History Main / GameWithinAGame

* ''Videogame/HomefrontTheRevolution'' has the demo of the aforementioned Timesplitters 2 rather hidden in the game.

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has {{Retraux}}-style games in the style of ''VideoGame/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''.

* The original ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon|1}}'' featured an 8-bit minigame called "Squid Jump" (wherein you make a squid... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin jump]]) that you could play while waiting between matches or on an arcade machine in the HubWorld. Completing amiibo challenges would unlock three additional minigames: "Squid Racer", a top-down racing game, "Squid Beatz," a simple rhythm game, and "Squid Ball", a bizarre mix of volleyball and bowling.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' featured an 8-bit minigame called "Squid Jump" that you could play while waiting between matches or on an arcade machine in the hub. Completing amiibo challenges would unlock three additional minigames: "Squid Racer", a top-down racing game, "Squid Beatz," a simple rhythm game, and "Squid Ball", a bizarre mix of volleyball and bowling.

** The former's [[FourthWallObserver even aware that he's in a video game]] and acknowledges that the Midway Arcade World is essentially [[UpToEleven a world based on and comprised of several video games is inside a video game.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'' had a ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' or ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' like BeatEmUp called ''Armies of the Night''.

* The UsefulNotes/NintendoWii version of ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheStaffOfKings'' has the Creator/LucasArts adventure ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis'' as an (easy) unlockable. ''Staff of Kings'' was apparently bad enough and ''Fate of Atlantis'' (before it was put on Steam a month or so latter) rare/good enough for someone to make a replacement cover for ''Staff of Kings'' that makes the box look like a Wii version of ''Fate of Atlantis'' [[http://kotaku.com/5318977/if-you-bought-indy-staff-of-kings-this-might-help see here]].
* ''VideoGame/AnUntitledStory'' has a computer and several arcade cabinets with mini-games that you can access by buying them for your house from the store in Sky Town.
* In ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' (original version), by equipping certain ROM combinations with the [=MSX2=], you can play ''[=PR3=]'' and ''Mukimuki SD: Memorial''. The former is a parody of ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' for the {{UsefulNotes/MSX}}, and getting a certain score in it is required to progress at a certain point of Hell Temple. The other begins sort of like ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'', but then drops its DatingSim mask and [[spoiler:turns into a variation of the "Snatcher Headhunter" game mentioned below]].
* The gameplay and goal of ''Billy la Banlieue'' consists in the player character going around the city of Paris looking for arcade machines to play, including Space Invaders and Arkanoid.

* In ''An Aspie Life'', ''Shoot Man'' is found at the arcade, and an [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] style console plays games like ''CR Drive''.
* The Funmachine in ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople'' plays a different game in every episode. It occasionally even factors into the plot.
** "Homestar Ruiner" has ''Snake Boxer 5'', a parody of ''Atari Boxing'' where you fight a procession of increasingly aggressive snakes.
** "Strong Badia the Free" has ''Math Kickers featuring the Algebros'', a parody of edutainment games where you fight ninjas by making both sides equal.
** "Baddest of the Bands" has ''Limozeen's Hot Babelien Odyssey'', a game based on ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' where you pilot the flying space-bus from ''Limozeen: But They're In Space!'' to rescue "babe-liens" from the clutches of Nebulon and Mitch Overlord. Strong Bad tries playing the game at the start of the episode when his Funmachine breaks down.
** "Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective" has ''Space Circus Catastrophe'', a game reminiscent of the Space Mountain minigame in ''VideoGame/AdventuresInTheMagicKingdom'' where you shoot clowns, dodge giant circus food, and rescue the other performers. Strong Bad uses it to simulate a space mission to the Sun.
** "8-Bit is Enough" has ''Gel-Arsie's Pro Fruit Boarder'', a skateboarding game starring the gelatin version of Marshie the Marshmallow ("Say it with me, the Cheat: Licensed games are ''never'' good!"), and part of the episode involves activating the game's "kill screen" so you can recruit Gel-Arshie. Completing the episode unlocks ''Trogdor's [=3D=]-Ungeon'', where you play as Ultimate Trogdor and try to burninate as many peasants as you can while avoiding getting "sworded" by Strong Bad.
* Astro Chicken and Ms. Astro Chicken in the ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' series.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Space Quest III|The Pirates of Pestulon}}'', the Astro Chicken game actually serves a plot point. In ''VideoGame/{{Space Quest IV|Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers}}'', the Ms Astro Chicken game is just there for fun.
** ''VideoGame/{{Space Quest V|The Next Mutation}}'' includes a space-based ''Battleships'' variant. You get to play it about halfway through the game at the Spacebar when Captain Quirk challenges Roger to a game of Battle Cruiser. You can win or lose, it doesn't affect the plot, it's just one of the game's many [[LastLousyPoint last lousy points]].
** In ''VideoGame/{{Space Quest VI|Roger Wilco in The Spinal Frontier}}'' winning a game of Stooge Fighter is required to progress. Most of the game up to that point is spent acquiring enough resources so you can successfully cheat your way to victory; your opponent is unbeatable without doing so.
** The FanRemake of ''VideoGame/{{Space Quest II|Vohauls Revenge}}'' has an enhanced remake of ''Troll's Tale'', one of Creator/AlLowe's earliest games, on Vohaul's ship that Roger can play as an irrelevant side quest.
* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuestIVOpenSeason'' has "Stroids", an ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}'' clone, as an arcade machine at the Short Stop Bar.

