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Mario Party Island Tour FAQ/Walkthrough

by KeyBlade999 Updated to v1.10 on Jan 31, 2014

Winner of GameFAQs's FAQ of the Month award for the month of December 2013! Huge thanks to everyone who helped me to achieve this!

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Game: Mario Party: Island Tour
Console: Nintendo 3DS
File Type: Formatted FAQ/Strategy Guide
Author: KeyBlade999 (a.k.a. Daniel Chaviers)
Version: v1.10
Time of Update: 10:39 PM 1/30/2014
File Size: 115 KB

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Introduction

Welcome to my latest 3DS FAQ. This one covers Mario Party: Island Tour. Mario Party is actually a series I've been neglecting for a while. FAQ-wise, I haven't covered a single game in the series since 2011, and my neglect otherwise extends about that far. I suppose it lies in part because, for one, other titles have been dominating my mind lately, especially Shin Megami Tensei, the Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and numerous other excellent 3DS titles. Still, it hasn't lain forgotten: every now and then, I still pick up Mario Party DS and have some fun on it, the one I regard as the best of the Mario Party series thus far.

Given the only obvious presumption that elements between the DS and 3DS titles remain the same, I can't help but wonder if my opinion can be debunked. I mean, think about it: Nintendo has managed to make the Mario series as a whole adopt new functions when it comes to the 3DS entries, like Super Mario 3D Land almost requiring 3D for certain levels, or Mario & Luigi: Dream Team adopting the gyroscope for myriad attacks. Even if I didn't like some of the games, I can't deny the new variety. ... So, yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to playing this. ^_^

All of my mindless babbling aside, I hope you enjoy my FAQ!!

Basics of the Game

Game Modes

At the title screen, there are two modes from which you can choose. There is "Solo Play", a mode designed for only a single person to play on a single 3DS/2DS. If you want to play with others, you can choose "Multiplayer". This mode requires a 3DS/2DS for each person playing, and they'll play it through the Download Play app in the Home Menu.

After choosing "Solo Play", there are five more modes from which you can choose.

Party: A staple of the Mario Party series, Party mode is a mode in which you compete on the long-term with other players to meet some certain goal. Unlike previous Mario Party games wherein you had to have the highest number of Stars and Coins on a looping course, this mode is a race to the end of a linear, finite course. See Party Mode Gameplay and Party Mode Boards for further details.

Minigames: In this mode, you are able to play any of the Minigames in Mario Party: Island Tour. With the exception of the Boss Minigames (unlocked by playing Bowser's Tower, all minigames are available from the start. There are several sub-modes from here:
- Free Play: You choose what to play at your own whimsy. The games all mostly for four players here, but any number of human (1-4) can play most of them.
- Time Attack: You will play through ten minigames for the fastest possible time. Only one person will play. Each minigame also has an optional objective to meet if you want to lessen the amount of time used overall; see Minigames for more details.
- Hot-Air Hijinks: You will play through some minigames against AI's to see who can get 3, 5, or 7 wins overall first. This is for four players; any number of human players (1-4) can play it.

StreetPass Minigames: This requires the use of StreetPass. After choosing a favorite character and activating StreetPass, you should be able to play against the characters others owning Mario Party: Island Tour send over through StreetPass. You'll see their character and some data before a random minigame begins. While the AI does control the opponent during minigames, their skill rating - which you'll see - will determine how difficult it will be to win. In any case, the Minigames section is probably best for minigame details. (Note: You can only fight each person through StreetPass once, unless you StreetPass them again.)

Bowser's Tower: It's about as much of a story mode you'll get out of this game. It'll begin with an elaboration of the story from the post-title screen demo sequence before you get into anything. It in, you'll basically go through a series of minigames. Further details can be found in the Bowser's Tower section for the general flow of gameplay, and Minigames for ... well, minigames.

Collectables: Here, you can purchase things with your Mario Party Points and view things you've bought. See Collectables for more.

Party Mode Gameplay

Keep in mind that this is a general idea of gameplay. It can vary quite significantly from board to board.

After having chosen to play Party Mode, you will get to pick one of the boards on which you can play. Details on which ones you can play on are found in the Party Mode Boards section. After picking your board of choice, you'll then get to choose your character: it's a purely aesthetic thing, so just pick your favorite. Once you have done that, you then get to see the settings for the game: the AI characters, their difficulty, which minigames you can play, and so on. Once you are sure these are all correct, you can then tap "Start Game" to begin!

Once you reach the board, you can get a brief explanation of some of its aspects. On Perilous Palace Path or other boards where certain items can be used, you will get to use them before moving on any Round. Once you start, you can roll a Dice Block to determine the order of the players. Then gameplay begins.

The time it takes for everyone to take their turn is defined in this game as a "Round". In previous Mario Party games, you were limited by how many of these could be taken, but now it's just a stat for the curious. Once your turn comes around, you can use an item or view the map (R Button). You can also opt to roll the Dice; you do that by sliding up on the Touch Screen. The value that you roll determines how far you go. Depending on what you land on, there can be a number of effects:

Colored Spaces:
- Green Space: Nothing ... but, hey, it could be worse.
- Red Space (Danger Space): Nothing happens, but it puts you at risk for something.
- Blue Space (Safe Space): Nothing happens, but you are safe from something.

Movement Spaces:
- +# Space (Dash Space): You will move further along by "#" spaces. If you land on a space with a special effect, it will not occur.
- -# Space (Back Space): You back the named number of spaces, and landing on a special space doesn't engage its effect.
- Piranha Plant Space: You'll move backward a number of spaces, based on a dice roll. If you land on a space with a special effect, it will not occur.
- +# Space (Extra-Move Space): Only on Bowser's Peculiar Peak, this moves you forward similarly to a Dash Space. It's mostly differentiated by being a negative thing on this board (and being red).

Event Spaces:
- ? Block (Item Space): You get a free item! You can only hold two at one time, though, so don't be stingy!
- "?" Space (Blue Event Space): Something good happens here ... but it depends on where you are.
- "?" Space (Red Event Space): Stay away from here (dude, it's red). Again, it's location-dependent.
- "?" Space (Green Event Space): Something happens here, usually warping.
- VS. Space (Duel Space): You will play a minigame here. The reward for the minigame depends on the board.
- Bowser Space: It's never good... Something bad and random occurs.
- "?" Switch (Switch Space): Found only on Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain, this permanently makes Banzai Bill endanger the upper half of the board.
- Banzai Bill Space: Found only on Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain, this causes Banzai Bill to be fired.
- Switch-Place/Scramble Spaces: Found only on the Star-Crossed Skyway, these change the order of the Mini-Stars on the Star Stage, either sending the front to the back or letting the person landing on this space choose.
- Booster Spaces: Found only on Rocket Road, landing on these gets you an additional Booster.
- Kamek Spaces: Found only on Kamek's Carpet Ride, landing here swaps everyone's positions.

Miscellaneous:
- Challenge Area: It's board-dependent, but something must be done here to get by.
- Branch Area: The path forks here, generally making you go on one at random.
- Dead-End Space: You will be forced here for a certain event, regardless of your roll.
- Goal Space: Get here and pat yourself on the back, for you've won!
- Star Stage Space: On the Star-Crossed Skyway, land here for your Mini-Stars or Mini-Ztars.
- Just-Right Space: On Kamek's Carpet Ride, you must land here precisely to be able to proceed.

After everyone has taken their turn, Round 2 begins. Then Round 3. And so on. Depending on if the board makes you have minigames each turn, they'll take place and their bonuses will apply before anyone moves.

That's about it. Board-specific details are found in the Party Mode Boards section of the FAQ, since the rest basically is a repeat of that mixed with whatever's on the board at the time. In any case, the general goal of the game is to reach the end of the course - whoever does so first wins.

Party Mode Items

Keep in mind that these are only available on Perilous Palace Path. Two can be held at a time, but only one usable per Round.

Setback Shell:
- Description: It will move an opponent of choice backwards two spaces.
- Strategy: It's generally a good idea to aim for the player in first place.

Backwards Bill:
- Description: It will move an opponent of choice backwards five spaces.
- Strategy: It's generally a good idea to aim for the player in first place.

Blooper Chopper:
- Description: The roll of the chosen opponent is halved in value.
- Strategy: There are two main ways to use this. Especially if you have someone in a Bowser Zone or nearing the end, you will want to use this on them. Another strategy is to aim for the person that got the Gold Dice Block or other movement bonus from the minigame (wait until someone other than you gets it) and halve their roll.

Lightning Score Striker:
- Description: Removes three spaces from a chosen opponent's roll.
- Strategy: You could probably use this on the person lacking an extra Dice Block or other movement bonus from the minigames to hamper their movement greatly. This item is especially useful if you want your opponent to land near a certain space. On a general scale, you'll probably just aim fro the person in first anyways.

Lakitu Leech:
- Description: Steals an item from an opponent.
- Strategy: In general, the Super Star, Golden Mushroom, and Custom Dice Block are likely the most prized, especially if you are in first. If you're in last, though, you may want to think about waiting for the Crazy or Chaos Kamek. The former is especially useful in that you can swap with someone of choice.

Dash Mushroom:
- Description: Your roll is boosted by three spaces.
- Strategy: Eh, something to use if you've got nothing better to do and don't care what space you land on.

Golden Dash Mushroom:
- Description: Your roll is boosted by five spaces.
- Strategy: Eh, something to use if you've got nothing better to do and don't care what space you land on.

Super Star:
- Description: Your roll's value is doubled, even the bonus Dice Block from the minigames!
- Strategy: Save this until you get the Gold Dice Block or other movement bonus from getting first place in a minigame - that one block could boost you an additional 12 spaces ahead with this applied!

Custom Dice Block:
- Description: Lets you roll a number of choice.
- Strategy: Unless you want to land on a specific space now or in the future, it's probably best to use it immediately for the highest value.

Crazy Kamek:
- Description: You and an opponent switch places.
- Strategy: On the general level, it is best to wait until you're not in first to use this. The only real exception is one wherein you could go back, then use a cannon or the like to boost further ahead than normal, but that's pretty rare.

Chaos Kamek:
- Description: Everyone switches places at random.
- Strategy: It's definitely best saved for a last-ditch effort unless you are in last place (in which case you could use it immediately). To the curious, I have calculated the odds of getting ahead or behind at random.

Current Position	Possible Results	Chance of Getting Ahead	Chance of Getting Behind
1st	2nd, 3rd, 4th	0%	100%
2nd	1st, 3rd, 4th	33%	67%
3rd	1st, 2nd, 4th	67%	33%
4th	1st, 2nd, 3rd	100%	0%

Party Mode Boards

Perilous Palace Path

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 4/5
Reliance on Luck: 3/5
Reliance on Minigames: 5/5
Time to Completion: 45 ~ 60 minutes
Start-to-End Length: 50 Spaces

BOARD GOAL:

Your goal is to be the first to reach the end of the board.

