball match you had to play early in the game.
FFVII Chocobo racing does not deserve to be on the list. It was dull and repetitive. You literally just held down 1 button when you wanted to sprint. The squatting mini-game was more fun lol..
I don't know if Colosseum count but Star Ocean II's one was awesome.
Nice. I loved Blitzball.
Are you kidding? Triple Triad is number 1. And I hated FFVIII.
Bliztball is quite fun, though the only reason I played so much of it was for Wakka's best overdrive and weapon
I prolly played Blitzzball more than real story..
I also got all cards on FF Vii.
where's FFIX chocobo hot n' cold?
@zibbedy
There are games for that, I don't remember the exact names, but I'm sure if you google Triple Triad Online you'll find them
ff8 cards were amazing i would to play suming like that online.
I love #2 & #3
Nice list
but the fishing mini game in "Legend of Legaia" deserve to be there
thinks 1 and 2 should switch but a good list
i could play that card battle game for hours just to grab all the rare cards...then just b/c it was so much fun
suikoden II? Espere un minuto..... this has to be the work of zexen! :p nice list though. blitzball being in the top 3 pleases me
