___ ___ ___ ___ ____| |____| |____ | | | | | | ____| |___ | | |____ ____ ____| | || | __ __ |___| ___|___| _ |____ ___|| | __ __ / \/ \ /`-, | | _,’ \ / \ | | / \/ \ |==AV==| ,’ / | |,-’ / / ‘, | | |=CLUB=| ‘. .’ ,’ | | _,-’ / . ‘| | _ ‘. .’ ‘’ ‘ | | ,-’ _ / |‘._/| | | \ ‘’ \,| | | | | \ / /| | | | | \ | | | | | \ \ / | | | | | | | | | |____| | \/ | | | |___| | | | | | | | | | |___| \__________/ |___| \_________/ +-------------------------------------------+ | AV HANAFUDA CLUB General FAQ v1.0 | | Last Updated: February 24, 2010 (Initial) | | By Kristina Ann Potts AKA Aussie2B | | E-mail: triacesuperfan@hotmail.com | +-------------------------------------------+ =============================================================================== -------------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS------------------------------- =============================================================================== Introduction What is Hanafuda? How to Play (Koi-Koi) Koi-Koi vs. Bakahhana Playing AV Hanafuda Club Controls General Flow of Game Contacting Me Copyright Information Thanks to... =============================================================================== ---------------------------------INTRODUCTION---------------------------------- =============================================================================== Don’t deny it. I know why you’re here. You found out that this is a porno game, didn’t you? What I bet you don’t know is that once you grow weary of laughing at 8-bit boobs on the Japanese AV idols, you’ll discover an enjoyable example of a Hanafuda game under the surface. But maybe you don’t know what Hanafuda is either. I certainly don’t assume you do, no more than I knew shortly before I bought my first Hanafuda video game. But that’s where this guide comes in. While it is indeed devoted to AV Hanafuda Club, it also serves as a general tutorial to Hanafuda, which can help with any Hanafuda video game you may buy or maybe you’d even like to purchase your own deck. Whatever you decide I welcome you to a brand new world of gaming, filled with strategic thinking, risk-taking, and a little luck with both the cards and the ladies. =============================================================================== -------------------------------WHAT IS HANAFUDA?------------------------------- =============================================================================== Translated from Japanese, “hanafuda” means “flower cards,” which is a simple description of what they are – playing cards with flower designs. These unnumbered decks date back to feudal Japan and are generally considered to be a distinctly Japanese cultural creation, but they actually have their roots in Western cards brought to Japan from Europe prior to their isolationism. In the world of video games, you’re likely to be familiar with Hanafuda through Nintendo, which is famously known to have originated as a Hanafuda company nearly 100 years before they became known for video games, and they continue to produce them today, if only for the nostalgia. A Hanafuda deck consists of 48 cards, which are divided into twelve 4-card suits, each representing a month of the year and featuring flowers that would be typical of that season. Before you can even think of playing with Hanafuda cards, you must become familiar with their appearances, but I certainly don’t expect you to be some plant expert (I’m definitely not, and I even have a horticulturist for a mother), which is why I’ll provide a visual description to help your recognition. The four cards of each suit are further divided into categories such as plain cards, which generally portray nothing but the plant itself; ribbons, which can be red, purple, or feature poetry (Japanese text); animals (although this category also includes the Water Iris and Sake Cup); and the “brights,” which are more along the lines of landscapes. So without much further ado, here is the full list of Hanafuda cards arranged by month: January: Pine (vertically-pointed, yellow-tipped, bushy needle branches) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Poetry Ribbon, 1 Bright (Crane and Sun) February: Plum Blossoms (small red, yellow-centered blooms on woody branches) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Poetry Ribbon, 1 Animal (Bush Warbler in Tree) March: Cherry Blossoms (small pink and red flowers on woody branches) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Poetry Ribbon, 1 Bright (Camp Curtain) April: Wisteria (hanging vines with tiny purple leaf-like blossoms) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Red Ribbon, 1 Animal (Cuckoo with Moon) May: Iris (purple flower with three main petals and long vertical leaves) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Red Ribbon, 1 Animal (Water Iris and 8-plank Bridge) June: Peony (similar in appearance to red roses) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Purple Ribbon, 1 Animal (Butterflies) July: Bush Clover (like Wisteria, but with red blooms and growing upward) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Red Ribbon, 1 Animal (Boar) August: Japanese Pampas Grass (a round hill of silver grass) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Animal (Geese in Flight), 1 Bright (Full Moon with Red Sky) September: Chrysanthemum (yellow, dandelion-like