Ff8 card game faq

It only requires 40 AP, so it won't take long note: if you're playing a no-level game, let Seifer learn Card for you in Dollet. As soon as Card is learned, junction it. To Card an enemy, beat down its HP just don't kill it then use Card.

An enemy at full HP will not Card. When you Card an enemy, it turns into a playing card. You'll receive the normal amount of AP but no Experience. Now, head to the Training Center in Balamb Garden. If you do a lot of Carding, you'll occasionally pick up a Level 6 like Shumi or 7 card instead of the normal enemy card.

It may sound a bit daunting to take on T-Rex with Squall alone, but it's really not bad because your level and thus T-Rex's at this point is so low. Let Shiva hurt him, and he'll usually Card after he's lost two or three thousand HP sometimes much less.

Just have plenty of Cures on hand. If you intend to do lots of Carding for a no-level game, for example , collect five Shumi cards here or as you play through the game to teach a second character the Card ability. This will speed up your Carding considerably.

Now that you have Ifrit, a couple of Bombs, a T-Rex, and a Shumi card this should be your first hand , you're ready to play. I didn't card many of these enemies, so I haven't received one myself. The only rule in Balamb Garden and in the town of Balamb is Open. This is the best rule in the game because it allows you to plan your moves based on your opponent's cards.

The trading rule which determines how many cards are traded at the end of a game is One. The winner will choose one of the loser's cards. The basic concept of Triple Triad is to turn over more cards than your opponent does.

Where the numbers of two cards meet, the higher number wins. Your cards will be blue. The numbers on the left and right of the card grid keep score. The left number tells how many cards belong to your opponent, and the right number tells how many belong to you.

Head to the save point near the directory and save your game. Watch for a girl with either blonde or light brown hair who enters the screen. Either one will do - they both have weak cards. To challenge her to a card game, press the square button. Here's my first tip on strategy - zero in on the top-left corner. Notice the pattern of this game. You'll see it over and over and over again as you play Triple Triad. Weaker players which are most of them will always start in the top-left corner.

After she boxed in the Anacondaur card with Armadodo, I turned Anacondaur with a card that she could not turn, so it's basically game over as long as I continue to play defensively. Always remember that you must only turn one card to win. Don't trade cards back and forth. Play defensively Ifrit in the bottom right, which she can't turn, is a defensive play and wait for one card.

Pay attention to this pattern and you'll find your games going much more easily. If you happen to go first, just play the other three corners until that top-left card is boxed in - it works the same way. A slight derivation of this pattern would be to play beside the top-left card. If she plays a card that can't be turned by her or by you from the bottom in that top-left corner, turn it from the side, but ONLY if she can't turn your card.

Otherwise, play defensively and wait for your chance. Also, if your opponent plays a card that can only be turned from the bottom, go in for the kill immediately with a card that can't be turned. After you win, you will choose a card from your opponent's hand. If the card name is printed in blue, this is a card you've never had before - a new addition to your deck. Yellow is a card that you have had but don't have now.

White means you currently have this card in inventory. In the above game, I chose the Abyss Worm card refines to Tornado magic. Choose Card on your menu to check your card inventory whenever you wish. More than anything else in Triple Triad, practice, practice, practice.

The more you play, the better you'll get. I was completely lost with the card game the first couple of times I played FF8, but now I'm fairly competent only because of the sheer number of games I've played. If you're new to the game or don't feel comfortable with it, play a weak player like this girl until you see the pattern and start feeling more confidence in your game.

Save often so that if something goes terribly wrong, you won't lose all the cards you've worked so hard for. After you've flexed your muscles a bit and had some practice, save. Now, hang around behind the directory and wait for the jogger to run in from the left. It's easiest if you can manage to block his path so he can't run until you're done with him , but if you miss him, you can catch him again.

He always runs the circle of Balamb Garden counter-clockwise, so you can find him easily. Challenge the jogger to a game. He has the rare card Minimog - the first card required for the Queen of Cards side quest. At this point, you shouldn't have any trouble beating him. You may have to play a few hands before Minimog shows up, but he's generally easy to win. The jogger will probably play Minimog in the top-left. Double-check the numbers on his cards to make sure he has no card with a 7 on the left side.

