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It suffers the same problem every trading card game does: if you don't have the best cards, you lose. Skill and strategy and even luck are nothing compared to just having better cards.
IMO pay-to-win mechanics work really well for a game-within-a-game since rather than exploiting the player for money, they are exploiting the player character for effort, which can lead you to go on more epic quests
Personally I found it really annoying that halfway through the game when I decided to give gwent a go, i got absolutely trashed and was basically tole to go back to the beginning of the game and redo a bunch of areas I'd already spent too much time in.
Not to mention none of the gwent quests were epic in the slightest. They were literally "play these people, if you win you get a card".
I spent more time playing gwent then playing the Witcher.
I disagree but I understand you... I don't know why it didn't click for me as an old Yu-Gi-Oh! Player (that is the only card game I have ever played... And several minutes of a "Duel Master" card game for GBA... Perhaps that one would trigger some old memories for some it was based on an anime too).
It was my first foray into CCG type games. I did try the in game Gwent recently and did not enjoy it as much.
I guess you may feel that way because mature CCG are far better than the Gwent mini game.
All of the Yakuza games are basically, collections of well made mini games that turn each beat-em-up campaign into a hundred hours of fun. But among those, the Cabaret Club and Pocket Circuit RC race-car games from Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami, are probably my favs.
Final Fantasy VIII card game ♥️
I second this. Triple Triad is so much fun! Fun fact, they have it in Final Fantasy XIV and it's so much fun to collect the cards and play other people. They even have tournaments.
Animal Crossing on the GameCube straight up let you buy little NES consoles with a small variety of titles.
I have a few.
PGR3, a Xbox360 racing game, contains Geometry Wars 1 and 2 as mini games. YT Link
Celeste contains the entirety of Celeste Classic (PICO-8) as an easter egg in one of its levels. YT Link
Xenogears, a PS1 JRPG game, contains a battle arena minigame, and I spent a few hours on that as a kid. YT Link
Machinarium's Gomoku/5 in a row minigame is so much fun, I played it with my friends at school when we didn't want to listen to our teacher :) By the way, I really recommend Machinarium to every fan of old school point-and-click games.
Geometry Wars was the best! And in each Project Gotham the had a new version!
Gwent from Witcher 3
I'm pretty sure I spent more time playing Ghent than the actual game. And I'm still upset that the standalone version sucked.
The standalone just didn't have that same magic
I remember spending so much time playing Farkle in Kingdom Come Deliverance, betting my money on every game. I think Witcher 1 or 2 have similar dice game that i also very into it, played with every NPC possible whenever i have the chance.
FFX Blitzball is the mini-game that I sunk the most time into by far (100+ hours), and always had fun.
Gwent from Witcher 3 kind of goes without saying, the framework is so good it's spawned 3 full games that I can think of.
Best Hacking mini-game goes to the newer Deux Ex games, quick, the right amount of challenge but if you didn't like it you could basically never do it.
Best lockpicking I'm going to give to Starfield. Literally the only part of the game I actually enjoyed, each is a great little puzzle.
Kinda old school here but I really loved Pokémon Stadium mini games, also the shooter mode from Donkey Kong 64 was a blast, back in the day. Even Banjo Kazzoie/Tooie had some amazing mini games, I really loved those.
Me and my friends played the Pokemon stadium mini games WAY more than the actual battles. They were a lot of fun.
Rdr2 fishing has a following…
Gwent, in The Witcher 3!
I really liked the hacking puzzles in Half-Life Alyx. There was a nice variety to the different type of puzzles that could appear, and the difficulty never felt like it got out of hand.
Blitzball
The host club manager minigame in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 2, I don't even remember their rewards, just that they were very fun. Compared to the real state minigame in 0 that was so boring I only remember the prize at the end, at least it was worth it
spoiler
You got Kyriu's original fighting style as a 4th one that breaks the game with a fanservice scene that references the cover art of the first game.
In Super Pitfall for the SNES, there was an Easter egg hidden in a temple that would warp you into the original Atari version. If that counts, that's my favorite "game inside a game."
I believe the correct answer is the loading screen minigames from Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi 1-3
The Yamcha Spirit ball one had me actually trying to hit each item every time there was a loading screen lol
I like how the Yakuza/Like a Dragon is jam packed with mini-games. Sega even puts classic arcade games in it. But I feel like bang for your buck, you're going to have the most mini games in the Yakuza game than you will in any other game.
Many people love Stardew Valley so I gave it a go. It was fun for a couple of hours, but it doesn't really have any depth. But you can go to the tavern and hop on an arcade machine with a really fun minimalist twin-stick shooter called Journey of the Prairie King that's actually pretty great. It's fast paced and unforgiving, and I spent more time playing that than on actual farming and what not.
Not sure if this totally counts but my favorite is the Chao raising systems in the Sonic Adventure games
FICSIT Productivity Packer Deluxe (Satisfactory). It's a fun little game available at The HUB once it is fully upgraded. You take Tetris-like pieces and arrange them to fit within a square, completing as many squares as you can within the time limit to determine your score.
Then again, the real mini game in Satisfactory is the planning that goes into your factory while you are not playing the game. It's the game that just keeps on giving.
The minigame is a spreadsheet on one monitor and a production planner on the other and it's awesome 👌
I don't know if it counts but Red Dead Redemption introduced me to Liar Dice! Now I freakin' love Liar Dice!
Rockstar loves minigames. They even have an arcade in gta online
I can't think of any memorable "hacking" type ones as they all just become a chore by the end. Fable II has some wood chopping, pie making and lute playing that wasn't so bad if you can get a high multiplier going.
As for actual "games within a game" then Shenmue series has many gambling and arcade machines. Roll it On Top, Lucky Hit, Darts and then Arterburner, Space Barrier, Outrun and Hang On.
I really enjoyed the classic wolfenstein levels inside the new wolfenstein games
Doesn't completely fit your description of minigames, but I spent days playing Casino card games with Luigi in Super Mario 64 DS. And the Hide and Seek game was great too.
Those minigames are separate from the main game though.
Galaxian as Ridge Racer loaded on the PlayStation.
Splatoon 2's rhythm game. I am forever angy that splat 3 has no rhythm mini game
“The coin game” has some of the best designed minigames ive ever seen!
The game is essentially just a collection of minigames, but it is put together incredibly well
The arcade games in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Triple Triad from Final Fantasy VIII
Chocobo Hot and Cold, & Tetra Master from Final Fantasy IX
Dead Space (2008) ADS Cannon Puzzle. Epitome of game making. Guarantees 5 hours of your time whether you like it or not.