(or minigames, really) that are varied enough to keep you guessing. At their cores, every game is about running, jumping, diving, and grabbing, but every type of minigame also has its own set of rules and strategies.
RACE ROUNDS
Race Rounds are simple (well, “simple”) races from the starting line to the finish line. There are obstacles and twists to each one, but your goal in all of them is to finish as quickly as you can.
Most races are quite long and feature checkpoints throughout. If you happen to fall off the stage, you’ll reappear at the last checkpoint you crossed giving you the chance to continue. Each of these races end once a certain amount of players reach the goal.
DIZZYING HEIGHTS
Dizzying Heights has four sections: spinning discs, a boulder chute, elevated spinning discs, and a final combination of boulders and spinning stairs.
Go with the flow. Running in the same direction as the spinning discs will make you run faster (obviously).
It’s OK to fall during the second, elevated spinning discs section. There’s an area below to navigate that will return you topside.
There’s a jump between the elevated spinning discs and the final ramp section. (We fall through the gap every time because we forget.)
SEE SAW
See Saw includes a series of giant see-saws. As more players get onto a platform, it’ll add weight to either half, titling it towards the heaviest side with the potential to slide racers right off.
When jumping onto platforms, do your best to jump towards the middle, where there is a clear white line. Landing here will give you a moment to decide which side to run towards to get to the next platform.
There’s also a small gap between each see-saw, so make sure you don’t fall through.
Use the momentum of the tilting platforms to raise and lower the base you’re currently standing on so you can safely jump to the next.
While this is a free-for-all race to the finish, sometimes you’ll have to work with other players to tilt the see-saw to safe position so you can move forwards. Don’t be afraid to move against an overeager group of players to help tilt the platform in the right direction.
DOOR DASH
In Door Dash, you need to run through a series of identical, breakable doors before reaching the finish line. The catch is, you can only bust through some of the doors. There’s no way to tell which are which without jumping into them first.
The safest way to make it through this race is to simply wait for other players to check which doors are which. If you happen to be the person to make the decision to check first and you’re wrong, you’ll have to pick yourself back up and shove yourself through a crowded doorway to move forwards. It’s better to funnel through an already opened door first.
HIT PARADE
Hit Parade is an obstacle course race in four parts. You’ll run along beams, push through spinning barriers, dodge swinging wrecking balls, and finally run up a slimy hill (while avoiding bumpers).
It’s fine if you fall in the first section (in fact, it’s likely). You’ll lose a couple seconds as you drop to the lower level, but it’s easy to make up time.
The spinning gates in the second section work like revolving doors, so try to stay with a group of players. If you go against the flow, you’ll have to overcome their momentum to get the gates spinning again. It’s much easier to just slip into a crowd.
For the swinging wrecking ball section, the balls (that look like fishing bobbers) will be out of sight, so it’s hard to judge where they are. Watch the shadows for a hint. Don’t be afraid to stop and wait for a better chance to run.
Try not to stop on the final climb up the ramp. It’s very hard to get moving again.
THE WHIRLYGIG
The Whirlygig is a race with multiple spinning obstacles that can knock you down or off the race track. This is a long race with multiple check points, so you can take it slow as this race requires several well-timed jumps to make it across.
When moving through the sections with the spinning bars on the circular platforms, slightly angle your game’s camera so the bar is never totally off screen. This well help you see it coming around as you may need to jump over the bar multiple times before jumping off the platform to another.
Try to move against the direction the bars are spinning. It’s easier to jump them when they’re coming at you.
One of the final obstacles is a giant fan that moves very slowly. Time your jump well so you don’t crash into the fan while jumping. Not only that, make sure you actually have space to land when you make it over because if other players crowd the landing zone, you can bounce off them and fall off the platform.
TIP TOE
Tip Toe is a combination trial-and-error, memory, and a race to the finish. The tiles that make up the race course hide a secret path (or paths). Tiles on the path will light up and support racers. Tiles not on the path will fall and if you drop with them, you’ll need to start the whole race over.
On-the-path tiles light up for a couple seconds after a player steps on them, but then they fade. Try to remember the rough shape of the paths so you’re not guessing when you inevitably start over.
Tip Toe is largely a race to the middle. If you’re out front, you’re going to end up taking a misstep and fall. It’s better to follow the leaders here so you know what’s safe. At the same time, though, you don’t want to get too far behind or you’ll never catch up.
Don’t hesitate to fall at the beginning. Someone needs to figure out where the paths start, and you won’t lose much time.
Unsafe tiles will shake occasionally. It doesn’t happen often enough to guide you through safely, but watch for the hint.
FRUIT CHUTE
Fruit Chute is an uphill dash while avoiding gigantic produce. That’s pretty much it.
There’s a gap between the starting line and the conveyor belt. Make sure to jump. It’s a silly way to lose time right at the beginning, and we do it every time.