If no 7, play Shumi right beside Minimog, and it's game over. Just keep defending. Now that you've gotten the hang of it, I'll mention a few cards to watch for as you go that will refine into magic. It's great having some of the stronger ones for your junctions early on.

You can pick up several items needed for upgrading your weapons, as well, such as Screws from a Geezard card. Death This is nowhere near an exhaustive list - just a lot of the cards I watch for as I play. Now that you have Minimog, we're ready to move on.

Your next opponent will have better cards than you've met thus far so remember to play defensively. It is much better to play to a draw than to lose. If you lose, your opponent will automatically take your best card Ifrit at this point. You can always start again from your last save, but if you've played several games and picked up several good cards, it's a pain.

Don't be greedy. Play smart. After you save, head to the front entrance and play the old man at the window. He has level one, three, and five cards, so you can bulk up your deck if you wish. I'm looking for two cards in particular here - Malboro and Elastoid. These are both great cards for your playing hand. Once you have them, go save then head for the cafeteria. Go to the dining room to find two guys sitting at a table on the right the one in back's behind a plant.

Challenge the one in back to a card game. He has the Quistis card. Be aware that Quistis can turn any card in your hand, so be on your toes.

Go to the dorm and save. At this point in the game, you have all the rare cards you can get, so you have a choice. You can continue to play and build up your deck or move on with the game and build your deck later. If you want to play cards, be sure not to change into your uniform at the dorm you'll automatically begin the Dollet mission. If you decide you want to play for a while, you might want to run to Balamb to try and change the trading rule.

The trading rule can be changed in two ways, both of which involve the Queen of Cards. Since you can't play in other places at the moment, we'll discuss the only available method for now. Leave Garden and run to the town of Balamb. Save your game in the hotel you don't have to pay for a room - just run upstairs.

Now go to the train station and find the woman in white on the steps she'll be near the gift shop. This is the Queen of Cards. Challenge her to a game and see what trading rule she's playing with. If she's using the Diff rule, wonderful. She's very weak here, so just play and take her cards. Now run past her and challenge the train conductor. If he's using the trading rule Diff, perfect - you're done.

Go save. If he's using One, challenge the queen again. If she uses Direct, quit and try again. I'm not positive, but based on games I've played, whether the Diff rule "takes" or not is random. I've had the queen use Diff then have others in the region use One it didn't "take" , and I've played her one time with Diff and it spread.

A note of caution about the All rule - it's great playing with All because you get all of your opponent's cards when you win. When you've played with a rule for a certain amount of time, however, the rule degenerates, so to speak, to the next rule in line. Thus, All will degenerate to Direct - the worst of the trading rules thanks to Vilurum and Terence for explaining this to me.

If you can get Diff, I would recommend that you stick with that. You will build your deck much faster with Diff than with One, so if you get it in place, go ahead and play some cards either now or after the Dollet mission - it doesn't matter. We can't get any more rare cards until you're done with Dollet. When you're ready to start the Dollet mission, go change into your uniform.

Update note: I have seen several messages from people distressed with having the Direct rule all over the world. From the ones I've seen, they've almost invariably started out with the All rule, so, again, I would urge people to stick with Diff. Once you've finished your mission in Dollet and are back in Balamb, you can play cards in earnest. First, save at the hotel.

Establish Diff with the queen if you can, then get all of your other card playing out of the way before you play her again. You'll be sending her to another town, and there's the possibility that you could change the trading rule again before you want to if you play her before you're done playing cards here. We'll discuss other card-playing opportunities before we start the Queen of Cards quest.

Go to Zell's house and talk to Ma Dincht. Now leave and return, and she'll play cards with you. Again, zero in on the upper-left corner. She won't give you any trouble, and you can pick up some good cards from her. Just be very careful about how you play when Zell's card finally shows up in her hand. You don't want to lose Quistis. I'll show you how our game went when she finally used Zell.

