I exchanged a mini for an iPad 4 after figuring out the beautiful small design didn't outweigh the older processor and sad lack of retina display in my daily uses. Although I no longer have one, I had about 4 days to give it a try.
Games that aren't very visually taxing play beautifully and quite smooth on the iPad mini. That said, when games such as Nova 3 and Infinity Blade II aren't played the last gen processor really starts to becoming quite obvious. Frame rates are noticeably lower and the gameplay just isn't nearly as smooth as the iPad 4 and iPhone 5. I understand the mini doesn't tote the impressive A6 or A6X processors, but the iPad mini in my personal opinion only worked well for my "very light" gaming needs.