Final Fantasy VIII/Cards

Triple Triad is a card game played by most characters in the game. Challenge anyone to a game by pressing [SWITCH] next to them. Be aware that not everyone plays. The aim of the game is to win one or all of your opponents cards by capturing them with your own.

Cards
The cards are representations of most of the monsters, bosses, GFs and major characters in the game.

Each card has a picture of the monster, boss, GF or character it represents, four numbers from 1 (the lowest) to Ace(A) (the highest) in the top-left hand corner and in some cases an elemental symbol e.g. fire, in the top-right hand corner. These numbers represent the cards strength in each of the 4 directions. So in the example above the T-Rexaur Card has a strength of ?? in the North direction, ?? in the East, ?? in the West and ?? in the South. The higher the number, the stronger the card. There are 110 cards in total which are split into ten levels:
 * Levels 1-5 Monster Cards
 * Levels 6-7 Boss Cards
 * Levels 8-9 GF Cards
 * Level 10 Character Cards

The Play
The Triple Triad Board is a 3x3 square and each player chooses, or recieves 5 of their cards at random to play with. The player to place the first card is chosen at random by the game. Players then take it in turns to place a card in any empty square until no squares remain. When a card is placed, any of the opposing cards it touches will be captured if the placed card's strength in that direction exceeds that of the card in the opposing direction. Once all cards are placed, the player who has the most cards wins.

Special Rules
Triple Triad has a number of special rules. The combination of rules in play varies depending on where the game is taking place.
 * Open - Your opponents' cards are visible.
 * Random - Your cards for this round are chosen at random from your available cards.
 * Same - When a card is placed, if the numbers of the placed card and two or more adjacent cards are the same, these cards will all be captured.
 * Plus - When a card is placed, if the numbers of the placed card and two or more adjacent cards add up to the same amount, these cards will all be captured.
 * Same/Same Plus - The 'Same' and 'Plus' rules are both active
 * Same Wall - The 'Same' rule applies with the walls of the board acting as extra cards. The Wall takes a value of 'A'
 * Combo - When a card is captured with 'Same', 'Plus' or 'Same Wall', any cards surrounding it will be captured if their strength is lower than that cards strength in that direction.
 * Elemental - When this rule is active, a random number of elemental symbols appear on the board. If a card with an elemental symbol is placed in a square with the same symbol then it recieves a +1 bonus to it's strength in all directions. Any card without a matching symbol recieves a -1 deduction to it's strength in all directions.
 * Trade Rule: One - The winner of the game selects one of his opponents cards as a reward.
 * Trade Rule: All - The winner of the game recieves all of the cards his opponent has in play!

Initial Rule Combinations

Each region of the game begins with a different combination of the rules described above. The initial combinations of rules are:
 * Balamb -
 * Dollet -
 * Timber -
 * Deiling City -
 * Trabia -
 * Centra -
 * Fisherman's Horizon -
 * Shumi Tribe -
 * Space Station -
 * Ragnarok -

Spreading/Discarding of Rules As you play games in that region, some rules may be discarded or rules you have acquired from other areas may spread throughout that region. When you intiate a game in a region which does not know all of the rules that you do, the first game you play will involve all of the rules from both regions. Once the game is concluded the rules will often (but not always) change and one or more of the new rules you have brought to the region will either spread or be discarded. This process continues until all of the new rules have been either spread or discarded. You can also edit the rules for a region by finding the Queen of Cards and paying her to do so. See that section for more information.

Same/Same Plus/Same Wall In Action
Same, Same Plus and Same Wall are best explained by an example: