Minigames of Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー) is a video game franchise by Square Enix that began in 1987 as an eponymous console role-playing game developed by Square Co.. The franchise later branched out into other genres and platforms, such as tactical RPGs, portable games, MMORPGs and games for mobile phones. The series is the fourth-best selling of all time, having sold over 70 million units worldwide as of January 2007, trailing Mario, Pokémon, and The Sims. Several games in the series, particularly the more recent ones, have featured minigames, small games found inside of the main game. Progression in these minigames generally does not affect the main game, and vice-versa.

Triple Triad
Triple Triad is a card game in Final Fantasy VIII, designed by battle designer Hiroyuki Ito. It was not an essential part of the game but provided light relief to the storyline, allowed the player to interact with minor characters in a different way and, through the use of certain Guardian Force abilities, allowed players to create items by converting cards. Final Fantasy VIII was the first of the series to introduce a side-game with such interaction.

Triple Triad is played on a three-by-three square grid of blank spaces, where cards will be placed as the game progresses. Cards depict various characters, monsters, or other items from the Final Fantasy VIII game which are familiar to the player, and each card features four numbers placed in arrangement so each corresponds to one of the four sides of the card. These numbers range from one to ten; the letter A represents ten. In the game, a card will be red or blue, depending on the player it belongs to.

In a basic game of Triple Triad, each player has five cards each. A coin-flip decision is made to which of the two players begin, who may then choose a card to play anywhere on the grid. After the first card play, the opposition may play a card anywhere unoccupied on the grid board, and game continues with player's turns alternating in this fashion.

When a card is played, its values are assessed and compared to any cards which are adjacent on the grid. If no cards are adjacent, no assessment is made and game continues. If any cards controlled by the other player are adjacent to the played card, then the values of the sides of the played card are compared to the adjacent sides of the opposing cards. If the played card's sides are of a higher value, then the opposing card or cards become controlled by the player, and change in color.

Gameplay continues until the entire grid is filled. As there are only nine spaces on the board, the player that did not go first has one card remaining. Once the game is complete, the player wins who has more cards in his color. As there are a total of ten cards, this allows the possibility of the game ending in a draw, which may be resolved by a sudden death scenario, or by playing until a winner is defined. After a winner is determined, they claim a prize by taking one or more of the loser's cards from his collection.

In Final Fantasy VIII, there are many rules that can be applied to Triple Triad; each region of the game world uses different combinations of these rules. They include whether the players can see each others' unplayed cards, how many cards can be taken by the winner of the game, and how draws are determined. These rules can be added to or removed from the various regions in the game world, depending on choices that the player makes.

In the game, the Card Club consists of the Triple Triad fanatics of Balamb Garden. They consist of: Jack, who is the first to mention the CC Group to Squall; Knight Club, a quiet man; Princess Diamond, who are a pair of female Galbadian students; Prince Spade, who gives Squall his first deck of Triple Triad cards; Queen Heart, who is Xu; Magician Joker, who appears in several locations throughout the game; and Master King, who is Quistis and was formally Dr. Kadowaki.

In 1999, following the release of Final Fantasy VIII, Japanese games company Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards. The set was made up of the 110 cards as seen in the game along with 72 artwork cards and a collectors edition playing mat. Because the set was only released commercially in Japan and was not generally available in America or Europe, the cards have become a rare collectors item.

Tetra Master
Similar to Triple Triad, Tetra Master is a card game found in Final Fantasy IX. Unlike most of the minigames in the series, a few Tetra Master games are required to be played, one at the beginning of the game, and several closer to the end. The game is played between two players on a four-by-four square grid of blank spaces, where cards are placed as the game progresses. Cards depict various characters, monsters or other items from Final Fantasy IX. Each card features four values written across the card, and has anywhere from zero to eight arrows corresponding to the sides and corners of the card. The basis of the game is for cards on the grid to 'challenge' adjacent cards, whereby the values written on the card are assessed to decide the winner.

In a basic game of Tetra Master, each player has five cards, neither knowing the other's hand. Just before the game commences, up to six grid-blocks can be placed on the game grid randomly. These prevent cards from being placed in that grid square. A coin-flip decision is made as to which of the two players shall begin. The players alternate placing cards onto the game grid. If a player places a card onto the grid with an arrow on it pointing to one of the other player's cards, then a card battle begins. If the other player's card does not have an arrow opposing the attacking player's card's arrow, then it becomes in the control of the attacking player. Otherwise, the winner of the card battle is chosen based on the cards' stats. If a card is taken, then it in turn takes any cards it can have an unopposed card battle with.