MINIGAMES/BONUSES:

There are bonus minigames starting on Round 2. From there on out, every turn will begin with some sort of minigame. (See Minigames for details.) The result of this minigame will determine who gets what Bonus Dice Block - the first place person in the minigame gets the Gold Dice block, a boost of 1 to 6 spaces; second place gets a Silver Dice Block for a 1- to 3-space boost; third gets a Bronze Dice Block for a 1- or 2-space boost; and fourth gets nothing. These Bonus Dice Blocks are applied in addition to your normal roll, so you shouldn't ever end up moving zero spaces on a turn unless hit by an item.

For Duel Spaces, the reward for the minigame are items! The three items are chosen beforehand. First place gets first pick, second place gets the second pick, third place gets the leftovers (could be worse), and fourth place gets a metaphorical box of oxygen. These items usually include Dash Mushrooms and Super Stars. See Party Mode Items for details and strategy.

BOARD DETAILS:

This is your general board that can be used for tutorials. There is little you'll find unusual on this course, but for the sake of completeness, I'll detail it here.

After going ten spaces from the start, you'll find a Challenge Area. There, you'll find three switches to hit. You are supposed to hit one to lower the drawbridge, but which one lowers it is unknown: it's all up to luck. This is the stretch where you'll want to conserve any items you've earned, since pressing the wrong switch will make you stop. It is preferable to let those movement-boosting items sit until later; this will let your opponents run to the switches, likely fail, and increase the odds of you getting it right!

13 and 14 spaces in (4 and 5 past the drawbridge), you'll find some blue "?" spaces. These give you access to the cannon, shooting you well ahead of the group. This will take you to the Green Space before the fork, a 9- or 10-space boost depending on where you accessed the cannon.

As you move towards the 25th space, you'll encounter a Branch Area. At random, you'll go either along the main path or into the Bowser Zone. There is little to note about the Bowser Zone; the main thing is that it is a seven-space detour back onto the main course with a couple of bad spaces (Piranha Plant, Bowser) at the end, so you can get screwed pretty badly here.

35 spaces from the start, assuming you didn't go along the Bowser Zone path, you'll find a red "?" space. What this does is currently unknown to me. However, it's presumably bad because, as you enter this depression, you should get a warning against awakenening the Chain Chomp. I presume it will send anyone in the depression back some distance, but it's currently a presumption.

The path is pretty featureless from there on to the end. As you reach the 40-space mark, you'll encounter a Bowser Space and a Piranha Plant Space, so using items to boost over those is probably a good idea. The same can be said for spaces 47 and 48. The 49th space is a Dead-End Space where you'll need to use a dice roll to defeat the Whomp. The Whomp will take a 6 to kill, although it can accumulate across the turns - even if others come along, so be careful! Just past there is the end of the board.

Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 1/5
Reliance on Luck: 5/5
Reliance on Minigames: 4/5
Time to Completion: 15 ~ 30 minutes
Start-to-End Length: 15 Spaces

BOARD GOAL:

Your goal is to be the first to reach the end of the course.

MINIGAMES/BONUSES:

Every three turns or so, you will play a minigame at the start of the turn. This minigame will give those playing a movement boost depending on how well they did: first goes forward 5, second goes 3, third goes 1, and fourth just doesn't get anything. That's all, though - you probably won't play but one minigame throughout the whole board.

BOARD DETAILS:

Contrary to the normal state of things, the Dice Blocks, instead of being numbered 1 to 6, are numbered 1 to 5. The remaining sixth face (~17% chance of landing on it) is a Banzai Bill. If this is hit by anyone, then a Banzai Bill will ravage everyone on the lower or upper halves of the area. (He'll go to the upper half after someone hits the "?" switch at the halfway point.) Those hit will go to either the start again, or to the halfway point if past there. The only way to avoid this is to land right on the "?" switch at the halfway point or you, at the end of your turn with the last space you can move, go into any of the blue-spaced caverns.

When you move, it is always ideal to move into the lower caverns at the end of your turn. Between your current and next rolls, there is a 2 in 3 chance (67%) that someone will roll Banzai bill, since the initial odds are 1 in 6 and there are four rolls per Round. Those odds are far from favorable, so better safe than sorry - especially if you happen to be the one rolling the Banzai Bill!

This board is pretty short. It will take traveling six spaces to reach the Switch Space marking the halfway point, so you won't get there in a single bound. Nine spaces after that - now that you're on the upper half - is the Goal Space. However, be careful: the 14th space, just before the Goal, is a Banzai Bill Space that'll make him fire, knocking down everyone on the upper half! Hopefully, you'll be able to use a minigame speed boost to get by here. But, yes, it's a linear, short, simple board.

Star-Crossed Skyway

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 4/5
Reliance on Luck: 4/5
Reliance on Minigames: 3/5
Time to Completion: 30 ~ 50 minutes
Start-to-End Length: 37 Spaces (approximately)

BOARD GOAL:

Unlike most boards in this game, the goal is not simply to get as far as possible as fast as possible. While that mindset will help you get along to being the best on the board, the goal is to get to the end while having as many Mini-Stars as possible. Mini-Stars can be found at set locations on the board: for the most part, the first to reach those locations gets the most Mini-Stars. Careful, though - you may end up with the Mini-Ztars, which subtract from your total. On a general level, it may be best to begin to favor the Duel Spaces for the sake of maintaining a high total. Totals are calculated when everyone has hit the Goal Space, so if you're behind, you can still catch up!

MINIGAMES/BONUSES:

On this board, minigames are not used except in the case of Duel Spaces. In this instance, those playing can get an extra amount of Mini-Stars - first gets 3, second gets 2, third gets 1, and fourth gets none. After passing a certain point (the last main segment of the board is entered), these are doubled to 6, 4, 2, and 0, respectively.

BOARD DETAILS:

As you begin playing the board, Toad will point out the next Star Stage - he will do this with every one of them. Star Stages are points you will reach along the path. There, you'll find four characters giving you the good Mini-Stars or the bad Mini-Ztars. Below this section are their distributions in the table.

The path to the first Star Stage is linear and simplistic. There isn't much of note along the path other than the Star Stage itself, found 8 spaces in.

As you go for the second of the Stages, you'll find a fork when you move towards the 12th space. There are two ways to go. The northern path is one space longer, but it allows you a higher chance of using a Switch-Place Space to alter the other of the Mini-Stars at the next Stage. Unless you're trailing, I recommend simply going along the shorter southern path. The paths will meet up on a 15th space, bringing with them a Duel Space, Switch-Place Space, and Scramble Space - all of these are useful for getting Mini-Stars in some way, so that's nice. For this second Star Stage, at the 18th space, beware of the Mini-Ztar character: without being screwed with, he'll be for the person to last come.

Past there, you hit the third segment. As you move to the 20th space, another fork is reached. Here, the path is longer to the north by one space, but going south is shorter and gives you two consecutive spaces where you can alter the Mini-Star order. Since the Mini-Star order is actually mostly Mini-Ztars, it's best to keep it slow on this portion of the board. The paths reunite around a 24th space (assuming the short path), with the mostly-bad Star Stage being the 27th.

Just beyond there is the final segment. When someone reaches this spot, you'll soon be notified that the bonuses for Duel Space minigames have doubled, so be sure to abuse that as much as you can! As you move to the 30th space, there will be another fork. The eastern path is longer, although it's slightly likelier to make the Mini-Star order become altered. Still, the Stars here are good, so I'd stick with the western path unless some opponent was nearing the end. The final Star Stage is at the 37th space. Be careful if you're last: you'll lose 7 Mini-Stars if the order goes unchanged!

SWITCH-PLACE SPACE & SCRAMBLE SPACE STRATEGY:

Especially as you hit the third segment of the board, you'll notice Mini-Ztars popping up a lot. It can be difficult to avoid these, and you obviously will want to avoid them. If you can't somehow slow yourself down as it comes to finding these, then an alternative are the aforementioned spaces. Specifically, I mention the Scramble Spaces. Most of the Scramble Spaces are just before the Star Stage, so you can readily assume you'll get there on the next turn. What to do with the stars is dependent on who's behind you.

If people are following closely behind you (like 4 spaces or less), you'll want to swap it so that they get the worst of the deal. If multiple people are behind you, distribute the Stars based on their actual position: first place gets worst, second gets second-worst, and so on. Again, it's best to consider that only when they're very close to the Star Stage, or you could end up screwing yourself! If no one's nearby, you'll probably just want to hand yourself the best deal as the first and move on.

STAR STAGE DETAILS:

Below are the distributions of Mini-Stars and Mini-Ztars at each of the Star Stages along the path, assuming they remain unaltered. Note that "+" means you get Mini-Stars, whereas "-" means you get Mini-Ztars.

Star Stage	STAR DISTRIBUTIONS
Star Stage	1st:	2nd:	3rd:	4th:
First (8 spaces in)	+10	+7	+5	+2
Second (18 spaces in)	+10	+7	+5	-2
Third (27 spaces in)	-7	-5	-2	+2
Fourth (37 spaces in)	+10	+7	+5	-7

Rocket Road

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 2/5
Reliance on Luck: 5/5
Reliance on Minigames: 4/5
Time to Completion: 10 ~ 20 minutes
Start-to-End Length: 25 Spaces

BOARD GOAL:

The goal is simply to get to the end of the course as fast as possible.

MINIGAMES/BONUSES:

Minigames will be held at the start of every third Round beginning with Round 4. These minigames, as well as the Duel Space minigames, will yield Boosters. (Boosters help to increase the distance you travel: see the details below.) The distribution is three Boosters for first place, two for second, one for third, and none for fourth in the start-of-Round minigame. For the Duel Spaces, everyone contributes one Booster (if possible: if only one is thrown in, then another comes from the Luma) and the winner takes it all, a gain of two or three Boosters! Since Boosters are used to multiply rather than add to Dice Rolls, they are extremely useful: it's actually probably best to save 'em up for one big ride. For example, four Boosters could let you finish the game in one ride!

BOOSTER DETAILS:

Boosters Used	Multiplier	Possible Dice Rolls
0	x1	0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1	x2	0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
2	x3	0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15
3	x4	0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20
4	x5	0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25

BOARD DETAILS:

Unlike most of the boards, take note that this board has a slightly different Dice Block: you can roll any value from 0 to 5. That's the main difference here, other than the already-mentioned Boosters. If you roll a "0", you will move no spaces: this is true even if you use a Booster, since anything times zero is zero. However, whatever space you are on will take effect again. For example, landing on a Booster Space to get a Booster, then rolling a zero on the next turn will get you a second Booster. Similar things occur on other spaces. Thusly, as far as strategy is concerned, it may be slightly more ideal to save Boosters when on a Booster Space as you could end up wasting them with a "0" roll, then ironically get another. Just a personal blurb. In any case, the odds of rolling zero are always one-in-six, which rounds to ~17%.

