Mini-game systems and methods incorporated within a video gaming system environment

A computer system, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• a communication interface communicatively coupled to the at least one processor;
• and
• a memory device storing executable code that, when executed, causes the at least one processor to:
• receive an instruction to integrate a mini-game module of a mini-game into an online video game and based thereon integrate the mini-game module into the online video game, wherein the mini-game comprises one or more features limiting playability by the user;
• determine that the user is accessing, via a user device, the online video game;
• transmit, via a network, one or more control signals to the user device of the user to initiate displaying, via a user interface of the user device, a video game interface of the online video game, the video game interface comprising one or more control inputs for the user to perform one or more functionalities via the online video game, at least one of the one or more control inputs being configured to initiate play of the mini-game;
• track, via a user resource profile, user progress towards achieving one or more real-world goals based on a plurality of resource-related actions performed by a user, at least one of the plurality of resource-related actions comprising storing a real-world resource to a user-specific location, wherein the user resource profile provides, at least in part, information about the user-specific location;
• determine, from the user resource profile, that the user is not progressing to achieve the one or more real-world goals;
• restrict, based on the determining that the user is not progressing, user access to a plurality of functionalities available through the online video game, wherein the restricted access exempts the mini-game such that access to the mini-game is available in accordance with the one or more features limiting playability by the user, and wherein the mini-game is available as a module within the online video game while access to the one or more tasks within the online video game is being restricted;
• and
• transmit, across a network, to the user device an electronic communication comprising an embedded link to access the mini-game, wherein the electronic communication comprising the embedded link is transmitted at a time predicted, by a prediction model, to have a highest probability that the user will play the mini-game, wherein the prediction model is trained to predict user interaction timing based on attributes of users similar to the user, including at least one of profession, age, and geographic region.

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• tracking user progress, via a user resource profile, towards achieving one or more real-world goals based on a plurality of resource-related actions performed by a user, at least one or more of the plurality of resource-related actions comprising storing a real-world resource to a user-specific location, wherein the user resource profile provides, at least in part, information about the user-specific location;
• determining, from the user resource profile, that the user is not progressing to achieve the one or more real-world goals;
• restricting, based on the determining that the user is not progressing, user access to one or more tasks that can be performed by the user via an online video game, the restricting exempting, based on satisfaction of one or more predefined conditions, a mini-game playable within the online video game, wherein the mini-game is available as a module within the online video game while access to the one or more tasks within the online video game is being restricted, the mini-game comprising one or more features limiting playability by the user;
• and
• transmitting, across a network, to a user device an electronic communication comprising a hyperlink to access the mini-game, wherein the electronic communication comprising the embedded link is transmitted at a time predicted, by a prediction model, to have a highest probability that the user will play the mini-game, wherein the prediction model is trained to predict user interaction timing based on attributes of users similar to the user, including at least one of profession, age, and geographic region.