The mini games in the Zelda series give a break for the player, and Link, to pause their heroic adventure and allow Link to have some fun and be more like a normal kid. For some reason, I had a poor sense of direction my first couple of moments in Clock Town, but I eventually managed to find the mini games shops. Honey & Darling’s shop can be found to the east, and it’s a shop I don’t remember quite well.
Honey and Darling are the kind of couple who are so annoyingly in love, the world around them seems to disappear. I think this may be the biggest reason why I didn’t remember this mini game shop at all; it’s empty aside from the couple, and they don’t seem to notice you, the customer, either unless you approach them to talk. Hearts are rising above them as they are looking longingly in each other’s eyes, and disturbing them felt wrong, so I simply turned around and never returned.
Well, I suppose I would be wrong to say that the octagonal shop is completely empty. There is a circular wooden platform which looks suspiciously like a dance floor, with the couple spinning in the center in an embrace. The stone walls are decorated with an orange-red striped wallpaper and contrasting blue strips with moving arrow heads rolling up to the ceiling. An odd-looking red carpet is covering stone flooring at every second wall. Small lights are hitting the floor and walls which look like they could be reflections bouncing off of a mirror ball. If this description sounds wrong, you might be thinking of the 3DS version of the shop instead which looks a lot more flashy. The store is decorated with giant red hearts on the upper halves of the purple walls, and even more arrows pointing up right below them. One thing remains the same though: Honey and Darling can be found on the platform, dancing in dimmed lights.
The games offered at the shop change every day and only cost 10 Rupees, but two of them involve Link using explosives while Honey and Darling are dancing away as soon as the music starts. I have a personal suspicion that the sturdy shop building wasn’t built by the couple but perhaps by the carpenters instead. I think they were too busy being in love to complete a building, but what do I know?
The platform will rise off of the floor and continue spinning counter clockwise for one minute while Link plays the mini games. For all the mini games, there is really only one rule Link needs to follow: he needs to stay on the platform or the game’s over. If he falls off, Darling will tell Honey that they’ve “already won”, and Honey will express her happiness. I think someone more experienced with customer service might have consoled a child of Link’s age instead and perhaps encouraged them to try again.
On the first day it’s Bombchu Gallery day, a game where Link has to break as many targets on the walls as possible with an infinite amount of Bombchus before Honey and Darling’s song ends. If he manages to hit all eight targets, he’ll get a perfect score and Honey will share the couple’s happiness by rewarding Link 50 Rupees, or a Fishing Hole Pass in the 3DS version. Their happiness is quickly replaced by annoyance and they decide to “show off” even more and resume their endless embrace.
Darling remembers Link as “the one who got a perfect score” if he returns the next day. It’s Basket Bomb day according to Honey, and if Link agrees to pay 10 Rupees to give it a try, he’ll get as many Bombs as he wants to throw into the eight baskets hanging at different heights on the walls. As the rotating dance stage, ahem, I mean, platform rises, water will flood the floor beneath them. Amazingly, neither Honey nor Darling seem to be bothered by the chaotic throwing of bombs around them and, if Link is successful, will reward the boy with another 50 Rupees or Fishing Hole Pass.
On the final day the Moon threatens to destroy all of Termina, it happens to be Target Shooting day. It’s a classic bow-and-arrow-game where Link has to destroy all targets spinning clockwise around the room, but the targets will be fewer if Link happens to play as a Deku Scrub. It’s a little more difficult to ignore the couple in this game as they might block the view for Link as he’s aiming. If he accidentally (or not so accidentally) hits the couple with arrows instead, they’ll simply complain that it hurts and then go back to dancing.
This time, if Link manages to get a perfect score in all three mini games, Darling seems more shocked than impressed that Link won again. Or perhaps he’s worried because both he and Honey know that they don’t have any more Rupees to give Link. However, they are running an establishment and they have to reward the winner with something so they give Link a crystal clear Piece of Heart instead. Once Link has stored it safely with his belongings, you can hear Honey asking Darling whether they truly are happy or not. It makes me wonder how stable their relationship really is.
As Link turns to leave the shop and go on with his journey, the hearts continue to float up, up, up from the couple’s never-ending dancing, and I want to believe that love truly conquers all. But if they need some extra money to feel a little bit more secure, perhaps Link could give them a hint that there are Rupees waiting if they manage to hit the two targets right outside the shop’s entrance.