In any case, this board is also starkly linear, so description here is obviously going to be pretty light. On your first roll, you'll probably want to avoid using the Booster Toad initially gives you, since the first three spaces (50% chance of landing on them) yields another Booster. Once past them, a Booster use is recommended: Spaces 8 and 9 are those that can warp you to the spot where another player is. Granted, if you're already way behind because you rolled a zero, then you'll probably want to land on them, but the odds are against you if you're in the middle or front of the pack, as so:

Current Position	Possible Results	Chance of Getting Ahead	Chance of Getting Behind
1st	2nd, 3rd, 4th	0%	100%
2nd	1st, 3rd, 4th	33%	67%
3rd	1st, 2nd, 4th	67%	33%
4th	1st, 2nd, 3rd	100%	0%

Once past those spaces, definitely avoid using Boosters for a bit. Spaces 13 and 14 are Booster Spaces. But, more importantly, Spaces 15 and 16 are Duel Spaces: these can earn you an additional three Boosters (if you get first place) without waiting for that start-of-turn minigame every three turns after Round 4.

From here, you can see a counter on the right side of the Rocket Road, going down from 10 as you go forward, marking the number of spaces 'till the end. (Granted, the map also provides this, but whatever.) From this point on, using Boosters is extremely recommended. With just one Booster and a good roll of 10 (base: 5), you have a ~17% chance of winning from there. If you cram two together, the odds are closer to 33%; with three, 50%; with four, ~67%! These are favorable odds for the most part, and, even then, it's almost always, y'know, closer. In any case, though, beware the final three spaces: they, too, are those "?"-marked warp spaces mentioned earlier. In this case, if you're looking to use them, then something's wrong: there's no chance of getting ahead with these, so avoid at all costs.

Kamek's Carpet Ride

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 4/5
Reliance on Luck: 1/5
Reliance on Minigames: 3/5
Time to Completion: 20 ~ 40 minutes
Start-to-End Length:
- First Half: 9 or 10 Spaces
- Second Half (West): 14 Spaces (24 total)
- Second Half (East): 18 Spaces (27 total)

BOARD GOAL:

To reach the end first. The main change in this goal, though, is an aspect of "perfection". The end of both halves of the board must be reached on an exact roll rather than grabbing a bazillion spaces and blowing by the goal ... like Rocket Road. =P

MINIGAMES/BONUSES:

The minigames here will occur on each turn. The reward for these are "cards", which are the substitutes for Dice Blocks here. Four cards are offered, and your place in the minigame determines which card you get: first place gets the first pick, second place gets a second card, third place another, and the fourth-place person gets the leftovers.

After a certain point through the second half (when someone bypasses the six-space barrier to the goal, usually), "Special" Bonus Card Minigames appear. The rewards for these are usually more significant, as well as determining the turn order the next turn (1st goes first, 2nd goes second, and so on).

MAGIC CARDS AND STRATEGY:

Unlike the norm, this board does not use Dice Blocks, but rather Magic Cards, to determine how far you go: this is more critical to the board's goal than you may think. There are three types of cards:

Random Cards: These cards are denoted by a dash between two numbers on the card. There are three varieties: "1-3", "1-6", and "4-6". Depending on which variety you use, you can get a random number between the two numbers named. For example, "1-3" means you can get a 1, 2, or 3; "4-6" means you can get 4, 5, or 6; and "1-6" means you can get 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6! Strategically, you should only use "1-3" for short distances, and "4-6" for long distances. "1-6" is just an "I don't care" card. In general, these are bad to use near the goal, and it's preferable to use the Precision Cards when you're looking to land on a specific space.

Precision Cards: These simple cards only have one number on them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. The number denotes how many spaces you will move on that turn; there is no variance, that is the exact amount, discounting the effects of spaces. These are ideal to use near the end since you'll want precision there to get on the goal, but if you have several and they total up in such a way that you can progress to the goal, that's also a great idea.

Power Precision Cards: These cards are by far the best. They work like a normal Precision Card for you ... but, for your opponents, it pushes them back the same number of spaces! When you consider the fact that you can only hold three cards at a time, and Precision Cards are relatively rare (especially if you're good with minigames =P) for your opponents to have, you can really screw up any iota of a strategy they have! These only come in varieties for 1 or 2 spaces, but even that difference alone can be significant enough to derail things. Snatch 'em up when you can! ... And, no, if you force someone back onto a special space, that space will not take effect. >_<

BOARD DETAILS:

In the first half of the game, there are two exits at the end of the path. There are, in total, ten spaces here: the goals are at the ninth and tenth spaces. With these goals, and any others found in this board, you must land on them precisely. While most boards allow you to simply slip by them, you must land precisely on the space or it's pointless. That the whole point of using Random Cards early and Precision/Power Precision Cards closer to the end. As an extra reward, the person to trigger the "Just-Right" Space will get a Power Precision Card (value: 2). Once the "Just-Right" Space is triggered, everyone goes along the path.

In any case, the first half of the board is simple enough, structurally. If you end up with a "3" on the first roll, you'll end up being advanced forward three spaces further, as if you'd rolled a six, which is pretty decent. This is especially true in the case of the Kamek Space 5 spaces in, since Kamek will just mix up everyone's positions. To the curious, here's how well you'll fare in that:

Current Position	Possible Results	Chance of Getting Ahead	Chance of Getting Behind
1st	2nd, 3rd, 4th	0%	100%
2nd	1st, 3rd, 4th	33%	67%
3rd	1st, 2nd, 4th	67%	33%
4th	1st, 2nd, 3rd	100%	0%

He can also do other stuff, like move everyone forward or backward a few spaces; that's the most notable of his hijinks, though.

Just beyond there, on the ninth and tenth spaces, you'll find the Just-Right Spaces denoting the goals for this half. Landing (again, precisely) on either one will make you go forward to either half of the area. They are actually distinct, too!

If you went left for the second half, the turn order will be re-determined through the usual means. You keep your cards, though; if you have under three, you'll get more! The area is 14 spaces long and pretty linear and featureless. The main thing to consider are the Back Spaces. The first one (back one) is three spaces in. Most important is the cluster closer to the middle. On Space 8 is a Kamek Space; on Space 9, a back-four space; on Space 10, a back-three space. In general, I'd use my higher-value Random Cards early on, then use my higher-value Precision Cards to land past those three spaces, then use Precision Cards from there to land on the 14th space, the end.

If you went right for the second half, the turn order will be re-determined through the usual means. You keep your cards, though; if you have under three, you'll get more! In any case, you'll probably take notice of the numerous Dash Spaces all around. They let off as you get within six spaces of the door, so that's nice, but you'll want to stick to your Random Cards until then and hog the Precision Cards from the minigames: as Toad says early on, things could get quite crazy, and hanging on to the Precision Cards gives you a marginal advantage in case something gets crazy. The only things of note, beyond this, are the Kamek Space 10 spaces in, another 14 spaces in, and a Piranha Plant Space 15 spaces in. The goal is on the 18th space.

Shy Guy's Shuffle City

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 5/5
Reliance on Luck: 3/5
Reliance on Minigames: 2/5
Time to Completion: 20 ~ 40 minutes
Start-to-End Length: ?

This board requires the use of three or four human players - in other words, it requires the use of Download Play with at least two other people.

GOAL:

The goal of the board is to be the first to reach the end without carrying a Bowser Card. Once there, you have to win a game of chance (to some extent) to finish the game. The odds of winning said game are about 33%.

MINIGAMES:

Minigames will occur at the end of the first round, and after Bowser Events which occur on Turns 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and so on. The point of playing the minigames are for extra cards: by winning minigames is the only way to earn those with values of 0, 5, or 6. The distribution of the cards is as so: first place gets a "6" card, second gets a "5" card, third gets a "4" card, and fourth gets a "0" card.

CARD DETAILS:

This board is pretty reminiscent of Kamek's Carpet Ride: by using cards, you can move forward by the number of spaces designated on the card, which range from 0 to 6. The only value of note is "0" - this basically makes you stay on the same space, but its effect will reactivate as needed. (For example, landing on a Move Forward space and using a "0" card moves you forward.)

Everyone will begin with three cards. However, one of the players has a Bowser Card that is effectively useful for just being there. Additionally, the owner of the card will be the victim of a Bowser Event at the end of every third turn (Turn 3, 6, 9, 12, and so on) - this usually results in them being pushed back by 3~7 spaces or being put straight into last. After said event, everyone loses their cards and they're re-dealt, so you basically get a fresh hand each three turns - those with the Bowser Card initially are not doomed to have it eternally, in more ways than one...

(By the way, the odds of getting the Bowser Card are 1/3 with three players and 1/4 with four. The odds for getting it twice are thusly 1/9 or 1/16, and thrice are 1/27 or 1/64, and four times are 1/81 or 1/256. This doesn't assume any of the other ways one could get it barring this card-dealing, but if you're one to believe in luck, you may actually prefer to get it early on since you're very unlikely to get it again. But, in reality, it's all random.)

From Turn 2 onwards, you can draw a card from your opponents. Player 1 in the turn order will take from Player 2, and he from Player 3, and he from Player 4, and he from Player 1 (since he needs someone to take from). This is the main method by which the Bowser Card is transferred from player to player: this is important since the Bowser Card basically prevents winning. (Also note that the Toad narrating the game will somewhat hint at what card you draw: by using these hints, you can gauge as to where the Bowser Card is. Or you can try faking out your nearby human friends. Whatever.)

BOARD DETAILS:

Across the board are several green ?-marked Event Spaces. Typically, you will move forward two or three spaces on them, which isn't much of a problem unless you have the Bowser Card. The other option is to simply teleport to the space of an opponent, which, as ever, has mixed results:

Current Position	Possible Results	Chance of Getting Ahead	Chance of Getting Behind
1st	2nd, 3rd, 4th	0%	100%
2nd	1st, 3rd, 4th	33%	67%
3rd	1st, 2nd, 4th	67%	33%
4th	1st, 2nd, 3rd	100%	0%

However, some of them also force you to get the Bowser Card from the player who does have it - you'll trade your lowest-value card for it. (That's extra bad, since it forces you towards the end for a failure in winning all the somewhat-faster!) In general, it would be best to avoid those ? spaces as much as you can.

As for the board structure? It's pretty simple compared to some of the others. The first half of the board mostly features Move Forward spaces while the second half mostly features Move Backward spaces - basically, this results in a sort of rubber band snap-back effect where you can speed along towards the middle with little effort, then get snapped back towards the middle. Of course, it's ideal to land on the Move Forward spaces, especially if you don't have the Bowser Card. Because of the Move Backward spaces during the second half of the board, you will want to try to save some of the lower-value cards for more precise movement there.

