Paper Mario: The Origami King

During the main story of Paper Mario: The Origami King, Mario, and Olivia will eventually stumble onto the set of a game show called Shy Guys Finish Last on the way to the final hot spring in Shangri Spa. The player’s memory and puzzle-solving skills will be timed and tested in this mini-game. Players will need to complete puzzles from four categories of mini-game at three different levels and answer a sudden death question correctly to win. Completing it successfully earns Mario one of the 120 Collectible Treasures in the game.

If you want to unlock the secret ending to Paper Mario: The Origami King, you will have to finish this mini-game perfectly at some point. While the first time Mario plays Shy Guys Finish Last is not extremely high-stakes, players may want to return to the mini-game and try for a perfect game, completing every challenge at every level. Doing so will earn players the Quiz Master Trophy, likely one of the most difficult in the game. However, the challenges in Shy Guys Finish Last are difficult, and failing means game over.

How To Play Shy Guys Finish Last

Tips For Scoring Well

To earn this piece of the Collectible Treasures in Paper Mario: The Origami King, players will have to score 100 points. Scoring 100 points allows Mario to opt to try the Sudden Death challenge, which gives you a question that you must answer or fail. The first time you play, you will get the challenges randomly. If you fail to reach 100 points, you fail the mini-game. If you score 100 points, you succeed, even if you do not face every challenge. This does award you the Collectible Treasure just for finishing successfully.

You can
choose to skip the Sudden Death
question and go to the Spring of Rainbows the first time you attempt this mini-game if you reach 100 points.

However, if you want the Trophy, you will have to come back and attempt Shy Guys Finish Last again, as this will allow you to try to get every Challenge perfectly scored and use all your wits to do it. This means getting all three levels of all four Challenges perfect and the Sudden Death question. Finishing a perfect run will earn you the Quiz Master Trophy and unlock the secret ending.

As some bonus tips, some players choose to use the Screen Capture option to record their footage during the different Challenges, as this allows them to look back and get the correct answers. This can be a double-edged sword, as you have a very limited time for each Challenge, and looking through footage might take too long. This entirely depends on you and how fast you can maneuver your footage. It is also recommended that players save their game just before starting the mini-game so that you can restart if necessary without much trouble.

There are four total Challenges with three levels each, plus the Sudden Death round. You will not have to complete all of them to reach 100 points. The amount of points you get per level is listed in the table below:

Ring Scramble

Picture Perfect

The first puzzle category for Shy Guys Finish Last is Ring Scramble. In this puzzle, an image is shuffled, and the player has limited changes to rotate and slide the rings to return the picture to its original. The images exist on rings, which rotate together, and wedges, which slide together. The images will not always be scrambled the same way, but there are some constants the player can look for.

In the first level of Ring Scramble, the image does not require sliding. The player has four moves and 40 seconds to rotate the rings of the image back to their original place. In the second and third levels, Mario has one minute and seven and six moves, respectively. These two rounds will require sliding. The third round will have the most complex image and the smallest details, making it harder to see exactly where each piece belongs.

Race ‘n’ Place

Photo Finish

The second puzzle category, Race ‘n’ Place, asks players to watch a 100-meter dash between four kinds of enemies in Paper Mario: The Origami King. Players will need to watch the race and memorize the winners and the placement of the other runners at the end of the race. They will also need to align the runners using only a series of rings that players are taken to after the race, where you must slide the rings to put the runner over the number they correspond to.

In the first level, players only need to identify and place the winning runner within 40 seconds. In the second level, players need to identify and place either the second, third, or fourth-place runner within 40 seconds. In the third level, players will need to arrange all four runners in a line in their finishing order within one minute. Many players like taking a screen capture prior to the arranging to be certain of their answers.

The puzzle for levels 2 and 3 contains extra characters, the exact number of which is detailed below.

Ninji Skills

Tracking Hidden Information

In this classic game, several enemies will be shown and then placed under blue containers. The containers will be shuffled around. Players will need to concentrate specifically on the locations of the Ninjis in the group and move them into a highlighted area in the arena. To win, the highlighted area can only contain Ninjis.

The easiest way to complete this challenge on level three is to focus only on the enemies that are not Ninji, as there will typically be fewer of them to keep track of. During level 1, there is only one Ninji to keep track of, making this the easiest level by far.

Players tend to record this challenge as well to have a moment to look back and figure out the right answer. However, they may miss some of the shuffling on level 3, thanks to the increased time spent moving the boxes around. Players can also use their fingers to follow either the other enemies or the Ninji, whichever enemy there are fewer of.

Bath Mat

Where Memory Meets Math

The last challenge, Bath Math, asks players to exercise their memory and math skills. Mario will watch Goombas enter and leave the hot springs and must memorize the number of Goombas left in the hot spring at the end. They will then need to arrange numbers into an equation on the battle arena that equals the number left in the spring. All four slots need a number or symbol for a complete answer.

During level 1, the Goombas move slowly, and it should be fairly simple for the player to come up with the answer. During level 2, the Goombas move fast, and there may be quite a few added at the end just before the camera cuts to black. Finally, in level 3, hot steam from the spring will cloud the pool, making it impossible for the player to see the inside. They will have to keep track of the number of Goombas based solely on watching them enter and leave the springs.

This is another challenge where screen capture might be beneficial. Players can record the final number of Goombas for levels 1 and 2 and can recount for level 3 if needed. Again, you will use the rings to make your formula, which includes a number, an addition and subtraction symbol, and a second number. The final equation should line up with the equal and question mark sign. There may very well be more than one correct answer.

Sudden Death Answers

Musical Notes

The final challenge of Shy Guys Finish Last is reminiscent of music trivia. As the name implies, Mario must get this question right to win. Check Jerry’s Youtube video to see what happens if he does not. To play, the Shy Guy host will play one of three songs from earlier in the game: Happy & Sappy from Ol’ Grandsappy in Paper Marios’s Whispering Woods, Go with the Flow from the Oarman at Eddy River, or My Heart’s a-Burnin’ from the Scorching Sandpaper Desert. Mario must complete the lyric to finish the game show.

• For Happy & Sappy, the missing lyric is Burly.
• For Go with the Flow, the missing lyric is Sculler.
• For My Heart’s a-Burnin’, the missing lyric is Aflame.

If this is the first time Mario has played Shy Guys Finish Last, he will receive Collectible Treasure No. 108: Sudden Death Cannon. If this is the second time he has completed the mini-game in Paper Mario: The Origami King, he will receive the Quiz Master Trophy and 3000 coins.

Video Credit: Jerry/YouTube