Video Game / Mario Party 10

Mario Party 10 is a video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii U in 2015. It's the tenth home console installment in the Mario Party series, and the only one made for the Wii U. To date, it is the final numbered Mario Party game, as the following console installment, Super Mario Party, would serve as a series reboot that dropped the numbering system.

This game continues with the same board game formula introduced in Mario Party 9, with the main Mario Party mode featuring many of the same mechanics, where players move together in a vehicle while competing to collect more Mini-Stars than their rivals before they reach the end of the board, playing mini-games and fighting in boss battles along the way. There are some new additions, such as the use of the Wii U Gamepad, which has Bowser trapped inside with six locks, each lock correlating to one of the six faces of the Dice Block. The locks open when the number on them is rolled, and the unlucky player who opens the last lock will release Bowser, who will subsequently steal Mini-Stars from them and scatter Bowser Spaces around the board.

The game’s main attraction is the all-new Bowser Party mode. In this mode, one player uses the Wii U Gamepad to play as Bowser, marking the first time he is playable in a Mario Party board game. Four other players must work together as Team Mario to take their vehicle to the end of the board while escaping from Bowser, who chases them from behind. Any special Dice Blocks that Team Mario collects are shared between all four players, and they must make strategic use of them to increase their chances of landing on the most advantageous spaces. After all four members of Team Mario have taken their turn, Bowser gets a turn to roll multiple dice for a chance to catch up with Team Mario. If he rolls high enough to make it to Team Mario's space, all players must play a special Bowser minigame where Bowser can attack Team Mario for a chance to take away their Hearts representing their hit points, while Team Mario must do their best to survive. Hearts carry over after each minigame, and if a player runs out, they are removed from the vehicle, though their allies can collect more throughout the boards, which can bring back fallen teammates. If Bowser can successfully drain all four player's hearts to zero, he wins, but if Team Mario can reach the end of the board and claim the Super Star from the minion that Bowser gives it to, they win.

Additionally, the game contains a side mode called amiibo Party, requiring compatible amiibo figures to play. This mode plays like an abridged version of the original Mario Party formula, with up to four players moving amiibo figures around a square board to collect coins and use them to buy stars. The board can be customized with themes based on each of the characters that players use amiibo figures of, and each character's board allows for access to different board events. Players can collect special token items during the game, that can then be saved to the amiibo figures for use in later rounds. The first wave of the Super Mario line of amiibo figures was released alongside this game, including figures of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Bowser, and Toad, as well as a Gold version of Mario, and a Silver version released later. Figures of Wario, Donkey Kong, and Rosalina are also compatible.

---

This game provides examples of:

• Achievement System: This game includes a Mario Party Challenge List with challenges that players can complete throughout the game. Clearing these challenges will earn the player Mario Party Points to use in the Shop in Toad's Room.
• Advancing Wall of Doom: Bowser in the Bowser Party mode. The player controlling him pursues the car the four other players are riding in, and if Bowser catches up to them, he forces them to play a Bowser mini-game that can damage and knock them out of the game.
• Advancing Boss of Doom: The Bowser player acts as one toward Team Mario in Bowser Party mode. Team Mario's goal is to reach the end of the board while doing their best to avoid getting caught by Bowser, but if Bowser manages to catch up with them, everyone must play a mini-game where Bowser has a chance to attack them.
• Alliterative Name: The minigames Balance Ball Brawl, Bob-omb Bogey, Bouncy Brawl, Goomba Gotcha, Cliffside Crisis, Rapid River Race, Blooper Blastoff, Goomba Gallop, Magma Meltdown, Meanie Match, Platform Push, Balloon Blast Bash, Fuzzy Fliers, Flash Forward, Bobsled Battle, Boo Burglars, Murky Maze, Bouncy Bounty, Revolving Relay, Bullet Bill Bullies, Watermelon Whalin', Skewer Scurry, Movin' Mushrooms, Cheep Cheep Check, (Mega Goomba's) Ladder Leap, (Petey's) Bomb Battle, (Mega Sledge Bro's) Card Chaos, (King Boo's) Tricky Tiles, (Mega Cheep Chomp's) Shell Shock, (Mega) Blooper's Bubble Battle, Mega Monty Mole's Maze Mischief, (Kamek's) Rocket Rampage, (Bowser's) Tank Terror, Bowser's Bad Breath, (Bowser's) Wicked Wheel, Bowser's Bogus Bingo, (Bowser's) Clawful Climb, (Bowser's) Sinister Slots, (Bowser's) Roulette Rage, Badminton Bash, (Bowser Jr.'s) Clobber Cage, and Bowser Jr.'s Bonk Battle. In British English, this applies to Fruit Fetch, Cloud Cover, Stampede Stats, and Football Fever. There's also the boards Whimsical Waters and Chaos Castle. In the amiibo Party Mode, there's Bowser Board.
