When a series reaches a certain level of popularity, its creators often look to expand into new markets. This is usually in the form of manga, anime or feature films. The Final Fantasy series has tried its hand at each of these and, for the most part at least, has been pretty successful. In fact, there’s very little that Square Enix hasn’t tried when it comes to expanding the audience for their most successful series.
One of the more out of the box additions to the world of Final Fantasy comes in the form of the many board and card games released over the past two decades. Not all of them have been successful and many never made their way out of Japan. For fans of the series looking for another fix of that Final Fantasy goodness though, there are plenty of options available.
10 Final Fantasy VII Monopoly
Fans were incredibly excited when the news of a Final Fantasy VII version of monopoly first broke back in 2016. It was planned to release in April of the following year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the game. Despite many people pre-ordering their copies from Merchoid at $50 a pop however, the game is yet to arrive.
Several months after the project was first announced, Merchoid contacted customers to inform them that the game had been delayed due to licensing issues and refunds were issued. Although the company made it clear that they still intended to produce the game, very little news has emerged since. With the 25th anniversary of the game not too far away, perhaps Square might provide an update soon.
9 Chocobo Mystery Game Card (1999)
Chocobo Mystery Game Card was released exclusively in Japan shortly after the release of Chocobo’s Dungeon 2 on the original PlayStation. The game was incredibly complicated and didn’t really prove popular with Japanese players. As a result, it never received a Western release.
The game is played by two people with players attempting to escape from a dungeon by playing different types of cards. A boxed set was available for around the equivalent of $13 and contains a total of 59 cards. Players could also purchase additional cards, with a booster pack of four cards costing around $1.
8 Final Fantasy VIII: Triple Triad (1999)
Anybody who has played Final Fantasy VIII should be fairly well acquainted with the game’s Triple Triad minigame. What most people might not realize is that a physical version of the minigame was released in Japan to tie-in with the game’s release. It was published by Bandai and featured artwork by Tetsuya Nomura himself.
The game functioned exactly the same way that it did in Final Fantasy VIII. Players have five cards with each having a different number assigned to its four sides. If a card is placed next to a card with a lower number, the card is flipped and is counted as a point for the person who played the higher rated card. Whoever has the most points after the ninth card played wins.
7 Final Fantasy IX: Tetra Master (2000)
Final Fantasy IX: Tetra Master is another real-world rendition of a virtual minigame. Released by Square Enix in 2000 to coincide with the launch of Final Fantasy IX, Tetra Master was sold worldwide although in fairly limited quantities. Unlike Triple Triad before it, Tetra Master was sold as a complete set rather than the cards being sold in booster packs.
The game works just like its digital namesake. Players take turns placing cards on a four-by-four grid in an attempt to finish with the most points. Each side of the card has a number assigned to it and placing a card next to a card with a lower number results in that card being flipped. There are 120 different cards – all of which are based on the ones found in Final Fantasy IX.
6 Final Fantasy Trading Card Game (2012)
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game first released in Japan back in 2012. It was produced by Square Enix & Hobby Japan and sold 3.5 million booster packs in its first four years. Due to the game’s domestic success, Square decided to create a second iteration called Opus which was available worldwide. Unfortunately, however, the game never really took off in the West.
It’s possible that this was due to the game’s somewhat complicated set of rules. With a wide variety of different card-types and several different winning conditions, it was not an easy game to pick up and play. With 50 cards required to build a deck, it wasn’t a cheap game to play either.
5 Chocobo’s Crystal Hunt (2016)
Released in 2016, Chocobo’s Crystal Hunt is a game for up to five players. It’s one of the more complicated games produced by Square Enix and requires a fair amount of strategy – especially when more than two people are playing. The base version of the game features a wide array of cards and game pieces and these can be supplemented with the Dungeon & Monsters expansion set.
To play the game, players must send their chocobos to steal the crystals of other players. Although it sounds fairly straightforward, they must do so before their own crystals are stolen. The game can be a little hectic at times due to its fast-paced nature, but in many ways that’s all part of the fun.
4 Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary (2017)
Itadaki Street is a long running Japanese series of digital board games similar to the Mario Party games. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of both Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, a special edition was released on the PlayStation 4 and PSVita. It includes both local and online multiplayer and allows for up to four players.
There are a number of different boards as well as a large range of characters taken from games from both the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series. Players collect money as they make their way around the board and the first player to accumulate the target amount and return to the castle is crowned the winner.
3 Final Fantasy XIV: Gold Saucer Cactpot Party (2019)
Cactpot is a minigame that can be played in the Manderville Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy XIV. Final Fantasy XIV: Gold Saucer Cactpot Party is a reimagining of the Mini Cactpot variant of this minigame and was released by Square Enix in 2019.
The game is a little similar to bingo, although instead of each player having their own card, they instead bet on potential outcomes on a single game card. Some of the numbers are hidden during the betting stage and players must guess whether certain conditions will be met once the numbers are revealed.
2 Chocobo Party Up! (2019)
Chocobo Party Up! was released in late 2019 and is a game for up to four players. It’s themed around the series’ famous chocobos and can take as long as 45 minutes to complete. The original artwork produced by Toshiyuki Itahana is simply stunning and helps to provide the charm one might expect from a chocobo themed game.
The aim of the game is to gather six of the wooden chocobo pieces into a players designated area of the board. There’s a certain level of strategy required due to the use of the game’s ‘friend cards’ which players can use to disrupt the progress of their rivals. It can be a bit of a slog to complete a game, but it should provide enough enjoyment to warrant the time investment.
1 Final Fantasy XIV: Doman Mahjong (2020)
The release of Final Fantasy XIV: Doman Mahjong has been pushed back a few times already due to the impact of COVID-19. According to Square’s official site though, it should be releasing in North America some time later this month. It’s based on the Doman Mahjong minigame found in Final Fantasy XIV and comes in a rather impressive looking carry case.
The set contains everything needed to play Doman Mahjong, including tiles, dice, and markers. Many of the items have been customized to include Final Fantasy characters, although it would seem that this customization comes at a rather hefty price. With the set coming in at $189.99, it’s unlikely that too many fans will be splashing out.
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