She'll probably turn it with Zell, then you can turn it back with Ifrit or turn Zell's card and continue from there. Once you have Zell, go save. Remember for future reference that Zell must be in your party whenever you want to play cards with Ma Dincht.

Now you can play more in Balamb or return and play in Balamb Garden. Kadowaki, Cid, the cafeteria lady on the left, the Trepie in the cafeteria who had Quistis' card, and the guy standing at the first bunch of shelves in the library.

Cid probably plays with Elnoyle the most at this stage of the game, but he's a better player than are all the others. Should you go for the Elnoyle cards now, just be aware of what you're in for. You might as well settle in for the evening. If you're going to play a lot, you might as well get the Seifer and Diablos cards first. After receiving your Timber assignment, speak to Cid to get the Old Lamp. Leave the screen and return; Cid will be gone.

Go to the save point by the directory. Save and use the Old Lamp to fight Diablos. When you defeat him, you'll receive his card. With Diablos to add to your hand, you're ready to try Headmaster Cid. Cid is one of the better players in the game, so be very attentive when you play him. Take the elevator to the third floor after you save, as always to find Cid in his office and challenge him to a game. Play until you win Seifer.

Seifer is a very strong card. Once it's yours, your hand is pretty much unbeatable for most of the rest of the game. Seifer is a wonderful addition to your hand because he covers that top-left corner we've been discussing as does Diablos in a pinch. Seifer can't be turned from the bottom or the right except by very, very few cards none of which you'll see in normal game play , so once he's turned that boxed-in top-left corner, it's game over.

If you're going to stay here and play Cid for a while for Elnoyles, for example , replace the Quistis card with Seifer and continue.

Pupu requires a side quest later in the game; we'll discuss it then. Now let's start the Queen of Cards quest. The Queen of Cards has five rare cards that you can acquire through the course of the game.

You must give her the card she wants. She will give this card to her artist father who will make a new card based on it. You will then acquire the new card. She has eight regular locations around the world where she can be found if you prefer to chase her everywhere. The easiest way to handle the queen, however, is to shuttle her back and forth between Balamb and Dollet. We'll start the quest by giving her Minimog.

Save at the hotel. Challenge the queen and purposely lose Minimog to her. Her cards are very weak, so have Minimog and four level 1 cards in your hand. You must let her have Minimog to continue, so play to lose. After she's won Minimog, speak to her X button. She'll tell you that the region is getting boring, so she's going somewhere else. If she says she's going to Dollet, go save.

If she says she's going to Galbadia, reset and do it again. From Lunar Gate, you must search for her she won't tell you where she's going from there. So, stick to Balamb and Dollet. You'll be resetting a lot as you change card rules, so I'll mention the soft reset feature. Pause your game Select button. While holding these five buttons down, hit Select again.

The game will start over. This way you won't have to jump up and hit reset every few minutes. Play and reset until the queen tells you that she's going to Dollet. Now that she's on her way with Minimog in hand, you can head for Timber.

One other note while we're in the town of Balamb: if at any time you accidentally spread rules in Balamb, you can erase them. Go to the docks and look for a man crouched down near the water with his back to you. He won't be here if Open is the only rule in Balamb. If there are other rules present, and he's not there, leave town and return and you should find him. Should you somehow really mess up the rules here, use this guy to wipe them out then return and spread Open.

I forgot to mention this guy when I first wrote the faq because I'd never used him. I spread rules in Balamb a couple of times to see for myself how it worked I'd read that he charged you 10, gil to erase the rules, but this isn't the case - just play. When I spoke to him, he was stuck in Balamb because he'd ditched class and Balamb Garden was gone when he got back.

Whether this means you can't find him on Disc One, I'm not sure. He is definitely there on Disc Two after Balamb Garden is mobile. Hopefully, you'll never need him, but I thought I'd better mention him, just in case. After the Laguna sequence, you'll get on the train that serves as base for the Forest Owls. Save first there's a save point up the stairs in the first room.

Now challenge Watts to a game. This is the first time you'll change some rules. When you challenge Watts, he will say, "Mr. Seed, you seem to know rules unfamiliar to this region. Let's play a game with Balamb's rules and ours, sir. You'll see it everywhere you go in slightly different form when you travel from one region to another. Mixing rules is what changes rules. You'll either spread a rule, abolish a rule, or the rules will remain unchanged.