• Amusement Park: The first board is Mushroom Park, a carnival with various rides that Team Mario can access through board events, such as a swinging ship modeled after Bowser's airship, Blooper-themed spinning cups that give players a chance to grab items, a spinning Bullet Bill ride, and a Wiggler roller coaster. Other rides appear in the background, including a Ferris wheel with cars shaped like Warp Boxes, a pair of Boo-shaped structures, and a carousel featuring the background from World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros., with 8-bit Goomba and Koopa sprites instead of horses.
• Artificial Stupidity: In Bowser Party mode, if Team Mario has both human and computer players on it, the human players cannot choose what Dice Blocks their AI teammates choose on their turn. This can cause problems if the computer wastes special Dice Blocks at times where there is no advantage to using them.
• Asymmetric Multiplayer:
  • Bowser Party is a 1 vs. 4 mode where one player uses the Wii U Gamepad to control Bowser as he chases down the other four, who use Wii Remotes to play as Team Mario. Bowser gets four Dice Blocks to roll each turn (though this number can change depending on what spaces Team Mario lands on) and he forces Team Mario to play mini-games where he gets to attack them whenever he catches up.
  • If a Bowser amiibo is used in amiibo Party, the game can be played with Bowser moving around the board just like everyone else, but every minigame will be a 1 vs. 3 Bowser minigame. Bowser also benefits from landing on Bowser Spaces instead of being damaged by them, and gets free coins if he lands on a Bowser Jr. tower Event Space, instead of needing to play a minigame like everyone else does.
  • While the 2 vs 2 minigame Boo Burglars gives both teams the same abilities and objectives, both players on a team have different roles to play. One player uses a flashlight to shine light on Boos to weaken them and see if they have diamonds inside them, while their teammate uses a net to collect the diamonds to score points.
  • The 2 vs 2 minigame Bouncy Bounty gives both players on a team different goals. One player can only move left and right while carrying a Note Block for their partner to jump on, and that player must bounce on the Note Block to grab coins floating in the air.
  • In Bump, Set, Spike, two teams of two players each compete to spike more volleyballs over a net. One player on each time is the setter, who bumps the balls thrown their way, and their teammate is the spiker, who then spikes the ball over the net to score points.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Bowser towers over Team Mario in Bowser Party mode, being even larger than the nearby buildings like the mid-boss fortresses. He destroys much of the scenery as he charges through the boards in pursuit of Team Mario.
• Auto-Scrolling Level: Several minigames challenge the players to move around and avoid obstacles while keeping up with the screen as it constantly moves forward. Minigames of this type include Snake Block Party, Peepa Panic, Spiked Ball Scramble, and Fuzzy Fliers.
• Ballistic Bone: In the latter half of Bowser's Tank Terror, Dry Bowser can attack by throwing giant bones at Team Mario.
• Bat Scare: In Haunted Trail, landing on certain Unlucky spaces will result in the current Captain getting attacked by Swoopers that steal five of their Mini-Stars.
• Bee Afraid: Beeline Shrine places the players in a forest full of bees that fly around in different patterns. The players must move and jump around the field to avoid getting stung.
• Big Boo's Haunt:
  • Haunted Trail takes Team Mario riding on a floating sleigh through a dark forest situated on a series of cliffs they ascend. Sights include a small village with bright lights inside all the houses, a cemetery, and a lake of purple water. Along the way, players are threatened by Boos that haunt the player that passes them, stealing Mini-Stars at the beginning of their turns, and Swoopers that attack players that land on Unlucky spaces.
  • Peepa Panic is a minigame located in the haunted hallways of a ghost house, where the players must avoid getting caught by the ghostly Peepas.
  • The Luigi board in amiibo party is designed to bring to mind the Luigi's Mansion series, resembling a dark forest with models of Boos surrounding, and a giant Poltergust that can be used to steal Coins and Stars from other players.
• Blackout Basement: Murky Maze is a 2-vs.-2 minigame taking place in a dark maze. Before the minigame starts, a spotlight will move around the maze to give players a general idea of the layout. Each player is given a Glow Block that illuminates a small portion of the maze around them, and the objective is to meet up with your partner before the opposing team does.
• Breath Weapon: Bowser, as always, has the ability to breathe fire, and the player themselves can harness this power in the minigame Bowser's Bad Breath. Bowser moves the Gamepad around to take aim at Team Mario as they run around, and the player can breathe giant fireballs at them by making sounds into the Gamepad's microphone.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: While amiibo Party only requires one player to have an amiibo in order to play, any players that don't use amiibo will have to use cardboard cutout player pieces that are unable to collect or use tokens.
• Burning with Anger: The difficulty of the minigames in Bowser Party is influenced by Bowser's mood. Bowser becomes angry whenever he fails to catch Team Mario on his turn, or after Team Mario survives an "easy" minigame. His anger is represented by the icon of his face turning red and being decorated with flames. In this state, the more dangerous Bowser minigames will be selected.
