Daily Debate: Are Mini-Games Necessary in the Zelda Series Anymore?
Posted on May 20 2019 by Rod Lloyd
Mini-games have been around since the start of the Zelda series. From the Money Making Game in The Legend of Zelda, to the Treasure Chest Contest in Ocarina of Time, to Chest Gambling in Breath of the Wild, every game offers minor distractions from Link’s main adventures. These experiences are usually very shallow, but they at least promise a monetary or otherwise small reward for players who participate. But the Zelda series has evolved a lot over last 30 years, so the question arises: are mini-games really necessary anymore?
In games past, as early as A Link to the Past, mini-games offered the opportunity for players to test their skills with items in a more casual setting. For example, the ever-common shooting gallery mini-game has tested our skills with a bow in many Zelda games. And as more key items (or new techniques) were introduced in each game, more mini-games were introduced to challenge players with their use.
Ocarina of Time‘s Bombchu Bowling rewarded players for mastering Bombchus, The Wind Waker‘s Bird-Man Contest gave players the chance to prove their Deku Leaf skills, and Twilight Princess‘ STAR Game assessed prowess with Claw Shots. The Zelda series has also featured races as a way to test players on new movement techniques, with Goron Racing in Majora’s Mask and Shield Surfing in Breath of the Wild serving as a few notable examples.
However, with Breath of the Wild rewriting many of the rules of the Zelda series, have mini-games lost their purpose in the series? In his latest adventure, Link is equipped with nearly every necessary tool by the time he leaves the Great Plateau, and the game’s many, many Shrines (or even Korok challenges) test his skills with these tools over and over again. We are already given the opportunity to test our skills throughout the game’s core dungeons, so the purpose of mini-games as we’ve known it seems pretty redundant.
Plus, the rewards for these mini-games in Breath of the Wild are not all that exciting. Rupees are never a concern in Zelda games after a certain point anyway, and the gear rewarded after certain mini-games are generally inferior to the gear one finds just exploring the world. Compared to Shrines, with their substantial reward of increasing Link’s stats, mini-games in Breath are fairly lackluster. In my opinion, unless they were attached to an interesting character or story-based questline, these minor amusements were never all that fun, and I definitely was never inclined to attempt them a second time.
If the Zelda series continues to follow the new template set by Breath of the Wild, is it time for it to finally abandon mini-games as we’ve come to know them? Should the general purpose of mini-games just be absorbed by Shrines or larger, story-based side quests? In what ways can the Zelda series improve its mini-games? Join the debate in the comments below!
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