Never, and I mean never ever, mix rules in areas that you've already fixed. Have you ever played in Balamb with Open, then the next time you visited, the rules were Open and Random? This means that you mixed rules and Random spread to Balamb. If you're happy with the rules in a particular place, never, never mix.

Always answer No to the above question. You may have to say No twenty times, but keep saying No and eventually the person you're challenging will quit asking. Never forget this. In this case with Watts, we want to change the rules, so we must mix. When he asks to play with "Balamb's rules and ours," answer Yes. Now the mixed rules will appear: Open and Same and whatever trading rule you're using.

Instead of playing, choose Quit. After a hand or two, you should get the message "Open has spread to this region. After you receive the message that Open has spread, you've successfully changed your first card rule. Now challenge Watts again and play him this time for the Angelo card. Galbadia uses the Same rule. This means that when the numbers match on two or more sides of a card the numbers are the same, thus the name , you'll turn the matching cards. Here's an example: 2 1 7 3 7 6 6 4 Turtapod Blitz Turtapod's in the top-left corner; Blitz is in the top-right corner.

If you place a Bomb card between them, you'll turn both cards. This matching can be in a horizontal line as above or a vertical line. Most commonly, however, it will be a corner play. One thing to watch for as you play - if you see a player leave his normal pattern instead of playing in a corner, he puts a card in the center, for example , he is probably trying to set up a Same play.

This is the great strength of the Open rule - you can compare his cards to yours and break up the play by putting a card of your own in the slot. Even if you must play a card that can be turned, it's better to have one card turned than two, even three if it matches on three sides.

Always break up these plays. You won't have to concern yourself much with Same. Since you'll normally be playing with high-level cards that your opponent can't match, Same isn't usually a problem. Just don't forget it's there. Quistis and Zell both have weak sides when it comes to matching.

That's one of the reasons I rarely use their cards. There's only one card "incident" in Timber. When you fight the two soldiers in front of the pub, you'll receive a card. Mention this card to the drunk blocking the door, and he'll give you the card and another one he'll also move out of the way. While in Timber, be sure to pick up the magazine "The Girl Next Door" from among the stacks in the first room of the Timber Maniacs building.

You'll need it for a rare card later. When you're done in Timber, it's time for us to once again visit the Queen of Cards. After you leave Timber, you'll head to East Academy.

When the train stops, don't get off. The train will now take you to Dollet. The rules in Dollet are Random and Elemental, but you don't have to understand either one right now because we're getting rid of both. Let's change some card rules. Update note: Natedawg tells me that he has had better luck abolishing if he wins a few games against the person first.

I haven't tried this myself, but I thought I'd pass it on for those of you who'd like to try it. In the same vein, WindCloud has found that it seems to improve your chances of abolishing if you abolish first and then spread Open. This would probably help. Just keep in mind that the game won't let you abolish all the rules in a region with the exception of erasing rules in Balamb.

I once spent a very long time indeed in Dollet trying to abolish both Random and Elemental before I spread Open. The first rule went quickly, but after hours of trying, I realized that the game would not let me leave Dollet with NO rules. When you get down to one rule left, you'll need to spread Open before you try to get rid of that last rule. Save outside town. When you enter Dollet, you'll see two girls standing at the car rental place.

Challenge the one on the left to cards. She will say, "So like, you seem to know rules unfamiliar to this region. So like, let's play a game with Galbadia's rules and ours. You say Yes. Now the rules will appear Open, Random, Elemental, Same, and the trading rule. Choose Quit quitting allows you to combine and change rules without having to play so many games, and, in this instance, you don't risk your rare cards to the Random rule. It shouldn't take long to spread Open.

If you happen to get a message saying "Random or Elemental was abolished from this region," even better, but this rarely happens. As soon as Open spreads, go outside and save. To change another rule in Dollet, we must go in with a rule they don't have Same , so we'll run to Timber. If you stay on the road, you won't encounter any enemies. When you enter Timber, you'll see two guards at the front gate.

