Final Fantasy 8 » Triple Triad / Card Game Information

Triple Triad is Final Fantasy 8's complex, yet very fun, card game. As you travel through the game, more and more Triple Triad cards will become available which will allow you to play against the many people who love to play the game. After playing some games and beating some people, the cards you win / have can be refined into rare and valuable items.

[ How to play? | When to Play | Strategy | Rules | Side Quests ]

How to play

The first requirement to play Triple Triad is, of course, the cards. The first cards that you can grab are all the way at the beginning of the game, in Balamb Garden. These cards, though not exactly the best ever, will let you play a number of people in the garden itself.

To challenge someone to a game of cards, walk up to them and press the  button. If they would like to play cards, a confirmation box will appear. If not, they will merely talk to you.

If they accept, a new screen appears where you can select your cards, then a 3 x 3 grid appears. A coin is tossed to see who goes first, and the game begins!

Consider yourself challenged!

When to play

If you like Triple Triad, you are encouraged to play it as often as you like. However, if you have an assignment from the Garden, it's worth waiting until that's over to begin playing again. A SeeDs salary and ranking is dependent on a number of factors, so it's not worth risking earned gil just for another game of cards.

If you've made it much further into the game and just feel like playing some Triple Triad recreationally, or just feel like wasting some time playing a card game, then there's no harm in playing. It depends entirely on your own choices. Keep in mind a number of characters in the game enjoy playing Triple Triad, so you're free to play whenever you want.

Basic Strategy

Triple Triad is a hugely complex game: it has 12 completely different rules that change depending on who you are challenging. These rules can have an adverse affect on how well you play the game and even who wins, regardless of the deck played. Therefore, a number of useful strategies can become useful.

• Always play defensively. There's no reason to take each card your opponent plays. Play a waiting game with your opponent and plan ahead. Let your opponent trap his / her own cards, and then force certain moves by strategically placing your cards.

• When the rules are basic (Same, Open, Sudden Death and Elemental), your best bet is just to use strong cards. You will overpowerful your opponent easily with this set.

• If the rules are more advanced (Plus, Same Wall and Random), you're better off beating the card-game through strategy instead of brute-force. These rules can have a HUGE affect on your "brute-force" strategy.

• Corners are always the best place to put your cards, because they can only be attacked on two sides. Conversely, placing a card dead center is a bad idea in most cases, because they can be attacked on all four sides.

• Watch out for the Random rule! This rule is not particularly helpful for those who want to play with their best cards. Keep in mind, when playing with the Random rule, you have absolutely no choice in which cards are played.

• Open is a good rule for you, strategically, however it is also beneficial to your opponent. Be aware of this when choosing this rule.

Argh! My card :(

Game Rules

Triple Triad has 12 very different rules, each with its own adverse affect on the game. Though some are beneficial, others can leave a huge dent in your playing ability. Choose carefully!

Same
If a card is placed down that has the same value as two adjacent cards of the opponent, than those cards are flipped over.

Plus
If the sum of all of the stats on your card add up to the sum of the adjacent stats of two or more opponent cards, the opponent cards will be flipped.

Confused? Here's a diagram:

Say an opponent's card is on the top right corner and has these stats:

  7
6   3
  4

And another card (still opponent's) is in the lower right corner, with these stats:

  6
4   9
  8

So you decide to place a card right smack in the middle (middle right), with these stats:

  8
6   2
  6

Note that now you have a 8 facing a 4, and a 6 facing a 6. Since 8 + 4 = 12, and 6 + 6 = 12, the cards above and below you will be flipped.

Combo
Combo works in collaboration with Same and Plus in that if an adjacent card is flipped, that card can in turn flip cards next to it (assuming it has a greater value).

Same Wall
If a card has an A, and that A is facing any one of the "walls", or borders of the grid, any adjacent cards can be flipped if their digit is the same as the digit its faces.

Confused? Here's a diagram:

Say an opponent's card is in the upper left hand corner, and it has the following stats:

  1
5   6
  7

  7
A   3
  8

Elemental
Elements (Thunder, Earth, Ice, Wind, Poison, Fire, and Water) randomly appear on the grid. Many of your cards have an element (ie Ifrit is Fire element) which relate directly to this. For example, if you place a Shiva card on an Ice element spot, its stats will raise by one. However, if you place it on a fire element spot, its stats will drop by one. On some occasions, if there is a star on the grid, placing any card on that star will drop its stats down by 1.

Random
Random randomly chooses five cards for you at the beginning of the game. This makes the game quite a challenge, because you'll never know what you'll play with until you play it.

Sudden Death
The card game keeps going until somebody wins. Ties are not acceptable. In the event of a tie, any cards won will be taken and the game will begin again.

One
At the end of the game, the winner gets to take only one of the cards that their opponent used during the match.

Direct
At the end of the game, the winner takes all of the cards they won in the match, and the loser takes all the rest.

Diff
At the end of the game, the winner takes a number of cards based on the difference between winning and losing cards. For example, if the game is 6 to 4, the winner takes 2 cards. If the winner takes 5 or more cards, "Diff" immediately becomes "All".

All
At the end of the game, the winner of the match takes every one of the cards, regardless of whether they were flipped in the winner's favor or not.

Card Side Quests

Final Fantasy 8 has 3 card-related side quests to choose from: CC Groups, The Queen of Cards, and Alien Encounter. Each of these side quests are very similar to any normal side quest in that they get you rare items or cards. If you have the time, it's worth giving them a shot.