Top Ten Mario Party 8 and DS Boards

I think almost everyone can admit that this is the best board in Mario Party 8. It's simply just such a great board that's nearly flawless, if not flawless. The board gimmicks and gameplay of this board is simply just amazing. It obviously had to be first on the list.

This is a rectangular board set in the middle of a city, filled with hotels. There is a total of 5 of them (3 in duel battle) and your goal is to invest as much coins in each hotel to be the owner of it. When you become an owner of a hotel, or if you manage invest so much coins that the hotel is upgraded you recieve a star. This is just such an awesome and fun gimmick it easly outshines the other boards. Investing loads of coins in every hotel is satisfying and an incredibly easy way to earn stars but at the same time it's easy for others as well, as long as you have much cash. It's just so fun.

One of the most fun parts of it is upgrading hotels. At the start of the game, all hotels are small green houses. ...more

There is no denial. This board is perfection.

Pretty much the same board gimmicks as Wiggler's Garden except set in a Pinball Machine. As much as I love the idea of that, I feel like the layout isn't as fun to play on surprisingly, plus the music is really anti-climactic for a Bowser level. However it's still a really fun board I could go back to play on.

Could never unlock it because Wiggler's Garden boss was hard.

Overall DK's Stone Statue is the most fun and enjoyable of Mario Party DS' five boards, and it comes down to one reason: gimmicks. Because to be fair, visually it's one of the lesser interesting boards, especially compared to Music Room or the pinball machine. So on this board you must get to the top of DK's Stone Statue on linear paths that split once, because at the top is a star splurge space where you can buy as many stars as you want, as long as you have the money. I love this board gimmick, as it makes it all the more satisfying and exciting getting to the star. Plus, it's a jungle. You can't go wrong with good ol' trees everywhere.

In second place is Bowser's Warped Orbit, one of my all-time favourite boards in Mario Party. It has to do with mainly two things, the setting and the gameplay.

Unlike all the other boards in the game where you try to collect stars, in this board, everyone has three stars or so and players must steal stars from each other with Bowser or Bullet Candy. Bowser Candy gives you two dice blocks and if you pass by someone you steal two stars. With Bullet Candy it's three dice blocks but only one star. This is one of my favourite types of gameplay in Mario Party boards and the same gimmick was actually used in a few boards in past Mario Party games like Pyramid Park in Mario Party 7 and Snowflake Lake in Mario Party 6. It's simply just such an awesome and fun type of gameplay.

The setting really helps the board be great as well. It's set in outer space on a space station, very close to a red glowing star. Kinda like how Future Dream in Mario Party 5 was also set in outer space ...more

The only board I'm a bit mixed on personally although still positive on. It has to do with the gameplay and layout. Because if anything the music is one of the best in the entire game. I love that spooky feel of it and I just love listening to it.

But as for the layout, well it's unique because it's actually made up of 12-20 different rooms and every time you exit a room you will enter a new one and it's completely random. There are three sanctums in the mansion but only one of them has King Boo, whom you must pay 10 coins for a star, the rest are traps. When one has gotten the star, all rooms are reset. Or in Duel Mode where it just becomes unavailable.

This is a very unique way of gameplay and I appreciate it, however it can be infuriating in Duel Mode. You only need two stars to win and a star costs 10 coins for gods sake! That's way too cheap. The sanctum rule doesn't matter here, as there are dozens of them here and it's random which one has King Boo in it. This ...more

I'd say this is one of the more basic boards in the game. If you're new to the game I'd suggest playing this board first. It's pretty great for a first board in-game. Like the name implies, this is set in a treetop temple in the deel forest. There's a statue of DK in the middle and the whole board consists of different pathways that are all connected to each other. I love the forested setting and the layout is great. It sorta resembles Towering Treetop from Mario Party 6 but better.

It's a lot lower than other boards on the list though simply because that's all it has going for it. It's a treetop temple. You look for a star on the board and pay 20 coins for one when you get to it. The music is decent but it's a bit annoying at times. It does fit the board though.

Even though it is the easiest, I like this board game the best.

This is a board set on train, Shy Guy's Perplex Express. Enough said. It's set on a train for gods sake! I love trains and metro systems and everything that has to do with it. Even if this train isn't the best, it's certainly great.

The train cosists of seven carriages, one where everyone starts (only purpose), five normal carriages with spaces, and the driver carriage with Shy Guy. You start furthest away from him on the carriage where everyone starts. When you get to Shy Guy you must pay twenty coins for a star. However in the duel battle mode he will give you ten coins because there you must pay Holly Koopa 50 coins for a star instead. I love trains and I love how this train resembles the Excess Express from Chapter 6 in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Some of the carriages look like updated versions of that train and even the train on the outside loosely resembles it. It's amazing.

The music is the most chill board music as well honestly. It's perfect train ...more

The first board is surprisingly pretty great and fun in my opinion, because even though it has no unique board gimmicks, it has the best layout out of any boards. It's natural, it's Mario Party-esque, and it has a nice garden atmosphere to it. There isn't really much to say about it other than it's pretty chill.

A lot of people I've seen on the internet think this is one of the worse boards but personally I'm really fond of this one. Aside from the very questionable name, the board itself is incredibly cool in my opinion. Unlike the other boards in the game, this is a totally linear board. You go from point A to point B. At point B, is Captain Goomba, he will give you a star if you pay him 20 coins in standard party mode, or 50 coins if it's duel battle. I actually like that it's linear. It gives the board its own unique identity and I overall like linear stuff more than other people.

It's set on a long and narrow paradise island. At point A there is a residential area, and the further you go you get to a bridge, a beach, another bridge, a stony pathway, the last bridge, and then at the end you get to the volcano at point B with Captain Goomba. It's a pretty good setting in my opinion and it looks very bright as well. I like that. One of the most colourful boards of the game. The music ...more