Minigames of Final Fantasy

The popular video game franchise has become known for its inclusion of one or more minigames as part of its core gameplay, beginning mainly with Final Fantasy VII. Participation and progression in these minigames generally will not affect the main game, but can often offer many items or "power ups" that are either very rare, or simply otherwise unavailable. They can also offer a diversion to the main story, and add a few more hours of gameplay. However, in some Final Fantasy installments, such as Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X, certain minigames are sometimes necessary in order to progress the storyline.
Minigames
Easter Egg 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.
Final Fantasy VII minigames
Final Fantasy VII was the first game to feature a large number of minigames and still remains the role-playing game with the most minigames. A number of minigames appear occasionally throughout the main storyline and at various locations, many of which can later be played at the Gold Saucer theme park within the game, along with various other minigames exclusive to the Gold Saucer.
The Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII has a number of different theme park attractions, which include: Battle Square, a tournament; Chocobo Square, a chocobo racing game; Event Square, a short stageplay played like a visual novel or graphic adventure; Ghost Square, a halloween-themed hotel; Round Square, a Gondola ride; Speed Square, a first-person light gun rail shooter; Station Square, a train station to travel to and from the Gold Saucer; and Wonder Square, a videogame arcade from where most of the minigames in Final Fantasy VII can be played.
Some of the minigames playable at Wonder Square include: 3D Battler, a simple boxing fighter sports game; Arm Wrestling Mega Sumo, an arm wrestling simulator; Fortune Telling, a fortune-telling simulator; G Bike, a motorbike racing combat game; Mog House, a moogle-feeding game; Snow Game, a snowboarding game; Super Dunk, a basketball free throw simulator; Wonder Catcher, a simple casino game; and Torpedo Attack, a submarine simulator. The game is playable on the LG VX8000, LG VX8100, Audiovox 8940 and Samsung A890 mobile phone and contains different tracks than the original minigame. The game is downloadable on V CAST-compatible mobile phones, and was first made available in 2005 in Japan and North America.
Triple Triad
Triple Triad is a card game in Final Fantasy VIII, designed by battle designer Hiroyuki Ito. It was not considered an essential part of the game, but more to provide a light relief to the storyline and allow the player to interact with minor characters in a different way. Through the use of Quezacotl's Card Mod ability, the player is able to create rare items by converting cards earned by defeating various competitors. 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 (3x3) square grid of blank spaces, where cards will be placed as the game progresses. The cards depict various characters, monsters, and bosses from the game, and four numbers placed in arrangement so each corresponds to one of the four sides of the card. These numbers range from one to nine, the letter A representing ten.
In a basic game of Triple Triad, each player has five cards. A coin-flip decision is made to decide which of the two players will begin. The player who wins the coin toss may then choose a card to play anywhere on the grid. After the first card is played, the opposing player may then play a card on any unoccupied space on the board. The 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 play 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 who did not go first has one card remaining. Once the game is complete, the player who has the most cards in his color is named the winner. 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. The winner claims a prize by taking one or more of the loser's cards.
In Final Fantasy VIII, each region of the game world has its own unique rules that can be applied to Triple Triad. Some 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.
The main in-game purpose for playing was to gain rare cards, which could then be "refined" by Quezacotl's Card Mod ability into rare items, used for upgrading weapons, teaching abilities, or further refining into spells or ammunition for use in one of the Limit Break abilities.
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.
The game remains very popular, with many free third-party internet versions currently thriving online. These online editions generally add cards for other games, and many have additional rule sets.
Chocobo World
is a handheld electronic game designed by Hiroyuki Itou of Square Co. (now Square Enix) for the PocketStation handheld game console. The game can be played exclusively, but is intended as a minigame to Final Fantasy VIII. The game was present in all localizations of Final Fantasy VIII, but the PocketStation itself was only released in Japan. It was later ported to the Windows version of Final Fantasy VIII in 2000. The game allows players to control Boko, a baby chocobo, on his quest to save his friend Mog from the clutches of an evil demon.
