After everyone takes a turn, the real fun begins with players competing in one of more than 50 available mini-games. Instead of game pieces, players choose from one of six famous Nintendo characters like Mario, Luigi, and Donkey Kong. If less than four players are present, the computer will play for the remaining characters. Each character has its own unique board like Donkey Kong's jungle board and Mario's castle board. You can choose which board to play on or you can let the computer randomly select it.
Players collect coins throughout the game that can then used to obtain stars.
Coins are awarded for landing on certain spaces or by winning any of the mini-games. While that sounds pretty simple, there are many other ways to collect, or lose, coins and stars. One way is to steal coins and stars from another player with the help of a ghost. Unfortunately, the ghost can turn on you and also take what you have collected. When a mini-game is launched, players receive instructions on how to play the game and can even practice the moves before the competition begins.