Challenge the one on the left. He'll say, "You seem to know rules unfamiliar to this region. Let's play a game with Dollet's rules and ours. This man will probably suggest that you mix rules several times. Say NO every single time, and eventually he'll just say, "How about a game of cards? When the rules come up Open and Same , you can either quit or play.

It's up to you. Now head back to Dollet. Save outside before you go in and go challenge the same girl to a game. Follow the exact same procedure you did before: "Galbadia's rules and ours? There are five possible outcomes here: "Open was abolished from this region. You are interested only in Random and Elemental. If any of the other three occur, reset and try again. Just keep at it until either Random or Elemental is abolished. Now go outside and save again.

Don't become discouraged. Of all the players I've tried in Dollet, this girl changes rules the most readily, but it can still take time.

Which rules spread or abolish is random, so you just keep resetting until you get the one you want. After ridding Dollet of Elemental or Random and saving outside, head to Timber one last time. Keep saying No to the guard until you're carrying Timber's rules of Same and Open. Return to Dollet, save outside, and challenge the girl again. Mix, Yes, Quit resetting as you need to until you abolish that last rule.

Go outside and save. You have just established Open as the only card rule in Dollet, and you just made your life and the Queen of Cards quest much, much easier. Now that Random and Elemental are gone, head to the pub. Go upstairs and save you'll need Siren's Move-Find junctioned to see it. You'll see the Queen of Cards standing in the center of the room, but ignore her for now.

Speak to the man on the left and agree "to start. Defeat him, and he will take you to his private room. Speak to him to receive several level 1 cards as a gift then challenge him to cards. Play him until you win the lovely Siren card unless you were lucky enough to get her the very first time you played him.

Siren is a wonderful addition to your playing hand - she greatly strengthens the lower-left corner, so she'll replace the Malboro I've been using. On your way out, stop at the pile of magazines right beside the door and hit the X button to search it.

You'll get lots of worthless coupons and often the message "Nothing of interest here. This stack of magazines is interesting because it's an unending supply of free stuff. After you receive three items, leave the room and return then search the magazines until you receive three more items.

It never ends - collect as much stuff as you want. Things I've received from this pile include Occult Fan II, potions, softs, antidotes, phoenix downs, and Geezard cards. When you're done in the private room, return to the queen and save at the top of the stairs. Speak to the queen and ask about her artist father the fourth choice. The queen will tell you that she gave Minimog to her son and that the Kiros card the new card created from Minimog is in Deling City. She'll also tell you that she wants to get her hands on a Sacred card.

We've discussed before one way to change the Trading rule. Now, we'll talk about the other way. Thanks again to Terence for explaining this to me. When you speak to the Queen of Cards, there are three responses to choose from four in Dollet when you add in her artist father. For changing the trading rule, concentrate on the second option - "The current trend of trading rules.

I spoke to the queen about the current trend of trading rules, and she told me, "Currently, the trading rule is based on Galbadia's rule. There is some trading taking place. Trading rule One will spread out from this region. You can change the dominant region by playing in another one. Since Dollet was using the Diff rule and I'd already reset the playing rules to Open, making games easy , I played several games of cards in Dollet to establish it as the dominant region. You must play at least ten games somewhere to make that region dominant.

After playing about a dozen games, I returned to the queen and asked her about the current trend again. This time she told me that the trading rule was based on Dollet's rule, and that Diff would spread out from that region. That's what I wanted. This is the second way to change the trading rule. I don't play the queen here right now, because I don't want to take the chance that she'll change the rule which she randomly does, as we discussed before.

I still don't know everything about the trading rule; it sometimes changes on its own. If you hit a place where you don't like the rule like Direct , go to another region to play and try to spread a rule from there. If this doesn't work, send the queen to the region and play her until the rule changes. You don't need to do this until you've finished her quest, however, so we'll talk about that more later.

Okay, the queen told you that she gave Minimog to her son. When you leave the pub, run down the street to Squall's right. You'll see a boy in a green shirt standing outside a door. Speak to him, and he'll run inside. Follow him. This is the queen's son he's in trouble with his grandpa at the moment. Challenge him to win back your Minimog card.