The game's screen consists of black and white pixel graphics and is presented in a manner similar to the "virtual pet" concept conceived by Bandai's Tamagotchi. To play in conjunction with Final Fantasy VIII, the player must find Boko in the world of Final Fantasy VIII. Once accomplished, the player receives a user interface for communicating with the minigame. At any time, the player may send Boko into Chocobo World to gain experience and collect special items, which are transferred back for use in Final Fantasy VIII. In addition, Boko may be used as a summon in Final Fantasy VIII.
In Chocobo World, Boko perpetually wanders around a nondescript landscape in search of "events" to interact with, such as enemy battles. Depending on how the player sets the "Move" option, Boko may break from his path to navigate to the nearest event perpendicular to his direction of travel. Players can also turn off the "Event Wait" option, eliminating the need for player input, although choosing this option prevents encounters with special events. At any time, players can intervene and halt Boko's computer-controlled movement in favor of manually controlling him.
Events are shown on the map as black dots, while Boko's location is represented by a flickering black dot. When an event is cleared, it vanishes on the map, only to be replaced by another in a random location. When Boko gains a level of experience through battling enemies, the map resets and randomly redistributes events across the world. 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 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. 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. 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.
Tetra Master is available to play online on the PlayStation 2, Windows Mobile or a Windows PC using Square's PlayOnline service 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. 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 receive 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 Final Fantasy X-2, Blitzball is a sport featuring six-man teams that combines the physicality of Rugby with Soccer kicks for scoring and the hand passes of water polo (in fact, it has some similarities with Underwater rugby). The game is played underwater in a large suspended in the air. Although blitzball is a recurring element to Final Fantasy Xs plot, only one game is required to be played.
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 kick 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 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.
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 for their team.
There are six teams in the blitzball minigame in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. These include the Al Bhed Pscyhes (from the Al Bhed home, Home), Luca Goers (from the city of Luca), Ronso Fangs (from the Ronso hometown of Mount Gagazet), Guado Glories (from the home of the Guado, Guadosalam), Kilika Beasts (from the island of Kilika) and the Besaid Aurochs (from the island of Besaid). In Final Fantasy X, the Luca Goers and Al Bhed Psyches start off as the strongest teams but by the end they are mediocre to average at best. Both these teams start off with high shoot, endurance, attack and block attributes, but have average passing stats. The Guado Glories are characterized as having the fastest players in Final Fantasy X, but in Final Fantasy X-2, they have the slowest players. Their key stats include passing and their weaknesses are shooting and endurance. They are average throughout the game. The Ronso Fangs are the slowest team in Final Fantasy X, but have average speed in Final Fantasy X-2. They are known to have consistently high endurance, attack and shooting values, but lack in the passing and block departments. The Kilika Beasts are the most interesting team because they start off with arguably worse stats than even the Besaid Aurochs, but by the end of the game, they end up having the best players. In fact, having all 5 or 6 Beasts as part of one's final team is considered an important strategic move by many players and as such, they are highly valued by all teams beyond level 60.
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 at a later turn, 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, the quota is filled, or all border coins are used up.
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.
Reception and criticism
The Electric Playground and Malaysian website The Star Online both noted the similarity of Chocobo World to another digital pet game, Tamagotchi, with The Electric Playground describing the minigame as "very nice" and pleasing. Ars Technica thought that players who enjoy "walking as a Chocobo on the horizontal plane of infinity" might find the minigame fun. IGN considered the PC version of the minigame a "nice touch" to Final Fantasy VIII, noting that users can play the former while doing other activities on their computer since it runs on a tiny window on the screen. Conversely, The Star Online felt that playing the minigame on a PC was "a little boring" and deplored the lack of compatibility with Palm devices.
GameSpot has also commented that "trivial minigames have been creeping into the Final Fantasy games at an alarming rate over the last few years, and in this regard, X-2 is definitely the most egregious offender in the series".

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