5 games within games that we wish were games of their own

There's a joke along the lines of Inception on the title that I just don't want to mention. 

Yeah. That one. 

But anyways, from time to time we find games that are developed by people who love games so much that they put games within your game so you can game while you game. 

Devs probably don't think so much of them - they're just giving us a lot more stuff to do in-game and changing the pace up a little bit to keep us from getting bored slaying monsters or sneaking around a huge mountain base. 

But sometimes, I just wish I could have that game within the game (alright, this is the last time I use the line) as a game of its own! So, here is my list of minigames that had me wishing they were so much more. 

There will be some spoilers if you've never played any of these games before, since some activities tie into the story. So...you have been warned!

Gwent

You probably were expecting this to be on the list if you'd played Witcher 3: Wild Hunt by now. (If you haven't yet, what's wrong with you?)

Gwent is the the Witcher's own card game. Completely optional of course, but why anyone would avoid doing this fun little side activity to take a break from killing stuff is beyond me. Well...actually I'd understand, the main game's that good. 

I won't be going into too much detail about the rules, since it's got a surprising amount of depth for being a minigame. I'd even venture that this particular virtual card game is harder to pick up and play than Hearthstone. 

Don't let that turn you off, though. Get past learning the rules and play around with this game for a bit and you'll see just how fun it can be. It requires patience, a good amount of deck building and doing a bit of research into tactics as well but...which card game doesn't? 

I'm even on the verge of starting a second play through of Witcher 3 and devote it to making Geralt the Gwent master of the known kingdoms. (It's actually got it's own quest line and rewards for playing through it.) 

Here's hoping the folks at CD Projekt RED decide to bring Gwent into the spotlight sometime in the future. I can picture it now. Witcher 4: Grand Gwent Tournament. Pretty sure the developers will come up with a much better name, though. 

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake's Nightmare

This one may not be quite as well-known now, since the game in question was released so long ago. 

After a certain point in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Snake (presently Big Boss) gets captured by the enemy and subjected to a rather graphic torture sequence before being thrown into a holding cell. 

Players who chose that point to save the game and end their session for the day (or night) had a surprise waiting for them the next time they reloaded it. I remember my experience vividly. I actually got rather spooked by this (I was a kid back then). I booted up my save and suddenly, I'm not playing Metal Gear Solid anymore.

Instead I'm playing a hack n' slash flick where I was massacring a bunch of hideous-looking monsters using two swords. 

It was all dark and grimy, and pretty bloody as well. I could execute a few combos and an AOE spin. I was confined to the place I was in with a seemingly endless horde of enemies pouring in. Oh, and after a certain point I could enter a 'beserk mode'. 

I feel like this game showed Hideo Kojima had a certain flair about him for games of this genre. Who knows, perhaps this is where we saw the birth of the idea behind Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. 

I guess that makes this sequence of sorts an odd addition to this list. But hey, I won't complain at all if we get a hack 'n slash horror game from Kojima. 

Saints Row IV: 2D Side Scroller! 

This is yet another sequence, but a great one at that! 

After the protagonist of the game learns that his best friend may still be alive, you are thrown into a 2D side-scroller where you help your friend save his former lover by defeating hordes of enemies.

That is the most basic explanation to give for this, but there really is nothing else to it. It functions exactly like a 2D side scroller beat-em-up, so there should be no question whether it's fun or not! One of the best parts of this is that your character (the protagonist) carries all the little bits of customization you've done in the main game into the mini-game!

Please make this an arcade game! 

Assassin's Creed IV: Naval Battles

Hands down one of the best parts, if not the best part, of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag were the naval battles. 

Again, this is an area where there is a lot of depth you wouldn't expect from something that isn't what Assassin's Creed had ever been about. I mean really, ask anyone what a game from that franchise is about and they'll all answer: "killing people". 

The ships move like you'd imagine a ship would, and the amount of detail put into them is just beautiful. You could fit it with different types of weapons, take on legendary ships in massive battles, I could go on and on. 

This I feel, is a gem in hiding. We've never had a proper game that simulates naval battle this well before, and it took the developers of Assassin's Creed of all things to give us a taste of it. 

C'mon Ubisoft, you've got something great here. Just do a little bit of work on ironing out the weak areas (for example, it's a bit too easy) and we've got something amazing. 

Destiny: Sparrow Racing

Alright so I'm cheating a little here since this is more of a community-driven event than something that Bungie had officially implemented in the game. 

I mean really, who hasn't thought about Star Wars pod racing when riding these things? 

The foundation is all there. The sparrows have varying models, some with their own unique features. For example, the XV0 Timebreaker's able to perform quick, lateral movements along with the possibility of achieving greater than normal speeds at a risk of blowing up. 

Right now all we can do is zoom around a planet from a starting point to an end that we set for ourselves. If you haven't gotten a bunch of your mates together and done this yet, you're missing out on something that's a lot of fun in this game. Plus its a break from the constant grinding and shooting. 

I really do feel Bungie may have had ideas for implementing sparrow racing in one way or the other. Think about it - there is next to no point in giving attributes to the sparrows if not. Heck, Xur even carries items that you can buy to upgrade the speed on your sparrow! 

Out of everything on this list, this may be something that could come true in a very near future. 

And that's a wrap folks! Are there any minigames that you'd love to see become something of it's own? Let me know in the comments!