From now on, any card that you give the queen at her request this does not include any other cards that you might lose to her can be reclaimed from her son. When you lose the card she wants, it goes automatically into her son's hand so long as you're shuttling back and forth from Balamb to Dollet so that you can get it back. Just remember that if you let her go anywhere else from Balamb to Galbadia, let's say , the card will not go to her son right then.

She can't give it to him if she's not in Dollet. By shuttling her back and forth between Dollet and Balamb, she's always in Dollet at one end of the shuttle or the other. You can write and submit your own guide for this game using either our full-featured online editor or our basic text editor. We also accept maps and charts as well. Log In Sign Up. Keep me logged in on this device Forgot your username or password? Don't have an account? Sign up for free! What do you need help on?

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You don't want to lose Quistis. I'll show you how our game went when she finally used Zell. She'll probably turn it with Zell, then you can turn it back with Ifrit or turn Zell's card and continue from there. Once you have Zell, go save.

Remember for future reference that Zell must be in your party whenever you want to play cards with Ma Dincht. Now you can play more in Balamb or return and play in Balamb Garden. Kadowaki, Cid, the cafeteria lady on the left, the Trepie in the cafeteria who had Quistis' card, and the guy standing at the first bunch of shelves in the library. Cid probably plays with Elnoyle the most at this stage of the game, but he's a better player than are all the others.

Should you go for the Elnoyle cards now, just be aware of what you're in for. You might as well settle in for the evening. If you're going to play a lot, you might as well get the Seifer and Diablos cards first. After receiving your Timber assignment, speak to Cid to get the Old Lamp. Leave the screen and return; Cid will be gone. Go to the save point by the directory. Save and use the Old Lamp to fight Diablos. When you defeat him, you'll receive his card. With Diablos to add to your hand, you're ready to try Headmaster Cid.

Cid is one of the better players in the game, so be very attentive when you play him. Take the elevator to the third floor after you save, as always to find Cid in his office and challenge him to a game.

Play until you win Seifer. Seifer is a very strong card. Once it's yours, your hand is pretty much unbeatable for most of the rest of the game. Seifer is a wonderful addition to your hand because he covers that top-left corner we've been discussing as does Diablos in a pinch. Seifer can't be turned from the bottom or the right except by very, very few cards none of which you'll see in normal game play , so once he's turned that boxed-in top-left corner, it's game over.

If you're going to stay here and play Cid for a while for Elnoyles, for example , replace the Quistis card with Seifer and continue. Pupu requires a side quest later in the game; we'll discuss it then. Now let's start the Queen of Cards quest. The Queen of Cards has five rare cards that you can acquire through the course of the game. You must give her the card she wants.

She will give this card to her artist father who will make a new card based on it. You will then acquire the new card. She has eight regular locations around the world where she can be found if you prefer to chase her everywhere.

The easiest way to handle the queen, however, is to shuttle her back and forth between Balamb and Dollet. We'll start the quest by giving her Minimog. Save at the hotel. Challenge the queen and purposely lose Minimog to her. Her cards are very weak, so have Minimog and four level 1 cards in your hand.

You must let her have Minimog to continue, so play to lose. After she's won Minimog, speak to her X button. She'll tell you that the region is getting boring, so she's going somewhere else. If she says she's going to Dollet, go save.

If she says she's going to Galbadia, reset and do it again. From Lunar Gate, you must search for her she won't tell you where she's going from there. So, stick to Balamb and Dollet. You'll be resetting a lot as you change card rules, so I'll mention the soft reset feature. Pause your game Select button. While holding these five buttons down, hit Select again. The game will start over. This way you won't have to jump up and hit reset every few minutes.

Play and reset until the queen tells you that she's going to Dollet. Now that she's on her way with Minimog in hand, you can head for Timber. One other note while we're in the town of Balamb: if at any time you accidentally spread rules in Balamb, you can erase them.

Go to the docks and look for a man crouched down near the water with his back to you. He won't be here if Open is the only rule in Balamb. If there are other rules present, and he's not there, leave town and return and you should find him. Should you somehow really mess up the rules here, use this guy to wipe them out then return and spread Open.

