History Main / GameWithinAGame

* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the arcade in Asakusa has a Manikin kid who dares you to complete all twenty levels of ''Puzzle Boy'' (a GameBoy version of which was the first game ever published by Creator/{{Atlus}}).

* ''VideoGame/{{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.

* The Israeli video game TchacheiHarating has a couple of arcade consoles in the lower floor of the hotel, where you can play, for instance, a karate fighting game.

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

** ''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/ProjectJudge'' 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''.

* ''Series/FinalDeployment4QueenBattleWalkthrough'' features multiple games within games, as each character makes their own video game walkthrough.

* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', the [[PlayerCharacter PC]] finds 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''.

* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', the [[PlayerCharacter PC]] finds cubes in {{Cyberspace}} containing useful programs and games, which you can play in your interface. 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''.

* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', the [[PlayerCharacter PC]] finds some memory sticks with useful programs and games. Just plug one into your interface and play. In ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', the [=GamePig=] Entertainment Device is an MFD Game Player that can be hacked to access all the games: ''Corporate Swine'', ''Golf'', ''[=OverWorld Zero=]'', ''Swine Hunter'', ''Swinekeeper'', ''Street Hog'', and ''Tic-Tac-Triop''.

* ''{{VideoGame/Obsidian}}'' has quite a few, with some examples being:
** The entire "Play a Game" category on the computer terminals in the Bureau Realm.
** The hilariously-ironic "Productivity" vidbot, also from the Bureau Realm, containing a sideways, double-breakdown game.
** The Piazza sequence from the Bismuth Realm, complete with a board-sized version for tutorial.

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 ''System within a System'').

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. Also see FictionalVideoGame.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2'', if you shoot off all the mannequin heads in Nuketown 2025, you can play old Activision games like ''Pitfall 2'' or ''Kaboom''!

[[folder: Action Adventure]]

[[folder: Adventure Game]]

** The FanRemake of ''VideoGame/{{Space Quest II|Vohauls Revenge}}'' has an enhanced remake of ''Troll's Tale'', one of [[VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry Al Lowe's]] earliest games, on Vohaul's ship that Roger can play as an irrelevant side quest.

[[folder: Beat 'em Up]]

[[folder: Edutainment]]

[[folder: First Person Shooter]]

[[folder: Hack and Slash]]

[[folder: [=MMORPG=]]]

[[folder: Platform Game]]

[[folder: Puzzle Game]]

[[folder: Racing Game]]

[[folder: Real Time Strategy]]

[[folder: Role Playing Game]]

[[folder: Simulation Game]]

[[folder: Sports Game]]

[[folder: Survival Horror]]

[[folder: Third Person Shooter]]

[[folder: Wide Open Sandbox]]

[[folder: Unsorted]]

* ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' is a game series about a game company making large quantities of "microgames" (UsefulNotes/{{Shovelware}}). There are some original games, and many ports, knockoffs and sub-par clones of other games by Nintendo during the NES era, especially ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''. The "Fly Swatter" game from the SNES ''VideoGame/MarioPaint'' is also included, and, in ''Mega Microgame$!'', there's even a [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct bootleg]]-themed ''VideoGame/DrMario'' clone labelled ''Dr. Wario''.

* ''Series/FinalDeployment4QueenBattleWalkthrough'' features multiple games within games, as each character makes their own video game walkthrough.

* ''VideoGame/GolfStory'' has ''Galf'' (no, that's not a typo), which is [[{{Retraux}} designed to replicate the look and feel of NES golf games]]. Like the main game itself, it's a golf game, but as an NES-like game it comes with many of the restrictions of NES-era games, such as only being allowed to shoot in 16 directions and the camera being stuck in an overhead view of the entire course until you get to the green. Fulfilling further sidequests will earn you ''Galf Seasons'' and ''Galf Nights'', which are [[MissionPackSequel the same game but with different courses]].

* ''VideoGame/GolfStory'' has ''Galf'', which is [[{{Retraux}} designed to replicate the look and feel of NES golf games]]. Like the main game itself, it's a golf game, but as an NES-like game it comes with many of the restrictions of NES-era games, such as only being allowed to shoot in 16 directions and the camera being stuck in an overhead view of the entire course until you get to the green. Fulfilling further sidequests will earn you ''Galf Seasons'' and ''Galf Nights'', which are [[MissionPackSequel the same game but with different courses]].

[[folder: Sports]]