Every card has four values, or stats. Each of these stats relate to the strength of the card. The second value from the left is always an alphabetical value, while the other three stats increase on a hexadecimal range, meaning they can range from zero to fifteen, with the letters A through F representing the numbers ten through fifteen. These stats are, in order, the power, the battle class, the physical defense, and the magical defense of the card.

Each stat represents a range of possible values, with the actual value of the stat being randomly chosen in that range whenever a battle begins. The power stat is the offensive value of the card. The physical defense and magical defense stats are the physical and magic defenses of the card. The battle class stat is either a P, M, X, or A, and refers to whether the card's class is physical, magical, flexible, or assault. This affects which stat the attacking card attacks. Physical will attack the Physical Defense stat while Magical will attack the Magical Defense stat. Flexible will attack the lowest of the two defenses and Assault will attack the lowest number on the card.

The player who controls the most cards when all cards have been placed is declared the winner. If both players have the same number of cards, then no winner is declared. The winning player may take one of the cards from the opposition's set, but only one which was captured during the game. A game win is declared "perfect" if either player succeeds in controlling all of the cards at the end of a game. In this situation, the winning player claims all of the opposition's cards. There is also a chance that one of the stats of one of the winning player's cards will upgrade after a battle, though each card has its own limits on how much it can be upgraded.

Within Final Fantasy IX, one's collector's level increases and decreases as they play more Tetra Master, depending upon how many unique cards that player owns. To achieve the highest collector's level, the player must collect one of every card in the game, each one with a different arrow pattern, and each one either A or X class.

A board game version of Tetra Master was released for a short time in Europe. It consisted of 120 cards, two ten-sided dice, a manual, a double-sided playing board featuring two scenes from Final Fantasy IX, ten yellow counters and ten red counters. It featured a simplified version of the rules used in the game.

Online version
Tetra Master is playable online using Square's PlayOnline service for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 or Windows PC for a monthly fee. Players may choose to compete against computers or other players. Cards may also be traded, auctioned, and bought from or sold to a card shop using in-game currency. Users outside of Japan must purchase Final Fantasy XI in order to access the PlayOnline service; however, subscription to Tetra Master does not require a subscription to Final Fantasy XI. The game is rated "E" for Everyone by the ESRB.

Chocobo Hot and Cold
Final Fantasy IX also had an additional minigame named Chocobo Hot and Cold. Upon the acquisition of a Chocobo, the player becomes able to access the game inside of Chocobo Forests. No games of Chocobo Hot and Cold are required to be played during the game, though items received through the game could be used in the rest of Final Fantasy IX, including both regular game items and clues towards discovering more items in the main game.

Chocobo Hot and Cold is played inside of Chocobo Forests while riding a chocobo. The player uses the chocobo to peck at the ground, with the chocobo emitting different sounds corresponding to how far away from the closest buried item the player is. Upon the discovery of the location of a buried item, the player must peck repeatedly at the ground to unearth the item, with more valuable items being buried deeper and thus requiring more pecks. The player typically begins the game with a minute to find as many items as possible, though this varies between forests. The player can also extend their time by collecting many items before time expires. Besides items and gil, the player can unearth chocographs, which are pictures hinting at the location of items buried outside of the chocobo forest in the main game world. These items can be retrieved in much the same way as the items in the minigame.

Chocobo Hot and Cold was added to FFXI in late 2006. It is played almost exactly the same, the only difference being that you must recieve a certain kind of wildgrass from the stables each time you want to play. This can be bought from any stable in one of the three major cities.

Blitzball
In Final Fantasy X and X-2, Blitzball is a sport that combines the six-man teams, positions, and physicality of hockey with soccer kicks for scoring and the hand passes of water polo. The game is played underwater in a large sphere pool suspended in the air. Blitzball is unique as it is one of the very few fictional underwater sports ever conceived. Although blitzball is crucial to Final Fantasy X's plot, only one game is required to be played.