Once you reach the end, you will play a card game. (That is, if you don't have the Bowser Card. Those with it can't play and are shoved back three spaces.) You'll be shown six cards, two of which allow you to win, and four of which do not. (The odds, therefore, are about 33% to win.) The cards are shuffled and you pick one. If you pick one of the winning cards, you win, right then. If you don't, you'll have to try again on the next turn.

Bowser's Peculiar Peak

Board Evaluation:

Reliance on Skill: 2/5
Reliance on Luck: 3/5
Reliance on Minigames: 4/5
Time to Completion: 20 ~ 40 minutes
Start-to-End Length: 35 Spaces

HOW TO UNLOCK:

Initially, this board is not available for play, marked only with "??????". You can unlock it, though. To do so, you must play on all of the other boards - except Shy Guy's Shuffle City - at least one time each.

BOARD GOAL:

Oh, yes, this is quite the peculiar board. In most boards, you are expected to get to the end the fastest. In this game, you want to get to the end the slowest. Once someone reaches the end, they'll play a game of chance wherein they roll Dice Blocks to avoid getting certain platforms knocked out from under them each turn. Once they lose, the game ends and the furthest person from Bowser loses.

MINIGAMES/BONUSES:

There are minigames on this board every Round. These determine two things. First is the order in which everyone moves, relative to their place in the minigame (first goes last, second goes third, third goes second, and last goes first). Secondly, the worst players get the worst Dice Blocks: fourth gets a Gold Dice Block (1-6 spaces), third gets a Silver Dice Block (1-3 spaces), second gets a Bronze Dice Block (1-2 spaces), and first gets nothing added to their roll. Keep in mind that your goal is to get there the slowest, and the highest rolls for these people respectively are 12, 9, 8, and 6, so you can see the logic.

DICE BLOCKS AND ROLLING:

On this board, there is a special clause you may want to consider when it comes to minigames: rolling doubles. In this case, it actually stops you entirely for that turn. It only is allowed for people who got second place or worst in the previous minigame since they'll need to have two Dice Blocks. The main point of this section is to denote that, even though it can initially seem like going further back is better (because you have six chances for doubles rather than two for second), it's actually not. Here are the variables named:

Minigame Place: What place you got in the previous minigame.
Total Dice Combos: How many possible combinations of dice there are. This means your base Dice Block value of six multiplied by the "Bonus" Dice Block's possible values (2, 3, or 6).
Total Doubles: For each value on the "Bonus" Dice Block, there is one on the normal one paired with it.
Chance of Doubles: Your "Total Doubles" divided by "Total Dice Combos". Except for first place, obviously, each other place has a 1 in 6 chance of getting doubles. It's commonly rounded to 17%, but it's more precisely 16.666666...%.
- Rolling Range: This, in conjunction with the previous indicates that it still remains best to do as best as possible in the games, since you want to go as little a distance as possible. (Keep in mind doubles are not accounted for (as "0" spaces) here, although the "3" is resultant from "2" (1 and 1) being a doubles roll.)

Minigame Place	Total Dice Combos	Total Doubles	Chance of Doubles	Rolling Range
1st	6	0	0%	1 - 6 spaces
2nd	12	2	~17% (1 in 6)	3 - 8 spaces
3rd	18	3	~17% (1 in 6)	3 - 9 spaces
4th	36	6	~17% (1 in 6)	3 - 11 spaces

BOARD DETAILS:

As mentioned earlier, you'll start each Round with a minigame determining the Bonus Dice Blocks and turn order. Once that is done, you're ready to focus on your goal of not getting even close to Bowser: a goal facilitated primarily by winning minigames and landing right on Piranha Plant Spaces. Then again, the latter is moreso luck than precision. >_>

Early on, the board will seem pretty difficult. This is mostly because of the prolific Extra-Move (similar to Dash) Spaces around here: on Space 2 (+5), Space 6 (+4), Space 8 (+2), Space 11 (+2), Space 17 (+3), and Space 21 (+3). Luckily, as you can well see with 35 spaces being the total, it does die down after the midpoint, so it's not nearly as much of a concern. Though, then again, you're also screwed if you suck at minigames.

Most of the time, it's quite featureless otherwise. On Space 9, there is a "?" space to land on to warp backwards some, which can be quite helpful. Space 14 is a Dead-End Space where you need to hit a switch; if the switch triggers the wall to break, then you have to go forward. If it doesn't, then you stay there until the next turn, which is good. Soon thereafter is a "?" space on Space 18 which will bring you to other player's positions: a key spot to land on for someone in the lead of the pack. Space 25 is another warp-pipe space to move you back some, and Space 27 is another warping-to-another-person space.

From there on out, there's nothing up until Space 33 where you get one final chance to warp back before fighting Bowser directly for your life. You'll stand on three platforms and your Dice Roll determines how many get knocked out. There is a 50% chance of losing immediately and ending the game, so don't hope too much. In any case, if you manage to survive, it's just one turn until it happens again. Your luck wears down eventually, obviously: 50% goes to 25%, then 12.5%, then 6.25%, then 3.125%... all for a sequential streak's probability, anyways. Mathematically, you are not very likely to win forever.

In any case, once someone screws up, the game should be over, the winner determined by whoever is farthest. It's pretty much the true test of Mario Party skill in a way: the ability to manipulate luck and win at minigames is expressed here more strongly than anywhere else.

Bowser's Tower

Bowser's Tower is basically a minigame gauntlet. There are thirty floors to Bowser's Tower, and on each you can pick from one of two random minigames. When it comes to those two, you should consider several things: which you're best at, the ability of opponents/enemies to interfere, and how luck-based the game is. In any case, you should take the 90-minute estimate the game gives pretty seriously, although there is the ability to save. The only exception to the choosing rule is on every fifth floor (5F, 10F, etc.) you'll play a Boss Minigame. Click the names below to reach details on them.

Minigame	Floor of Bowser's Tower
Goomba Tower Takedown	5F
Chain Chomp's Lava Lunge	10F
Mr. Blizzard's Snow Slalom	15F
King Bob-omb's Court of Chaos	20F
Dry Bowser's Brain Bonk	25F
Bowser's Sky Scuffle	30F (top)

On each floor, you'll meet up with the three opponents with which you'll fight against in the minigame you choose. They are of the Easy/Normal difficulties in most circumstances, growing to Normal as you go along to the sixteenth floor; in later playthroughs of the game, you'll also begin to fight Hard opponents as you near the top. At random, you'll find a block able to remove some or all of them from your opposition, letting clearing the game be easier. (Clearing away three lets you skip the floor.) Additionally, Bowser will at random affect something as you go to the next floor: for example, bring you back to the bottom or make the enemies even harder.

I think that's about it. As I said before, it's mostly about the minigames. I will note that there are several "quests". After the first playthrough, you can go through it again, but this is only for the purpose of gaining Mario Party Points and unlocking the "Master of Bowser's Tower" in the Memories of the Gallery. That about does it; if you need further help, it's only going to able to be done for the Minigames; see the Quick-Jump for 'em. Here are the specifics on Bowser's Tower unlockables:

Bowser Jr.: Playable character and Dhop Memory; finish Bowser's Tower one time
Bowser's Tower Tourist: Shop Memory; finish Bowser's Tower once
Top Floor!: Unlocks Gallery Memory; finish Bowser's Tower one time
Master of Bowser's Tower: Unlocks Gallery Memory; finish Bowser's Tower twice
Play 3+ Times: Earn 30,000 Mario Party Points each time for winning after winning twice

Minigames

Quick-Jump

I add this section because the following sections are sorted by the order presented in the game. This section adds a bit of convenience in that the lists below are sorted alphabetically. (In the case of the first list, it goes down alphabetically and loops to the top of the next column.) If you came looking for details on the Time Attack objectives, see the final table of this section: it links to minigames already in the first table, but at least you don't have to search as much.

GENERAL MINIGAMES (TOTAL: 69)
Amp My Style	Fisticlouds	Hop Till You Drop	Pokey Corral	Squish You Were Here
Blown Hover	Flip Out	Horror Harriers	Pool Buoy	Starring Artist
Bob-omb Aplomb	Fuel Me Once	Kabob and Weave	Puzzle Pronto	Stretch Run
Bumper Thumper	Garden of Eatin'	Mad Ladders	Quickest Cricket	Sub Trouble
Buzz a Fuzzy	Get Reel	Magmathon	Rat-a-tat Flat	Tanks a Lot
Cannonball!	Git Along, Goomba	Match Faker	Rope a Slope	Tap Dash
Cheep Diamonds	Go with the Floe	Meteor Melee	Shrub Hubbub	Tile Savvy
Cheepers Keepers	Goomba to Maneuver	Mild Gunman	Sky'd and Seek	Top This
Claiming the Cube	Great Bars of Fire	Musical Snares	Slip 'n' Slip	Tragic Carpet Ride
Color Correction	Grid is Good	No-Traction Action	Slip Not	Trounce 'n' Bounce
Color Me Fast	Gyro for the Gold	Pachinko Wizard	Slow G	Truckin' and Cluckin'
Deck Hunt	Hare Today	Paddle Skedaddle	Slow Glide	Utter Nonsense
Diamond a Dozen	Helter Shellter	Peep a Peepa	Spin and Bear It	Xylophone Home
Drive for Show	Hide 'n' Splat	Point 'n' Shoot	Spin the Bubble

BOSS MINIGAMES (TOTAL: 6)
Minigame	Floor of Bowser's Tower
Goomba Tower Takedown	5F
Chain Chomp's Lava Lunge	10F
Mr. Blizzard's Snow Slalom	15F
King Bob-omb's Court of Chaos	20F
Dry Bowser's Brain Bonk	25F
Bowser's Sky Scuffle	30F (top)

PUZZLE MINIGAMES (TOTAL: 5)
Emergency Hexit
Emergency Hexit - Multiplayer
Three House
Three House - Multiplayer
Star Turn

EXTRA MINIGAMES (TOTAL: 4)
Ka-Goomba!
Sinking Feeling
Sinking Feeling - Multiplayer
The Choicest Voice

TIME ATTACK-COMPATIBLE MINIGAMES (TOTAL: 10)
Magmathon	No-Traction Action	Slow G	Tile Savvy	Gyro for the Gold
Quickest Cricket	Color Me Fast	Blown Hover	Mad Ladders	Sub Trouble

General Minigames

Claiming the Cube

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, A to jump, and A in mid-air for a ground-pound.
Description: Your ultimate goal is to ground-pound in the white panels on the cube, thereby making them turn into your color. Keep in mind that you don't have to limit yourself to one face of the cube: similar to Super Mario Galaxy, you can walk all over the cube. You can also ground-pound in more than one panel. If two or more panels are next to each other, you can ground-pound their common edge to get both. If you have to grab three or more, than you need to hit the center of that side of the cube (since they'll all share a common corner).

