Homestretch!

Homestretch! (Almost There! in Mario Party 9 and Home Straight! in the British English version of Mario Party 10) is a space that doubles as an event in Mario Party 9 and Mario Party 10. It usually appears once near the end of each board in both games, with the exception of  Mario Party 10's amiibo Party.

Mario Party 9
In Mario Party 9, due to the new gameplay, games are no longer played based on the number of turns, but rather how long it takes to reach the end of the board. However, a similar event still occurs. The event is called "Almost There!", and it occurs when the players are almost at the end of the board, when they pass by a green Toad. His green-spotted flag pops up beside him as he gives out the current standings. Last place players get a Slow Dice Block. Anybody tied for last will receive a Slow Dice Block as well, including if everyone is tied for first.

Additionally, minigames are now selected by the player currently in last place, not the captain (unless the Captain is in last). This does not matter who is hosting a minigame; the boss minigame is still selected by the captain, regardless of their position (except at Bowser Station and DK's Jungle Ruins, where players are not given the option of choosing which boss minigame to play).


 * If two players tie for last place, one of them is randomly chosen to pick a minigame, regardless if the player is a human or CPU.
 * The Captain can still choose a minigame after the Almost There! event if any of these situations occur:
 * The Captain is the one in last place
 * Everybody is tied for first place
 * Three players are tied for last place (when playing with 4 players)

During the event, Bowser also appears and asks the captain if they want "a whole bunch" of presents; if the captain agrees, he turns three to six predetermined spaces into Bowser Spaces; the spaces that he chooses never change. If the captain refuses Bowser's offer, he gives the players "a few" presents by turning 2 or 3 predetermined spaces into Bowser Spaces. On some occasions, Bowser will chastise the captain for being "a stick in the mud", and act as though they accepted his offer. If the Captain in this event is a CPU, then they will always accept Bowser's offer to turn three to six predetermined spaces into Bowser Spaces. In Bowser Station, the choice is not given at all; Bowser automatically adds five Bowser Spaces to preset locations on the board. Four of the spaces are placed within the last six spaces of the route, along with a Jackpot Space and a Back Space; the latter's presence increases the odds of players being stuck in the gauntlet of Bowser Spaces for as long as possible.

Mario Party 10
In Mario Party 10, the events vary depending on which party mode is being played.

In Mario Party mode, if played on any of the boards except Chaos Castle, the standings are shown, and then Blue Toad gives the player(s) in last place a Slow Dice Block, just like in Mario Party 9. If played on Chaos Castle, instead of last place receiving a Slow Dice Block, it acts like a Toad House, giving everyone a Special Dice Block before the gate opens. Then, if Bowser (or Yellow Toad in Chaos Castle) wasn't freed, the gate closes, leaving him sealed inside, then, Bowser Jr. appears and makes Bowser Jr. Spaces appear by throwing bombs on specific spaces. If playing on Chaos Castle or if Bowser had been freed before Homestretch, this does not happen. Finally, Blue Toad reminds the players to be careful on those last spaces.

In Bowser Party, Blue Toad reminds Team Mario to be careful on those last spaces. Then, Bowser Jr. reminds Bowser that Team Mario is close to the goal, then Bowser spins a roulette that can make him go into Big Bad Bowser Mode, add Bowser Jr. Spaces to the board, or give him an extra Bowser Dice Block.