Sunday, November 19, 2023
Small But Mighty
When
it comes to additional styles of gameplay within visual novels, they
do not need to be as grand or demanding as a JRPG or SRPG component
and the smallest of gameplay cycles can have a far greater effect in
the right situation. Enter the Mini-Game, short and simple mechanical
simulants that aim to prove value in being concise. Including
these lends a form of texture to events and character actions
without committing to a more extensive gameplay suite which might
impact the player’s direct engagement with the narrative. The
manifestations of the mini-game come in several forms from entirely
distinct side activities to representing conflict in a more directly to
creating empathy with the characters. Each one offers a distinct set
of challenges for a visual novel to overcome in order to justify
their inclusion without harming pacing or immersion since by their
nature mini-games are very abstract. Let’s engage in bite
sized gameplay and dive into what mini-games can offer.
Detached Side Activities
By
far the most common way of including mini-games in a visual novel is
to make them detached side activities. This means they are either
exist in a separate space to the narrative, often only accessible
through the extras menu, or they are within the main game as entirely
optional events. Those which exist separately tend to be used by
fandisc style games where the content is likely already a buffet of
often detached narratives designed to offer the player small dishes
of excitement. Mini-games seamlessly slot into this colourful
collection since they provide the same bite sized experiences the
game is based around, but in a slightly different form in order to
keep up the sense of novelty fandiscs rely upon to differentiate
themselves from the original title. Take for example Fate Hollow
Ataraxia and its Illya Castle mini-game. This side content is
sectioned from the main narrative as is much of the unlockable
elements and it contains a distinctive and humourous small story about the
servants fighting against Illya. Its light tone is in line with the
rest of the optional elements and acts as a suitable reward for
engagement as well as embodying the celebration of Fate Stay Night’s
success.
 |
| Umm... I don't think you are allowed cats on the pitch... |
As for the visual
novels which contain mini-games as optional content within their main
narratives, these lean on their mini-games as a type of pacing
mechanism in order to prevent the player from getting bored or
rushing through the story too quickly, but in a way that does not
take away the player’s agency. This means that a player who does
not like the mini-game in question can simply skip over it without it
negatively impacting their experience while still allowing for those
who do resonate with it to control their playtime in the mini-game.
Perhaps the developer who is in love with this type of mini-game the
most is Key with Little Busters and Summer Pockets being excellent
embodiments of this core design idea. These have a baseball and table
tennis mini-game respectively and share the common element of being completely
skippable, but still in-depth enough to hold the attention of the
player in a way that ties into the narrative space. Each time the
mini-game is played these visual novels can provide a release from
the drama and a means of player enforced sidetracking to give
a needed sense of freedom.
Metaphor For Conflict
Another
common reason to include mini-games is to use them as a stand in for
internal or external strife. Sometimes a visual novel might want a
specific moment or repeated action to stick out in the player’s
mind and it does not want to entirely rely on its native narrative
presentation so it instead opts for a mini-game that acts as layer of
metaphor on top. These are often abstractions of the activity being
engaged in and represents the mental space of the characters occupy.
Making these events stand out also gives the player an insight into
how the characters perceive the world which better allows the player to fill their shoes and feel for their journey. In a broader context it
reinforces the tone of the game by presenting it in a more kinetic
fashion than might otherwise be expected from the medium and lending
a texture to the title it would otherwise lack.
 |
| Danganronpa always keeps surprising the player |
Danganronpa has
numerous mini-games throughout its trial sections and these vary from
rhythm games to word puzzles. Each is a stand in for a part of the
deduction process which will lead to the protagonist unmasking the
murderer. By giving the player these direct avenues to the
character’s thoughts the game can ensure a roller-coaster of
emotions as the player is dragged along for the ride through how the
mini-games tie into the escalating narrative stakes of the trials.
Focusing on a single repeated mini-game can lead to a more cohesive
experience as The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog exemplifies. Its Sonic
bonus stage style mini-game is brought in as a metaphor for the
protagonist overcoming a metal block and uncovering the truth. This
is slowly escalated over the course of the title until the finale
utilises it in a new and exiting manner. The sense of continuity this
repetition provides cannot be overstated and lends a much needed
texture to the short game which might otherwise lack it due to its
length and subject matter.
In The Character’s Shoes
There
are visual novels where detached and abstract mini-games would ruin their
grounded and intimate nature. For this situation the mini-game can
take on a more direct approach by systematising basic or mundane
actions to give the characters a sense of physically believability.
This can be anything from flicking switches to putting a key into a
lock, things we do everyday and do not think about. What this does is
create a tactile link between the characters on screen and our own
lives in order to play off this bridge so a player might be able to
empathise with them through their shared reality. It is easy to
underestimate just how much these little touches do to liven up the
game in the moment and provide breathing room even if it is in a much
smaller way to the other types of mini-games.
 |
| Just having a few drinks can build a good bond |
The DS era of visual
novels is where this type of mini-game really came into its own due
to the console’s touchscreen allowing for more kinetic
interactions with the game. To see this in action we can look to Last
Window: The Secret of Cape West which often asks the player to engage
in everyday or basic activity mini-games in order to process. These
are cleverly used to put the player into the grounded shoes of our investigator
protagonist through mixing in simple detective work among these
everyday actions to create an understanding of the skills that they
are utilising. The title also knows that overusing these small
moments can lead to a reduction in their effectiveness and so tends
to use them in short burst where they would have the most impact.
Beyond the ability of these mini-games to create a link between
player and game is the way in which they slot nicely alongside other
gameplay styles. VA-11 HALL-A is a good showcase of this quality
since its main bartending loop is accompanied by a few of these
grounded mini-games such a cracking some beers with the boss. Having
these simple diversions has the effect of permeating the character
downtime with a sense of gameplay continuity while not demanding the player
learn another set of complex systems.
Conclusion
No
part of a visual novel is without value and mini-games show us just
how powerful that sentiment can be when used to support greater tonal
and thematic elements. Through being detached from the central game
they can offer a useful and player enforced pacing mechanism or
provide a novelty in order to keep the player engaged. When merged
into the central narrative they allow for the expression of conflict
in a more direct but still abstract manner to help the player feel
what is going on in a kinetic way. They also give the player a way of
experiencing the more banal aspects of the character’s lives and
building a connection to them through how this echoes their own day to
day activities. Of all the styles of secondary gameplay within visual
novels, the mini-game is perhaps the least invasive and easiest to
implement to great effectiveness and it is definitely worth
considering when developing your own titles.