Rope a Slope

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Jump with the A Button.
Description: Your goal is go down whilst using the A Button to jump over the trees; the downward movement is automatic. The longer you go without hitting a tree, the faster you will go. There is a slight delay between pressing A and jumping - at least, more than usual - so try to jump a bit earlier, especially as you continue racking it up. Also, if you are playing against someone REALLY good at this game, you can try to synchronize your A Button presses with theirs, since everyone will jump at the same time (if going the same speed).

Tragic Carpet Ride

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and A to jump.
Description: This game takes place on a rug. Everyone is on there while some ghostly enemies are trying to eat it up, and your goal is to go the longest without falling off. (Keep in mind touching the enemies is generally okay, though it stuns you.) The carpet is only torn breiefly, so it does regenerate. Generally, there's always a wide-open area for you, so this should be pretty easy.

Stretch Run

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to manipulate the rubber band.
Description: The general goal of the minigame is to make your cart go as far as possible without leaving the bridge. (You do so by moving your cart pre-launch - the further back, the more power.) There are two rounds to this as well, with varying lengths to travel (the distance from the bridge being the variable). In general, there is no "exact" sweet spot, especially given the precision needed as you go towards the back of your board. I mean, sure, physics says there is a sweet spot, but there's no way you're that accurate. Anyhow, on a general level, I try to stand about halfway across the second board for the first round, and on the final on that final line marked in the wood before the rounded end of the board. But it's not guaranteed to work!

Grid is Good

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to drag panels.
Description: In this minigame, you are to drag shapes onto a board to claim numbers. After everyone has done so, then you will earn points equal to the sum of the numbers you claimed that no one else did. Generally, it's mostly up to luck. However, against humans, you may want to try the logic of playing on the low-value tiles to avoid losing points, or you can play on the higher-value ones to negate your opponent's gains. The AI is pretty dumb on a general level, so sometimes the highest values work out unusually well. >_>

Color Me Fast

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to color in stuff on the Touch Screen.
Description: You are to fill in the shapes on-screen with color. ... That's about it. The fastest person to manage three pages wins. It's not at all about accuracy, so just do it in whatever way is fastest for you. I personally tilt the 3DS and then oscillate my hand back and forth somewhat-vertically, trying to fill in parts of all the shapes at the same time.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to get less than 10% outside of the lines. That means you probably should focus on one thing at a time. You'll also do five pages of fruit, not three.

Musical Snares

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Tilt the 3DS is move around.
Description: The general goal is to move around and grab notes. The main thing to note are the golden ones worth 2 points instead of the normal 1. Keep in mind, also, that you can't move very fast, so go for the notes nearest you - their appearance is precipitated by a shadow appearing on the ground (gray for one-pointers, gold for two-pointers).

Buzz a Fuzzy

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Tilt the 3DS to aim, and pull back and release the Circle Pad to fire. Press Down on the D-Pad to recenter your aim if the 3DS's gyroscope gets off-kilter (which it probably wills).
Description: Those participating will take turns firing at an array of Fuzzies. Your goal is to hit as many as possible on each of your three turns. It is best to first use Down on the D-Pad to recenter the aim, since it almost certainly will get off-kilter and make aiming awkward. Keep in mind that you can hit multiple Fuzzies at once, if there are some behind the initial target - you'll hit the most when they're right in front of you, but pretty much any blocked line of sight should do fine.

Cannonball!

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Rotate the Circle Pad to crank the handle.
Description: Pretty much just rotate the Circle Pad a crapload of times. Kinda makes me think of Lulu's Overdrive from Final Fantasy X... >_> In any case, there is no easy way to grip the Circle Pad for rotation, so you'll just have to do your best (or grind on it with the side of your fist, maybe).

Goomba to Maneuver

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move left or right.
Description: The general goal is to move along the path, avoiding the obstacles to save the Goombas. Keep in mind that the group responds pretty slowly, so if you can manage to make a straight path without turning too much, you'll do well. The winner is determined by who has more surviving Goombas.

Kabob and Weave

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and the A Button to jump.
Description: The general idea is to avoid those spiked skewers - you can't jump over them, you have to physically move aside. The jumping is only really to impede your opponents, as jumping on them slows them down. There's no real strategy to this, but keep in mind that the movement of a skewer is precipitating by it twisting slightly and protruding just a little from the wall before it slams into you.

Tap Dash

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to tap panels.
Description: It's a basic recognition minigame - you'll see something on the top screen, and need to tap it on the Touch Screen. There's no real strategy to it; just keepin mind that the faster you do it, the more points you get (9 for first, 6 for second, 3 for third, and 1 for last). Whoever has more points at the end wins.

Tanks a Lot

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and A to fire.
Description: A simple game wherein you destroy your opponents before the same is done to you. All you need to do is destroy any opponent(s) three times to win; they'll be destroyed in a single shot. Keep in mind that the blocks on the field can be destroyed, but it takes a shot and the shot won't go past it.

Xylophone Home

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to hit the keys.
Description: For this minigame, you need to tap the keys as notes come onto them. For this, it is best to keep up a sense of rhythm, since they often are evenly-spaced. Additionally, rather than frantically looking back and forth between the screens, you can try to memorize the lower screen and tap based on that, or you can focus on the hinge between the screens for a sort of double focus (since you only need to see the bottom half or so of the top). (As a note of trivia, the tune played is a remix of the main overworld theme from Super Mario Bros. on the NES/FDS.)

Mild Gunman

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use A, B, X, and Y to shoot.
Description: See that target in the distance? When a button's name (A, B, X, Y) appears on it, press the corresponding button. There are three rounds to this, with points being awarded in each based on speed - from best to worst, you'll get 9, 6, 3, or 1 point(s). In any case, it should be pretty easy - I just got the game and am responding at about 0.40 seconds, far ahead of the AI on Normal. (To the curious, the name is a pun on the Nintendo game title "Wild Gunman", a NES and arcade shooter similar to most Wild West-like duels. It's quite fun!)

Spin the Bubble

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Tilt the 3DS to turn the capsule.
Description: To be honest, this game's pretty terrible because of the way the gyroscope screws up often. Since that's how you rotate the capsule ... you see? If the game detects it as being tilted in one direction, it will keep turning in that direction. You'll need to use Down on the D-Pad pretty often to get by here. In any case, rotate the 3DS clockwise/counterclockwise and forward/backward so that the images on the top and bottom screens match up.

Rat-a-tat Flat

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, A to jump, and A in mid-air to ground-pound.
Description: Just ground-pound a bunch of rats - it's not that complex, and it's pretty easy to grasp. Just keep in mind you can jump on and ground-pound opponents to impede them somewhat, and there are faster golden mice worth 3 points.

Tile Savvy

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to slide tiles around.
Description: In this puzzle, you are supposed to slide the tiles around to complete the puzzles, while only leaving one corner incomplete. The puzzles solved are pictures of objects encountered in the game and Mario series as a whole (Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Koopa shells, etc.), so it shouldn't be hard. The first to solve three puzzles wins.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not have to undo any moves. You also do five puzzles, not three.

Hide 'n' Splat

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: In this game, you are to avoid getting squished by the Tox Boxes. ... That's pretty much it - run around wildly enough and you might survive. In general, try to keep one square (be diagonally adjacent is okay) between you and the Tox Boxes, since they only move one at a time horizontally or vertically. Also, keep in mind that each of them has a hollow underside, as demonstrated in the demo just before the game starts: you're safe if that side comes down upon you.

Slow Glide

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Tilt the 3DS up/down to steer.
Description: This is one of the few gyroscopic games with a decent responsiveness! ^_^ In any case, you can be pretty generous with your tilting, so long as you know what you're doing - still, be sure to press Down on the D-Pad if something feels off. Your goal is to tilt the 3DS up and down to hit the balloons in your way - you'll see them coming, don't worry. Each balloon is worth 1 point, except the golden ones that are worth 3. That's about it.

Sub Trouble

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move up or down.
Description: The goal is to get to the end as fast as possible. You do so by moving the Circle Pad up and down to point your ship in that direction, making it move in that direction. You want to avoid hitting walls, and you also want to avoid turning wildly - going wildly subtlely makes you go horizontally less. When it possible, it is best to be completely flat.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not hit the walls.

Garden of Eatin'

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and the A Button to confirm choices.
Description: Basically, you move around to flowers and press the A Button to water them. Some of the flowers are actually Piranha Plants that'll eject you from the minigame when watered - however, it's all luck, so just hope for the best!

Peep a Peepa

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Move the 3DS to move the light.
Description: Just move the 3DS to shine the light on the ghosts for as long as possible. There is no real trick to it, just keep to one ghost until it goes away, then go on to another.

Puzzle Pronto

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to move and slide pieces to finish the puzzle.
Description: You'll see some holes in a block at the top of the Touch Screen, and some pieces on the bottom of it you are supposed to fit in. Just drag-and-drop them into the holes. The main thing here is shape recognition. They're all pretty easy to recognize, since Stars go in star-shaped holes. It's the curved ones that give the most trouble -- remember, Koopa shells have that bump along their middle horizontally, Coins are perfect circles, and Yoshi eggs are a bit lopsided. The fastest to solve the puzzles wins.

Truckin' and Cluckin'

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and the A Button to grab chickens or tackle opponents.
Description: You need to grab a chicken and hold on to it while it lays eggs so you can get points. You can get chickens by picking them up with the A Button, or using the same button to tackle others. Then just run around and avoid being hit for a bit until the chicken flies off, at which point you need to get another chicken. It's pretty simple; just look out for the golden chickens (or should I say "geese"?) that lay golden eggs with double the normal point yield.

Color Correction

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: Not a lot to say - you're supposed to move across tiles and change them to your color. The main things to keep in mind are to stay off your own tiles (focus on your opponents') and to try and use the diagonals as typically you'll run across two that are next to each other.

Get Reel

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Rotate the Circle Pad to advance (clockwise) or rewind (counterclockwise) the film, and A to confirm.
Description: Not a lot to say on this minigame, either... Basically, you'll want to advance or rewind the film so that the frame appearing on the Touch Screen is the same as the one on the top screen, at which point you'll press A. There is no penalty for being wrong, though, so don't hesitate.

Top This

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to maneuver fruit.
Description: Your goal is to drag fruit of your kind (bottom-center of the Touch Screen) onto the pink spots on the cake. In doing so, you will earn points for each fruit you dragged. This repeats throughout three rounds. The main point is to initially focus on the edges nearest you so you can get more and more faster and faster.

Slip 'n' Slip

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move and the A Button to jump.
Description: The goal is to avoid being hit by the penguins and to remain on the ice floe without falling in the water, with the last one standing being the winner. The main thing to consider is that the floe is often tilting, meaning you'll go along with it; plus, it's ice, and you'll slip a little as you turn. To lessen the effects of both, jumping often helps.

Pachinko Wizard

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use A, B, X, and Y to choose a position.
Description: Your goal is to put yourself where you won't get hit by the Lakitu's Spiny. While is mostly luck - the Spiny can just as easily bounce from one side to the other - the best plan of action is to stay as far away from it as possible. There are three rounds of this, with one player being eliminated in each round until the final round.