* Most Creator/HumongousEntertainment games would have at least one. Occasionally they would even factor into the plot.
* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura: Dear My Friends'' had three unlockable minigames.
* In a couple of the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' games, Nancy has to access a suspect's computer by solving or scoring points in their laptop's casual games. The GameWithinAGame boasts a [[StylisticSuck lower resolution]] than the rest of the ND game, presumably so it's obvious that this trope is in effect.

* The player character in ''VideoGame/TheDig'' had a PDA that functioned mainly as a way to communicate with other characters, but also had ''VideoGame/LunarLander'' installed on there. He'd even grumble about not beating another character's high score.
* ''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/937170/Otakus_Adventure/ Otaku's Adventure]]'', a wacky comical adventure game, has two:
** One is a simple horizontal shmup featuring a flying cat as an app on the player character's phone. Completing it nets an achievement.
** The other is plot-relevant. To get the girl in the arcade to notice you, you have to beat her at a game of ''Pong'', however she's pretty much unbeatable unless you buy the game's strategy guide at the convenience store. Having an entire strategy guide dedicated to ''Pong'' sounds absurd, but the whole game is just silly like that.
* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'': Weird Ed has a computer in his room. Bernard can play the original ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' on it.
* ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' has ''Demontower,'' an isometric dungeon crawler featuring "The Palecat" on a quest to scale the aforementioned Demontower as her health drops from level to level.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' has "Angel Attack!", a shooting gallery game that Bayonetta can play between chapters, aiming at targets to earn points to get things like Lollipops and other PowerUps. By collecting Arcade Bullets during the actual chapter, you earn more shots in the game.

* ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters2'' had three games that could be found (via cartridges hidden in levels in story mode) that could be accessed by pressing the reload button with the Temporal Uplink out.
* ''Videogame/HomefrontTheRevolution'' has the demo of the aforementioned Timesplitters 2 rather hidden in the game.
* The ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eao7qZjmuYA Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3]]'' arcade machine in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'', which uses the same graphics/sprites as the original ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''.
** One enterprising [[GameMod modder]] took it a bit further with [[http://battleteam.net/tech/fis/ Terminal DOOM]], which ports the original game's engine to the ''Doom 3'' terminals.
* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', the [[PlayerCharacter PC]] finds data cubes in {{Cyberspace}} containing useful programs and games, which you can play in your interface, including ''[[VideoGame/{{Pong}} Ping]]'', ''Eel Zapper'', ''Wing 0'', ''[[FifteenPuzzle 15]]'' and ''[=BotBounce=]''. In ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', the [=GamePig=] Entertainment Device is an MFD Game Player that can run games from memory sticks found around the ''Von Braun'', or you can hack it to access all the games at once: ''Corporate Swine'', ''Golf'', ''[=OverWorld Zero=]'', ''Swine Hunter'', ''Swinekeeper'', ''Street Hog'', and ''Tic-Tac-Triop''.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' brought us the sideshows in Dark Carnival. The Peanut Gallery, which was a shooting gallery (and unlocked the box with Gnome Chompski for an Achievement). There was Stache Whacker (a Whack-A-Mole game which, when beaten, would break the machine, spew winner tickets, and alert the horde as it dings happily). And there was the Strength Test which, when hit correctly, would knock the bell clean out and alert the horde. This one was also achievement-worthy.
* The ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' mod VideoGame/TheNamelessMod included several minigames, like ''Tetris'' and ''Breakout'', that you could play on in-game computers.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'': Upon confronting a ''Duke Nukem II'' arcade machine, Duke simply says, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjLXvxFiMc Hmmm, don't have time to play with myself.]]"

