5 Coolest Minigames We Found in Yakuza 6’s Demo Before It Got Taken Down

The demo for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life has finally arrived on PS4, letting fans play through the beginning of the game and explore a little glimpse of Kamurocho. While it’s just a small slice of the full game there’s still a lot to see and do around the city, including quite a few of the series’ trademark minigames.

Of course, there’s going to be a lot more available in the full game, but we’ll go over a few of the fun things you can see and do in the demo. After that we’ll give you a bit of info on what else you can expect to do to pass the time in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.

Karaoke

Karaoke has been a mainstay in the Yakuza series ever since the very first game, and it’s fittingly ridiculous. In many of the songs as Kiryu belts out the tune, the scene switches to a gloriously strange cutscene. In the case of Yakuza 6, the song “This Day is a Diamond” has him strumming a guitar and singing in the peaceful town of Onomichi Jingaicho.

The actual minigame is pretty much exactly the same as past Yakuza games, but there’s one small difference. You have to hit button presses in time with the song, but it plays out on just one track now, instead of moving between three different lines like in past games. It doesn’t change how Karaoke plays, but like everything else in Yakuza 6 the minigame has been given a facelift.

Nyan Nyan Cafe

This is actually more of a substory, but it qualifies as a minigame of sorts as well. On Senryo Avenue you can find a place called Nyan Nyan Cafe, which as you might be able to guess is a cat cafe. There’s one problem though – it has no cats, outside of one named Brittany-chan. Although we didn’t find any in the demo, the goal of the substory is to find stray cats out in the world of Yakuza 6, feed them until they get to like you, then they’ll be brought back to the cat cafe. Food can be bought from convenience store, or at the cat cafe itself.

Said cats will come back to your cafe, where people will visit and you can even sit down and get a good first person look at all of them. Some might even come sit on your lap and cuddle. After all, what’s a better fit for a tough Yakuza than cats? Nothing, that’s what.

Batting Cages

Another mainstay of the Yakuza series is batting cages, and they make a return in Yakuza 6 right where they’ve always been in the Hotel District. This minigame is a bit changed from past ones, however. The goal of batting cages in Yakuza 5 was mainly to hit home runs, and you were given hit areas on each of the four face buttons that let you hit incoming balls.

This time the ball’s location is displayed on a grid, and as the pitcher throws it that location might shift a little bit. You need to line your ball cursor up where the ball icon is on the grid and hit X in order to hit it. You also have two different training courses, Home Run and Challenge. Home Run is just what it sounds like requiring you to hit home runs, while the Challenge course just wants you to hit a certain number of runs.

Mahjong

Mahjong is a classic game of strategy, included in multiple Yakuza titles as a minigame. It’s back once again in Yakuza 6, and can be a good way to earn yourself a bit of pocket money. Don’t worry though, if you’re unfamiliar with Mahjong there’s a lengthy explanation detailing the ins and outs, as well as all the different hands you can get. There’s quite a bit of learning to do if you’re totally unfamiliar with the game, but it just highlights the variety in Yakuza 6 with how much time you can sink into playing Mahjong.

Of course, if you spent any time in past Yakuza titles playing Mahjong, you should be immediately familiar with the minigame in Yakuza 6. 

Rizap Gym

The newest minigame to hit Yakuza 6, at least what’s playable in the demo, is the Rizap Gym. The gym is over in the Theater District of Kamurocho, located in the building that used to contain Mach Bowl. Now, Kiryu can head to Rizap and nab himself a gym membership, trainer, and fitness plan that help him workout and get even stronger.

You take on the Rizap Challenge each time you go, which consists of two different workout activities like the benchpress or deadlifting. Each activity requires some kind of button input from the player, and after you’re done you even get a recommendation on what Kiryu should eat to maximize his training. Of course, the benefit of all of this comes in the form of various experience that you can use to boost Kiryu’s abilities. It’s a bit unlike any minigame we’ve seen in past Yakuza titles, and because it’s taken the place of Mach Bowl, it doesn’t look like bowling will feature in Yakuza 6, unfortunately.

More to Come

While the Yakuza 6 demo does give players a bit to play around with, there’s much more to come in the full release of the game. You can even see areas in Kamurocho blocked off, telling you places aren’t accessible in the trial version. In the full release you can expect to play arcade games like Puyo-Puyo and Virtua Fighter, play Baseball, go spearfishing, go to a hostess club, live chat with girls online, play darts, and more. While there are plenty of new minigames, there are a few missing from Yakuza 6 as well. Things like Golfing, Sea Fishing, and Air Hockey look like they won’t be included in the newest title, but there’s still plenty to do.

There’s also an expansive Clan Creator minigame that functions almost like a miniature RTS. Kiryu can recruit clan members while exploring the world and use them to take down rival gangs. There’s clearly plenty to see and do in Yakuza 6, and the demo shows that the series’ mingame distractions are just as alive and well as ever.