• The Bus Came Back: Toadette returns as a playable character after having been completely absent from Mario Party 9. Donkey Kong also returns as a playable character after having been demoted to an NPC in Mario Party 5.
• Casino Park: Certain Bowser mini-games are themed around different casino games. The settings for these minigames are often decorated with lots of neon lights.
  • Bowser's Sinister Slots has Bowser take control of a slot machine that rolls between the faces of his four opponents. He can stop the slots one at a time, after which they will fire a Bullet Bill that homes in on the character they land on. If Bowser can land all three slots on the same character, all three cannons will simultaneously fire three Bullet Bills at the character, one after another.
  • Bowser's Roulette Rage places Team Mario atop a large roulette wheel divided into six segments. Bowser gets three Bowser faces that he can put on any segment he wants, after which he will spin the wheel. He can stop the wheel at any time, and any members of Team Mario that land in the segments with a Bowser face will have bombs dropped on them, costing them three hearts. Team Mario can run around on the wheel to try and avoid the Bowser faces, but once Bowser stops the wheel, barriers will rise up that prevent them from moving away from the portion of the wheel they're on.
  • Bowser's Bogus Bingo gives each member of Team Mario a choice of six different 3x3 bingo cards with different enemy characters in each square, after which Bowser will roll a Dice Block five times to determine which characters get marked. Once the minigame ends, Bowser will rain fireballs down on Team Mario, and for each line that Bowser makes on any of their cards, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, a fireball will hit that character, costing them one heart each.
• Comeback Mechanic:
  • In Mario Party mode, when Team Mario reaches the Homestretch, the player in last place will be given a free Slow Dice Block, just like in Mario Party 9.
  • In the first two boards of Bowser Party, once Team Mario reaches the Homestretch, Bowser Jr. will appear and allow Bowser to roll a roulette wheel to gain an advantage to ensure that Team Mario will have a bad time in what remains of the game. Some of the effects Bowser can gain include increasing the Dice Blocks in his hand, increasing the number of dangerous Bowser Jr. Spaces, and activating "Big Bad Bowser Mode", which allows Bowser to choose whatever minigame he wants to play when it's minigame time.
• Cool Chair: In the Bowser Challenge mode, Bowser's throne initially appears very shabby looking, but once the mode is over, Bowser will receive an improved throne based on the player's performance. Bowser's new throne will look better depending on how high the player ranks, after which he will take a seat in satisfaction.
• Corridor Cubbyhole Run: The Homestretch of Chaos Castle in Mario Party mode is one straight bridge leading to Bowser's throne, where he is waiting for Team Mario. The bridge is divided into raised and lowered sections, with spaces on each. After each player finishes moving the walker, Bowser will fire a massive fireball that goes across the entire bridge, and if the walker landed on any of the raised spaces, the fireball will hit the team, and the current Captain will lose half of their Mini-Stars.
• Covered in Gunge: In Paintball Battle, any players that get hit by a paintball will get covered in paint that matches the color of the paintball that hit them.
• Creative Closing Credits: The staff credits are accompanied by a minigame where Mario can roll a Dice Block with the icons of the other playable characters, and whichever character he rolls will appear out of it and step onto a matching pedestal in the background. As Mario gets closer to rolling all the characters, more faces on the Dice Block will become Bowser faces, which instead release Bowser or one of his minions, who will run around in the distance.
• A Day in the Limelight: This game puts the spotlight on Bowser, with him receiving focus on the cover, the Mario Party mode giving him more presence than usual, and the Bowser Party mode featuring him as the main playable character for the first time in a Mario Party game.
• Degraded Boss: Petey Piranha and Sledge Bro. appear as boss characters in Mario Party mode, but in Bowser Party, they only appear as one of the characters that Bowser can use to hide the Super Star at the end of the board.
• Demoted to Extra: After having been playable in Mario Party 9, Koopa, Shy Guy, and Magikoopa/Kamek are all reduced to non-playable characters that appear during certain minigames.
• Fake Platform: King Boo's Tricky Tiles has Boos that disguise themselves as red tiles, though they are shown to the players before being hidden. Any players that try to jump on one of these fake tiles will fall right through and land in the lake below, costing them both time and points.
• Falling Blocks: Jewel Drop is a puzzle minigame found in the Bonus section of the menu. Players drop crystals into a playing field in groups of three at a time, and must connect four of the same color to remove them. Occasionally, players can remove a star crystal, which will allow them to shake the playing field and shuffle all the crystals around, potentially destroying even more of them.
• Feed It a Bomb: In Petey's Bomb Battle, whenever Petey Piranha opens his mouth, any bombs thrown at him will land in his mouth, but the players want to avoid doing this, as he will harmlessly swallow them, before spitting them back at whoever threw them.