Oddly shaped fruit rolls and bounces in unpredictable ways. Don’t assume a banana is going to roll right past you — it might bounce sideways and knock you down. Try to give everything enough space to safely fall past you.
If you find yourself in a crowd, use your fellow racers as Fall Guy shields. Put them between you and the fruit. Hopefully, they’ll get hit and deflect the blow, allowing you to sneak past.
GATE CRASH
In Gate Crash, you need to reach the finish line while trying to make it through a series of moving doors. As you proceed through the challenge, you’ll come across several sliding gates that you and other players must squeeze through or else you’ll be left behind or knocked out of bounds.
While some gates open and close in a repeating pattern, others have rubber pillars that slide in forth in front of them, making the entrances more difficult to get through while knocking over players.
Later in this stage, you must slide down a slippery slope and then immediately jump through sliding gates at the bottom without stopping. If you time your jump poorly, you’ll fall off the stage where you’ll get a chance to try again. Try to aim for a gate that is closed when you start your downhill run so it’ll be open when you reach the bottom.
Jumping over a closing or opening gate will give you a bit of an edge.
SLIME CLIMB
Slime Climb is a race to that top of a winding series of paths where a rising tide of slime comes for all players. Each racer must navigate their way upwards dodging moving walls, bouncy obstacles, and giant balls that can eliminate them. While all of this is happening, pink slime slowly creeps up the tower and if it touches you, you’re eliminated.
While there’s a dash to the top, try your best to take jumping portions slower. If you fall into a gap in a jumping section, it may be difficult to get out while other players are landing on you. The longer it takes the get up, the easier it is to get touched by the slime and eliminated.
If you’re feeling daring, you can also take minor shortcuts by trying to jump and grab ledges to higher areas instead of rounding corners to make your way up.
HUNT ROUNDS
TAIL TAG
Tail Tag is a flag football-like game where only a certain amount of players start with tails, while others do not. Any player with a tail at the end of the round moves on.
There’s several ways to play this round smartly. A less stressful way to come out on top is to make sure you have a tail near the closing moments of the match and protecting it then, rather than trying to keep your tail on you for the majority of the match. It’s much harder for someone to steal a tail from you when there’s a few seconds left versus a full minute.
Another tactic you can take is using the stage hazards to your advantage. If you have a tail and want to protect it, try to make your way up the main structure and to the center of the swinging hammer. If you can dodge the hammer and stand next to its pivot point, you will actually stand under its swinging arm, totally clear from danger. For most players, it’ll be a safer bet trying to steal a tail from a player who doesn’t have a giant swinging hammer flying near them.
TEAM ROUNDS
In these rounds, you’ll be assigned to a team, and you’ll need to work with them so you can all move onto the next round.
HOARDERS
Hoarders is a three team challenge where you try to gather seven balls into your team’s area. (This Round is a lot like Egg Scramble below.) You’ll have to work with teammates to get the balls moving, though.
Jumping and diving makes you deliver a header to the balls and gets them moving.
Try to keep the momentum of the balls going, even if it means moving it through an opponent’s area on the way to your own.
This game isn’t so much as about winning as it is making sure you don’t lose. Only the bottom team gets eliminated, so towards the end of the Round, don’t worry about being in first. Instead, make sure you’re not last. Steal anything you can from the last place team to keep them there — even if it means giving points to your opponents.
FALL BALL
Fall Ball is a soccer-like game with two teams, two goals, and two balls. Your job is to help your team get more goals than your opponents.
Jumping and then hitting the dive button will launch you into the ball with a lot of force. This is a great way to get some momentum going. It’s also a great way to completely miss the ball and land on your face, so be careful with your timing.
A single player can do a lot to stop the momentum of a ball, so a goalie never hurts. Just don’t rely on it too heavily, since you’re also pretty slow.
After a ball enters the goal, a new ball will fall into the center of the field. Sometimes this ball is an American football, not a soccer ball.
EGG SCRAMBLE
For this team game, you’ll be dropped into an arena divided into thirds with a pile of 50 eggs in the center. Each team has to gather eggs, and drop them into their nest (goal). The team with the least amount of eggs is eliminated.
This game is much more than the initial scramble(!) for the eggs in the center. Once those are grabbed, it becomes a game of stealing eggs from the other teams’ goals.
The stealing phase lasts much longer than the initial dash. It’s an utter free-for-all.
Make sure your team has at least one person posted near or in your nest to act as a goalie. Grabbing the players trying to steal your eggs for long enough will make them drop their bounty.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
This is a teamwork-based race where three teams push a large ball along an obstacle-filled track.
The beginning sections of this race are just about pushing that ball past obstacles. It seems like grabbing the ball makes it move faster (we think), but you have to be careful to not grab your teammates and slow them down.
The final section of the track removes the walls between the lanes. At that point, everyone is free to run around and interfere with other teams.
