Kingdom Hearts Card Struggle -Daifugō-
Kingdom Hearts Card Struggle -Daifugō- (キングダムハーツCard Struggle～大富豪～ Kingudamu Hātsu Card Struggle ~Daifugō~), also written as KH Card Struggle -Daifugō- or more commonly KH Daifugō, is a mini-game application available through Kingdom Hearts Mobile. It is a Kingdom Hearts-themed version of the card game Daifugō. The game also includes an original story that expands on the plot of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, written by Tetsuya Nomura.[1]
Kingdom Hearts Card Struggle -Daifugō- was released on December 15, 2008, one of three mini-games available at the launch of the mobile service. It was discontinued on April 30, 2013 along with the rest of Kingdom Hearts Mobile.
Story[edit]
After Sora's climb through Castle Oblivion, he must go to sleep to recover the memories he lost in the castle. To restore his memories, Naminé uses her powers to piece together Sora's fragmented memories in various patterns, causing him to relive his prior experiences in new forms. As Sora revisits world after world within his mind, he must fight back against his memories in card battles.
In the end, Sora is able to follow the path that he has taken so far. The memory restoration process will continue, and Sora's journey will continue to repeat itself in his mind in different forms. In the pod, Sora appears to be smiling.
Transcript[edit]
| Kingdom Hearts Card Struggle -Daifugō- Transcript (Translated) | |
|---|---|
| Sora and his friends' "first journey'" -- their journey to reclaim their lost world and best friends -- has come to an end.
However, when searching for Riku and the King, who disappeared into the Realm of Darkness, Sora, Donald, and Goofy find themselves lost in a mysterious castle. Although they defeat new enemies inside the castle, Sora ends up losing his memories. However, thanks to a girl named Naminé who can manipulate memories, Sora and his friends enter a sleep that will restore their memories. Naminé speaks to Sora as he sleeps. "To restore memories, I try to piece together Sora's fragmented memories over and over again in various patterns." "So, the fragmented keywords from the past will be reborn in Sora in a different form." "Some of them may even become things that Sora will have to fight." "Even if the form is different, Sora must win again and follow the path he has taken so far." "Because his true memories will connect beyond that..." | |
| Traverse Town A | When Sora visits Traverse Town, Leon tells him, "If you are truly the one chosen by the Keyblade, you must demonstrate a strength that doesn't rely solely on the power of the Keyblade," and he sets out to prove it in a card battle. |
| Olympus Coliseum | Sora arrives at Olympus Coliseum. Hades, unable to beat Hercules through strength, resorts to a battle of wits. Sora decides to join the card battle to help Hercules. |
| Castle Oblivion A | Following a figure in a black coat, Sora arrives at Castle Oblivion. Sora heads for the top floor to search for his best friend Riku inside the castle. As Organization XIII attacks one after another, Sora has to fight back in a card battle. |
| Hollow Bastion | Beast, who came from another world, joins Sora to rescue Belle, who was taken by the witch Maleficent. Sora also challenges Riku, now controlled by the power darkness, to a card battle in order to recover Kairi, someone very important to him. |
| Wonderland | In Wonderland, Alice is being put on trial for a crime she did not commit. Sora successfully proves Alice’s innocence, but the arrogant Queen of Hearts is not satisfied and declares, "If you don’t win at cards, you’re guilty." Sora teams up with Alice to take on the card battle. |
| Castle Oblivion B | Sora finally reaches the top floor of Castle Oblivion and faces off against Marluxia, the castle's master. However, thanks to Naminé's quick thinking in manipulating memories, the battle is decided to be played with cards, and a mysterious figure named DiZ also bursts in. |
| Agrabah | When Jafar tries to steal the lamp that Sora and Aladdin got in the cave, the genie of the lamp bursts out. With no master to serve, Genie suggests they determine who his master is through a card battle. |
| Traverse Town B | Sora and his friends return to Traverse Town to reflect on their journey so far, and the King suddenly appears before them. Wanting to see how much they've grown, he challenges them to a card battle. |
| Although one pattern in Sora's restoration of memories may have taken a different form, he was able to reach the same goal without straying from the path of his journey so far.