• Fiendish Fish: The first boss minigame of Whimsical Waters is Mega Cheep Chomp's Shell Shock, which features a giant Cheep Chomp. The Cheep Chomp will face a player selected at random, and each player is given three green Koopa shells to fire at the Cheep Chomp to damage it within a time limit. However, every time the Cheep Chomp is hit, it will turn clockwise to face the next player, and once time runs out, whichever player it is facing will get attacked and lose points, so players must choose if they want to save their shells so as to avoid being the unlucky victim. After this, the cycle repeats until the Cheep Chomp's health is reduced to zero.
• Floating in a Bubble:
  • Bubble Squabble is a 1-vs-3 minigame where one player is tasked with trapping all three of their opponents in bubbles before time runs out. The one player is placed on solid ground below their opponents, who are bouncing around on Mushroom Trampolines, and blows bubbles out of a pipe up at their rivals. However, any players trapped in a bubble can be freed by their teammates if they touch the bubble.
  • In Bowser Party, whenever members of Team Mario regain hearts after being eliminated, they will return to the team's vehicle via a bubble.
  • In Chaos Castle in Mario Party, when Yellow Toad is released from the Gamepad, he will travel to the start of the board in a bubble.
• Flying Broomstick: The default vehicle for Haunted Trail is the Magical Sleigh, a sleigh mounted atop a pair of magical floating brooms.
• Flying on a Cloud: The minigame Fuzzy Fliers sees all participating players riding a cloud on the outside of a tall tower, which they ascend as the screen scrolls upward automatically. Each player's cloud has a separate time limit, and if the timer hits zero, the cloud will disappear, causing them to fall and lose the minigame. Along the way, they can collect cloud power-ups to increase their cloud's timer, but they must also avoid Fuzzies, which cause them to lose time on contact.
• Game of Chicken:
  • In Balloon Blast Bash, each player uses an air pump to inflate a balloon, with the winner being the player who pumps their balloon larger than anyone else. However, if a player inflates their balloon too much, it will pop, and that player will automatically get last place.
  • The Rosalina amiibo board has an event where players jump atop a Sling Star, then shake the Wii Remote to charge up power, after which they will be launched into space and earn coins. The higher they fly, the more coins they get, but if they charge up too much, the spring in the Sling Star will break, and the player will get no coins at all.
• Gameplay Grading: At the end of Bowser Challenge mode, the player will receive a ranking from one to ten Bowser faces depending on their score. Bowser also receives a fancy new throne, the quality of which is determined by the player's rank.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: Team Mario acts as one toward the Bowser player in Bowser Party mode. Bowser's goal is to catch up to them to play mini games and take all their hearts away before they can reach the end of the board and win the game.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: In amiibo Party, if a single amiibo manages to collect every other gold token, they can unlock a token that gives their figure a shiny gold skin on the board. If a Gold Mario amiibo is used, this token will be unlocked from the get-go.
• Goomba Stomp: Mega Goomba's Ladder Leap has players climb ladders to reach a higher platform, before jumping down to land atop the Mega Goomba's head to damage it and score points.
• Green Hill Zone:
  • Mushroom Park is built atop a lush grassland surrounded by hills and mountains, and containing colorful block platforms that Team Mario traverses, looking very similar to the early stages of games from the Mario platformer games. The board starts off on a dirt path through a grassy field adorned with flowers and trees before Team Mario actually makes it to the carnival section. It is also the most straightforward board in the game, with few standout obstacles or gimmicks.
  • The Mario amiibo board is modelled after the opening stages of many of the 2D Mario platform games. The board is covered in grass, hills, and bushes, and features figures of common enemies like Goombas and Koopa Troopas.
• Ground Pound:
  • Bowser's High Dive consists of three rounds where Bowser will jump high up into the air before dropping onto Team Mario and attempting to sit on them. There are two platforms, one on the left and one on the right, and Bowser will land on the one his player chooses, though he can change which one he will aim for in mid-jump. Team Mario has to do their best to predict which platform he will land on, and stand on the opposite side, but they can determine how far up Bowser is based on his shadow. Any players that Bowser lands on will lose two hearts.
  • In Found It? Pound It!, there are nine panels on the floor in a 3x3 grid, and a large screen on the wall. The screen will show a pattern of different items, and players run around the room and press the 2 button twice to stomp on the panels that match the pattern on the screen.
• Guest-Star Party Member: If Keep-Away Mayhem is played in a game with only three players, a computer-controlled Shy Guy will take the place of the third member of the Rivals team.
• Hearts Are Health:
  • In Bowser Party, each member of Team Mario has their health represented by how many hearts they have. They can collect more over the course of the game, and they lose them when they take damage during the Bowser mini-games. If a player's health reaches zero, they will be removed from the team's vehicle, and will not be able to roll to move forward on their turn.
  • Certain minigames give all players a health bar with three hearts, with one heart being taken away whenever a player takes damage. Running out of hearts will result in that player being eliminated, and in the event that multiple players survive to the end of the game, the tie will be broken by whoever has more hearts. Minigames using this health system include Snake Block Party, Peepa Panic, Beeline Shrine, Paintball Battle, and Bullet Bill Bullies.