I forgot to mention this guy when I first wrote the faq because I'd never used him. I spread rules in Balamb a couple of times to see for myself how it worked I'd read that he charged you 10, gil to erase the rules, but this isn't the case - just play.

When I spoke to him, he was stuck in Balamb because he'd ditched class and Balamb Garden was gone when he got back. Whether this means you can't find him on Disc One, I'm not sure. He is definitely there on Disc Two after Balamb Garden is mobile. Hopefully, you'll never need him, but I thought I'd better mention him, just in case. After the Laguna sequence, you'll get on the train that serves as base for the Forest Owls.

Save first there's a save point up the stairs in the first room. Now challenge Watts to a game. This is the first time you'll change some rules. When you challenge Watts, he will say, "Mr.

Seed, you seem to know rules unfamiliar to this region. Let's play a game with Balamb's rules and ours, sir. You'll see it everywhere you go in slightly different form when you travel from one region to another. Mixing rules is what changes rules. You'll either spread a rule, abolish a rule, or the rules will remain unchanged.

Never, and I mean never ever, mix rules in areas that you've already fixed. Have you ever played in Balamb with Open, then the next time you visited, the rules were Open and Random?

This means that you mixed rules and Random spread to Balamb. If you're happy with the rules in a particular place, never, never mix. Always answer No to the above question. You may have to say No twenty times, but keep saying No and eventually the person you're challenging will quit asking. Never forget this. In this case with Watts, we want to change the rules, so we must mix. When he asks to play with "Balamb's rules and ours," answer Yes.

Now the mixed rules will appear: Open and Same and whatever trading rule you're using. Instead of playing, choose Quit. After a hand or two, you should get the message "Open has spread to this region. After you receive the message that Open has spread, you've successfully changed your first card rule.

Now challenge Watts again and play him this time for the Angelo card. Galbadia uses the Same rule. This means that when the numbers match on two or more sides of a card the numbers are the same, thus the name , you'll turn the matching cards. Here's an example: 2 1 7 3 7 6 6 4 Turtapod Blitz Turtapod's in the top-left corner; Blitz is in the top-right corner.

If you place a Bomb card between them, you'll turn both cards. This matching can be in a horizontal line as above or a vertical line. Most commonly, however, it will be a corner play.

I abolish everything, but abolishing just Random and Plus everywhere is almost as effective. Elemental and Sudden Death are more annoying than dangerous, so just abolish based on your personal preferences. When the Ragnarok lands, you'll be just outside the Kashkabald Desert.

When Rinoa leaves, junction Enc-None and go out the way she did. We're going to start the Alien side quest now for the Pupu card that blank space in your level 5 card list. Run around in the desert until you have an alien encounter - you'll see a spaceship carrying a pyramid you won't have to fight.

Now fly to Winhill don't you love Ragnarok's auto-pilot feature? With Enc-None still junctioned, run circles around the village until you see the spaceship go by with a cow. Save your game. Enter Winhill from the end closest to the Desert Prison.

You'll see two mercenaries standing there. We're going to start abolishing Centra's rules now. In case I haven't been clear enough before, I'll go step-by-step. Go to the first mercenary and press the square button to challenge him to a game. He'll say, "You seem to know rules unfamiliar to this region.

Let's play a game with Lunar's rules and ours. The guy tells me, "The Same Wall rule has spread to this region. I go back and try again.

This time, he tells me, "The Open rule has spread to this region. I go outside and save. I am now carrying Centra's rules.

If you abolished Plus in space, you'll need Centra's rules, too. If you abolished Same in space, go to Timber and pick that up. If you abolished Elemental, go see Martine in FH to pick that up. Just keep saying No to mixing rules so that you will carry the rules of that region. At Lunar Gate, save outside then go in and challenge the girl standing on the right to cards. She'll say, "I don't think those rules exist in this region.

Let's play a game with Centra's rules and ours, O. When the rules appear, choose Quit. On the first hand, she said, "The Random rule has spread throughout this region. Reset and go back in. Centra's rules and ours? This time, I get "The Elemental rule was abolished from this region.

