History Main / GameWithinAGame

May overlap with UnexpectedGameplayChange and BonusStage. Compare SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer, depending on which one the player finds more engrossing. Or BettingMinigame where the game in question is used to farm in-game money. Or EmbeddedPrecursor, when the game within the game is an earlier game in the series. See also FictionalVideoGame and SidewaysCompatibility (AKA ''Console Within a Console'').

** The Piazza sequence from the Bismuth Realm, complete with a board-sized version for tutorial. [[spoiler: You have to replay this game elsewhere to access the final dream world.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' has ''Rapunzel'', an arcade game in the Stray Sheep with eerily similar mechanics to the nightmares but the time limit replaced with a movement limit. [[spoiler: In fact, its similarity to the nightmares is why it was put there.]]

* ''VideoGame/ShenzhenIO'' gives you the tools to ''make'' one. Your colleagues encourage you to try your hand at it in prototyping mode (basically the equivalent of sandbox mode in other games). Given the limitations of the hardware you have to work with, it's easier said than done, though the game does provide a feature for making your own custom LCD for it. It also includes an in-universe solitaire game written by one of your collegues' kids to play when you need a break from programming.

* ''Videogame/AnimalCrossing'' on the Gamecube contains an astonishing 19 fully-playable NES games. Each ROM is represented in game by dedicated NES consoles, and they are acquired through various methods:
** Balloon Fight, Clu Clue Land, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Excitebike, Golf, Pinball, and Tennis can be obtained via Nook's Lottery, Redd, or buried by the town's denizens.
** Wario's Woods and Baseball may be obtained as items on the island, accessed by linking with a Gameboy Advance.
** Soccer, Donkey Kong Jr, Donkey Kong 4, Clu Clu Land D, and Punch Out!! were only officially obtainable via promotional Nintendo giveaways, but may be acquired through their access codes or cheat devices.
** Mario Bros. and Ice Climber are officially obtainable via e-Reader cards, but may also be acquired through cheating devices.
** Super Mario Bros. was only unlockable in the Japanese version through a Famitsu giveaway. The Legend of Zelda is in the game's code, but was never officially released; both of these titles can be obtained through cheating devices.
* An update to ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'' added two minigames: Puzzle League, an Animal Crossing-themed version of ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'', and Desert Island Escape, a direct port of one of the minigames from ''amiibo Festival''. Completing certain objectives in these minigames will net you some exclusive furniture, and you can even get a [[VideoGame/PanelDePon Lip]] costume from the former, wand included.

* ''Videogame/AnimalCrossing'' on the Gamecube is the first and likely the greatest example on this page. The title contains an astonishing 19 fully-playable NES games. Each ROM is represented in game by dedicated NES consoles, and they are acquired through various methods:

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' had a number of classic NES games ranging from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong Jr Math''.
** An update to ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'' added two minigames: Puzzle League, an Animal Crossing-themed version of ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'', and Desert Island Escape, a direct port of one of the minigames from ''amiibo Festival''. Completing certain objectives in these minigames will net you some exclusive furniture, and you can even get a [[VideoGame/PanelDePon Lip]] costume from the former, wand included.

* ''Grand Theft Auto IV/V'' has the puzzle game [=QUB3D=].

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' contains the Command Board, which takes all of the gameplay and rules of Square Enix's ''VideoGame/ItadakiStreet'' boardgame videogame series and mixes them with this game's characters and settings.

* ''VideoGame/{{EXAPUNKS}}'' builds on the developer's experience with the aforementioned ''Shenzhen I/O'' and letting you make your own games and puts in an entire fictional game console to program, and unlike the former game, it is far more generous with the programming limitations. There are also a couple of in-universe games to play on other systems as well: a Russian solitaire game for your desktop and a Japanese arcade/puzzle game called ''Hack*match'' for another fictional console. The former is downloaded in one of the missions, while the latter is a gift from your neighbour, which she couldn't get to work due to the RegionLocking on the console. You get it working anyway by bypassing the RegionLocking in one of the game's puzzles.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has {{Retraux}}-style games in the style of ''UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch'' video games that Sora plays on his phone. The world based on ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' also has the cast visit a video game store filled with fictional games, including one that Sora [[TrappedInTVLand physically enters]], a first-person shooter about robots called ''Verum Rex: Beat of Lead''.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' contains the Command Board, which takes all of the gameplay and rules of Square Enix's ''VideoGame/ItadakiStreet'' boardgame videogame series and mixes them with this game's characters and settings.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has the arcade games found in the [[MinigameZone Gold Saucer]], some of which curiously parallel events that actually happen to your team. For example, there's a motorbike racing game, which uses the exact same graphics as an actual motorbike chase that your team goes through earlier in the game.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has ''Justice Monsters Five'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingsKnight King's Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon]]'', which turned into this trope when Square Enix released the game for [=iOS=] and Android devices in several regions.

* ''Shenzhen IO'' gives you the tools to ''make'' one. Your colleagues encourage you to try your hand at it in prototyping mode (basically the equivalent of sandbox mode in other games). Given the limitations of the hardware you have to work with, it's easier said than done, though the game does provide a feature for making your own custom LCD for it.

** ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza 1 Yakuza Kiwami]]'' has ''Battle Bug Beauties: Mesuking,'' a rock-paper-scissors game starring bikini clad women embodying various insects.