• HP to One: In Bowser Party, one potential result of Team Mario landing on a Bowser Jr. Space is having the current Captain lose all but one of their Hearts, leaving them vulnerable to getting quickly eliminated in the next minigame.
• Invincibility Power-Up: In Cheep Cheep Leap, all participating players are given a Super Star, making them invincible and allowing them to defeat Cheep Cheeps just by touching them. In this state, their goal is to defeat more Cheep Cheeps than anyone else within the time limit to win.
• Jungle Japes: Donkey Kong's board in amiibo party is modelled to resemble DK's jungle home, with lots of palm trees and altars topped by piles of bananas.
• Keep Away: The minigame Keep-Away Mayhem places three players in a triangle shape in a sports field, with a solo player in the middle. The three players are given a soccer ball that they have to prevent their opponent from either kicking or stealing. They can use the A, 1, and 2 buttons on the Wii Remote to choose which teammate to pass the ball to, and if they can keep the solo player from getting the ball until the 30-second timer expires, they win the minigame.
• King Mook: The majority of the boss characters are Mega versions of regular enemies from the Mario platform games, including Mega Goomba, Mega Sledge Bro., Mega Cheep Chomp, Mega Blooper, Mega Monty Mole, and Mega Mechakoopa
• Last-Second Photo Failure: In Flash Forward, the objective is to stand on a pedestal where a photo is about to be taken. However, the camera only takes one shot, and each player must be as close to the center of the frame in order to win. As such, the players will try to punch and ground pound their opponents off of the pedestal to take the photo for themselves, and once the camera flashes, the resulting photo will most likely feature the characters pushing each other around.
• Leitmotif: In amiibo Party, any characters using amiibo have a specific song that plays when it is their turn. All of these songs are remixes of songs from previous games.
  • Mario: The Ground Theme from Super Mario Bros.
  • Luigi: The main theme from Luigi's Mansion
  • Peach: Peach's Castle from Super Mario 64
  • Toad: The Toad House theme from Super Mario Bros. 3
  • Yoshi: The main theme from Yoshi's Story
  • Bowser: Bowser's Road from Super Mario 64
  • Wario: Stonecarving City from Wario Land: Shake It!
  • Donkey Kong: Jungle Hijinxs from Donkey Kong Country
  • Rosalina: The Comet Observatory from Super Mario Galaxy
• Lethal Lava Land:
  • The Chaos Castle board is set in Bowser's castle, which is flooded with lava and swarming with various fiery hazards. The first part of the board has the players navigate a series of platforms floating in a moat of lava, while avoiding enemies like Lava Bubbles and Charvaarghs, the second part has the players scale a series of walls while avoiding hazards (Skewers in Mario Party, Burners in Bowser Party), and the Homestretch takes place in Bowser's throne room, where a straight bridge is the only thing between Team Mario and a pool of lava.
  • Spiked Ball Scramble has the players walk down a hallway with platforms floating in lava. If they accidentally walk off the edge of a platform, they will fall in and be eliminated.
  • Magma Meltdown takes place atop a grid of rock platforms in a pool of lava. Certain platforms will sink below the lava before rising back up, and players have to do their best to avoid falling in.
• Level Editor: amiibo Party contains some limited options to customize the board before play. Players can use any character board tokens they have unlocked to change each of the four corners of the board to any character board, allowing access to different board events.
• Level in Boss Clothing: After the first boss fight in Airship Central, Team Mario flies into a giant storm cloud, where they are attacked by Bowser's airship. The airship follows them throughout the storm, taking aim at specific spaces on the board. After each player rolls their Dice Block, the ship will fire Bullet Bills at the spaces they aimed at, and if Team Mario gets hit, the current Captain loses half of their Mini-Stars. Once Team Mario gets out of the storm, they get a chance to turn the tables by landing on Cannon spaces to fire cannonballs at the ship. The player that fires the winning shot gets ten Mini-Stars, but there are still Unlucky spaces that cause players that land on them to get shot at.
• Level in the Clouds:
  • Airship Central is a board taking place in the clouds up in the sky. The first part has Team Mario navigate through airships, and after passing the mid-boss fortress, they enter a storm cloud where Bowser's own airship appears to attack them.
  • Snake Block Party is a minigame that takes place atop floating islands high up in the clouds. The players must run across Snake Blocks to avoid falling, and make their way to the goal without losing all of their hearts.
• Levels Take Flight: Airship Central places Team Mario in an airplane flying through the clouds where they encounter a series of airships they fly through. The first segment has spaces on airships that rotate out every time a player finishes their turn, and whichever airship is in front of the players when they reach it will be the one they board.