Go outside and save. Fly back to Winhill. Save outside. Go back to the same man. Lunar's rules and ours? At this point, I'm seeing a pattern I don't like, so I'm going to try a different rule. Often, your chances of knocking out a rule at a certain place are better if you're carrying only one different rule just Elemental instead of Same Wall and Sudden Death. Sometimes you get lucky and knock one out right off, but it's not working, so I'll head to FH.

If you've already abolished Sudden Death in FH, you're all set. Just challenge Martine when you land in FH. When he asks to play with Centra's rules and ours, say No. Eventually, he'll just say, "A game of cards you say? Play or quit then head back to Winhill. Now go to FH. Save your game at the railroad track first you don't want to risk spreading Same. Timber's rules and ours? If you abolish Elemental, do it over. Keep on until Sudden Death is gone. Now you'll be carrying Open and Elemental.

Head back to Winhill. You know the drill. Challenge the mercenary. FH's rules and ours? Nothing happened no message , so I challenge him again. If he doesn't ask to mix rules this time, the rules remained unchanged, so you'll need to reset.

If he does ask to mix, continue. Nothing happened. Return to FH and pick up Elemental from Martine no, no, no to mixing. Back to Winhill. Reset if you get either of those messages. After several resets, I abolished Same this time. Once Plus is gone, Centra's rules have been reduced to Open. All right! With Open as Centra's only rule, you're now ready to play Edea she uses Centra's rules if you didn't previously.

You won't have any trouble winning her card from her. If you missed Seifer previously, you can get him from Cid here, too. I always put the Edea card into my playing hand as soon as I get her. She would replace either Siren or Selphie whichever you're using.

This is completely subjective. I use Siren and Selphie interchangeably up to this point. I like Edea because she's impossible to turn unless she gets caught up in a combo play, which we've eliminated with all those rules. Edea and Alexander make a wonderful combination. I always play Edea first in the bottom-left corner my anchor card, if you will.

Then when a player boxes in that top-left corner, I use Alexander. With a 9 on top, he can turn many cards that Seifer can't, and Edea provides protection to Alexander's vulnerable 4 on the bottom.

Then I use Seifer to turn the next boxed-in card if it happens to play out that way. This is just a matter of personal preference though. You need to use the cards you feel most confident in playing. My good friend, Vilurum, plays from the top down while I play from the bottom up. Your personal style of play will best dictate which cards you use. Now, back to abolishing. He won't ask you to mix this time because you're only carrying Open.

Just play a game with him, and you've got the rules. I know I've said it a million times, but I'll say it once more. Each time to go to Martine and he asks to mix Lunar rules with ours, say NO. If you knock out Same, you can forget Same Wall because it will no longer be enforced, so concentrate on eliminating Sudden Death, Plus, and Same.

You can abolish either one, but don't abolish them both. You'll need the Same Wall rule in one of these places to get rid of the last rule in the world. Once you've reduced the Lunar rules to Open, it's time to go get Alexander if you didn't get him in space. Fly past Tears' Point be careful not to run into Lunatic Pandora , over the fence, to the end of that long stretch of land the Abadan Plains. Land Ragnarok and just run around at the end of the peninsula until you hit the Lunar Crash Site.

The location changes from game to game, but it's always in this general area. You can't see it, so you'll just run until you hit it. You will find Piet here beside the crashed escape pod. Take Alexander off his hands. We've neglected the Queen of Cards for a long time. Now that you have Alexander, head to Dollet.

Remember to save at the top of the stairs in the pub. Lose Alexander and make sure she's going to Balamb. If she says Galbadia, reset. Remember, too, that if she uses a trading rule you don't like like Direct , quit and challenge her again to try and avoid spreading Direct where you are the trading rule will be reflected with the CC memebers, too.

I had to reset seven times this time to send her to Balamb, but she finally went. Run down the street and retrieve Alexander from the queen's son. You might as well do the dog bone side quest now if you haven't before.

Look at the bone on the painting then find the dog and look at the bone on his collar.