Triple-triad

A terminal-based Python implementation of the classic Triple Triad card game from Final Fantasy VIII, complete card collection with the classical rules

✨ Features

• 110 cards from FFVIII
• Chiptune music — Retro-style background music generated with NumPy and played through pygame-ce
• Interactive deck builder — Browse, filter, and sort all cards before picking your hand

🎮 How to Play

Triple Triad is a 2-player card game played on a 3×3 grid. Each player has 5 cards. Players take turns placing one card on the board. When a card is placed adjacent to an opponent's card, the touching sides are compared — if the attacker's value is higher, the defender's card is captured. The player with the most cards on the board at the end wins.

 ┌──────────────────┬──────────────────┬──────────────────┐
 │                  │                  │                  │
 │     [ 1 ]        │     [ 2 ]        │     [ 3 ]        │
 │                  │                  │                  │
 ├──────────────────┼──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
 │ ■Ifrit           │                  │                  │
 │      ▲ 9         │     [ 5 ]        │     [ 6 ]        │
 │ ◀ 5   Ice   8 ▶  │                  │                  │
 │      ▼ 6         │                  │                  │
 ├──────────────────┼──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
 │ □Shiva           │                  │                  │
 │      ▲ 6         │     [ 8 ]        │     [ 9 ]        │
 │ ◀ 6   Ice   9 ▶  │                  │                  │
 │      ▼ 7         │                  │                  │
 └──────────────────┴──────────────────┴──────────────────┘

• ■ = Your card
• □ = CPU's card
• Numbers inside empty cells = board position (1–9)

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13+
• NumPy (for audio synthesis)
• pygame-ce (for audio playback)

Installation from PyPI

Using pip:

pip install triple-triad-ff8

Using uv:

uv pip install triple-triad-ff8

Installation from Source

git clone https://github.com/fernando24164/triple-triad-ff8.git
cd triple-triad-ff8
uv sync --locked

Run the Game

python -m triple_triad

or

uv run triple-triad

or if installed via pip:

triple-triad

Help and Tutorial

To view the game tutorial and learn how to play:

triple-triad --help

or

triple-triad -h

This displays a comprehensive guide covering game rules, card mechanics, and gameplay tips.

🎵 Audio

The game includes a built-in chiptune soundtrack synthesized entirely in software:

• Generated with NumPy — no audio files required
• Played through pygame-ce — if pygame-ce is unavailable, the game runs silently

🧩 Rules

🛠 Development

Install Dev Dependencies

uv sync --locked

Run Tests

uv run pytest

Lint

uv run ruff check .

🌐 Multiplayer (P2P)

Triple Triad supports direct peer-to-peer multiplayer over TCP.

How it works

1. Host starts a lobby on a chosen port (default 64000).
2. Guest connects using the host's IP address and port.
3. The game synchronises rules, board elements, and decks before starting.

⚠️ NAT / Firewall Limitations

The current P2P implementation uses direct TCP connections

Workarounds:

• Port forwarding — Configure your router to forward the chosen port (default 64000) to the host machine.
• LAN play — Both players on the same local network work without any configuration.
• VPN — Use a VPN (e.g. Tailscale, ZeroTier, Hamachi) to create a virtual LAN.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how to get started:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch — git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Make your changes — follow the existing code style
4. Run tests — pytest
5. Submit a pull request

Please open an issue first for major changes to discuss the approach.

Build

uv build

twine upload dist/*

📄 License

This project is for educational and personal use. Triple Triad is a minigame from Final Fantasy VIII, © Square Enix. All card names and game mechanics are the property of their respective owners.