• Luck-Based Mission: In Bowser's Bogus Bingo, Team Mario must choose from a series of 3x3 bingo cards with images of different characters on them, after which Bowser will roll a die five times to determine what characters will be marked. For every bingo the players get, Bowser gets to take one heart from that player. If Team Mario is lucky, Bowser can waste his rolls on repeats of the same character.
• Make My Monster Grow: Bowser, who already towers over Team Mario in Bowser Party mode, grows even larger during the Homestretch of Chaos Castle.
• Mid-Battle Tea Break: Upon completing a game of Shy Guy Shuffle, there is a short cutscene of the player characters sitting at a table and enjoying some doughnuts together before the results are shown, after which the game will return to the board, and the players go back to being rivals.
• Mini-Boss: There's a total of five minibosses in the game, each one by default being associated with one of the five playable boards. When the characters reach the halfway point or first third in a board, Bowser Jr. forcefully takes them to a Fortress and the game game chooses a miniboss randomly, and it may or may not be the one associated with the board. In the absence of Story Mode, the bosses and minibosses can only be fought in the Party and Free Play Modes (there's no Boss Rush mode either).
• Mini-Mecha: Team Mario rides a two-legged walker to navigate Chaos Castle.
• Mission-Pack Sequel: The Mario Party mode uses most of the same mechanics introduced in Mario Party 9, such as the vehicles, Mini-Stars, and Special Dice Blocks. The other modes do add some variety, though.
• No-Damage Run: The Challenge List contains many challenges that require all four players to complete specific minigames without taking damage.
• No Plot? No Problem!: This game lacks a single-player campaign mode of any kind, and doesn't even have any cutscenes to pretend that there is a story going on.
• One-Winged Angel: In Bowser's Tank Terror, after Bowser is reduced to only half of his remaining health, his tank explodes and sends him flying into the surrounding lava pit, only for him to rise back up as a giant Dry Bowser for round two.
• Only One Save File: The game does not include the option to make multiple save files, with any actions the player takes being reflected on the same file instead.
• Paintball Episode: Paintball Battle is a minigame where players run around a small maze carrying paintball guns, and the objective is to defeat all of their rivals by shooting them. Each player's paintballs match their player color, and when they hit an opponent, that player will get covered in paint of that color.
• Photo Mode: The Photo Studio allows players to take photos using character models and backgrounds that they have bought from the in-game Shop. They can place up to four characters in the frame, change their positions, and press a button to make them strike a random pose. At the time of the game's release, players would have been able to upload their photos to Miiverse.
• Pinball Zone: Bowser's Painball places Team Mario inside a large pinball table, with Bowser controlling the flippers. Bowser tries to hit his opponents with spiked balls that are launched into the table, while Team Mario must do their best to avoid them. The top of the table has bumpers that can quickly launch spiked balls that hit them back down, while the middle of the table has a barrier that moves around in a circle that Team Mario can use to protect themselves.
• Play Every Day: Once per day, any amiibo figures can be used to earn an amiibo Bonus in the menu. amiibo that have Mario Party 10 save data can earn extra bases for use in amiibo Party mode, while any other amiibo can be used to play scratch cards for chances to earn bonus Mario Party Points. If an amiibo has every base unlocked, they will earn scratch cards instead.
• Promoted to Playable:
  • Donkey Kong returns as a fully-playable character in a Mario Party game for the first time since Mario Party 4, having been demoted to an NPC in all the games between.
  • Rosalina makes her playable Mario Party debut after appearing at the end of the Rocket Road board in Island Tour.
  • Spike becomes a playable character after appearing as a boss in Mario Party 9.
• Racing Minigame:
  • Rapid River Race places the players in hoverboats and challenges them to reach the end of a course before anyone else. The players can increase their speed by pressing the accelerate button, but cannot slow down on their own. As they speed through the course, they have to switch between three different lanes to avoid Urchins that will bring them to a stop if they hit them.
  • In Ice Slide, You Slide, players run down any icy racetrack toward a finish line. The racers have to jump over rolling snowballs and slide under Flipruses to avoid losing speed as they dash toward the finish line.
• Rhyming Names: The minigames Cheep Cheep Leap, Beeline Shrine, Spring Fling, and (Bowser's) Hammer Slammer.
• Ring Out:
  • Cliffside Crisis places players on the side of a cliff, standing atop some Bomps protruding out from the sides. Players must do their best to avoid falling, either by ensuring that the Bomps don't retract into the cliffside beneath their feet, or push them off the edge.
  • Bouncy Brawl takes place on a giant trampoline floating in the sky. Players have to push their rivals off the edge to make them fall. They can use a spin attack to increase the power of which they can push their opponents, but if they spin too much, they will become dizzy, leaving them wide open for their opponents to attack them.
  • Platform Push places the players on a small island in the middle of a poison river. They can punch and kick their rivals to try and push them into the poison. As the minigame goes on, the platforms making up the island gradually sink into the poison, giving players less room to work with.