* In ''VideoGame/Prey2006'', the bar where the game starts features a playable video poker machine and an arcade game loosely based on Pac-Man. Later on the player can stumble across the video poker machine on the alien space ship with the minor change that you can win every single round because the game will always deal the best possible hand based on whatever cards you've held.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', one of the computers has a text adventure game called "Reign of Grelok" on it that you can play.
** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has several holotape games that you can play on most hacked computer terminals as well as your Pip-Boy and your real-world smartphone with the Pip-Boy app. Included are ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', ''VideoGame/MissileCommand'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'', and ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' expies, and a Grognak the Barbarian text-based RPG. The ''Automatron'' DLC adds a ''VideoGame/Robotron2084'' clone.

* A MythologyGag version shows up in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''. In the opening scene, the protagonist is shown playing the ''VideoGame/{{Tron}}'' arcade game. Explained in-universe as Flynn making a game based on his adventures down the digital rabbit hole (like much of the game,the same explanation got recycled into ''Film/TronLegacy'').
* An interesting case, which may also be an example of MythologyGag: ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'' ran a contest in 2006 to let the community design the monitors scattered around the facility. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20091231133911/http://blackmesasource.com/media/community_projects/cp2_finalist4th.jpg One of the winners]] is the title screen of the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife''. ([[http://web.archive.org/web/20061212042049/http://blackmesasource.com/media/community_projects/cp2_finalist5th.jpg Another one]] is ''Videogame/CounterStrike''.)
* ''VideoGame/Doom3'' includes an arcade game title ''Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3'' where you [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin punch lots of turkeys]]. Getting a high score earns you an achievement.

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'':
** Using the Dynamo on the pyramid in Clank's apartment in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'' will let you play a Space Invaders-style game.
** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'' had the Captain Qwark Vid-comics, which are a side-scroller similar to ''Franchise/MegaMan''.
** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime'' features ''My Blaster Runs Hot'', an arcade game you can play which is ''VideoGame/{{Robotron 2084}}'' with Captain Qwark and Rusty Pete as the characters.
* ''VideoGame/PitfallTheLostExpedition'' had both the original ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' (also included in ''VideoGame/Pitfall3DBeyondTheJungle'') and ''Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns'' as bonuses.

* ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' has a Sega Genesis in the hub for GreenHillZone that lets you play the original ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'', but you'll need to buy the controller for the Genesis from the Skill Shop first. You can also buy unlimited continues for it.

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts'', 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 have to play through both of these NintendoHard games to get into the room that unlocks the final boss fight.
* In ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon: Legend of the Mystical Ninja'', the Creator/{{Konami}} theme park level has an attraction that lets you play the first level of ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}''.

* The ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic''-esque free platformer ''VideoGame/KhimeraDestroyAllMonsterGirls'' features "Cakeboy", a simple platformer with NES-inspired graphics that can be played on the console at the protagonist's home. It actually gives you a Steam achievement and an item that is needed for HundredPercentCompletion if you beat enough levels.

* ''VideoGame/PacMan2TheNewAdventures'' features an arcade in both the countryside and the city. The arcade contains both the original ''Pac-Man'' and ''Ms. Pac-Man''. The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis version of the game replaces ''Ms. Pac-Man'' with a new game called ''[[SpinOffspring Pac-Jr.]]'' (not to be confused with the Bally-Midway produced ''Jr. Pac-Man''), since ''Ms. Pac-Man'' had already been released on the Genesis as a standalone game. Both ''Ms. Pac-Man'' and ''Pac-Jr.'' require three cartridge pieces in order to play.
* Try summoning an "ARCADE MACHINE" in ''VideoGame/SuperScribblenauts''.