No-Traction Action

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to steer, A to accelerate, and B to brake.
Description: Your main goal is to go three laps around the icy track, with the person leading the pack being the winner. There isn't much to say except the obvious: avoid the walls and other players, as they'll slow you down. Also keep in mind that, if you tap B a bunch as you turn, you'll only slightly lessen your speed while having a very controlled turn (drifting), which is much preferred here.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not hit any walls: you'll have to drift, then, if you want a decent time with the bonus.

Blown Hover

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move left or right, and A to jump.
Description: You want to run the course as fast as possible. The main obstacle you'll find are the green Flip Panels, which extend as you approach them to block you. Those from the ground as high as two tiles can be jumped over with the right timing, but if there is a hole at ground level (especially if the panels are three-high), you'll probably prefer that since it's a lot simpler.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not hit any of those Flip Panels.

Slow G

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move and the A Button to jump.
Description: This is your standard platforming minigame - use the controls outlined above so you can ascend the platforms to the top. The main thing to keep in mind with this game is that the gravity is lessened, meaning that you need to account for extra time with the moving platforms.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not reuse any platforms.

Spin and Bear It

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, A to confirm your choice, and the stylus to spin the wheel if neded.
Description: You need to choose a spot on the wheel onto which to stand, then spin the wheel if the game tells you to. From there, it's all luck - you just don't want to be hit with the hammer if you get on the topmost space (as seen in the pre-game demo). For the record, the odds of you winning are 25%. (3/4 in the first round * 2/3 in the second round * 1/2 in the third round = 6/24 = 1/4.)

Fisticlouds

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, B to punch, A to jump, and A-then-B to kick.
Description: Your goal is to get your opponents pushed off. There's nothing special to it other than being aware of your surroundings, although the middle orange platform seems to be fixed in one position - if you can stay on that, you don't have to worry much about falling or the like.

Starring Artist

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to draw lines.
Description: Basically, you need to retrace the lines from the top screen onto the Touch Screen. There are three rounds of this: in each, you get 9, 6, 3, or 1 point(s) for being the first/second/third/fourth person to complete the drawing. The main thing here is the ability to recognize the shapes in the constellations, memorize them quickly, and retrace them on the Touch Screen - it helps to notice certain groups of stars, too.

Pokey Corral

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: You pretty much just need to avoid the Pokeys, per the game description, but it's actually falling off that makes you lose. The sand will force you outwards, so you need to be moving inwards at least indirectly at all times. You should also try to avoid running into Pokeys or your opponents as that will slow you down. Basically hog all of the open space to yourself. =P

Hare Today

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move and A to pick up or put down the rabbits.
Description: Nothing special here - you just need to pick up the rabbits coming from the caves and put them down the central pen. Beyond that, the only thing worth mentioning are the golden rabbits that sometimes appear and are worth more points.

Great Bars of Fire

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use Down on the D-Pad to duck, and A to jump.
Description: The goal is to simply dodge the bars of fireballs. For the most part, it's simply alternating between ducking and jumping, but keep in mind that they'll eventually begin to become irregular as one will start spinning faster than the other.

Deck Hunt

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: To the curious, the name is a parody of the popular NES Zapper game Duck Hunt. Not sure why, but whatever. The goal of the game is to move around as you go downhill to collect Coins. It's a pretty simple, unnoteworthy task. Just beware the Spiny Eggs, which will make you drop three Coins - then again, if your opponent hits one, you can pick up those Coins... =P

Paddle Skedaddle

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to move around.
Description: This is a pretty difficult minigame, actually. You're supposed drag down the stylus along the lines on either side of your canoe to paddle around. Paddling on the left side rotates you to the left, and the same for the right. The main thing is to favor one side around turns, and to balance them in straightaways. For me, I tend to favor 3 paddles in the turning direction and 1 the other way for turns, and 2-and-2 for the straightaways

Fuel Me Once

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the A Button to stop the fueling.
Description: Your goal is to stop the fueling of your jetpack with the A Button with the marker is close to 100. (The margin for landing is about +/- 5%, but it's measured in distance from the 100.) The difficulty in this is because the gauge becomes invisible after a point. From there, you pretty much have to continue keeping track of it mentally. Each tick marks 10%, so if you can quickly count a second and guess how much is there, then do some general math to figure out much remains until 100, you should be fine.

Git Along, Goomba

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Draw circles with the stylus to widen the lasso, then slide to throw it.
Description: Your goal is to use your lasso - under the above control system - to catch as many Goombas as possible. It's a pretty simple minigame; the main tip is to use a very wide loop in your lasso. You can easily catch ten or more if it's wide enough!

Cheepers Keepers

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use A, B, X, and Y to catch Cheep Cheeps.
Description: It's a general cognition challenge. When the button (A, B, X, Y) appears on-screen, rapidly begin pressing it: the more you press it, the more Cheep Cheeps you'll catch. There are three rounds of this, with the person with the highest cumulative number of Cheep Cheeps being the winner.

Drive for Show

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Slide the stylus to swing.
Description: Your goal is to slide the stylus such that you hit the blue targets and thereby earn points. The main thing to consider is that you can hit any of the targets: you just need to skew your shot to the left or right some. The one with the most points (contradictory to real golf =P) wins. As a further note, you will notice that the points cycle: 5, 10, 20, and -5, in that order.

Hop Till You Drop

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and A to jump.
Description: This is an endurance challenge wherein you are supposed to remain on the upper platforms for as long as possible without falling. This is done by moving around and hopping from platform to platform. It's actually harder than it sounds because your opponents just love to get in your way.

Helter Shellter

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and A to choose a shell.
Description: In this game, you are to find and choose a shell and you'll get points equal to the number of pearls within it; whoever has more pearls at the end wins. It's mostly luck-based, though it seems the shaking shells have more pearls on a general level.

Meteor Melee

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: In this minigame, you are to run around and catch shooting stars with your bucket while avoiding the meteors (they stun you); both are done by standing beneath them. Their fall is precipitated by a shadow of light on the Touch Screen. The main tip is to get into the light - keep in mind you can generally know what will fall based on what appears on the top screen and when, since two rarely fall so near each other that they're indistinguishable.

Bumper Thumper

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: This is your standard bumper-cars game in which you are to bump everyone off of the platform. The main thing to keep in mind is that your movement is based on flicks of the Circle Pad rather than smoothly driving around. You can use that to your advantage: it enables you to react more evasively (since the opponent cannot move much when the boost is active). Also, generally being aggressive by hitting people a lot is helpful.3.

Horror Harriers

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: The idea is to dodge the enemies so that you're the last one standing. This is pretty easy since the enemies spin in regular patterns, such as circles and the spokes of a wheel: just look for the gaps.

Cheep Diamonds

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use A, B, X, Y, L, and R to select a Cheep Chomp.
Description: For this, you need to initially watch the diamonds fall into the Cheep Chomps' mouths, keeping a look for the one with the most. After they shuffle around - you can keep track of them, and should! - press the button corresponding to it to get the diamonds in its mouth.There are three total rounds of this, with each adding another Cheep Chomp to contend with.

Slip Not

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Tilt the 3DS left and right to move.
Description: You are to tilt the 3DS left and right in this minigame to move your character left and right as they slide down the icy slope; doing so helps to stop them from falling off. Whoever ends up going the farthest before falling wins. There is no real trick to it; just be gentle with it and don't go wild with the tilting.

Trounce 'n' Bounce

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: In this game, you and your opponents will be sent sky-diving from a high height onto some blocks. You obviously don't want to hit the ground from that high! To avoid being smashed on the ground, you need to land on some of the blocks near the ground. However, as time goes on, fewer and fewer blocks will appear: you'll likely have to bump your opponents out of the way to get to them, which is okay. Also try to use your shadow to figure out where you are in relation to the blocks.

Mad Ladders

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move around.
Description: You need to climb up the ladders using the Circle Pad so you can be the first to reach the top of the structure. The main obstacles will include the ladders actually ending (just switch), your opponents, and the rocks from above. You can sort of shield yourself from the rocks by getting under an opponent, since the rocks are destroyed on impact; otherwise, you can just dodge out of the way. Predicting the rock falls gets easier as time goes on because you'll see the enemies at the top throwing them near the end.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not get hit by a boulder.

Squish You Were Here

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: The goal of this minigame is avoid being squished by the moving walls at the sides. This is pretty easy because you just have to mentally push the two together and see where the gaps lie, then go to those gaps to survive. However, since you don't get to see the whole wall to start with, it's a bit of a guessing game.

Go with the Floe

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: If you've ever played a game like "Frogger", you should do pretty well at this. The goal is to get the penguins from your side to the other; to get a penguin, approach the south side of the area. Then go north and cross the ice floes. The floes flow (heh) at different rates across the river, so a bridge is generally certain to appear every now and then: be sure to use it. I don't recommend crossing only partway and then waiting, though, unless you're certain a bridge will be formed very quickly, since you could get scraped off by the left wall. Once across, you'll deliver the penguin and then you can cross back for more.

Pool Buoy

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to roll the ball and move.
Description: In this game, you are to use the stylus to roll the ball: rolling it left makes you go left, up to go north, and so on and so forth. You need to move around and grab the buoys Lakitu drops. It's easier if you follow him around after grabbing some so you'll be closer than the others to them. Beyond that, there's little to mention except the golden buoys: they're worth three points over the usual one, so be sure to try for 'em!

Amp My Style

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: The goal of this minigame is to move around and avoid getting shocked by the Amps. The Amps will move around somewhat slowly and make geometrical shapes, and you have to stay within the borders or get shocked and lose. It's pretty difficult, especially when they get cramped, so your best bet may be to push your opponents into the electricity. >:)

Magmathon

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use A, B, X, and Y to jump.
Description: In this game, you'll see one or two letters on the platforms in front of you, and you need to press them to get onto the next platform where you'll see more. This simple process repeats a while until the end. There's nothing special to this minigame: just press the buttons you see, and do so quickly, and you'll win.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is not press an incorrect button.

Shrub Hubbub

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to cut the branches.
Description: Simply slide the stylus along the dotted lines to cut the bushes into the desired pattern; the first to do four wins. You have to be pretty decisive about the lines, though: if you go too slow, it won't count. Additionally, it may help to go in some sort of circular order when you do the cutting, to save time.

Quickest Cricket

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Pull back and release the Circle Pad to move.
Description: Your goal is to get to the end of the field by snapping the Circle Pad to move; the direction opposite the way you pull back is how you move (i.e. pull down to go up), and the further back you pull, the further you'll go. You need to get to the end as fast as possible: it's probably best to go straight up whenever possible, and, obviously, avoiding enemies is a must. Specifically, you'll want to stay out of the dirt circle around Piranha Plants (although if you go fast enough with a second snap, you'll be fine). As for the Wigglers, it may be best to skirt along the right, then left edge of the area since they're moving in those directions.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not hit any obstacles.