• Rise to the Challenge:
  • Bowser's Clawful Climb places Team Mario on a tower being chased by Bowser from underneath, and they must climb as fast as they can to avoid as much damage as possible. Bowser climbs the tower segments at a time, and any players who get caught will lose a whopping three hearts.
  • Chaos Castle has a portion where Team Mario must scale a series of large walls. In Bowser Party, they have to do this while Bowser is right behind them, so they can't afford to waste time.
• Same Content, Different Rating: In Europe, all previous Mario Party games received a PEGI 3 rating for "violence that is set in a cartoon, slapstick, or child like setting". This game has the same label, but is instead rated PEGI 7.
• Secret Character: Toadette and Spike can be unlocked by buying them at the shop in Toad's Room. Both cost 600 Mario Party points apiece.
• Shell Game: Shy Guy Shuffle. Five Shy Guys are carrying plates of doughnuts, each with a different number from one to five, then they shuffle around, and players have to choose which Shy Guy has the most. However, only one player can pick each Shy Guy, so focusing only on the Shy Guy with five doughnuts can very easily backfire.
• Shock and Awe: In Bowser's Wicked Wheel, two pairs of Amps on either side of the eponymous wheel create electrical currents between them. Bowser spins the wheel to make Team Mario touch the currents to damage them, while Team Mario shakes their Wii Remotes to run against the spinning to avoid the current behind them, but if they run too fast, they might hit the current in front of them when Bowser suddenly stops the wheel.
• Shooting Gallery: In Pipe Sniper, players use the Wii Remote to aim at the screen and fire balls at Piranha Plants that rise out of Warp Pipes to score points. The player with the most points when time expires is the winner.
• Shout-Out: One minigame is titled "Fruit of the Doom", which is a reference to the American clothing company Fruit of the Loom.
• "Simon Says" Mini-Game: The 1 vs. Rivals minigame Steal The Beat has one player use the A and 2 buttons to play a sequence of beats on a pair of drums, after which the other players must copy the sequence they played. The team can only make a combined total of a certain number of mistakes (seven with two players, or ten with three), but if the team can make it through three rounds without messing up too much, they win.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Ice Slide, You Slide is a minigame where players race to a finish line on a running track covered in ice. They can use the ice to slide under Flipruses that get in their way.
• Smashing Watermelons: The 1 vs. Rivals minigame Watermelon Whalin' features the Rival players each holding a watermelon, and they must avoid letting the solo player smash the melons with their hammer. If at least one watermelon manages to survive the timer, the Rival players win, while the solo player wins if they can smash them all.
• Sore Loser: If Team Mario wins in Bowser Party, the camera will move over to Bowser's current location, where he will angrily stomp his foot on the ground.
• Space Zone: The Rosalina board in amiibo Party is designed to resemble space, and includes a variety of references to the Super Mario Galaxy series, including crystals filled with Star Bits, a giant Launch Star event, and figures of Lumas, Star Bunnies, and the Starshroom.
• Sphere Factor:
  • In Balance Ball Brawl, players have to walk around on balls to navigate a small maze of paths with the objective of running over all of the switches before anyone else. Because of how narrow the paths are, it is impossible to pass another player on the same path, so the only way to avoid bumping into the opponents is to take a different path.
  • The 2-vs.-2 minigame Soccer Brawl has two teams of two players each play a game of soccer, trying to score more goals than the opposing team within one minute. However, all players are moving around while balancing atop balls, and the only way to move the soccer ball is to bump into it.
• Squashed Flat: Bowser's Hammer Slammer and Bowser's High Dive both feature Bowser trying to flatten the members of Team Mario. Normally, they simply pop back up after the weight is lifted, but if any of them run out of hearts, they will float away like a piece of paper in the wind.
• Steel Drums and Sunshine: Whimsical Waters is a tropical undersea board, and its background music features the use of steel drums.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: All of the playable characters can navigate Whimsical Waters without the need for any breathing apparatus.
• Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: Right before the Homestretch of Chaos Castle in Mario Party mode, Blue Toad will give all players a chance to roll a roulette for a free Special Dice Block, something he doesn't do on any of the other boards. The Homestretch that follows is the most dangerous board segment in the entire game, with over half the spaces costing players that land on them to lose half their Mini-Stars.
• Tank Goodness: Bowser's Tank Terror is a boss minigame that starts with Bowser driving a massive tank that he uses against Team Mario, who all fight back in smaller tanks of their own. The players drive around to avoid Bowser's attacks while firing spiked balls at Bowser's tank to damage him.
• Taunt Button: In Revolving Relay, only one player per team can move at a time, but if the inactive player presses buttons on their Wii Remote, they can perform different animations.