* ''VideoGame/OpusMagnum'' continues ''Shenzhen I/O's'' tradition of including a game and includes one called Sigmar's Garden, which in-universe is loosely based on the game's alchemy, with the goal of clearing the board of coloured balls. Your character isn't too keen on the liberties taken with the game's depiction of alchemy, given he does the real thing in the actual levels.
* ''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 region locking on the console. You get it working anyway by bypassing the region locking in one of the game's puzzles. Custom games can be shared with other players by exporting them as an image of a cartridge.

* ''VideoGame/MoonRemixRPGAdventure'' is a 1997 game about a boy who plays a new RPG called ''Moon'' and gets dragged into its virtual world. This also makes it an early example of an {{Isekai}}.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOf''
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' had the classic first generation side-scroller ''Dragon Buster'' as an unlockable bonus.
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', the player can engage in an arcade game on Nam Cobanda Isle called "Tales of Draspi."

* ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'' spy missions are all minigames anyway, but in one mission, an arcade game was yet another minigame, making it a game within a game within a game.
* NASU (the most depressing game in the universe) for the NES in ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''.
** The spin-off game ''-DREAM DIARY-'' introduces three more, Super NASU, Witch Adventure, and [[spoiler:''VideoGame/AoOni'']].
* Tin Pin Slammer in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. Another Day is all about that.
** ''VideoGame/NEOTheWorldEndsWithYou'' has Tin Pin Slammer go out of style, but gets replacements in mobile games ''Elegant Strategy'' and ''[[Franchise/FinalFantasy Fantasy]][[VideoGame/PokemonGo GO]]''. The former is played by Nagi to an almost unhealthy degree, while the latter is played extensively by Rindo [[spoiler:and Shoka]].
* ''VideoGame/TokyoXanadu'' contains several playable side-games at the arcade, featuring characters from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}'' has this in the form of game cartridges that can be played on a machine back in Boots' office.

* "Captain Square" in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' is an interesting twist - it's ostensibly an arcade game, but it plays exactly the same as normal battles do. There are, however, no normal battles in the same chapter that take place outside it. [[spoiler:The Odio counterpart for that chapter is even fought using the game as a medium, since destroying its physical form would doom the entire ship.]]
* ''VideoGame/SDSnatcher'' features "Snatcher Headhunter", a Whack-A-Mole arcade game, which needs to be played for {{Plot Coupon}}s.
* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the arcade in Asakusa has a Manikin kid who dares you to complete all twenty levels of ''Puzzle Boy'' (a UsefulNotes/GameBoy version of which was the first game ever published by Creator/{{Atlus}}).
* The ''Franchise/DotHack'' series revolves around ''The World'', a fictional MMORPG that serves as the series's main setting.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' references the game ''Ultima V'' as a poster in ''Ultima VI'', and posters in ''Ultima Underworld II'' reference previous Ultima games. ''Ultima VII's'' intro shows The Avatar playing a "normal" ''Ultima VII'' game that becomes possessed by The Guardian. In ''Ultima VII,'' ''Ultima VIII'' appears as a pirated game on an anachronistic computer. In ''Ultima IX'', a preview of ''Ultima Online 2'' is found on The Avatar's home PC.
* [[GadgeteerGenius Tora]] in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' developed an 8-bit game in his house called [[ExcitedShowTitle 'Tiger! Tiger!']], which you'll need to play a lot of if you want to [[PointBuildSystem finetune]] [[RobotGirl Poppi's]] capabilities. In it, you play as a Nopon salvager, evading or subduing obstacles to gather treasure chests and ether crystals before returning to the surface (and everything you gather in a winning run, you get to keep for use with the Poppiswap system). Apparently, some other people in Gormott (and even on other Titans!) have also played it themselves, and will tell you what their own high score is if you talk to them.
* ''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1093300/NOYO/ NOYO-!]]'', a JRPG heavily inspired by ''[=EarthBound=]'', has a Famicom-esque console in the main character's room that lets you play a ''Space Invaders'' clone.

* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' has two arcade games at the Stardrop Saloon. ''Journey of the Prairie King'' is a shoot-'em-up where you play a cowboy fighting off hordes of monsters (it also has a home version that you play with Abigail during one of her friendship events), and ''Junimo Kart'' is an EndlessRunningGame unlocked with the Skull Key found at the lowest level of the caves.

* If you work your number of strokes up past 100 in ''Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf'' on Genesis, you unlock a short playable segment of ''VideoGame/FantasyZone''.

* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2'' has a shooting gallery with two modes: A standard police shooting range and a ''Candy Crush'' variant.

* ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' has at least one instance of this in one of the later levels, involving an arcade machine where you play a top-down racer against the AI. Tokens are even necessary to play it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' featured an 8-bit minigame called "Squid Jump" that you could play while waiting between matches or on an arcade machine in the hub. Completing amiibo challenges would unlock three additional minigames: "Squid Racer", a top-down racing game, "Squid Beatz," a simple rhythm game, and "Squid Ball", a bizarre mix of volleyball and bowling.
** ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' only features one minigame in the form of "Squid Beatz 2", a ''VideoGame/TaikoNoTatsujin''-style rhythm game that doubles as a sound test. Songs from the first game can also be unlocked via amiibo.
* In ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'', Nathan attempts to beat Elena's high score on ''Videogame/{{Crash Bandicoot|1996}}'', specifically, the [[IndyEscape Boulders]] level. You later replay the game during the epilogue as [[spoiler:Nate and Elena's teenage daughter.]]

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline'' has arcades which the player can buy playable arcade games for.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' had several with names like "Nut Shots", "Monkey Fling", "Consumo" and "Future Street Race". The last one also has a more modern 3D version available to play in-game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' had ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' and ''Hang-On'' in it. ''Shenmue II'' had those two with ''VideoGame/AfterBurner II'' and ''VideoGame/OutRun''.
* You can go into the main character's crib in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' and play a console video game called Zombie Invasion.

* 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 for ''VideoGame/PowerProKunPocket2'' and ''VideoGame/PowerProKunPocket3'', a JRPG, a roguelike or even a trading card game.

[[folder:Action Adventure]]

* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest: Open Season'' has "Stroids", an ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}'' clone, as an arcade machine at the Short Stop Bar.

* ''{{VideoGame/Obsidian}}'' has three:

* ''[[VideoGame/DynamiteCop Dynamite Deka]]'' included the old Creator/{{Sega}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Deep Scan'', points from which could win more credits to play the main game. ''Dynamite Deka 2'' did the same thing with ''Tranquilizer Gun'', another old Sega arcade game. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 remake of the original game substituted a simulation of the electromechanical game ''Periscope'', the first coin-operated game Sega ever made.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', one of the computers has a text adventure game called "Reign of Grelok" on it that you can play.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' has several holotape games that you can play on most hacked computer terminals as well as your Pip-Boy and your real-world smartphone with the Pip-Boy app. Included are ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', ''VideoGame/MissileCommand'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'', and ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' expies, and a Grognak the Barbarian text-based RPG. The ''Automatron'' DLC adds a ''VideoGame/Robotron2084'' clone.
* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', if you shoot off all the mannequin heads in Nuketown 2025, you can play old Activision games like ''Pitfall 2'' or ''Kaboom''!

* A MythologyGag version shows up in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''. In the opening scene, the protagonist is shown playing the ''{{VideoGame/Tron}}'' arcade game. Explained in-universe as Flynn making a game based on his adventures down the digital rabbit hole (like much of the game,the same explanation got recycled into ''Film/TronLegacy'').

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'' features ''Deathman'', a faux-8-bit beat-em-up. Two segments of the game are played through in the main story, once in the prologue and again after the #2 rank battle. The full game itself can be unlocked.

* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'' had the Captain Qwark Vid-comics, which are a side-scroller similar to ''Franchise/MegaMan''.

* 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.

* In ''[[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Legend of the Mystical Ninja]]'', the Creator/{{Konami}} theme park level has an attraction that lets you play the first level of ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}''.

* The ''Mega Man''-esque free platformer ''VideoGame/KhimeraDestroyAllMonsterGirls'' features "Cakeboy", a simple platformer with NES-inspired graphics that can be played on the console at the protagonist's home. It actually gives you a Steam achievement and an item that is needed for HundredPercentCompletion if you beat enough levels.

* ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' has ''Demontower,'' an isometric dungeon crawler featuring "The Palecat" on a quest to scale the aforementioned Demontower as her health drops from level to level.

* Try summoning an "ARCADE MACHINE" in ''Super VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}''.

* ''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. Custom games can be shared with other players by exporting them as an image of a cartridge.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraftII: Wings of Liberty''[='s=] Campaign Mode features an arcade machine with ''The Lost Vikings'' on it. Not ''[[VideoGame/TheLostVikings that]]'' Lost Vikings though, it is a Space Shooter entirely made within the capabilities of the map editor.

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

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' had the classic first generation side-scroller ''Dragon Buster'' as an unlockable bonus.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', the player can engage in an arcade game on Nam Cobanda Isle called "Tales of Draspi."

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', you can buy a Game Boy off a guy in Mushroom Kingdom and start playing ''Beetle Mania''.
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', you can play ''Star Stache Smash'' at the arcade in Little Fungitown. The first time you play that game, it's actually a plot point.

* ''Ultima'' references the game ''Ultima V'' as a poster in ''Ultima VI'', and posters in ''Ultima Underworld II'' reference previous Ultima games. ''Ultima VII's'' intro shows The Avatar playing a "normal" ''Ultima VII'' game that becomes possessed by The Guardian. In ''Ultima VII,'' ''Ultima VIII'' appears as a pirated game on an anachronistic computer. In ''Ultima IX'', a preview of ''Ultima Online 2'' is found on The Avatar's home PC.

* ''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 Game Boy Advance.
** ''Soccer'', ''Donkey Kong Jr.'', ''Donkey Kong 3'', ''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.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Siren}} Siren 2]]'', there is ''Kunitoris'' ([[CountryMatters Country Tetris]]), a Famicom-style puzzle strategy game for the [=SN-AG1999 AGE MANIAC=] game system.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Siren}} Siren: Blood Curse]]'', there are the ''UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch''-style games ''Jackalopeman'', ''Skyfish'', and ''Tsuchinoko'' on the [=JOYLiNK=] Ultra Network King portable LCD game system.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' only features one minigame in the form of "Squid Beatz 2", a ''VideoGame/TaikoNoTatsujin''-style rhythm game that doubles as a sound test. Songs from the first game can also be unlocked via amiibo.
* In ''Videogame/{{Uncharted}} 4: A Thief's End'', Nathan attempts to beat Elena's high score on ''Videogame/{{Crash Bandicoot|1996}}'', specifically, the [[IndyEscape Boulders]] level. You later replay the game during the epilogue as [[spoiler:Nate and Elena's teenage daughter.]]

* 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 (''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'') has "Bizzare Jelly 5", a spin-off of the anime, that you can play from the start of the game.
* The ''Videogame/{{Yakuza}}'' series being a SpiritualSuccessor of sorts to ''Shenmue'', this trope had to kick in eventually. Aside from fully playable games of shogi, mahjong and assorted Japanese games of chance, there's...:

** ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'' has ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters'' as part of Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog's [[MilestoneCelebration 30th anniversary]].

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

Like a ShowWithinAShow, this is a videogame machine or console that exists (in-universe) inside a VideoGame and which the player may play to start 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 video game that exists within the character's world, usually with no relevance to the surrounding plot (though this is not a requirement).

* "Captain Square" in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' is an interesting twist - it's ostensibly an arcade game, but it plays exactly the same as normal battles do. There are, however, no normal battles in the same chapter that take place outside it.

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* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' had "Gems" -- a ''{{Bejeweled}}'' knockoff to pass the time while meditating/healing/looking for group.

** ''Cataclysm'' introduced the [[PlantsVsZombies Peacebloom Vs Ghouls]] quest chain. Once completed it unlocks a daily quest to play the game again for gold.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thimbleweed.png]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Shenmue}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shenmue_arcade_outrun_9769.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[AnEconomyIsYou You even have to pay the coin.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'' contains the original ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' in the game. It can be accessed from Weird Ed's computer.

* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'' (full title = ''Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle'') contains the original ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' in the game. It can be accessed from Weird Ed's computer.

** ''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''.