The map icon for Dandori Challenges.

Dandori Challenges (ダンドリチャレンジ^?, lit.: "Dandori Challenge") are specialcaves inPikmin 4. While accessed from theareas inStory Mode, they function more like an alternative game mode, similar to theChallenge Mode fromPikmin 2 andMission Mode fromPikmin 3. These challenges are directed byleaflings, and completing a Dandori Challenge allows the player to rescue that very same leaflingcastaway. Pikmin from outside the challenge cannot be taken inside, and the player will instead receive some Pikmin from the leafling directing the challenge. Once completed, a challenge cave is closed so that the leafling does not enter again, but the challenge can be replayed from theRescue Command Post onceJin is saved.

UnlikeDandori Battles, completing Dandori Challenges is not required to progress the game's main story.

Gameplay[edit]

Gameplay screenshot inDandori Day Care.

Dandori Challenges aretreasure-collecting missions, where the player is given a time limit to find and collect all objects around a specialsublevel. These objects includetreasures andenemies, which must all be carried back to theS.S. Beagle in order to gain points, which are noted with a symbol resembling the letter D:. Points are measured using the weight of everything collected, so that, for example, aBulborb is worth 10 points while a pile ofGold Nuggets is worth as many points as its number of fragments. If everything is collected in time, each remaining second adds one bonus point. The player can earn medals based on their performance. Only a bronze is required to complete the challenge and bring back the leafling, which usually involves collecting only a handful of the treasures and enemies, but silver, gold, and platinum medals can also be earned, the latter being obtained by collecting everything. Because the goal is to collect treasures and enemy carcasses, the stage ends when there is nothing left to collect. If an enemy was killed while frozen byIce Pikmin, no corpse will be left, meaning the player loses out on some points. The point requirement for a platinum medal matches that of delivering everything to the S.S. Beagle, so while this can make the player miss a platinum medal at first, it is still possible to make up the difference with the time bonus when the stage ends. Each stage is ranked with a "Dandori Level" of 1 to 5, indicating the level of difficulty.

As described by the challenge-giver, the treasures are fake, and anything collected is not kept after the challenge. The same applies to piles ofraw material, which can only be used to build structures within the challenge. Likewise, the Pikmin given to the player inside the challenge belong to that person and cannot be taken out. Throughout the challenge, the leafling in charge will stand in one spot in the sublevel and watch the player as they work. While they are reachable, they cannot be interacted with. If the challenge is passed, the leafling will be overwhelmed by the player's dandori skill, get dizzy from all the work, and faint shortly after awarding the player 30 pieces of raw material, allowing it to be rescued. If the player fails the challenge, the leafling will give them 10 pieces of material as a reward for participating the first 5 times, and 1 piece of material thereafter.

List of stages[edit]

Image	Name	AvailablePikmin	Requirements				Dandori level	Time limit
	Dandori Day Care	40	90	100	120	140	1	5:00
	Hotshock Canyon	20 20	100	130	140	160	2	7:00
	Rockaway Cellars	25 25	160	190	220	240	2	7:00
	Test Tubs	35 25	110	130	150	170	3	6:00
	Ice-Cross Course	45 5 3	100	120	150	170	3	6:00
	Hefty Haulway	15 55 2	200	250	300	350	3	7:00
	Aerial Incinerator	60 6	220	250	280	310	4	7:00
	Strategic Freezeway	30 20	130	140	160	180	4	7:00
	Planning Pools	30 20	160	190	210	230	4	7:00
	Toggle Training	20 20 2	170	190	220	240	4	7:00
	Cliff-Hanger's Hold	15 20	180	210	240	260	5	7:00
	Oasis of Order	10 20 1	160	190	220	250	5	6:00

Additionally, there is a special Dandori Challenge cave called theTrial of the Sage Leaf, which functions differently and is listed separately in-game.

Locations[edit]

While Dandori Challenge caves are found in specific locations inareas, each of the 12 challenges is not assigned to a specific location – instead, the stages are encountered in a specific order, so that the first challenge the player enters will always be Dandori Day Care, the second will be Hotshock Canyon, etc. The stage assigned to a specific challenge cave is set when the cave is entered, so the player can walk up to and open multiple challenge caves and they will all be the same stage as long as one is not entered. Once a challenge cave is entered, that challenge will be set, even if the player exits the cave without completing the challenge. TheTrial of the Sage Leaf does not follow these rules and is always found in a specific location in theRescue Command Post.

