Triple Triad
Triple Triad, the card game in FF8, is pretty simple. Each card has four numbers on it.
Let's take Ifrit's Card, for example. It has the numbers 9, 8, 6, 2 on it. Each number corresponds to a side or the card. The 9 is the top number, the 8 is the left number, etc.
Now lets say some poor sap places a MiniMog to the right of our Ifrit…
Note that the right number on Ifrit is a 6, whereas the left, adjacent number on the MiniMog card is a measly 2. Well I'm no math expert, but I'm pretty sure that a 6 is bigger than a 2. And thus, the MiniMog card is yours…
Some bad strategy on behalf of Mr. Red.
Now if you notice in the top right corner of the Ifrit card is the picture of a flame. This is the card's element—I'll explain that in a moment. The Element is one of the many rules of Triple Triad.
Rules are spread by you from region to region. You'll learn new rules at different places, and you'll spread them around to other ones. You can avoid spreading rules you don't like by refusing to play a few times. When you ask someone to play, they'll let you know that you know new or unfamiliar rules. If you turn down the game, ask again, and turn down again&8230; eventually they'll just play without introducing new rules. Rules, such as 'Random' aren't very good for you. You might want to keep that one out of other places. Here are the rules:
| Name | Conditions |
|---|---|
| Open | All cards are face up. |
| Random | Cards are randomly chosen. |
| Sudden Death | Play rematches until someone wins. |
| Same | Turn over opponents cards that have the same value on 2 or more sides of your card. |
| Plus | Turn over opponents cards if the numbers add up to the same number on 2 or more sides. |
| Combo | In Same or Plus, cards turned over will then turn over adjacent cards. |
| Direct | You take all the cards you turned over, but you lose the ones your opponent turned over. |
| Same Wall | Uses the frame as one of cards four sides when using 'Same'. |
| Elemental | Spaces on the board are randomly filled in with elements. Placing a card of the same element (like putting Ifrit on a Fire block) will increase all side numbers by one. Putting any other card (like Shiva or MiniMog on a fire block) will decrease all values by one. |