Asklemmy

I would just play Caravan if it didn't involve walking across the Mojave each time. Actually I'll walk just to play more Caravan.

borderlands science in borderlands 3 is probably my all time favourite mini-game in a video game

The surprisingly deep copy of Balatro in "Dave the Diver" is pretty good.

I always thought it was cool that you could play the original maniac mansion in day of the tentacle.

Karaoke, disco, cabaret club, pool, taxi racing, Space Harrier, kart racing, mahjong, poker, koi koi, business management, bowling, pocket circuit racing, spear fishing, piss contest, and of course fishing, all from the Like a Dragon series.

I like Knucklebones in Cult of the Lamb.

The tile placement game in Satisfactory is worth a mention. I never fully understood the points system, so I never really rode the game to decent scores, but it was a fun break from the vast size of the rest of the game.

The fishing minigame from Breath of Fire 4. There's just something that's both simple and relaxing, as well as complex and engaging in that minigame. Even better, it's not a requirement to finish the game.

And then there's the fishing minigame on Stardew Valley.

Nobody mentioned Yakuza? Any modern game in the series? (Edit: Ok, one guy did)

A guilty pleasure of mine is Majima Construction from Yakuza Kiwami 2, which is one if the few RTS I like. It's unbalanced, and not even functioning properly, but it's simple fun. I associate most RTS with commanding large squads of units and resource management, and a watered down version with few specific characters and one/two resources felt like a less overwhelming entry point into the genre.

Any love for DOOM 3’s Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3? It was so dumb but I will admit to loving the way you interact with computers and terminals in DOOM 3

Astro Chicken (Space Quest III).

Don't know if it would count since it's used in a couple levels, I think, but PVZ Reflourished, Caliginous Carnival. The levels where you essentially have to pay attention to the zombies beneath the hats and guess which is the weaker one in order to make the spawns easier to deal with. Rinse and repeat multiple rounds until you win. Would absolutely love to see that done more.

Also, along the lines of PVZ, iZombie is definitely up there for my favorite minigame in the series and in general. It absolutely sucks both versions of PVZ2 killed it (unless I'm wrong and the Chinese version still has the old PVP mode, but even then wasn't nearly as fun as the original minigame, nor anywhere near as balanced when half the time you'd find other players had level 4/5 plants that instantly destroy everything in 0.001 nanoseconds).

Legend of the Mystical Ninja has a Gradius style video game inside of it that was so good that when I quit playing it I had completely forgot I was inside another video game.

Mario Party 5 has a side game (not a mini game) called Card Party that is good enough to be its own mobile game.

I have a love/hate relationship with Nethack's Sokoban levels.

There's a pretty good Solitaire game built into the Zachtronics game Shenzhen IO.

I loved the Showtime crashes in Burnout Paradise. I know most people would say that it was a sorry excuse for a replacement to the Crash mode that came before in the previous Burnout games, but I never played any other than Paradise so I can’t compare

Earthborn in Eastward. It's a rogue like turn based rpg, and it's sick. Also you can use money you collect in Eastward to buy capsules that contain items that you can use inside Earthborn. Really cool idea executed perfectly. I played more of Earthborn than I did Eastward.

That arcade shooter in Blades of Steel

I hate minigames, the only one i tolerated was Gwent in Witcher 3.

Burger Flipper in Selaco.

You need to find a datapad with the game on it, and it's just a stupid auto-clicker, but damn if it doesn't scratch that itch in the monkey brain for "number go up."

Plus, Selaco, the base game, is really damn fun.

Arcomage of course!