In a good round of Mario Party, it feels like anything can happen, like the right roll or a good minigame play can force a new player to victory.

These complaints, even when they are fair, dodge the substance of the game. I think about this every time someone complains about how unfair Mario Party is or how loose the minigame controls are. It’s a little soap opera about economics to play with friends. Making a massive comeback by winning a high stakes minigame or falling from the top of the pack in the last couple turns are examples of its emphasis on dramatic changes of fortune.

My brother once described Mario Party as a storytelling game.