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Queen's Blood board.
Queen's Blood is a card game in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that is popular all over the world. It is a game-spanning sidequest the player can partake in. Difficulty level has no effect on Queen's Blood.
The game was created by Lidrehl Balmon.
Mechanics[]
Queen's Blood is a card game played on a three-by-five (3x5) grid of blank spaces where cards can be placed.
In a basic game, each player has a hand of five cards. At the beginning of the game, any unwanted cards can be selected to mulligan; once selected, they will be discarded and replaced with a new card from the player's deck. This can only be performed once at the beginning of the match.
Cards[]
The player can build and edit up to six different decks before playing a match, and in the main menu under "Card Decks". Each deck is required to have exactly 15 cards. Each card has a Rank, shown in the top-left corner, its Power, shown in the top-right corner, its Range, shown in an icon on the bottom half of the card, and its Ability.
Explanation on ranks and claiming positions from the opponent.
The card's Rank specifies the minimum number of pawns that must be present on a space in order for the card to be played on that space (a card of Rank 2, for example, can only be placed on a space with two or more pawns). "Replace" cards are not placed on spaces occupied by pawns, and instead destroy an existing card and take its place.
Explanation on positions.
The card's Range indicates how the card will manipulate the board. The white square denotes the card's relative position; red squares denote relative spaces that are impacted by the card's listed Ability. Solid yellow or red spaces denote where pawns will be added to the board; if there is not already a card present in the specified space, an extra pawn is added to the space. A maximum of three pawns can occupy any one space. If the space is occupied by the opposing player's pawn, the existing pawns are "captured" and converted into the player's color, and no extra pawn is added to the space.
Red squares denote that the card has an ability which will affect the specified tiles. A solid red square denotes that the card ability will impact the space and add an extra pawn; a transparent square with a red border denotes that while the space is affected by the card's Ability, no extra pawns will be added to the space.
Most commonly, card abilities manipulate the power of other cards on the board, increasing or decreasing the power by a specified amount. If a card's power is reduced to 0, the card is destroyed. Some cards have abilities that will destroy ally or enemy cards instantly. Several card abilities are conditional, triggered only when the card is played, enhanced, or destroyed. Some abilities will add extra cards to the player's hand. Some will add bonuses to the player score if they win the lane where the card is played. Card abilities can be seen by hovering over the selected card.
How to play[]
The objective of Queen's Blood is to earn a higher total score than one's opponent.
The score in each lane is determined based on the total power of each card on the board. If a player has a higher total power in the lane compared to their opponent, their total power in that lane is added to their total score, and their opponent's score is discarded. Each of the three lanes is scored independently. During gameplay, the highest score in each lane is highlighted so the player can see at a glance which lanes will count towards their total score.
The game begins with six pawns on the board: three emerald pawns on the left side of the board, and three red pawns on the right side of the board. On the player's turn, they can choose a card from their deck to place on the board. When a card is selected, valid spaces where the card can be played are highlighted on the board. Each player plays one card per turn.
If the player has the advantage, or can no longer place cards, they can pass their turn with 
. If both players pass their turn, the game concludes and the scores are tallied.
Rule variations[]
Card Carnival[]
In Costa del Sol, there are 3 easy card puzzles, 5 advanced card puzzles, and 9 collection challenges. Each puzzle is designed to showcase the unique abilities of certain cards. Completing the challenge shows mastery of the card, which is given as a reward to the player.
Gold Saucer[]
The card challenges in the Gold Saucer's Wonder Square are designed not to introduce new card abilities, but to test player expertise against a variety of situational challenges, such as starting a match with three pawns in each starting space instead of one, or starting from the opposite side of the board.
In Survival challenges, three matches are played in a row. Any used cards are not returned to the deck for the next round, emphasizing efficient resource management. Winning certain lanes in certain rounds will award the player with extra cards they can use in subsequent rounds. Nightmare Survival heightens the challenge with five rounds in a row instead of three.
Rank[]
Each Queen's Blood player is assigned a rank based on their level of experience playing the game. Many experienced players will not bother to challenge people of much lower ranks.
- Blood Peasant - starting rank
- Blood Servant - Achieved after defeating three players
- Blood Squire - Achieved after defeating six players
- Blood Acolyte - Achieved after defeating nine players and Keeper of the Cruor Cameron
- Blood Knight - Achieved after defeating twelve players
- Blood Knight 2nd Class - Achieved after defeating 15 players and Navalan
- Blood Captain - Achieved after defeating 18 players
- Blood Tactician - Achieved after defeating 21 players and Wize 3.0
- Blood Marquis - Achieved after defeating 24 players and Regina
- Blood Sovereign - Achieved after defeating 28 players and Lidrehl
- Blood Executioner - Achieved after defeating the Beast of Chaos
- Blood Champion - Achieved after defeating the Shadowblood Queen
Opponents[]
Players are denoted with a symbol of a number inside golden wings on the map. Losing does not lose out anything, but winning gains new cards and at certain times improves the player's ranking, allowing them to challenge ever higher-ranking opponents.
Kalm[]
Under Junon[]
Corel[]
Gongaga[]
Cosmo Canyon[]
Nibelheim[]
- Turner
- Dale
- Lidrehl Balmon
- Vincent Valentine
Shinra-8[]
During the Queen's Blood tournament on the Shinra-8, winning or losing has no impact on the player's rank.
- Tifa
- Barret
- Aerith
- Andrea Rhodea
- Madam M
- Chadley
- Wize 3.0
- Felix
- Red XIII
- Regina
Behind the scenes[]
Vincent makes his remake project debut in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Queen's Blood was originally a much smaller-scale minigame, but its growth resulted in the developers giving it an overarching story that would incorporate legends of Jenova with the conflict between the evil queen and the emerald witch being based on folk tales of the war between Jenova and the Cetra. Motomu Toriyama wanted to add Vincent as an opponent, as having unique opponents would be important for a card game; this is why the latter half of the Queen's Blood quest has "stranger" participants. Additionally, Vincent lacked opportunities to do much in the main story in Rebirth, so Toriyama wanted to give him more attention by giving him a larger role in the card game.[1]
Citations[]
- ↑ (n.d.) . Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Post-Release Interview (Part 1) – Devs Discuss the Story. Frontline Gaming Japan. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024.