Diamond a Dozen

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Press A, B, X, Y, and L/R to select a hole.
Description: You initially will be show five holes, going bottom up, and you can see the diamonds within them. You want to try to pick the one with the most in it, although knowing which is pretty hard since the diamonds are staggered in extremely varying concentrations. For the most part, it's a best-guess thing, but you only get one try to win this minigame! Seriously, the amounts can vary by as little as one between winning and losing. Once you reach the top of the hole, press the button (L and R go for the same one) corresponding to the desired hole to win.

Flip Out

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the A Button to jump.
Description: You need to press the A Button to cross the platforms. It's a pretty simple game; you just want to avoid approaching the gray platforms when they're flipping out, as it were. This is precipitated by a shaking noise, then an angry face appearing on the panel: when it's angry, approaching it will make you go back to the previous yellow platform, so look out.

Bob-omb Aplomb

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move.
Description: In this game, Bob-ombs will rain down from above: if they land on your platform and explode, they'll put you in the lava, which is never good. Luckily, there is a brief moment of time between the Bob-omb arriving and it exploding. During this time, you should run into it to kick it off the platform, possibly onto the platforms of your opponents. You have to react pretty quickly here to survive well. Whether you want to return Bob-ombs to your opponents or kick them south or west into the lava is up to you: while giving your opponents Bob-ombs can finish them, they could also return it to you, which means you have even less time until it explodes! I personally prefer the safer route.

Gyro for the Gold

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Tilt the 3DS to move around forward, backward, left, and right.
Description: In this minigame, you want to get to the end as fast as possible by using the gyroscope in the 3DS. There are three segments to the course. The first is a field of mushrooms: there are two patterns that will alternate here, so you can use that knowledge to predict where not to go lest you get bumped by a 'shroom. For the second, you'll find an easy-to-navigate maze of blocks. Finally, the third segment is one in which you need to wait at the end of a fork in the path for a yellow platform. Once on it, you can cross to the other yellow platform (you can cross the diagonal corners if needed while they're at the furthest apart), then to the ramp bringing you to the end.
Time Attack Note: In Time Attack, this minigame is one-player. Your optional objective (which, if met, reduces overall time by three seconds) while in Time Attack is to not fall off.

Point 'n' Shoot

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Move the 3DS to look around, and use A to take a picture.
Description: You need to move the 3DS around for this minigame; in it, you are to try and take pictures of the three characters given to you. For the most part, it's a simple hide-and-seek game, although you may want to consider where some characters live. For example, Piranha Plants are only found in pipes (mostly), and the squid-like Bloopers are generally found in water.

Match Faker

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to take notes, the D-Pad to move the cursor, and the A Button to confirm.
Description: You will initially be given a 4x3 set of enemies to look at. For the brief time given to you, you are supposed to take notes using the Touch Screen. Generally, it is best to use quick abbreviations for the enemies if you know their names and can write fast (example: I write "BB" for "Banzai Bill"). If you don't know their names, you can write something like "black" or just outright draw it. Whatever works for you. After, you will be told to find an enemy based on your notes: use the D-Pad and A to select the tile under which should lie the enemy.

Sky'd and Seek

Players: 4 players (human or AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to take notes, the D-Pad to move a cursor, and the A Button to confirm.
Description: There will always be two enemy types here, so when taking notes, it may be best to identify them some way: I use "G" for Paragoombas and "K" for Para(Koopa)troopas. You need a quick and reliable way to identify how many are in and out. What I tend to do is draw small circles for those going in, then if one goes out, I put a long noticeable slash through it. When asked for the quantities at the end, I count up the number of uncrossed circles. It's not the best way, but it's something.

Utter Nonsense

Players: 2 to 4 human players (AI will not work); this will require you to use the multiplayer mode
Controls: Use the mic to imitate a voice.
Description: You will end up imitating the voice of your character via the mic on the 3DS. (It is that hole to the lower-right of the Touch Screen that almost (relatively) no DS or 3DS game actually uses. >_>) ... I have no freaking idea what the game checks for. I think it's partially the volume and pitch of the voice used, plus the obvious timing, but I can't say for certain when just rubbing my finger across the mic gives me a higher score than when I make an actual effort.

Boss Minigames

Goomba Tower Takedown

Players: 1 player
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and B to pick up and throw red nuts.
Description: There are two phases to this battle, in which your ultimate goal is the same. First, you will want to move around and dodge the Goombas while they form their tower, and you will want to dodge them while they move around after: each hit takes down some health, which is bad for you. You want to find a red nut, then face the tower and throw it at the Goombas. This will knock down the tower; you need to find another red nut and throw it at the collapsed Goombas - since they are in a line, it is best to throw it along the line and knock down all or most of them. (You have plenty of time for an extra throw or two.) That cycle repeats the whole time: the only difference in the second half is that spiky chestnuts (not red) will fall; they can explode and hurt you, so don't touch 'em!

Chain Chomp's Lava Lunge

Players: 1 player
Controls: Use the Circle Pade to move around.
Description: The main goal of this game is to lure the Chain Chomp into jumping on the red metal grates on the platform; doing so will make lava splash up from beneath him, obviously burning him and causing him to lose health. He has two attacks to use against when you try luring him (just stand on a grate): he can jump, or tackle you. If you don't see a response very soon, he'll likely tackle and you should just run; if he jumps, you have to run anyways, so basically run around every few seconds. =P The precise signs, anyways, are barking for the tackle and brief shaking for a jump. There isn't much of a difference in the second half of the battle, except that you should not stand on grates during the jump attack: lava spills up from all of them when he lands, damaging you and him. Only stand on them when luring him in during that part.

Mr. Blizzard's Snow Slalom

Players: 1 player
Controls: Use the stylus to roll the snowball.
Description: It's a pretty simple minigame, actually. You need to roll the ball downhill by sliding the stylus: you move faster (up), or left and right. In any case, you want to avoid the obstacles for they'll cause a loss of health, and grab the coin-like objects to increase the size of your ball. While a bigger ball is harder to maneuver around obstacles, it will do more damage to Mr. Blizzard, who you'll hit at the end. The second phase is little different, except that there's more obstacles to avoid. Moving from side-to-side during either is also really helpful, since Mr. Blizzard throws snowballs that can damage you mildly.

King Bob-omb's Court of Chaos

Players: 1 player
Controls: Use the stylus to move panels around.
Description: This is a randomized puzzle minigame. Look at the Touch Screen and you'll see a bomb; in fifteen seconds, it will explode and damage you. In that time, you have to slide the tiles around and make a bridge to the other side where the cannon is. There isn't much help I can give, beyond that you need to make sure that every row you use that connects from the bomb (they'll be yellow) points upward at their end so it can connect to the next row. That's the main thing I use when narrowing it down, and it works pretty well - I've never encountered a puzzle wherein the proper path goes up a row, then back a row, then up again to the next row.

Dry Bowser's Brain Bonk

Players: 1 player
Controls: Use A, B, X, Y, L, R, and/or the D-Pad for the button sequences. (The D-Pad is counted as one unit: any D-Pad button will suffice for something showing it.)
Description: This is, by far, the easiest of the Boss Minigames. Initially, Dry Bowser will show you a bone and a button sequence. You need to memorize that button sequence to start with - it starts just three buttons long, then goes to four and five near the end. Once indicated, press the buttons in the same order they were shown to defend yourself and also damage Dry Bowser. Overall, it's pretty easy. If you're having trouble, try breaking the sequence into chunks like "the D-Pad", the "A/B/X/Y" buttons, and the "L/R" buttons and memorize those chunks and the buttons within. Like for the sequence "D-Pad, X, A, B, L" - you could memorize it as "D-Pad" ... "X, A, B" ... "L". Seriously: the mind works better if you divide stuff into chunks, since it can only store about seven objects in short-term memory. You can also try some funny-sounding ways of pronouncing the button sequence: like for the button sequence "B, A, R, X, L", you can try pronouncing it like "BARXL" (would sound like "barxle" or "barks-ul"). Just some thoughts.

Bowser's Sky Scuffle

Players: 1 player
Controls: Move the 3DS to aim and A to fire in the first part. Use the D-Pad to move around and A to jump in the first part.
Description:
- First Part: The minigame initially begins with a sequence wherein you try to shoot down Bowser. You have three cannonballs with which to do so: aim and fire is the slogan of the day. For the most part (especially after Bowser loses half of his health), you'll want to aim a bit ahead of him since the cannonball takes time to get there. That's the main trick anyhow; most of the minigame is spent in the second part. Keep in mind that he can and will stand still briefly for times, so you can hit them once or twice then, too.
- Second Part: Most of this part is spent on the floating platform between the four towers. As you float along, Bowser will fire fireballs as you, which you pretty much need to dodge. During this time, some blocks with numbers on them will float by: the number determines how many cannonballs you get to fire for the next part. Usually, a total of three blocks (with 1, 2, and 3 cannonballs within) will float by. After, you alternate back to the first part.
- Additional Notes: After a while, the floating blocks for the second part begin to have their numbers swap periodically. You can use this mechanic to be more likely to get more cannonballs from them and less endangered by trying to grab them while dodging Bowser. Additionally, later Bowser will begin shooting down fireballs from above: these will have their falls precipitated by orange circles, and there is a brief flare-up afterwards that'll still damage you. The cannon-shooting portion is the least changed throughout the whole game, only changed when Bowser goes below half-health and just goes somewhat faster and harder to hit.

Puzzle Minigames

Three House

Three House - Multiplayer

Players: 1 player in the normal mode, and 4 players in the multiplayer mode (human/AI)
Controls: Use Left/Right on the D-Pad to move, and Down to make blocks fall faster. Use A to rotate the block clockwise, and B to go counterclockwise. When you have a POW Block, use R to use it.
Description: In this game, your goal is pretty simple: line up three of the same type of object vertically, diagonally, or horizontally. It must be a straight line as well, as you can imagine. You will have to move the mish-mashed blocks properly to do this right (unless you want to use a POW Block with R). In general, it obviously helps to keep a lot of open space and to keep similar block types together. You'll get POW Blocks as you continue along, so try to save them for dire situations: they destroy all blocks of a certain type. Also try to keep the pile as a whole low, since you lose if it goes too high.
Chaining/Multi-Clearing: An important thing to keep in mind is that you can also connect four or five or more and clear them. Depending on the structure, like if you completed two diagonals, rather than just three being cleared, you could get both diagonals cleared. And, finally, when it comes to chains, keep in mind that these result becase gravity makes the constituent parts of the blocks fall more: when some blocks disappear, a chain is started if the fallen blocks clear another set, and another, and so on.
Multiplayer Note: If you clear enough blocks, you send Brick Blocks to your opponents, which cannot be removed unless an adjacent item is also removed. Unlike the single-player mode, which is a high-score run, the last man standing wins.

