Playing Red Dead Redemption has got me thinking about minigames again, and why they work in some games and not others.
First off, I'm not really including minigame collections that you can go buy. Those don't have the same kind of appeal...but why? For me its because there isn't any "world" there. Its just a little game you play completely standalone from anything else in the collection. While that can be fun you don't form the same kind of connection while playing it.
The kinds of minigames I like are built into other, larger games. Red Dead has poker, blackjack, horseshoes, liar's dice, arm wrestling, etc. Another game that does minigames well is the Yakuza series with a bunch of casino games as well as some interesting games with Japanese origin. Some of the novelty there is being able to play games you may not be exposed to normally, which is pretty awesome in my eyes.
So what other reasons do these minigames work? One reason they work for me is they lend some realism to the game world. In life we have all sorts of games and pastimes. All work and no play... etc etc. It makes sense for a game world to have its own games and things for its inhabitants to do. Its even neater if the minigame is unique to that game world, though that can backfire if they suck (like all of the minigames in Rage).
The other reason they work in RDR and Yakuza is the gambling. I'm not a gambler in real life. At most I might go play some bingo with my grandma, or do some low stakes (25 cents) fun betting on the horse races at the county fair with my mom. I just don't like losing money. I've played Zynga Poker but that also leaves me a little flat since there is no weight behind your decisions. They give you chips, you can go all in whenever because the chips are worthless, winning is nice but it ultimately doesn't mean anything.
So that's where RDR and Yakuza pick up the slack. Yes its fake money, but its "real" money inside the game world. Winning $200 at the poker table could mean me buying a new horse or gun in RDR, and losing it means I can't buy extra ammo or a health boost. It makes me care about the outcome and therefore makes it much much more interesting, tense, and fun.
Where am I going with this? I don't know. Just thinking out loud. You couldn't just throw these games together and get the same kind of attachment if it didn't have the larger overall game behind them. You don't necessarily have to do gambling either, a trading card game where you pick up cards from around the world works just as well and rewards exploration.
Oh, another thing...presentation means a lot. A TON. I like liar's dice in RDR so I went to look for some for my ipod. I found one that happened to be free and had good review scores, though they said the presentation is basic. It is, and that makes it rather boring to play. Wooden, stiff. Its so much better in RDR where you can see everyone slamming the cups down, peeking at their dice, and shit talking. So yeah...that too.
