Wii Party

***Wii Party*** is a party video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in Japan on July 8, 2010, in North America on October 3, 2010, in Australia on October 7, 2010, and in Europe on October 8, 2010. *Wii Party* was revealed by Satoru Iwata in a Financial Results Briefing on May 7, 2010.

The game heavily borrow gameplay elements from the *Mario Party* series, another franchise by Nintendo. It is also the first game in the *Wii* series that Shigeru Miyamoto did not produce. A sequel, *Wii Party U*, was released for Wii U on October 25, 2013.

## Gameplay

*Wii Party* features nine different game modes divided between three categories: Party Games, House Party Games, and Pair Games. Most of the game modes integrate use of *Wii Party'*s 80 minigames. The game also offers additional modes that make exclusive use of the minigames.

### Party Games

Party Games are games in which up to four players compete against each other.

Board Game Island
The game takes place on an island, based on a traditional board game. The order of turn will decide via minigame (e.g. 1st place gets the gold dice), then a player must roll dice and indicates number of steps. The first person to reach the goal and beat the final challenge will be the winner.

Globe Trot
Players turn over numbered cards and move the indicated number of spaces. Players win coins in minigames that can be used to purchase vehicle cards to help them advance, or at airports and seaports to travel long distances. When players reach a hot spot, they can purchase a souvenir photo for 10 coins. After 10 rounds, overtime begins and the first player to reach a hot spot and take a souvenir photo ends the game, winning a bonus photo. The player who has collected the most souvenir photos at that point wins, ties are broken by number of coins.

Swap Meet
Players take turns choosing a Mii from the middle to swap out with a Mii from their area. Players who collect three Miis with outfits of the same color in two different rows win points. Various bonuses are possible depending on how Miis are matched, so the points players will receive also vary. The player who has the most points after a set number of rounds is the winner.

Spin-Off
Players take turns spinning a wheel to earn medals. Depending on where the wheel stops, players can win medals, lose medals, or add medals to the bank. Players can also win medals saved up in the bank by winning minigames. If two or three players tied, the winners split the bank. If all the players tie, nothing happens. After ten rounds, overtime begins, and the game ends after somebody wins a Bank Battle, or ten more rounds. The player with the most medals wins.

Bingo
Players check off Miis on their bingo cards that match Mii balls that drop from a large bingo machine. If a minigame ball drops from the bingo machine, players play a minigame and the winner checks off a Mii of their choice. If there is a tie, a dice rolling contest decides the winner. The first player to complete a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row gets a bingo and is the winner.

### Pair Games

Pair games are designed for two players and are either cooperative or competitive.

Friend Connection
The players answer five questions before playing a cooperative minigame to test if they are a good pair or a bad pair. They get a better score if their answers to the questions are identical, and if they do well in the minigame.

Balance Boat
Players work together to balance Miis on the sails of a ship. If the players successfully balance 20 Miis, they win the game. If the ship tips over, the Miis will all fall into the sea and the players will lose.

Match-Up
Players match up Miis wearing shirts of the same color into pairs to score points. The color of the Mii shirts are hidden until chosen. If players fail to match up a pair, they lose their turn. Players occasionally play duel minigames against each other to win a second turn. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

### House Party

House Party Games are activities that focus on the players' environments, with most of them prohibiting the use of the Wii Remote's wrist strap due to the unique ways the controller is being manipulated. One of the games, *Quick Draw,* is exclusive to the Japanese version.

Animal Tracker
Line up Wii Remotes so all players can reach them. An animal comes up on screen and makes a sound, in which each Wii Remote will make an animal sound but only one of them will mimic the animal sound on the tv screen. Whoever grabs the correct Wii Remote scores a point. First to 3 points wins.

Hide and Hunt
One player hides all Wii Remotes that will be used. Everyone else has a time limit to search for all of them. Every 10 seconds, each Wii Remote will make an animal sound to make locating them easier.

Time Bomb
Only one Wii Remote is used regardless of number of players. Players gently pass it while holding the button shown on the screen. If the Wii Remote is shaken too much or the wrong button is pressed, the bomb will explode.

Word Bomb
Only one Wii Remote is used regardless of number of players. Players pass it like it’s a bomb after saying a word that matches the given category. Whoever is holding the bomb when it explodes loses.

Buddy Quiz
This game is the only one in the house category that requires 3-4 players. After choosing a player to act as the "Buddy", the other players attempt to predict the Buddy's answers to various questions about themselves and get points for predicting correctly.

## Minigames

*Wii Party* has a total of 79 minigames (41 for 4-player minigames, 5 for 1 vs. 3 minigames, 11 for 1 vs. 1 minigames, and 22 pair minigames), including 7 challenge minigames.