Playing a mini-game within a video game is like Inception - a game within a game? Unthinkable! But more often than not, mini-games offer a fine break from the main story, often promising useful rewards that enrich your gaming experience. One franchise that makes use of its expansive roster of mini-games is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Legend of Zelda series. (Sorry 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mario Party, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:we've already got a list for you.)
Every game in the franchise is stocked with a variety of mini-games that reward you with weapons, heart pieces, rupees, and more. Not all mini-games are created equally, however, so here's a guide to some of the most fun and unique mini-games within the Legend of Zelda franchise.
10 Bug Heaven (The Legend of♊ Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Towards the end of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Skyward Sword, you get access to Bug Rock, a small planet within Thunderhead that houses all the bugs within the game. Strich, Link's frenemy from Skyloft, apparently has an affinity for bugs and will reward you with a randomized, rare bug in the game if you're able to catch a given number of bugs on the island within a set time limit, depending on the difficulty you choose.
It figures that the reward for catching bugs is, well, a bug, but it is fairly rewar🐽ding to track down the creepy crawlies throughout the small island and swat at them with your net.
9 Cucco Ranch Game (The Legend of Zelda: A Link Bꦬetween Worlds) 🎀
In this mini-game from A Link Between Worlds, you get to play the equivalent of the bullet-hell combat system from 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Undertale with Link and cuccos. In this game, Link is trapped in a fenced area and has to a🤡void an oncoming barrage of cuccos at different speeds and sizes in order to win a piece of heart.
You can even win up to 3,000 rupees by surviving Endless Mode, in which you try to survive as long as possible while being bombarded by different waves of angry chickens. At least they're just flying at you in this game and not 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:indiscriminately attacking.
8 Squ🍷id-Hunt (The Legend of Zeldaꦯ: The Wind Waker)
The Battleship-like Squid-Hunt game in The Wind Waker can be hit-or-miss, literally. On Windfall Island, an eager NPC named Salvatore will encourage you to play a game of Battleship, giving you 24 chances to unearth three squids on a🌊n eight-by-eight grid. Playing multiple times gives you several prizes: your first win gives you a piece of heart, your second win gives you a treasure chart, and your third win gives you another treasure chart as long as you beat the game within 20 shots.
Whether you find Salvatore's ongoing commentary of "Sploosh" (if you miss) or "Kaboom!" (if you hit) charming or annoying, Squid-Hunt brings a lot of character to the game, even when the RNG isn't exactly in your favor.
7 STAR Game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight𒊎 Princess) ꦯ
The hookshot is one of the best items in the Legend of Zelda series, so it makes sense that one of the best mini-games of the series focuses on using it to swing from place to place like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Spiderman making his way throug⭕h New York. In 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Twilight Princess,🦩 this item is called the clawshot and this mini-game has two challenges, requiring the clawshot and the double clawshot to collect the light orbs scattered throughout the enclosed area. There is also a time trial mode available after completing the second challenge.
The STAR Game rewards you with the Big Quiver 🎉a🌃fter your first playthrough and the Giant Quiver after your second success, and in a game like Twilight Princess, an upgraded arrow capacity is a huge boon.
6 Boom Bam Golf (🅰The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
This mini-game can be found at the bottom of Tanagar Canyon in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Breath of the Wild and can easily be missed if you find yourself avoidin൲g the deep gorgꦐe. In this game, a friendly Goron named Modar will offer you rupees in exchange for playing on his golf course. The concept is simple, but the game itself requires careful use of your Stasis rune in order to maneuver a fairly large boulder into a hole further away.
By the time you find this game, you'll hopefully be an expert at using Stasis to bend large, heavy objects to your will. Even if the prize is simple, it's definitely entertaining to play. It's a shame this game wasn't developed further - one hole is just not enough!
5 📖 Thrill Digger (Skyward Sword) ✅
You may think that Thrill Digger, from Skyward Sword, is merely a Minesweeper clone, and you wouldn't be wrong. But just like Minesweeper, Thriller Digger is as addicting a game as it gets. With three difficulty options, you can earn Link upwards of 500 rupees in a single playthrough, so long as you don't manage to unearth the bombs or rupoors scattered throughout the grid.
With different colored rupees indicating the number of bombs or rupoors adjacent to a given space, this game requires log♈ic, some knowledge of statistics, and a bit of luck to complete. Even better, completely clearing a board of its rupees can win you a rare treasure.
4 Horseback Archery (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
If shooting at targets from the back of a horse sounds awesome, then any of the horseback archery mini-games in the Legend of Zelda games are a great time. Even though different variations of horseback archery games appear in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Breath of the Wild, the best version of the three goes to Majora's Mask.
Breath of the Wild's horseback archery game doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel while Ocarina of Time's horseback archery shoehorns you into a fixed track and speed, giving you only a short loop to get the required points. Majora's Mask gives you the freedom to roam Romani's Ranch from the back of Epona and shoot balloons to train you for the inevitable alien invasion section later on. Also, your prize is Epona's song, which gives you access to your trusty steed for the rest of the game.
3 Mail Cenღter (Wind Waker)
Ah, the first mini-game in a Zelda title that makes organizing paperwork fun. Found early in the game at Dragon Roost Island, the Mail Center game requires Link to throw letters into different cubbies based on the designs on the envelopes. With only six cubbies to sort between, it's deceptively simple, yet incredibly addicting.
You're promised an ever-increasing rupee reward based on the number of letters you correctly place; the first time you get 25 points, you receive the Mother's Letter, which, when posted, will net you 20 rupees. On your second playthrough, beating 25 points will give you a heart piece!
2 Goron Race (Majora's Mask)
Some of the best mini-games in The Legend of Zelda franchise have something in common - going down a hill at top speeds trying to get the fastest time possible. One of the first and best games to pull this off was the Goron Race in Majora's Mask. In this game, Link utilizes his Goron transformation mask to turn into a Goron and roll his way to the bottom of the winding course found in Snowhead Mountain.
Link has to ma🔯ke his way through scores of other Gorons vying for the prize; it can be a pain to accidentally hit a bomb flower or another Goron, which significantly slows you down. Still, with a bottle of pricey gold dust as the reward for coming in first place, this mini-game is a must if you want to obtain the Gilded Sword.
1 Shield🐎 Surfing (Breath of the Wild) 🐻
Like the previous entry, Shield Surfing is another mini-game that involves racing to the bottom of a hill at top speeds. This game is an upgraded version of the Snowboard Race, the best mini-game in Twilight Princess, but Breath of the Wiဣld takes it to the next level by making this an activity that can be done anywhere as long as Link has a shield and a large hill at his disposal.
While there are plenty of great shield surfing spots, the best is Selmie's Spot at the top of Hebra peak, the site of the mini-game. While the prizes aren't great (shields, the quality of which increases based on Link's race time), this game is just too fun to ignore.