Here at Operation Sports, we cover sports video games, but not all sports video gaming is to be found in sports video games. Sometimes the most fun way to try a sport is in a minigame within a game you’d never associate with premium sports action. Here are seven of the best sports minigames to ever make their way to your screen outside of a sports video game.
Gwent (The Witcher 3)
We lead things off with a bit of a cheeky entry, as many will brush back on the idea that a card game counts as a sports game, to which we counter: tell that to ESPN. If poker is a sport in our world, then Gwent is a sport in Temeria. With challengers to be found all over the game’s map, it’s clear that the game carries broad popularity and appeal that spans cities and classes.
While there are a lot of minigames that gain beloved status among fans, the number that turn into their own spinoff games is much smaller, and that is a claim that Gwent can make with Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. While reception to the minigame was very hot or cold, with many players opting to complete the minimum required by the main plot, for those who loved Gwent, the card collecting and challenge winning is a key part of the Witcher experience.
Pop-A-Shot (Mario Party 4)
There are a lot of great sports minigames in the Mario Party series through the years, and you could easily pick one of the several other all-time favorites to be in this spot, but the winner today is Three Throw. What it is not is a basketball minigame; instead, it is a minigame simulating the experience of basketball challenges at a carnival, with players competing to make as many buckets as they can, with the caveat that made shots stay in, so the open baskets go down and down as you play.
Nothing speaks to the success of a Mario Party minigame like being used more than once, and Three Throw has now been featured three times, first restored for Mario Party: The Top 100, a compilation game of some of the most popular minigames in series history. It now returns again with the latest edition, Super Mario Party Jamboree
Darts (Final Fantasy VII)
Rebooting a beloved franchise is a high-risk play, with a successful reboot earning both modern acclaim and the love and support of old-school players, but the high expectations from the first game mean you’re going to be held to a high standard. When the game you’re rebooting is routinely placed on the short list of video game GOATs, it’s a whole other level of challenge, and the folks behind Final Fantasy VII knocked it out of the park.
The game not only included all the key moments fans loved, but also some new fun as well, including a darts mini-game. When you’ve got the weight of the whole world on your shoulders, sometimes you just need to head down to the pub and have a little stress relief at the dart board.
Blitzball (Final Fantasy X)
If real-world sports in your fantasy video games is not your cup of tea, then another beloved entry in the series has you covered, as Final Fantasy X brought us rugby meets water polo meets endurance breath holding in Blitzball. True to the nature of FFX, the last true turn-based game in the series, Blitzball is less a sports action game than a turn-based RPG in (very thin) disguise, with players moving freely until engaged, at which point you begin a turn-based approach to passing, shooting, or driving for goal.
What makes Blitzball stand out as an all-time sports minigame is the extent to which the developers invested in it. After unlocking the sport early in your journey to defeat ultimate big bad Sin, you can recruit players from around Spira as you travel the world. Once recruited, you can use them on your team as you take breaks from being the world’s champions to try to become world champions.
Fishing (The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time)
There may be no sport more commonly included in non-sports games as a minigame than fishing, and with so many options to choose from, it’s the fishing in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that takes the cake as the best of the bunch. It’s not the only sports game on offer for Link, who can also do archery, race horses, or both at the same time should his heart fancy, but it stands out among peers when grouped this way, too.
What’s astounding about the Ocarina of Time minigame is how much better it is than it has any right to be. Working with the still relatively modest powers of the Nintendo 64, and featured in one of the most revered games of all time, where there is hardly a lack of interesting alternatives to catch players’ attention, even non-completionists often found themselves back at the fishing hole over and over, trying to best their all-time biggest catch.
Bowling (Yakuza)
You could make a compelling argument that the Yakuza series is just Mario Party-of-one with an open-world crime sim disguise. The franchise has thrilled fans through the years with a vast assortment of minigames, as diverse in tone and content as they are in functionality, so it’s no surprise that sports games are not uncommon for Yakuza’s cast of characters when they need to unwind.
What makes the Yakuza series so great, however, is that no idea or minigame, no matter how simple or nonsensical it may seem, feels like a rush job added just to give the game more content. The developers craft their minigames to be fun and engaging, and Yakuza bowling is no different. It’s not particularly deep, but it sure is fun!
Tennis (Grand Theft Auto 5)
Like Yakuza, the Grand Theft Auto series has always made room for minigames and side activities to take on when you’re not completing one of the game’s missions, and Grand Theft Auto V took that to a whole new level. With the wait for its successor to reach twelve years in a couple of weeks, fans have been left to sit with GTA V for a long time, and it’s a good thing it has the chops to back up the wait.
Tennis in GTA V is like everything else about the game, as it’s a well-crafted and engaging experience. The mechanics underlying the game let you feel like you’re playing virtual tennis as well as many standalone tennis games, making it a fun way to unwind after a day of destroying, dismantling, and engulfing in flames everything across Los Santos.
These are our favorite sports minigames in non-sports games, but there are plenty more to pick from. Did yours make the list?
