Mini-games inside of video games are often seen as a humorous gimmick put in by the developers to add a little bit of extra fun into their games, but is this really all they are? With the number of games that actually include mini-games, it would seem somewhat strange for developers to waste time and resources on implementing mini-games if they had no real purpose at such a frequent rate.
There may actually be more to mini-games than you would first expect, and in this article, we are going to be delving into whether or not they play an important role in video games.
It Depends On The Game
When it comes to the debate of whether or not mini-games are important, there is something incredibly crucial that we have to factor into the equation; not all games are the same. Giving a blanket statement as to whether or not mini-games are important would be outright pointless – some games rely on mini-games massively, while others just include them as a fun extra.
There are countless incredible mini-games inside games out there, and to try and sum them all up into one category would be entirely misleading. Take Yakuza for example.
The mini-games inside the Yakuza franchise are famous around the world, and it is likely that the Yakuza series would not have received nearly as much notoriety if its infamous mini-games were not included.
However, if for instance we decided to put another game under the scope like Red Dead Redemption 2, then mini-games seem to become a lot less important; this is a game that would have likely been just fine without mini-games.
Sure, you could say that the latter example is a little lacklustre as all of the mini-games on Red Dead 2 are just card classics that can be found on actual gambling sites like Unibet casino – this is true. Although, the real reason the mini-games in Red Dead 2 do not have as big of an impact as can be found with the mini-games in Yakuza is because that’s precisely how they were designed – mini-games were not meant to be the main content avenue in Red Dead 2.
More Content is (Usually) Better
If you take a look at any of the top high play-time games, you are likely going to see that the vast majority of them include mini-games. In addition to this, there is another common pattern that spans across high play-time games, and that is that most of them tend to be incredibly well received.
In the vast majority of cases (when quality is not sacrificed), more content is always better. This means that mini-games play an important role by upping the play-time/overall content of many games in the market.
Mini-games just make a world feel more alive, and the more enjoyable stuff there is to do in a game, the better.
What do you think of mini-games inside video games? Do you happen to love when developers include little extras for you to do, or do you think the time spent on implementing them would have been better spent elsewhere? Both sides of the debate are extremely valid, and the right answer is going to differ on how much you like mini-games as a whole.
In all likelihood, mini-games are going to continue to be a staple in the world of gaming for the foreseeable future, and who knows; maybe the next Gwent is waiting for us right around the corner. See you in the next one.