Minute to Win it for Wii is a re-creation of the popular television game show starring Guy Fieri.  It contains three dozen mini-games which incorporate household items in unusual ways.

The goal of the Minute to Win It game show is to complete 10 different tasks, each within in a minute, in order to win $1 million.  Although the first few are easy, as you get closer and closer to the million bucks, the tasks become much harder.

Minute to Win It or Wii requires a Wii-mote and nunchuk to play, and although all of the mini-games have slightly different controls, most incorporate some sort of shaking or swiping of either the Wii-mote, the nunchuk or both.  From time to time, you’ll need to point at the screen to make a selection.

The Wii version of the game show also does a great job of capturing the feel and excitement of the show.   Players can jump right to compete for the money, or can try the training mode for a chance to master the games.  Although the game doesn’t go out of its way to make you do it, we definitely recommend doing the training mode so you can learn how the games are controlled.  Otherwise, you’ll find yourself learning how to play on the fly, with your “Minute to Win It” ticking down as you figure out the controls based on the small diagrams in the lower right of the screen.

We counted 36 total mini-games in all, and felt like there was a nice variety.  Examples of tasks you’ll be asked to do include blowing up a balloon and then directing the deflating air to blow cups off the table, or  holding a large stacks of cups, and alternating Wii-mote and nunchuk strikes to move the top cup to the bottom, needing to cycle through all the cups.  There are also games based on using a deck of cards, such as needing to sort cards as they appear in the proper stack.  Each mini-game has an explanation that seems to be taken directly from the show, as a friendly accented female voice explains the object of what you are about to do.

Minute to Win It for Wii also features a multiplayer mode which can allow multiple players to compete at the same time, with the screen split into different areas for each player.  There’s also a really cool championship mode which allows players to compete head-to-head in whichever challenges they choose to see who can do the best.  In this mode, two players compete simultaneously with a split-screen.

Minute to Win It is a great multiplayer game for families with a competitive edge.  We really like the game’s simplistic presentation and text-free menu system, although we encourage families to try the training mode for each game in order to have maximum success.  With a number of ways to be enjoyed by both single and multiple-players, Minute to Win It is the perfect Wii mini-game compilation for those older kids and above that thrive under the pressure of competion.