Hold tight because it's going to get pretty meta up in here. With the ever expanding amount of memory that developers have to play with when making their titles, it's no surprise that some leave an extra bundle of gameplay for those that want to take a break from the main attraction. Whether they be full blown games, mini-games, fourth wall breaking, lore abiding or just straight up ports of previous titles, there are so many examples it would seem rude not to get your thoughts on your favourite.
To get the ball rolling, We’re sure it hasn’t escaped your attention that Gwent from The Witcher 3’s had its hair done and made a bit of a go of it out on its own. With the hours you could easily lose to it while doing your best to ignore the Rock Troll infestation you can definitely see why. In fact, that one's so good it's being spun out into its own game.
Yet that’s only one of many. I mean, who could fail to mention the halcyon days before the Wii Shop and Virtual Console, where Animal Crossing on Gamecube just straight up gave you 20 classic NES titles to have in your pad. For free, no pseudo currency, no nothing. Or my personal favourite of Dead Ops Arcade in Call of Duty: Black Ops - wiggle out of your straps on the menu, enter the right code on the secret computer and Boom. Dead Ops Arcade. Getting bored of zombies with your mates? Crack out the Dead Ops and get gathering that booty, you’ll come round.
Peggle and Bejeweled in early World of Warcraft loading screens, Fallout 4 Pipboy game cassettes, the tear-jerking nostalgia of Crash Bandicoot in Uncharted 4, Red Dead Redemption and its array of cowboy mini-games… The list can go on (which is why we kinda wrote the article).
So! What’s your favourite? Which ones have you sunk the most hours into? Which were the worst? Were there any that were actually better than the actual game they were hidden in? Let us know in the comments!
PS: We all know it's Gwent.
Login or Register to join the debate
PC Specs
loved the blackjack tables in las venturas (gta:sa)
PC Specs
Caravan or the gambling from Fallout New Vegas? Anybody? No? Just me? ok
PC Specs
I know it's not a very popular belief but blitzball from Final Fantasy 10 is one of my favorites.
PC Specs
Same
PC Specs
TimeSplitters 2 in Homefront The Revolution which is shown in here
PC Specs
Wolfenstein 3D in Wolfenstein The New Order
PC Specs
yeah! knew other people liked it too. and its also in old blood
PC Specs
My all time favorite is Triple Triad in FFVIII and Gwent from W3 is really good too :)
PC Specs
Gwent is definitely one of my favorites.
As a side note/joke:
Super Turbo Turkey Puncher
3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol
PC Specs
I really enjoyed working on the docks in Shenmue....Forklift racing.
But Gwent really is the only game I've gone out of my way to play and decided to have whole sessions dedicated to just playing Gwent.
Also, Mario Party...It is basically a game of mini games but it's so good.
PC Specs
Bully's mini games
PC Specs
Far Cry 3 Poker!!!
PC Specs
That old school space game you could play as Tekken 5 booted. :)
PC Specs
No question, Blitzball in FFX
PC Specs
Makes me glad to see another blitz ball fan.
PC Specs
i made a lot of money in farcry 3 playing the poker mini game ;)
PC Specs
"Niko, wanna go bowling?", "Sure thing cousin." I don't know how much time have I spent beating Roman's ass at bowling in GTA IV
PC Specs
GTA:SA game you could play at home haha xD
PC Specs
Swoop Bike Racing and Pazaak in KotOR.
PC Specs
Don't forget, Black Ops also had Zork on the terminal in the main menu. I hardly ever got past the Grue.
And I'll never forget the time my brother was playing the "Off Track Betting" minigame in GTA: San Andreas, and bet all his money on a horse named "Shoot Me". Take a guess at how that turned out.
PC Specs
Final Fantasy VIII Triple Triad. I remember playing it for around 30 hours before I got Ifrit.
PC Specs
Nunnageddon in 10 Second Ninja X
PC Specs
I also liked gwent. I was never really into card games like that, but it was pretty easy to get the hang of and usually pretty fun. You mentioned the minigames in Fallout 4, on holotape, but I actually never played any of those. I think I found nearly all of them, too. I'm just now getting into the Nuka World DLC so maybe I'll try one of those out.
PC Specs
Grognak the Barbarian was pretty good. It reminded me of Skyrim, except it's a turn-based RPG. I don't even like turn-based RPGs but when I started playing it I didn't stop for like 3 hours.