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Ritapon

Ritapon in play

Ritapon is a minigame in Suikoden IV.

Description[]

Ritapon is a two-player tile game invented by the creative Island Nations citizen Rita. The goal is to achieve three sets of tiles before the opponent. There are three levels of difficulty you can choose among, giving you 50, 500, respectively 1,000 potch for 1,000 points, should you win the game.

Tiles[]

The tiles that are used for Ritapon are separated in four colours : blue, green, yellow and red. On these tiles, there are three levels, marked with one, two or three dots. There is also an illustration for each tile, with the portrait of a character from Suikoden IV, which you can change to your liking. Doing so will also modify the value of the tile in sequential sets. Note that a portrait can only be chosen for a tile once the corresponding character has been recruited in the main game. There exist three pieces of the same tile in the game.

There is also another type or tiles, which are white, and show the illustration of Runes. These unique tiles are only five in total and represent the Earth Rune, the Fire Rune, the Lightning Rune, the Water Rune and the Wind Rune. A game of Ritapon consists thus of 41 tiles, of which only 40 are used randomly for a round. The missing tile is called "Dora".

How to play[]

At the beginning of a game of Ritapon, both players receive eight tiles along with an amount of 10,000 points. The game consists in ten rounds or ends prematurely if one player's score reaches 0. The first to play is chosen randomly. Each player starts their turn by taking one tile from the stack, keep it and swap it for one of their tiles, use it if it is a Rune, or discard it at the end of the turn, so as to always keep a hand of eight tiles.

The goal is to complete three sets of three tiles. You can choose between these sets : three sequential tiles of the same color (Ex : 1-2-3 Blue), or three same numbers inside the same color (Ex. 2-2-2 Green), or three Runes. Since the hands consist of only eight tiles, the goal is to finish by picking the last tile you need. There is a special rule which allows you to set aside a complete set of the same number, to keep it untouched, but this will also have a lowering impact on your final score. When you are about to finish, which means you have two complete sets and two matching tiles in your hand, you have to announce it by saying "Reach", so that your opponent knows that you only need one more tile to win. Failing to announce a "Reach" will prevent you from finishing, whereas announcing a "Reach" will prevent you from doing anything else but taking the tile you need, save for the case when you use a Rune, should one be picked. The only way to break a Reach situation is when the Fire Rune is used against said hand.

Runes[]

The runes play a bit differently from the colored tiles. A set of runes consist in any three runes among the five. Each rune also has a special effect if played by pressing the "circle" button.

  • The Earth Rune protects the player's tiles from only one evil effect. It seems to reduce your score if you do, though.
  • The Fire Rune destroys one or several tiles (rarely zero) from the opponent's hand.
  • The Lightning Rune allows the player to play three times in a row.
  • The Water Rune resurrects one tile that has been discarded by either player.
  • The Wind Rune turns one or several tiles (rarely zero) from the opponent's hand, hiding the tiles' faces.

Specials[]

  • Pon: it's a special operation which allows you to grab a tile your opponent has just discarded. This is only possible for sets of three same numbers. If you have two same tiles and your opponent discards the third one, you call "Pon", and take it back. The thus completed set is placed on the right side of your hand, and will remain untouched until the end of the round. However, this will halve the score of the set in the final scoring.
  • Reach: it is the word you say when you are short of just one tile to win. This will block any other move, save for the use of Runes, but will allow you to win if the wanted tile occurs.
  • Ron: it is an operation similar to "Pon", but it can only occur if the wanted tile is the last one you need to win, no matter if the set is three same numbers or the three levels. If you called a "Reach" and your opponent discards the remaining tile, you can grab it and call a "Ron", allowing you to win the round.
  • Tsumo: after calling a "Reach", you call a "Tsumo" when you take your last tile in your normal turn, allowing you to win. You can also call a "Tsumo" if you win by retrieving a discarded tile through the use of the Water Rune.
  • Dora: it is the name of the missing tile. If one of your winning sets contains a copy of the "Dora", or if you have a set of Runes and the "Dora" itself is a Rune, you get more a bonus of 500 points in the end.
  • Ryukyoku: it happens when neither player manages to get three sets. It's a draw and neither player gets points.
  • Hakoten: the name applies for the case when one player's score reaches 0. In that case, the game ends and the winner gets an extra bonus.

Scores[]

The score for a set of three same numbers is easy to calculate. For a 1-1-1 of either color, you will get 500 points, for a 2-2-2 700 points and for a 3-3-3 900 points. Obtaining such a set through a "Pon" will halve the score. Score for 1-2-3 sets will heavily depend on the character on the tile and its place in the sequence. You can get a varying bonus depending on if you won with a "Ron" or a "Tsumo", or if you won with the very last tile. There is also a bonus you get if your score is lower than your opponent's, which allows you to catch up rapidly. For every thousand below 10,000 points, you get 10% of bonus for the points you won in the round.

Winning a game[]

After winning a round, you receive a certain number of points according to the sets you've completed. Your opponent's score gets depleted by the same amount of points. Then you get the choice to continue or settle the score. If you choose to continue, another round starts until you have played 10 rounds or one of the player's score reaches 0. Should you choose to settle the score, or should the game come to a natural end, the points would be converted into potch according to the scores and the level of difficutly you chose. You get a bonus for each round you won and you can get another bonus if you forced your opponent to a "Hakoten". These bonuses also depend on the level of game you chose. And for winning a series of ten games of winning by "Hakoten", you receive an item.

Trivia[]

  • The theme song of this game is called "Ritapon".
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