Tetra Master = Triple Triad

[Jinx]

So, as I was laying in bed last night I started thinking of FF card games (ah, to be a nerd.) And I realized--aren't Triple Triad and Tetra Master basically the same thing?

I never really "learned" how to play. I only played when necessary to the plot, and would just save/reset if I lost. I just stuck random cards with seemingly random numbers in random spaces.

So you card freaks out there...aren't these really just the exact same thing?

[Hollycat]

Not even close.
okay maybe a little.


But not really.

EDIT: BAH now you're making me think about it!
Maybe they are the same!

EDIT2: NONONONONONONONONO they have to be different things.
EDIT3: but what if they aren't? What does that do to my view of the the two games?
If they are the same things, maybe the games are the same things, maybe there is no ff9...
EDIT4: But there was a ff9, I mean, I played it, I enjoyed it, they have to be different!
EDIT5: OMG... What if all the theories were true,,, what if Squall=Queen Brahnne is real....
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!

[Jessweeee♪]

I'm team Triple Triad

[Alpha2099]

They're kinda the same. Certainly from a development perspective, Square wanted to do something similar to Triple Triad as a way of piggybacking off its popularity.

[Gamblet]

No way.

And Tetra Master was crap. Triple Triad is a lot more addicting.

[ShinGundam]

I think Tetra Master has slightly more depth but at the same time it was way more random to me and useless so TT wins for me.

[Wolf Kanno]

They are based on the same concept, placing cards a on a grid and trying to overturn other lower value cards based on the numbers designated to the cards but the actual rules of doing these "battles" is very different and what ultimately makes fans go to one over another.

Triple Triad for instance had several rules that could be in place to effect the usefulness of a card. When you get rules like Same and Plus, suddenly, some of those old seemingly "worthless" level one cards can now take down high level decks depending on how well you use it. Triple Triad kind of had the best design in terms of "easy to use, difficult to master" which made the game really fun until Random reels it's ugly head. The fact your could refine cards into high level items and the two really cool side-quests associated with it, also help make it a pretty fun game that engages the player from beginning to end.

Tetra Master is a bit different. In some ways it's simpler than Triple Triad since it kind of ignores the rule system, but then it kind of overly complicates things from TT by changing around the value system, and then proceeding to never explain how the value system works. Basically, if you look at a TM card, they have classes that denote melee, magic, and other, but never quite explain how these stats factor into battle against cross values. Obviously if two cards duel with the same class types duel, whichever card has the higher value wins, but then it gets a bit complicated when a card with a high magic value suddenly loses to a card with low melee. The game never really bothers to explain what all the numbers on the cards mean, making the game often feel really random when you suddenly lose an entire hand with your deck of rare cards against a guy using a more modest deck. TM isn't a bad game, but it's lack of meaningful explanation, it's interface that makes reading some of the values difficult if you don't own a sizable screen on your TV, and the fact it's not really relevant for anything but maybe one event makes it more of a distraction than a fun mini-game worth doing.

I prefer Triple Triad, it has a lot more strategy and depth, whereas TM can often be won by just abusing cards with lots of arrows and seemingly high stats. Often, I felt TM could be won simply by making sure you go last in a round, whereas it's pretty easy to shut-out an opponent in TT so they have no chance of regaining the momentum of battle.

[Del Murder]

What Kanno said.

Also Triple Triad was much more fun.

[Jinx]

Thank you, WK for a good explanation instead of just saying "LULZ TETRA MASTER SUX." I wanted a real answer, because I wasn't sure (earlier) of the differences. So thanks.

[Quindiana Jones]

If I remember right, Tetra Master goes a little something like this:

Three types of card: P, M and X(?). The letter denotes what type of attack the first number is. E.g. 1P00 is a card with 1 Physical Attack. A Physical Attack card is weighed against the first number after the letter. So a card with 1P00 will defeat a card with 9X09. I think. The second number after the letter is Magic Defence. A card with X Attack will, I believe, attack whichever defence stat is the weakest. As a full example:

1P00 will defeat 9P09. 6X00 will defeat 8M59. 7M00 will defeat 7P96.

I can't remember if that's actually accurate. I really need to play the game again to sort it all out haha.

[KentaRawr!]

Not even close.
okay maybe a little.


But not really.

EDIT: BAH now you're making me think about it!
Maybe they are the same!

EDIT2: NONONONONONONONONO they have to be different things.
EDIT3: but what if they aren't? What does that do to my view of the the two games?
If they are the same things, maybe the games are the same things, maybe there is no ff9...
EDIT4: But there was a ff9, I mean, I played it, I enjoyed it, they have to be different!
EDIT5: OMG... What if all the theories were true,,, what if Squall=Queen Brahnne is real....
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!

There was an FF9
The guy had a sword tail

[Jiro]

I liked both games, and both of them had elements that confused the absolute smurf out of me. I mean, most of Tetra Master remained a mystery, but I could generally win 90% of games based on having badass cards. Same applied for Triple Triad, though I sometimes was screwed by Same/Plus rules.

[ReloadPsi]

Triple Triad got you items that were helpful in the main game. Tetra Master did not.

I think you can figure out which I preferred.

[Tranquil]

TT was a lot better IMO.

[Depression Moon]

Tetra Master for me.