Between completing palaces, visiting mementos, and befriending confidants,Persona 5 Royaloffers players many ways to spend their free time. However, while maintaining relationships or visiting the Metaverse might take up most of Joker’s time at different points in the story, developing Joker’s social stats is essential to enjoy the game’s full potential. Luckily, increasing Joker’s knowledge, guts, proficiency, kindness, and charm can be just as enjoyable as spending time with confidants by playing the minigames spread throughout Tokyo.
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Persona 5 Royal’smain game features seven minigames. Joker can visit the batting cages in Yongen-Jaya, go fishing in Ichigaya, play video games in his room, and more. Every minigame has its own twists, strengths, and stat boosts to appeal to players, but some are more advantageous than others overall.
7Quiz Show
On certain Thursdays inPersona 5 Royal,players can watcha quiz showinside Café Leblanc’s kitchen or Joker’s room. Tuning in allows Joker to earn a knowledge point if he answers a multiple-choice trivia question correctly, similar to when teachers call on him in class.
While the quiz show has relatively simple gameplay and only appears 11 times throughout Joker’s phantom thief adventures, it is one of the few minigames that doesn’t take up an entire afternoon or evening, making it worthwhile when it is available.
6Fishing
Players can unlock the fishing minigame by reading a book on fishpond spotting or accepting Ryuji’s invitation to Ichigaya on 7/6. By paying ¥3,000 in the afternoon or ¥1,000 at night, Joker can spend time at the lake using boilies tocatch a variety of fish.
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Properly casting the line and reeling in each catch takes precision, and the minigame will end if Joker fails to pull in a fish while using the standard rod. However, if done successfully, the minigame rewards Joker by increasing his proficiency and giving him points to cash in for fishing equipment, transmutation items, and accessories.
5Retro Video Games
After buying the CRT Television and Famidrive from the second-hand store in Yongen-Jaya, Joker can play video games in his room in the afternoon or evening. Aside from the game that comes with the Famidrive, Joker can purchase six other games for between ¥3,200 and ¥5,600 each.
While retro video games have a high initial cost and take multiple sessions to complete, they can help Joker improve each of his five social stats throughchallenging and unique quick-time events. Every session rewards his efforts, and once a game is complete, players can exchange proof of completion for beneficial accessories in Akihabara’s retro game shop.
4Batting Cages
In Yongen-Jaya, players can visit the batting cages beside the supermarketto practice playing baseballonce Joker reads the book he finds while cleaning his room. At first, Joker can only practice his swing at night, but after hitting three home runs, the cages will also be open during the day.
While there are six different courses at the batting cages for Joker to unlock, the beginner course costs ¥500 per session, making it an affordable way to earn up to two proficiency points early in the game. If Joker manages to hit all the baseballs pitched during a course or hits a home run, he will also receive items and accessories that help in battle.
3Crossword Puzzles
On certain nights, a crossword puzzle book will appear in the booths at Café Leblanc, allowing Joker to solve one of the 38 crosswords available inPersona 5 Royal.While players only need to spell out the answer for the highlighted clue to end the minigame, completing the whole puzzle can be rewarding.
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Solving each crosswordincreases Joker’s knowledgeby one point, but unlike inPersona 5,enjoying the minigamedoes not take up an evening. Its impact may seem trivial at first, but completing the puzzles is a fun, challenging, and valuable way to develop Joker’s social stats since it allows him to pursue other interests afterward.
2Billiards
At Penguin Sniper in Kichijoji, players can pay ¥800 to invite the Phantom Thieves to play a game of billiards. Although Joker’s performance during the game is primarily determined by his proficiency and what books he’s read about billiards, watching Jokeraim his pool cueto perform impressive breaks and trick shots has enough benefits to make it worthwhile.
Depending on whether Joker successfully performs a trick shot for the first time in a game, the Phantom Thieves' technical rank will increase, allowing them to use new skill combinations to down enemies in battle while causing more damage. However, even if Joker is unsuccessful, not only will he still earn a point for either his guts, proficiency, knowledge, or charm, but his friendship with the attending confidants will also increase.
1Darts
Aside from billiards, players can also enjoy a round of darts at Penguin Sniper in Kichijoji for ¥800. Whether Joker and his friends play 301, 501, or 701, they take turns throwing darts and encouraging each other along the way.
Inviting the other Phantom Thieves to play darts is essential to increasing their baton pass levels with Joker and making them more valuable allies in battle. It also increases their friendship with Joker and helps him develop his proficiency. While winning darts takes precision,its immersive gameplay, low cost, and other benefits make it the best minigame to spend time playing inPersona 5 Royal.
Persona 5 Royalis currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.
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