Until the story of a new journey begins, Sora's journey will continue to repeat like this in his memories. In the pod, is Sora embarking on another journey through his memories? Or is he having fun dreams with his best friends? Sora appears to be smiling. | |
Mechanics[edit]
As Sora, the player plays rounds of cards in one of two modes: Challenge Mode, a series of structured levels with an original story, and Free Mode, a quick match in a world of the player's choosing. In Challenge Mode, Sora must earn 1000 points in four rounds to clear the world. 400 points are awarded for first place, 200 for second, 100 for third, and no points for last place. A world can only be selected in Free Mode once it is cleared in Challenge Mode.
There are eight worlds, each with their own set of three opponents.
- Traverse Town A: Leon, Yuffie, Aerith
- Olympus Coliseum: Hercules, Hades, Cloud
- Castle Oblivion A: Axel, Larxene, Vexen
- Hollow Bastion: Beast, Riku, Maleficent
- Wonderland: Alice, Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit
- Castle Oblivion B: Naminé, DiZ, Marluxia
- Agrabah: Aladdin, Genie, Jafar
- Traverse Town B: The King, Donald, Goofy
Rules[edit]
The game follows the traditional rules of Daifugō for four-player matches. The goal of the game is to be the first player to empty your hand. KH Daifugō is played with a modified deck of cards: 2s are stronger than Aces, all 9 and 10s are removed, and there is a single joker.
The human player always goes first. After they place down a card, all players take turns placing down progressively higher cards in a pile. If all players pass, either by choice or by being unable to place down a higher card, the pile is cleared and the last player to place down a card gets to play the first card of the next pile. This process repeats until one player has cleared their hand, after which the remaining players continue to compete for second and third place.
Once the round is over, the cards are re-dealt and the game starts again; however, the winners of the first round are given a starting advantage in the second round. The player in last place must give their two strongest cards to the player in first place, who can give whatever two cards they please in return. Likewise, the player in third place exchanges their single strongest card for one card of the second place player's choosing.
There are many additional rules that build on the basic Daifugō formula. When placing down the first cards of a pile, the player can choose to play two or more of the same valued card, which forces subsequent players to also play doubles, triples, etc. They can also choose to make a sequence play (or staircase play), which consists of three or more cards of the same suit that are adjacent in value. Additionally, if a four-of-a-kind is played at any point, it activates a revolution. During a revolution, all card values are flipped, making 3 the highest and 2 the lowest. A revolution can be undone by playing another four-of-a-kind.
KH Daifugō also has a selection of optional rules that can be toggled on or off before each match.
- Cut 8: Clears the pile instantly if an 8 is played.
- Prohibited Card Win: If a player plays the highest-valued card as their winning hand, they are instead given last place. The ban applies to Jokers, 2s (during normal gameplay), and 3s (during revolutions). The bans on each card can be toggled individually.
- Suit Restriction: If any two players place down cards same suit in a row, all further cards in the pile are limited to that same suit.
- Joker Return: The Joker can be defeated by three 3s.
- Falling from the Capital: If the winner of the previous game does not become first place, they will unconditionally be ranked the lowest player.
Gallery[edit]
The main menu.
Gameplay of KH Daifugō.
Small game icon.
Medium game icon.
Large game icon.
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Notes and references[edit]
- ^ 4Gamer Melody of Memory Interview, Tetsuya Nomura: "This is a slight tangent, but a long time ago we did a flip phone game called Kingdom Hearts Mobile, which had a 'Tycoon' card-based minigame. It involved characters playing Tycoon, and Disney asked us to add plot to it. They wanted there to be a reason that the characters would be playing Tycoon together. So yes, I wrote a story for that, and I thought, well, if I had given Tycoon a story then this game should very well have one too. I settled on Kairi as the narrator, and wrote new plot that leads into what is coming next." (Translation by goldpanner.)
