Mario Party 9 breaks from tradition by adding a unique twist to its historic gameplay formula. Rather than taking turns moving around a game board as individuals, all players travel together inside a souped-up four-seater vehicle!
Though everyone travels together, the goal of each player is to collect more Mini Stars than their peers as they traverse the game board. Whoever has the most Mini Stars at the journey’s end will be crowned the Superstar!
Better hang on tight when Magikoopa’s behind the wheel!
Each player takes turns at being the “captain”—the person in the driver’s seat. The captain rolls a Dice Block at the start of their turn, and then the entire party zooms forward by as many spaces as the Dice Block rolled.
Something pretty wild is likely to happen when you finally come to a stop, but it all depends on where you land!
Being the captain has its ups and downs. On the one hand, only the captain will collect Mini Stars that hover between spaces on the board. Whenever you’re the captain, do your best to motor through those sparkling stars!
On the other hand, sometimes you’ll end up passing through icky-looking purple stars. These are called Mini Ztars, and they’ll subtract Mini Stars from the captain’s total whenever they drive through a patch.
Try not to pick up any of these sinister hitchhikers!
Special Spaces
Every game board boasts a host of special spaces that you’ll end up landing on at some point. Most special spaces will affect only the captain—but sometimes other players will be roped into the captain’s antics as well!
Keep reading to learn about the many different spaces you might find yourself parked upon.
Green Space
Okay, so not every space has something special going on. Nothing happens when you land on these plain old green spaces—the captain’s turn simply ends, and the next player takes the wheel. Party poopers!
Dice Block Space
Landing on these plentiful blue spaces scores the captain a random Dice Block. These special Dice Blocks can help players roll well and avoid hazards or land where they’d like.
Sometimes the item box that contains special Dice Blocks will also contain extra bonuses like Mini Stars or minigames! Skip to the following “Special Dice Blocks” section to learn all about the different dice you can roll.
Lucky Spaces
Park on a Lucky Space, and something good will happen to the captain. Common Lucky Spaces lead to Toad houses and warp pipes, which in turn lead to neat little events in which the captain can score Mini Stars and special Dice Blocks.
Every board has its own spread of Lucky Spaces—try to land on them often!
Unlucky Spaces
An unfortunate roll of the dice can lead the captain to an Unlucky Space, where something unpleasant is sure to happen to them.
Usually, this involves losing some of their precious Mini Stars! Use special Dice Blocks to help you avoid these unfavorable spaces.
Event Spaces
Reaching an Event Space causes something wild and unpredictable to happen, usually to the entire party. That’s why these spaces sport question marks!
You never know just what will occur when you reach an Event Space, but one thing’s for sure: It’s going to be eventful!
Shuffle Spaces
These rare spaces randomly generate a new order in which the players will roll. This can really throw a wrench into your rivals’ plans!
It’s possible that the captain who lands on a Shuffle Space will end up being selected to roll next, effectively giving them two turns in a row. Try to land on Shuffle Spaces to increase your odds of rolling again sooner rather than later!
Dash Spaces
Land on a Dash Space, and the captain will be able to roll a normal Dice Block and move again. This can help them clean up Mini Stars as they travel a long distance around the board before handing over control. Zoom!
Back Spaces
The captain gets to roll again when they land on a Back Space, but instead of gaining ground and moving forward, they wind up moving backward. This can be either good or bad, depending on what’s behind them!
Spin Spaces
Landing on these wild spaces causes a random result to occur. The result is usually beneficial to the captain, such as stealing another player’s Mini Stars or special Dice Blocks.
Fans of the random can really shake things up by landing on Spin Spaces!
Bowser Spaces
Uh-oh, scary! Most boards feature just one or two of these nasty spaces—until Bowser makes his terrible appearance, that is!
As you near the end of a board, Bowser always appears and zaps several upcoming spaces, transforming them into devious Bowser Spaces.
Avoid these hazardous landing zones at all costs, for something awful is sure to happen!
Mini Star Spaces
As you might expect, landing on a Mini Star Space scores the captain some Mini Stars. These rare spaces are usually only found in special event areas, such as at the bottom of a Lucky Space’s warp pipe.
The higher the number on the Mini Star Space, the more Mini Stars the captain receives!
Mini Ztar Spaces
By contrast, Mini Ztar Spaces deduct Mini Stars from the captain’s tally. Not cool! Luckily, these sinister spaces aren’t very common. They’re mainly only encountered when you land on those ugly Unlucky Spaces.
Captain Event Spaces
Every board sports at least one special Captain Event Space. Unlike most other spaces, you are forced to stop and land on these special spots when you reach them, even if you still had moves remaining.
Try to be the captain when you arrive at a board’s Captain Event Space, for the captain always has the advantage in the special game that’s about to be played!
Boss Battle Spaces
All boards feature two Boss Battle Spaces—one around the halfway point and another at the board’s end.