• Throne Room Throwdown: The Homestretch of Chaos Castle is located in a room with a long straight bridge leading to Bowser's throne. In Mario Party Mode, Bowser is waiting for Team Mario at the end, and breathes a massive fireball at them at the end of every roll, which will hit them if they land on spaces on raised sections of the bridge, costing the current Captain half of their Mini-Stars. In Bowser Party Mode, Bowser continues chasing Team Mario from behind, but he merges all of his Bowser Dice Blocks into one Super Bowser Dice Block that allows him to roll every time Team Mario does.
• Token Heroic Orc: While Spikes are usually part of Bowser's evil forces, the Spike that appears as a playable character is on Team Mario's side and helps them escape from Bowser's rampage in Bowser Party, being the only one of Bowser's minions to do so in this game.
• Turns Red: All of the boss minigames have a second, more difficult phase once the boss is down to half of their health, just like the previous game.
  • Mega Goomba's Ladder Leap: Mega Goomba moves around more quickly, and the Waddlewings attack more frequently.
  • Petey's Bomb Battle: Petey will start using trickier fake-outs before opening his mouth. He will also spit two bombs whenever he catches one.
  • Mega Sledge Bro's Card Chaos: Double Hammer cards are introduced, which cause players that pick them to lose two points instead of just one. Additionally, the number of hammer cards goes up.
  • King Boo's Tricky Tiles: The Boos will shuffle around before turning into red tiles. King Boo himself will also obstruct the screen before they transform.
  • Mega Cheep Chomp's Shell Shock: Mega Cheep Chomp will be surrounded by small Cheep Cheeps that swim around it in a circle. The Cheep Cheeps can block the shells that the players fire at them, causing them to go to waste.
  • Mega Blooper's Bubble Battle: Mega Blooper will start swimming around, shifting the bubbles and making the panels inside more difficult to see. It also summons a swarm of regular Bloopers that attack any players that make incorrect clicks.
  • Mega Monty Mole's Maze Mischief: The mazes will start including bombs that block passages. Players must touch them to light them, then step away before they explode.
  • Kamek's Rocket Rampage: Kamek will start summoning Banzai Bills and Big Amps in addition to his previous attacks. These enemies are much larger and cause players that they damage to lose more points.
  • Mega Mechakoopa's Swing & Stomp: The Mechakoopa will move back and forth more, making the timing of jumping from the chains more difficult. It also starts using a flame breath attack to give players running back to the elevators another thing to avoid.
  • Bowser's Tank Terror: Bowser falls into the surrounding lava pit and gets turned into a giant Dry Bowser. His attack pattern completely changes, with him breathing giant fireballs from outside of the arena that either fly directly at Team Mario, or rain down from above.
• Under the Sea:
  • Whimsical Waters is a board taking place in an underwater lagoon, with Team Mario using a submarine to navigate, while Bowser has to swim through. Along the way, sights include houses made from giant spiral shells, coral reefs, and sunken ships. The characters periodically encounter a Dragoneel that offers them chances to pick a sunken treasure box for a chance to win valuable items. The characters' voices are also distorted, to reflect that they're speaking in an underwater setting.
  • Blooper Blastoff puts players in Blooper-shaped submarines at the ocean floor. The objective is to be the first to use the submarine's thruster to propel yourself to the surface, all the while avoiding Torpedo Teds, as well as water currents coming out of Warp Pipes.
• Unexpected Shmup Level: Kamek's Rocket Rampage plays like a side-scrolling shoot-em-up game. Players fly around the screen in planes and score points by collecting rockets and firing them at Kamek, all while avoiding his attacks.
• Versus Character Splash: The pre-boss battle versus screen from Mario Party 9 returns in this game, though now the characters are animated. Additionally, now every minigame has a screen beforehand that shows the players divided into sections of the screen with one section dedicated to each team.
• Weakened by the Light:
  • The Boos in Haunted Trail will be scared away once Team Mario passes under a streetlight. The streetlights are placed before both of the boss battles on the board.
  • In the boss minigame King Boo's Tricky Tiles, players have to jump across a series of tiles to reach switches that once pressed, cause a Light Box to appear that shines a light that damages King Boo and awards the player points. There are bronze switches that are worth one point and gold switches that are worth three.
  • In Boo Burglars, one player on each team is given a flashlight that they use to shine on Boos to reveal if they have a diamond inside them. Their partner can only grab the diamond with their net if a light is weakening them.
• Weapons That Suck: The Luigi amiibo Party board has an event that takes the form of a giant Poltergust 3000 vacuum that can suck up items taken from the other players. It allows the the player using it to either steal a few coins from all of their opponents, or they can pay coins to try and steal a Star from one of them. The drawback is that the Star steal has a chance of instead sucking up a worthless ball of paper and giving the player nothing. The chances of the star steal succeeding go up if the player chooses to pay more coins.
• Whammy: The Peach board in amiibo Party has an event where players choose between five different Warp Pipes to find flowers that will grant them coins. The participating player can choose as many pipes as they want, but if they pick the one pipe that contains a Piranha Plant, the event ends and the player gets nothing.

---