Having one or two people sprint to the end to wait for (and block) other teams is a valid (and super annoying) strategy. Even one person pushing backwards will remove a lot of momentum.
TEAM TAIL TAG
Sixteen raccoon-like tails are scattered at random among the teams, and everyone else has to grab them to win. Snatching a tail puts it in your team’s point column and plants it on your behind. At that point, the other team will try to grab it from you.
This is a team event, so make sure you’re not stealing a tail from a teammate.
Diving is a good way to make a last second escape, but the falling down that follows leaves you vulnerable to someone passing by.
Help out a teammate by grabbing their pursuers whenever you can. It’s easy to forget that this is a team event.
JINXED
Jinxed works a lot like flag football, but in reverse. Jinxed players will have a pink cloud around them. Those players will want to try to grab opposing players to transfer the jinx cloud. The first team to have every player jinxed gets eliminated.
There are swinging wrecking balls (that look like fishing bobbers) around the arena. If a player gets hit, they’ll get thrown and fall down. While they’re getting up is a great time to grab and jinx them.
SURVIVAL ROUNDS
Survival rounds are free-for-all challenges that may knock out several players. Steer clear of obstacles and other players long enough and you’ll move on.
BLOCK PARTY
In Block Party, all players stand on a platform while a series of moving walls appear off screen that can shove players off the platform. Each of these walls has an opening in them that all players must squeeze through to avoid elimination. Some walls have small obstacles that you have to jump over.
To survive, you can try one of two tactics: stand in the front of the platform so you can see what the wall looks like before anyone else or stand near the middle or back of the pack and just follow the crowd.
If you’re leading the pack, you have to have quick reflexes to dodge the walls. Being first to react may give you an advantage as you may have less people in your way.
If you’re staying back, just be sure to follow the leader here. In the back, you can take your time responding to the oncoming wall, but you may have more people in your way if you need to cover a lot of ground to get to safety.
ROLL OUT
The arena in Roll Out is a set of counter-rotating drums. As the cylinders spin, you’ll need to dodge gaps, walls, bumpers, and other players to keep from falling off.
Keep moving. Bouncing between the different drums will keep your options for avoiding obstacles open.
Don’t spend too much time at either end of the drums. Hanging out near the front or back leaves you with one direction to escape when things get complicated. Move between the ends to avoid obstacles, but don’t linger too long.
Dive during jumps to get a little more distance. It’s a desperation move, but sometimes it’s the difference between landing a jump or getting eliminated.
LOGIC ROUNDS
In these Rounds, you’ll need to focus more on brain power instead of running around dodging danger.
PERFECT MATCH
Perfect Match is a memory-based elimination game. Everyone will drop onto a four-by-four grid of tiles. As a counter ticks down, the tiles will reveal and hide fruit icons. When the countdown reaches zero, one of those fruit icons will be displayed on the screens around the arena. Your job is to quickly run and jump to a tile that matches.
Each round of this Round gets more complex. The first time you’re asked to match, there will only be two different icons on the board. And that means you don’t have to worry about memorizing the entire grid. Just focus on the few tiles immediately around you. Expand outwards as the number of fruits increases, but never worry about the entire grid. Just focus on the ones you can reach.
When all else fails, follow the crowd.
If you end up on a crowded tile, grab onto a neighbor to keep from falling off.
FINAL ROUNDS
This is it. If you’ve made it this far, there’s just one more challenge left.
FALL MOUNTAIN
This final is a race to the top of Fall Moutain. It’s got a little bit of everything, obstacle-wise.
There’s not really any secret to this race. It’s just a free-for-all.
There are several spinning obstacles in this course. Make sure you’re moving with the spin to get through them faster.
Be sure to actually press the grab button at the end to snatch the crown. Simply touching it won’t count. You’d be surprised how many people forget to grab the crown.
ROYAL FUMBLE
Royal Fumble is a lot like Tail Tag, but there’s only one tail to be had. Your goal is to be the one with the tail when time runs out.
This arena tends to develop a flow — the players will end up running either clockwise or counterclockwise and stick with that even as the tail changes hands (or butts). Use that to your advantage to cut off the crowd.
HEX-A-GONE
In Hex-A-Gone, players are all dropped onto an arena made of hexagonal tiles. The moment after a player steps on a tile, it’ll disappear. There are multiple floors of these tiles, and your job is to not fall for as long as possible.
Think of this Round as an even more stressful game of Snake. Your goal is to run for as long as possible without running into your own previous path. It’s a lot more complicated than that, since you’re actually avoiding your own and everyone else’s paths, but the concept is the same.
You can jump about one hex of distance. Knowing what jumps you’ll be able to make means you can chart a more complex path around each floor.
Falling to lower levels before other players isn’t all bad. Being the first to drop to a new floor means you don’t have to worry much about where you go. Start running to clear out tiles, and you might just ruin someone else’s day when they drop down to meet you.
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