Tetra Master is the
card game featured in
Final Fantasy IX. It follows in the footsteps of the popular
Triple Triad from
Final Fantasy 8, but is far more complex and challenging. The object of the game is the same as Triple Triad: convert all of your opponent's cards into your cards. The person with the most cards at the end wins. Just about everyone in the
Final Fantasy 9 world is willing to
play. Challenge people in the game by talking to them with the
Square button.
The game is played on a 4x4 grid. Before the game starts you pick out five cards that you want to use. A few spaces on the playing grid are then randomly blocked off. A coin is flipped to decide who goes first. You then alternatly place cards on the playing field until you're out of cards. Each card has up to eight arrows on its sides (four on the edges, four in the corners). These arrows determine which way the card can attack, and also provide defense. To easily take an opponent's card, you simply need to place your card so that its arrow touches a side of an opponent's card that is unprotected (i.e. it doesn't have an arrow). If you place a card so that it's arrow touches an arrow on an enemy's card, a "card battle" will commence. This is where it gets really interesting. Each card has individual statistics: attack, defense, and hit points. Your card's attack points and the enemy's defense points determine how many HP will be taken off. If your card is strong enough to drain the enemy card's HP to 0, the card becomes yours. However if the opponent's card is stronger, your card will become his. Also when a card is fliped, either by being defeated in a card battle or losing a card battle, any card touching the flipped card's arrows will also be flipped. You have to chose carefully which cards to engage in card battles with. Thankfully each card has some stats printed at the bottom, giving you a clue as to how powerful the card is. Also cards that are used often will level up and its stats will increase.
Square did a really good job with this card game. It is fun, challenging and addictive. They took everything that was great about Triple Triad and made it better. There is a lot more strategy involved in this game. Cards of the same type can have different stats and arrow placement. You can't become invincible just by having a few super strong cards. Randomly blocking out grid spaces makes things interesting. There are 100 cards to collect and also card collector points and levels to try and obtain. There are even card tournaments. You might end up spending more time playing Tetra Master than the actual game.