Emergency Hexit

Emergency Hexit - Multiplayer

Players: 1 player in the normal mode, and 2 players in the multiplayer mode (human/AI)
Controls: Use the stylus to slide panels diagonally or horizontally.
Description: In this game, you want to move tiles around so that six similar ones are next to each other. You can also move shells to the side to kick them and thereby remove even more tiles, and the impeding Poison Mushrooms need to be removed by removing adjacent tiles. Beyond that, there's not much to say, other than trying to set up chains (the fill-in after solving one group solves another) and clearing more than six at once to try and boost points and earn extra time. In multiplayer, clearing "?" tiles sends Poison 'Shrooms to your opponent.

Star Turn

Players: 1 player only
Controls: Use the D-Pad to move the cursor, A to rotate to the right, B to the left, and R to reset the panels.
Description: It's simple enough: rotate the panels to box in the stars. ... To be honest, I'm not sure how I do as well as I do on this (5,500+ points regularly). For the most part, I suppose I just try to create one continuous line out of the edge panels and hope for the best, though it usually screws up on me eventually. The most important thing, though, is to remember that the boxes will not always (if ever) be perfect squares or rectangles, so don't limit yourself to that!

Extra Minigames

The Choicest Voice

Players: 1 player
Controls: Use the microphone to imitate a character.
Description: Once you hear the voice, try to imitate the character in volume and pitch by saying the stuff into the microphone (lower-right Touch Screen). If you get 90 points or more after three rounds, you win. There are five judges per round, each able to give you 10 points, for a max of 50 points per round and 150 per game. Don't worry, the game's pretty lenient.

Ka-Goomba!

NOTE: For this game, you will need an AR Card. To be specific, the "?" Block one included with the 3DS system. If you have lost yours or the 3DS has problems detecting it despite the environment being favorable, you can probably Google search for a picture of one and print it in color and try it. A favorable environment is well-lit and you should use an angle of around 30 degrees and a distance of 12 inches, as with the AR Games application. ... Holy crap, I think this is the first 3DS game since launch to actually use the AR Games cards included with the system outside of AR Games.

Players: 4 players
Controls: Move the 3DS to aim and use A to fire.
Description: For this minigame, you will need to keep the AR Card in focus at all times: if you do not, the game will continue on without you and your opponents will continue to rack up points. In any case, you will simply move around the AR Card and use the A Button to shoot at the Goombas; each of them is worth 1 point, except the golden 3-point Goombas. After some time, a Whomp will appear; to beat it, you need to hit its back. Doing so nets you points as well, and the game ends when he is dead.

Sinking Feeling

Sinking Feeling - Multiplayer

Players: 1 player in the normal mode, and 4 players in the multiplayer mode
Controls: Use the Circle Pad to move, and you are free to move around the AR Card although it has no in-game effect other than visuals.
Description: Simply run up the tower. It's not necessarily as easy as it sounds, though. For one thing, it is sinking into lava, and that's what you're trying to avoid by climbing. However, blocks continually get in your way as time goes on, so you need to move around the tower (the AR Card) to be able to proceed ably. It's actually quite simple once you get the hang of using the augmented reality for the first time in several years. =P The only difference in multiplayer (other than the competition for highest distance rather than the endurance test) is how people can get in your way.

Collectables

Shop: Character Vocals

As a foreword, "M.P.P." stands for Mario Party Points, the points earned for playing through the game. Points are earned from playing minigames and Party Mode. Party Mode awards 1,000 per playthrough, with a bonus 1,000 for winning the game. The Minigames give you 50 points per minigame.

Character	Cost	How to Unlock
Mario	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Luigi	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Peach	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Daisy	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Wario	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Waluigi	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Yoshi	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Boo	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Toad	1,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked
Bowser Jr.	1,000 M.P.P.	Clear Bowser's Tower
Bowser	9,800 M.P.P.	Play through every board except Shy Guy's Shuffle City and Bowser's Peculiar Peak

Shop: Memories

Memory to Purchase	Cost	How to Unlock
Perilous Palace Path	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Perilous Palace Path once
Star-Crossed Skyway	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Star-Crossed Skyway once
Kamek's Carpet Ride	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Kamek's Carpet Ride once
Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain once
Rocket Road	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Rocket Road once
Shy Guy's Shuffle City	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Shy Guy's Shuffle City once
Bowser's Peculiar Peak	2,000 M.P.P.	Play on Bowser's Peculiar Peak once
Goomba Tower Takedown	1,000 M.P.P.	Play Goomba Tower Takedown in Free Play
Chain Chomp's Lava Lunge	1,000 M.P.P.	Play Chain Chomp's Lava Lunge in Free Play
Mr. Blizzard's Snow Slalom	1,000 M.P.P.	Play Mr. Blizzard's Snow Slalom in Free Play
King Bob-omb's Court of Chaos	1,000 M.P.P.	Play King Bob-omb's Court of Chaos in Free Play
Dry Bowser's Brain Bonk	1,000 M.P.P.	Play Dry Bowser's Brain Bonk in Free Play
Bowser's Sky Scuffle	1,000 M.P.P.	Play Bowser's Sky Scuffle in Free Play
Minigame Maniac	1,500 M.P.P.	Play a General Minigame in Free Play
Puzzle Pro	1,500 M.P.P.	Play a Puzzle Minigame in Free Play
Extra Credit	1,500 M.P.P.	Play an Extra Minigame in Free Play
Hot-Air Hero	1,500 M.P.P.	Play Hot-Air Hijinks once
Bowser's Tower Tourist	1,000 M.P.P.	Play Bowser's Tower once
Staff Credits	5,000 M.P.P.	Already unlocked

Gallery: Memories

Keep in mind that anything bought in the Shop can also be viewed in the Gallery; this covers stuff you have to manually unlock. Those marked with a "?" are rewards I currently cannot unlock myself - not me being lazy, but literally having no one to actively StreetPass for this game and my inability to play Shy Guy's Shuffle City. If you have any details, please let me know through the Legalities section.

Memory	How to Unlock
Just in Time	? (Presumably already, but I'm not sure)
Top Floor!	Finish Bowser's Tower once
Master of Bowser's Tower	Finish Bowser's Tower twice
StreetPass Rookie	Win one StreetPass Minigame
?	Win ten StreetPass Minigames
?	?
?	?
?	Play all game boards in Party Mode (even Shy Guy's Shuffle City and Bowser's Peculiar Peak)
Minigame Master	Play all General Minigames in Free Play

Other Unlockables

While they're not directly associated with the Collectables Shop, this stuff is listed here mostly because it's quite brief and not really able to be devoted to its own section. And stuff.

Unlockable	How to Unlock
Bowser Jr. (Playable Character)	Finish Bowser's Tower one time
Bowser's Peculiar Peak (Board)	Play through every board except Shy Guy's Shuffle City and Bowser's Peculiar Peak

Credits

In no particular order...

GameFAQs, Neoseeker, and Supercheats:
- For being the most amazing FAQ-hosting sites I know.

CJayC, SBAllen, and Devin Morgan:
- General sucking up to the GameFAQs admins. =P

Externica:
- Details on Shy Guy's Shuffle City.

Me (KeyBlade999):
- For making this FAQ. =P

You, the reader:
- For hopefully enjoying this FAQ.

Version History

v0.00:
- Some preformatting.
- Time: 11:25 PM 11/21/2013.

v0.25:
- The Basics of the Game, one [[Party Mode Board]], some Collectables, and about half of the Minigames are down.
- Time: 2:25 AM 11/26/2013.

v0.50:
- Two more [[Party Mode Board]]s are complete, as are all of the non-boss Minigames. Minor editing throughout.
- Time: 4:49 AM 11/27/2013.

v1.00:
- Other than some StreetPass- and multiplayer-based Collectables that I cannot collect myself, the guide seems to be complete.
- Time: 4:48 AM 11/28/2013.

v1.05:
- I got one StreetPass! ... In any case, it helped to fix associated details.
- Time: 3:47 AM 12/12/2013.

v1.10:
- Minor editing throughout; addition of details on Shy Guy's Shuffle City.
- Time: 10:39 PM 1/30/2014.

Legalities

This FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

If you would wish to contact me concerning this or my other FAQs, use this e-mail: keyblade999.faqs@gmail.com, or PM (Private Message) me on the GameFAQs message boards.

Allowed sites for my FAQs	Forever-Banned Sites
GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)	CheatCC (www.cheatcc.com)
Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com)	Cheat Database (www.cheat-database.com)
SuperCheats (www.supercheats.com)	Cheat Index (www.cheatindex.com)
	Cheat Search (www.cheatsearch.com)
	Cheatstop (www.panstudio.com/cheatstop)
	Game Express (www.gameexpress.com)
	Mega Games
	Cheats Guru (www.cheatsguru.com)

This is the end of KeyBlade999's Mario Party: Island Tour FAQ/Strategy Guide.

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                               \/_/      \/_/      \/_/           KeyBlade999

This document is copyright KeyBlade999 and hosted by Neoseeker with permission.

(0.1153/d/www1)

Mario Party Island Tour FAQ/Walkthrough

Table of Contents

Donations

Donation/Contact E-Mail

Introduction

Basics of the Game

Game Modes

Party Mode Gameplay

Party Mode Items

Party Mode Boards

Perilous Palace Path

Board Evaluation:

Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain

Board Evaluation:

Star-Crossed Skyway

Board Evaluation:

Rocket Road

Board Evaluation:

Kamek's Carpet Ride

Board Evaluation:

Shy Guy's Shuffle City

Board Evaluation:

Bowser's Peculiar Peak

Board Evaluation:

Bowser's Tower

Minigames

Quick-Jump

General Minigames

Claiming the Cube

Rope a Slope

Tragic Carpet Ride

Stretch Run

Grid is Good

Color Me Fast

Musical Snares

Buzz a Fuzzy

Cannonball!

Goomba to Maneuver

Kabob and Weave

Tap Dash

Tanks a Lot

Xylophone Home

Mild Gunman

Spin the Bubble

Rat-a-tat Flat

Tile Savvy

Hide 'n' Splat

Slow Glide

Sub Trouble

Garden of Eatin'

Peep a Peepa

Puzzle Pronto

Truckin' and Cluckin'

Color Correction

Get Reel

Top This

Slip 'n' Slip

Pachinko Wizard

No-Traction Action

Blown Hover

Slow G

Spin and Bear It

Fisticlouds

Starring Artist

Pokey Corral

Hare Today

Great Bars of Fire

Deck Hunt

Paddle Skedaddle

Fuel Me Once

Git Along, Goomba

Cheepers Keepers

Drive for Show

Hop Till You Drop

Helter Shellter

Meteor Melee

Bumper Thumper

Horror Harriers

Cheep Diamonds

Slip Not