In Machinarium there are some ugly games in the arcade and what's worse you have to beat them. Reason why I can't recommend Machinarium to anyone despite its qualities. Most fictional games I can remember in movies look good and fun.

Doom 3: Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3. All you do is punch a turkey. Can also be a "so bad it's good" type of thing.

i hate when they want you to play those minigames, oh look you came to play this game we want you to play this crap instead

rocksmith has a flappybirds minigame, and we all know flappybird is bad

a good was in m&m7 maybe a card game with tower building

My requirement for mini games to be acceptable is that there should be no content unrelated to the minigame that's locked behind the minigame.

For example, I disagree with minigames giving unique rewards that help in the main game.

(Unfortunately, Retro Game Challenge, which is an excellent game, does suffer from this issue, where you need to play (part of) one game before moving to the next, and the games are different genres. To reach the final game, which is a nice action game that borrows elements of Ninja Gaiden and has less linear sections, you have to play a turn based RPG, for example. The (JP-only) sequel, Game Center CX 2, at least lets you skip a challenge after enough failed attempts (though I note that doing so gives a permanent black mark on your record, and there's a game in there that can't possibly provide any enjoyment unless you can read Japanese).)

Bloodstained's Classic Mode is an example of a good minigame; it's a separate option on the menu, doesn't gate anything in the main game, and is not gated by anything in the main game. If you feel like some nice Classicvania action, just boot up the game, and even if it's the first time you've done this, you can boot up Classic Mode for that nice slower-pased Classicvania action (with none of those RPG elements like XP and item crafting that make the main game so complex).

This reminds me of 198X, which is basically made of so-and-so minigames, held together by the (emo?) narration. It suffers of a poor execution where Pony Island was genius - sadly no more on GOG.
There's an interesting story on how and why we didn't get minigames during loading time in videogames, basically because the concept was patented by Namco.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/loading-screen-game-patent-finally-expires
If devs implemented them more I think many good innovations would come out.

And that patent wouldn't have been valid, as invade-a-load predates it (and would be prior art).

Every Amanita Design game appears to have a few minigames. Botanicula had a few that weren't exactly great.

Does anybody remember the Boomer-targeting cop shows of the '00's? For this particular subject, Law & Order had a particular episode. Cops break down the door over child-neglect allegations and find that they are indeed letting their baby starve because they're preoccupied with saving their in-game child from falling off a cliff.

Mind, that these straw-man gamers are so invested in a long-term escort mission is not the worst part. Imagine the original Runescape, with the hideous muscle-baby sprites as though drawn by a small child trying to emulate Rob Liefeld. This game in Law & Order features the same quality of art, in a side-scroller.

Not really videogames, but the casino games in the Dragon Quest series frequently favor to the player, to the point where one wonders how they're still in business.

Also, in Ultima 7 there's a way to get the casino to favor you so you get more money than you spend on average. How come *that* casino hasn't gone out of business?

Oh lord don't get me started on how much I hate casinos in games... Dragon Quest XI ruined by it. Ni No Kuni's casino fit right in with its anti-player patterns. Stardew Valley would be better if it weren't there. And so on... I want to play the actual game and not THAT. They wouldn't be nearly as bad if it weren't just so TIME consuming.

boomer targetting cop shows??? i thought you was referring to c.o.p.s. ??!! but that would have been " their " children right ?

that said, most fiction in games is bad to worse mediocre at best ..... though i did enjoy parts of " Ash of Gods " and am inclined to buy 7 winds one of those days to see if a text choice based strategy title will fit

And the Casinos in Pokemon which sadly have been pushed to extinction.

Then again, the Coin Case was a security hazard in the English versions of Pokemon Gold and Silver.

Basically, if you set up things just right, including listening to a specific Pokemon cry, and then use the Coin Case, the game will start executing the names of your boxes as if it were machine code, giving you, the player, total control over the game. You can empty yor party and face the final boss with a team of 0 Pokemon this way, for example, or you could program in your own version of Pong and have the game execute it. Or, you could get as many Mews and Celebis as you want, with whatever moves you want (including those they can't normally learn). Or you could just give yourself 65,000 coins and bypass those casino games entirely.

With the Coin Case, anything is possible. (Subject to hardware limitations, of course. You're not going to be able to run Cyberpunk 2077 via Coin Case use, as the Game Boy is simply not capable of running that game, even with emulation.

That reminds me, in Pokemon Red, Blue, and I believe Yellow, there's a person who tells you not to mess with the game's code, yet tgere are ways to do just that. In fact, I believe one spot in that area happens to be a favorable spot for using a certain glitch.

I'm not sure what your misunderstanding is, but I clearly said Law & Order. (See also: CSI, NCIS, and so on.) The selling point is that the courtroom scenes are legally authentic, to say nothing of what leads up to that. So, it's more of a lawyer show, but cops are usually involved at first.