Below is a list of every Dandori Challenge cave entrance available and how to access them, listed in the order of their slot on the details screen of thearea selection menu. Each slot will fill in accordingly with the name of the Dandori Challenge played via the respective cave entrance.

• Sun-Speckled Terrace
  • Near the 3rd base, Meandering Slope, a cave is surrounded by a pool of water. 20 Ice Pikmin are needed to freeze the water surrounding it, and Oatchi must jump onto the high ledge.
• Blossoming Arcadia
  • After building theclimbing wall near the 3rd base, Misshapen Pond, the cave can be found in the raised area.
  • A bridge near the 2nd base, Sunwashed Plateau, must be built to reach an area with areinforced wall that must be destroyed with 3bomb rocks, and the cave is located on the other side.
• Serene Shores
  • After clearingEngulfed Castle, the player will emerge from a different entrance located in an elevated area of the level only accessible in this manner until a nearbypaper bag is pushed. The entrance to the Dandori Challenge is in a nearby alcove.
  • Underwater in the large pool near the 2nd base, Water's Edge. A submergeddirt wall blocks the entrance to this area, though Oatchi can swim over it at high tide.
• Hero's Hideaway
  • At the top of a stepladder which requires manipulating the nearby fans around the kitchen island to reach. Oatchi and the leader must split up to press the buttons accordingly, though no Pikmin are required.
• Giant's Hearth
  • At the top of the fire pit, on the side that's only accessible by using afire starter to reach the protruding bricks that allow Oatchi to jump all the way to the top.
  • Past asprinkler on the plateau near the 1st base, Line of Logs.
  • Near the entrance to theDream Home; can be accessed either by pulling down aclipboard to bridge the gap above or by turning off a sprinkler below and using a fire starter to reach the alcove.
• Primordial Thicket
  • On a plateau in the center of the area, a long bridge must first be built near the 3rd base, The Maple Bridge.
  • Near the 2nd base, Autumnal Gully, across a pool of mud that is shallow and easily crossed.
  • By the mud pool with theBeckoning Mannequin. White Pikmin must be tossed up a ledge to destroy 3poison geysers and move a cardboard box that becomes a bridge from a nearby ledge to access the cave.

Get help[edit]

If the player fails to earn a bronze medal on a challenge,Dingo will offer to complete the challenge for them if he has already been talked to beforehand. If the player selects "Get Help" from the following menu, he will proceed to do so (shown with a blank screen, text boxes, and random sound effects), and the victory cutscene will play like normal as if the player had completed it themselves.

Overtime[edit]

When replaying a stage through theRescue Command Post, the player can choose to work overtime to complete the challenge past the time limit if they failed to earn a platinum medal by collecting everything. The cost of doing so is that these results do not get reflected in the game's records. This is similar to theafter hours feature inPikmin 3 Deluxe.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  The menu showing the treasures and time left inTrial of the Sage Leaf.

Trivia[edit]

• Treasure in each Dandori Challenge are thematically consistent. Themes include:
  • Snacks, such asbaked pastries andsweets.
  • Fruit andvegetables.
  • Musical instruments.
  • Aquatic items, such assponges andrubber ducks.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ダンドリチャレンジ? Dandori Charenji	Dandori Challenge
Chinese (traditional)	當多慮挑戰	Dandori Challenge
Chinese (simplified)	当多虑挑战	Dandori Challenge
Dutch	Dandori-test	Dandori test
French (NoA)	Défi Dandori	Dandori challenge
French (NoE)	Défis Dandori	Dandori challenges
German	Dandori-Herausforderung	Dandori challenge
Italian	Sfida Dandori	Dandori Challenge
Korean	계획력 챌린지	Planning Challenge
Portuguese	Desafio Dandori	Dandori challenge
Spanish	Desafío Dandori	Dandori challenge

See also[edit]

• Challenge Mode (Pikmin 2)
• Mission Mode
• Trial of the Sage Leaf
• Dandori Battle

• Pikmin 4
• Game modes