Like Captain Event Spaces, you’re forced to stop at Boss Battle Spaces when you arrive at them, even if you still have moves left to make.
Both of a board’s Boss Battle Spaces prompt you to fight a nefarious boss in a special minigame event. Like all minigames, the player who scores the best during the battle will earn the most Mini Stars at the end!
Free-for-All Minigame Spaces
Land on one of these minigame spaces, and everyone in your vehicle will be thrust into an exciting Free-for-All minigame.
It’s everyone for themselves during these minigame events, and the better you perform, the more Mini Stars you’ll receive at the end!
These spaces tend to be more common at the start of a board, and appear less and less often as you journey toward the end.
1-vs.-Rivals Minigame Spaces
These minigame spaces pit the captain against their peers in a frantic minigame battle! The captain always acts as the solo player during these events, while all other players team up to thwart them.
If even one member of the rival team manages to succeed, the entire team scores an equal amount of Mini Stars. The captain sure has their work cut out for them!
Bowser Jr. Minigame Spaces
A few minigame spaces bear the likeness of that bite-sized baddy Bowser Jr. Landing on one of these forces the captain to face off against the little loudmouth in an epic minigame clash!
Fortunately, the captain won’t have to go it alone—one additional player is chosen at random to join the captain in their effort to bring Jr. down. Put aside your differences and team up to whoop that whiny whelp!
Battle Minigame Spaces
Toward the end of a board, you’ll start to encounter a few of these dangerous minigame spaces.
Battle Minigame Spaces are similar to Free-for-All Minigame Spaces, except that you’ll be playing for each other’s Mini Stars instead of simply adding more Mini Stars to your totals.
That’s right: a Hammer Bro. appears and steals Mini Stars from each player. Whoever finishes in first place has a chance to win most of those stars back!
Play hard and don’t let your rivals make off with your hard-earned Mini Stars so late in the journey.
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Special Dice
Landing on special spaces, such as Dice Block Spaces and Lucky Spaces that lead to Toad houses, can score the captain special Dice Blocks. These distinct dice can give players big advantages when used at the right times. Let’s take a closer look at what each special Dice Block has in store for you!
Normal Dice Block
Your run-of-the-mill Dice Block has six sides and can roll any number between one and six. Don’t bother straining your eyesight by studying the normal Dice Block’s spin—you can’t possibly predict what number will pop up when you roll!
Slow Dice Block
The granddaddy of all Dice Blocks, the Slow Dice Block tumbles so sluggishly that it’s easy to roll the exact number of spaces you wish to move.
Simply watch as those numbers slowly tick by, then jump up and give that Dice Block a good whack to roll the precise number you want. Like normal Dice Blocks, Slow Dice Blocks have six sides, numbered one through six.
0-1 Dice Block
This low-rolling Dice Block may have six sides, but three of them are all numbered 0, and the other three are all numbered 1.
You might not see much potential in the 0-1 Dice Block at first, but it can be super valuable at times when a host of hazards lie ahead. Roll low with the 0-1 Dice Block and turn that wheel over to the next sucker!
1-2-3 Dice Block
This is another low-value Dice Block—numerically speaking, that is. Like the 0-1 Dice Block, the 1-2-3 Dice Block can help you avoid probing too far down a precarious path.
These low-rolling dice can also be used to set up the next player for hazards that might be chasing after your party from behind!
4-5-6 Dice Block
When you just need to roll big, the 4-5-6 Dice Block has your back.
Give this high-roller a throw to ensure that you move four, five, or six spaces ahead, zipping past nearby hazards or snagging a bunch of Mini Stars that float farther up the trail.
1-10 Dice Block
This odd-shaped Dice Block sports 10 sides instead of six, letting you roll and move up to 10 spaces in a single go. Of course, it’s also possible to roll a 1 and wind up moving just one measly space. Talk about anticlimactic!
The Final Tally
The game isn’t over after a board’s big boss falls—Toad still has some special prizes to hand out! Three random awards are given out at the end of every Solo or Party mode adventure, each with a five Mini Star prize.
These end-game awards can make all the difference in determining who will be the Superstar at the end of a close game!
Oh, come now. Who didn’t know Mario was super?
Here are the possible postgame awards that Toad might dole out. Remember: Toad only gives three of these at the end of each game, and you never know which ones he’ll pick!
Keep these special awards in mind as you play and try to set yourself up to win some of them, just in case Toad picks them at the journey’s end.
Dice Block Star: Awarded to the player who used the most special Dice Blocks.
Far Star: Awarded to the player who had the highest total from hitting Dice Blocks throughout the stage (including special Dice Blocks).
Minigame Star: Awarded to the player who won the most minigames.
Minus Star: Awarded to the player who hit the most Mini Ztars.
Slow Star: Awarded to the player who had the lowest total from hitting Dice Blocks throughout the stage (including special Dice Blocks).
Spin Star: Awarded to the player who landed on the most Spin Spaces.
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