This article is about the locations themselves. For their theme music, seeRest Area (theme).

ARest Area is a special room found in variousKirby games, starting withKirby Super Star. In a rest area, no enemies or other hazards are present, andKirby or another playable character has the opportunity to recoverhealth and/or allow the player to save the game when pressing a specialBig Switch.

Game appearances[edit]

Kirby Super Star /Kirby Super Star Ultra[edit]

Rest areas were introduced in this game in two distinct forms. The first appears inThe Great Cave Offensive, with one appearing in each area of the cave. In these rooms, Kirby can find a Big Switch with a rainbow effect emanating from it. Pressing the switch completely restores Kirby's stamina and allows the player to save the game progress. The second appears in the various boss endurance modes in-between fights (namely,The Arena,Helper to Hero, andThe True Arena). In these areas, Kirby or another playable character gets the opportunity to stock up on limited food items before proceeding.

• 
  Sub-Tree's Rest Area, inKirby Super Star

Kirby: Triple Deluxe &Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]

In the respectiveExtra Games ofDededetour andMeta Knightmare Returns,King Dedede andMeta Knight can find rest areas during runs, mainly after completing levels, though some can appear in the middle of levels as well. They function similarly to those found in The Great Cave Offensive, but are found along the main path instead of in side-chambers. The timer is frozen while King Dedede and Meta Knight are in these areas.

• 
  Dedede takes a well-deserved rest.
• 
  Meta Knight takes a break from speedrunning.

Other appearances[edit]

All main-series games sinceKirby & The Amazing Mirror and some other games likeKirby Mass Attack feature rest areas in theirBoss Endurance modes, which function similarly to those from The Arena inKirby Super Star. In these areas, depending on the game, Kirby or another playable character can utilize limited food items to recover in-between fights, select differentcopy abilities fromCopy Essences, collect treasures, or use other items. These rest areas tend to have unique layouts in each game, and in some later titles, will change appearance and musical themes depending on the progress through the boss endurance mode.

In addition, the concept of a Rest Area from The Arena would later be used in theSuper Smash Bros. series, for various All Star modes and for the Boss Battles mode inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl. The version inSuper Smash Bros. Melee explicitly uses an arrangement of its theme, "Rest Area".

• Gameplay mechanics