Final Fantasy X
The plot of Final Fantasy X provides a very favorable view of blitzball in general, as the sport is also shown to foster peace as it is the only activity where all races and genders are accepted as equals without squabbles. In Final Fantasy X, blitzball is also Spira's only mainstream form of entertainment, allowing citizens to take their minds off the ever present threat of the monster Sin, however briefly. Two of the game's main characters, Tidus and Wakka, are skilled blitzball players. Blitzball has affected the people of Spira in subtler ways during the thousand or more years of its existence as a sport &mdash; the blitzball sign for victory in Zanarkand found its way into "present day" Spira as a sacred hand gesture and incantation, its sporting origins seemingly forgotten.

One mystery is how the teams manage to hold their breaths underwater for such long periods of time. One theory by fans of the game suggests that it is the result of training on the part of the players &mdash; in Eternal Calm, a short film set two years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy X, Yuna notes that after much practice and training from Wakka, she is able to hold her breath for over two minutes. However, the Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania guide states that it is the unique properties of the pyrefly-saturated water in the blitzball arena that enables players to hold their breaths indefinitely, or at least for the five minutes required for each half-time. Ironically, since the characters are seen to hold their breath during other parts of the game (including entire underwater fights) it is safe to assume that some kind of training would be required to help them breath indefinitely.

The blitzball minigame is played from a top-down perspective, with the player controlling his team members in turn. Teams are made up of six players a side, of whom one is the goalkeeper. The aim is to throw a dimpled ball (called the blitzball) into the opponent's goal area. The team with the most goals after two five-minute halves is declared the winner. As characters advance through the ranks they learn many new tricks to improve both their offensive and defensive skills, called techniques. Defensive techniques in blitzball often include violent tackles. Some tackles are intended to poison, cripple, or knock opponents unconscious altogether. As substitutions are not allowed outside of halftime intermissions, the use of these techniques can offer teams a temporary numerical advantage. Special goal-shooting and goal-tending techniques can also be learned. The ball always ends up in the hands of a player or in the goal, whether fumbled or blocked.

When the blitzball mini-game first becomes available in Final Fantasy X, the player takes control of the Besaid Aurochs, and is given a standard player roster, which the player may alter by signing up other players from around the world, including players who began as members of the five other teams. Likewise, other teams may change their rosters as well.

Final Fantasy X-2
The blitzball minigame in Final Fantasy X-2 differs from the one seen in Final Fantasy X, as players no longer directly manipulate the actions of their blitzball team members. Rather, they act as the coach, training and selecting players.

Sphere Break


"Sphere Break" is a minigame within the game Final Fantasy X-2. The game has a numerical grid that has to be dealt with using a set of rules. The mechanics of the minigame are purely mathematical, relying on sums and multiplications; the aim is to create the most multiples of a "core number" by combining numbers of the sixteen coins on the board. The game is played on a four-by-four grid of blank spaces, which are randomly populated with coins at the beginning of each turn except for the four golden entry Coins in the center. All coins are numbered from one to nine and possess several different attributes that can help the player in the Sphere Break minigame itself, such as Echo bonuses or Quota multipliers, or gain items that can help in the various battles in Final Fantasy X-2.

Before the game starts, a set number of border coins that needs to be collected by the end of the game, or quota, is determined, as well the four entry coins to be used, the number of turns allowed, and the time limit per turn. The empty spaces on the board are then randomly populated with coins with the chosen entry coins in the center, and the Core Sphere produces a random number from one to nine. The player first selects one entry coin, then chooses any number of border coins and entry coins until the total value of the selected coins is a multiple of the core sphere, called a core break. This ends the turn, and the sum of the selected coin values are added towards the quota. Any border coins used are removed from play and replaced with a random coin, and all other border coins have their values increased by one. Any coin whose value goes over nine is also replaced. The next turn then begins, and the player continues until there are no turns remaining or the quota is fulfilled.

Entry coins may also contain bonus attributes, such as multipliers to the next turn's score, or items to be used within Final Fantasy X-2. These bonuses or items can only be obtained if the applicable entry coin is used during play.

Easter Eggs minigames
Several simple minigames of the series are hidden as Easter eggs which must be unlocked by pressing special button combinations in a particular location. In Final Fantasy, a sliding puzzle can be unlocked while boarding the ship. In Final Fantasy II, a matching game can be unlocked while boarding the ice sled and meeting a certain requirement. In Final Fantasy IX, a Blackjack game can be unlocked on the ending screen.