Mario Party 8 is the first installment of the series on the Wii. As in previous episodes, you control characters from the Mario world on different boards (like a board game) while at the end of each round you compete with your teammates in fun mini-games.

Some mini-games assign players to teams or even everyone against one. The winner is the player (or team) who collects the most stars with different conditions and interactive players for each of the game's boards. Additionally, each time a new mini-game appears, it is unlocked and available as a separate standalone mission.