* The ''Videogame/{{Yakuza}}'' series being a SpiritualSuccessor of sorts to ''Shenmue'', this trope had to kick in eventually:
** ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' has an ArcadePerfectPort of ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' 2 that even supports online play (though you need to download a separate software to go online), in addition to a port of ''VideoGame/TaikoNoTatsujin'' (albeit with only three songs).
** ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has, much like ''Shenmue'', certain Sega arcade classics available to play, namely ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'', ''VideoGame/OutRun'', ''VideoGame/FantasyZone'' and ''[[VideoGame/HangOn Super Hang-On]]''.

** ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza2 Yakuza Kiwami 2]]'' features an ArcadePerfectPort of ''VideoGame/VirtualOn''.

* From ''[[VideoGame/LivePowerfulProBaseball Live Powerful Pro Baseball 3]]'' on, Konami began inserting robust VisualNovel scenarios in their Baseball simulators. The ''Pocket'' spinoffs for Nintendo's portables then went further than that, as in many of them you could unlock a whole new story that [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent had nothing to do with the main one]] and was either a ''VideoGame/{{Minesweeper}}'' game, a JRPG, a roguelike or even a trading card game.

** ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' retains ''Space Harrier'', ''Fantasy Zone'', ''Puyo Puyo'', and ''Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown'' while also adding ''VideoGame/FightingVipers'' and the previously Japan-exclusive ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Raid Motor Raid]]''. In addition, there is a retro-style pinball machine and an original rail-shooter minigame called "Kamuro of the Dead'', an homage to ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' set in ''VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls''.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' only features one minigame in the form of "Ika Radio 2", a ''VideoGame/TaikoDrumMaster''-style rhythm game that doubles as a sound test. Songs from the first game can also be unlocked via amiibo.

** ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' has an ArcadePerfectPort of ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' 2 that even supports online play (though you need to download a separate software to go online), in addition to a port of ''VideoGame/TaikoDrumMaster'' (albeit with only three songs).

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' had a number of classic NES games ranging from ''SuperMarioBros'' to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong Jr Math''.

* ''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/937170/Otakus_Adventure/ Otaku's Adventure]]'', a wacky comical adventure game, has a simple horizontal shmup featuring a flying cat as an app on the player character's phone. Completing it nets an achievement.

* The 'Raising Hell' expansion pack of ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' has a section where you has to play miniature golf, and then Break-Out, with a fat halfling as the ball in both cases. The first is annoying, but the second is hilarious.

* The 'Raising Hell' expansion pack of ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' had a section where you had to play miniature golf, and then Break-Out, with a fat halfling as the ball in both cases. The first was annoying, but the second was hilarious.

* In the Xbox 360 game ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts]]'', you can go to Klungo's Arcade and play his masterpiece, "Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh World", an eight-bit {{Self Insert|Fic}} platformer where the ''entire'' control system is a single button. And it [[StylisticSuck regularly crashes]], prompting Klungo to appear and reboot it for you.
** A later DLC pack unlocked the sequel: "Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh Universsse", which added a gun to Klungo's arsenal.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' has two minigames to obtain the Rareware and the Nintendo Coins. Cranky offers you ''VideoGame/{{Jetpac}}'' as a example of the good past times in videogames. The other game is the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' game, in a Arcade placed in one of the levels. These are not optional, however; you had to play through both of these NintendoHard games to get into the room that unlocks the final boss fight.

** ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' only features one minigame in the form of "Ika Radio 2", a ''VideoGame/TaikoDrumMaster''-style rhythm game that doubles as a sound test. Songs from the first game can also be unlocked via amiibo.

* Occurs in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''; whilst travelling via train during one of his missions, Travis pulls out a hand-held console and starts playing Pure White Tiny Giant Glastonbury (which itself is a spin-off of a fictional anime Travis is obsessed with). Once the game is complete, the mission continues and the game is unlocked at his home for future playing.
** The sequel gives us "Bizzare Jelly 5", also a spin-off of the anime, that you can play from the start of the game.

** ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon2}}'' only features one minigame in the form of "Ika Radio 2", a ''VideoGame/TaikoDrumMaster''-style rhythm game that doubles as a sound test. Songs from the first game can also be unlocked via amiibo.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has {{Retraux}}-style games in the style of ''UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch'' video games that Sora plays on his phone. The world based on ''Film/ToyStory'' also has the cast visit a video game store filled with fictional games, including one that Sora [[TrappedInTVLand physically enters]], a first-person shooter about robots called ''Verum Rex: Beat of Lead''.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has {{Retraux}}-style games in the style of ''UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch'' video games that Sora plays on an in-universe handheld.

* ''VideoGame/EvilWithin2'' has a shooting gallery with two modes: A standard police shooting range and a ''Candy Crush'' variant.

** ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' retains ''Space Harrier'', ''Fantasy Zone'', ''Puyo Puyo'', and ''Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown'' while also adding ''VideoGame/FightingVipers'' and the previously Japan-exclusive ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Raid Motor Raid]]''. In addition, there is an original rail-shooter minigame called "Kamuro of the Dead'', an homage to ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' set in ''VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls''.

** ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' has a rail-shooter minigame that appears to be a mix of gameplay from ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' and a Japanese post-apocalylptic setting ala ''VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls''.

* ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' has a Sega Genesis in the hub for GreenHillZone that lets you play the original ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', but you'll need to buy the controller for the Genesis from the Skill Shop first. You can also buy unlimited continues for it.

Like a ShowWithinAShow, this is a videogame machine or console that exists (in-universe) inside a VideoGame and which the player may use as a MiniGame.

The distinction between this and a minigaming in general is that most minigames depict otherwise "real world" tasks (like chopping wood, {{fishing|Minigame}}, or [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII racing giant birds]]) tailored to the particular setting. Here, the minigame is a self-contained game, usually with no relevance to the surrounding plot (though this is not a requirement).