Chicobo is a one-of-a-kind Triple Triad card in Final Fantasy VIII used to play the minigame and for turning into items with Quezacotl's Card Mod. Chicobo is the eighty-second card in the inventory and the fifth Level 8 card. It depicts the pseudo-Guardian Force Boko summoned with the Gysahl Greens item rather than with the GF command after completing a Chocobo Forest for the first time. The card is called "Chicobo" even if the chicobo's default name is Boko and the player can also rename the bird. The card is also part of the Queen of Cards sidequest.
As a Level 8 GF Card Chicobo has good values with a 9 and an 8, values NPC card players can rarely beat without special rules. Its value placements may also be useful for games that use Same and/or Plus.
Obtain[]
Chocobo Forest sidequest completed.
The Chicobo card is a reward for completing the Chocobo Forests sidequest where the player must solve the puzzle of each forest where chocobos dwell. After having befriended all of the chocobos in the forests, the player will witness the "Dance of the Chocobos" at the Chocobo Sanctuary (hidden within the Grandidi Forest in northeast of Esthar continent only accessible by riding a chocobo there from another forest), and the chicobo will offer Squall the Chicobo card. The earliest the player can get the card is right after Balamb Garden becomes mobile and the player can free-roam the world map and visit their first Chocobo Forest, which can be visited in any order though the sanctuary should be left for last.
The Chicobo card is also used for the Queen of Cards sidequest to procure the Chubby Chocobo card. Whenever the queen is in Dollet, she will ask for a specific card so her father can create a new card that can be won off someone in the world. After receiving MiniMog and Sacred, the queen requests the Chicobo card. Losing it to her, her artist father will make the Chubby Chocobo card that can be won off a student outside the Balamb Garden library, and the queen gives the Chicobo card to her son. The player can win the Chicobo card back from the boy in the house opposite the Dollet pub, where the artist lives.
If the player completed the Card Club quest before the point of no return (fighting the boss atop the Lunatic Pandora), the club members will appear aboard the Ragnarok in the endgame, from whom the player can win all Level 8–10 cards they do not currently hold in their deck, even the cards they had modified before. This allows the player to modify the Chicobo card and then win it back.
Card Mod[]
The Chicobo refines into 100 Gysahl Greens with Quezacotl's Card Mod, an item that summons Boko in battle. Though useful for this purpose, the player can also simply buy the greens from the Chocoboy or from the chicobo in the Sanctuary at the end of the quest, as not having enough money is rarely a problem in Final Fantasy VIII if the player has at all a decent SeeD rank. The greens cannot be further refined.
Physical version[]
In 1999, following the release of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan, Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards in Final Fantasy VIII Carddass Masters Perfect Visuals. The set was made up of the 110 cards as seen in the game along with 72 artwork cards and a collector's edition playing mat. The cards have a blue side and a red side. The cards have become a rare collector's item.