flower) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Purple Ribbon, 1 Animal (Sake Cup) October: Maple (star-shaped leaves in Fall colors) Contains: 2 Plain, 1 Purple Ribbon, 1 Animal (Deer) November: Willow (willowy, heh, tree branches dangling down) Contains: 1 Lightning (which generally behaves as a Plain, including in the context of this FAQ), 1 Red Ribbon, 1 Animal (Swallow), 1 Bright (Ono no Michikaze with Umbrella and Frog AKA Rainman) December: Paulownia (star-shaped purple flowers with a base of 3 broad leaves) Contains: 3 Plain, 1 Bright (Chinese Phoenix) If you would like a visual aid to assist in learning the images of the full Hanafuda deck, I recommend the following resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanafuda http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/hanafuda/rule_e.html (bottom of page) =============================================================================== ----------------------------------HOW TO PLAY---------------------------------- =============================================================================== Contrary to popular belief, Hanafuda itself isn’t a game, no more than you would play a game of “52-card Anglo-American deck.” Like the familiar deck you’ll see all over Las Vegas, Hanafuda is simply the tool used to play, and there are as many games as the collective imagination of humanity can conjure up. One of the most popular games played with Hanafuda cards is Koi-Koi, which is the first game featured in AV Hanafuda Club and the most common game you’ll find in other Hanafuda video games, so Koi-Koi will serve as our introduction to the world of Hanafuda gaming. Following this section, we will examine Bakahhana, the second style of play option in AV Hanafuda Club, by comparing and contrasting it to Koi-Koi, as they’re both very similar games. It should be noted that just like in, say, Poker, Koi-Koi can have an infinite number of variations to the rules depending on who’s playing and how they like to handle their games, but we’ll be focusing purely on the rules of AV Hanafuda Club, which is also quite standard in terms of Koi-Koi. At its base, Koi-Koi is a matching game. It generally consists of several rounds in which each player tries to score more points than the other. In a typical 2-player game (be it two real people or one versus a computer opponent as in AV Hanafuda Club), a randomly shuffled deck is used to deal 8 cards face up on the table and 8 cards to each player, visible only to him/her, and the rest of the cards are kept in a reserve pile. Play begins with the dealer, which can be determined in a multitude of ways for the first round but is always the winner of the previous round in subsequent rounds. During one’s turn, one card is selected for placement on the table. If it matches the suit (AKA flower/month) of a card already present on the table, the player claims both cards. If the card’s suit doesn’t match any of the cards on the table, then the player has discarded the card, and it joins the other cards present on the table. Then the card on top of the reserve pile is added to the table. If it matches the suit of any card on the table, the current player also claims those two; otherwise, it joins the cards already present on the table. If the player’s selected card or the subsequent top reserve card match more than one card present on the table, the player chooses which table card he or she would like to claim. The goal of claiming cards is to form “yaku”, or special card combinations that are worth points. A card by itself is worth nothing, and unlike Poker, collecting a full suit is generally useless, as it is in AV Hanafuda Club. The real strategy and risk involved in Koi-Koi is represented in its name itself. Even though a yaku is worth points, you don’t actually acquire these points until you purposefully claim them. When you or your opponent form a yaku, an option is given to claim the points then and there, ending and winning the round, or “koi-koi” can be called to continue and attempt to earn an even higher amount by improving the yaku or forming additional combinations and, in some scenarios, double the value of the initial yaku. However, the danger lies in the fact that your opponent may form his/her own yaku before you have the opportunity to earn more points, giving your opponent the opportunity to claim his/her points and end the round, negating the points you could’ve acquired. What constitutes a valid yaku varies from game to game or by the whims of the players, but we only need to concern ourselves with the combinations recognized in AV Hanafuda Club, which, again, is fairly typical of traditional Koi-Koi. The combinations recognized by AV Hanafuda Club and their point values, from highest to lowest, are as follows: Gokou (10 Points): All 5 Brights - Willow, Japanese Pampas Grass, Paulownia, Cherry Blossoms, Pine (Rainman, Full Moon with Red Sky, Chinese Phoenix, Camp Curtain, Crane & Sun) Shikou (8 Points): The 4 Brights Excluding Willow’s Rainman - Japanese Pampas Grass, Paulownia, Cherry Blossoms, Pine (Full Moon with Red Sky, Chinese Phoenix, Camp Curtain, Crane & Sun) Teppou (8 Points): The Camp Curtain, Full Moon with Red Sky, and the Sake Cup - Cherry Blossoms, Japanese Pampas Grass, Chrysanthemum Ameiri-Shikou (7 Points): Any 4 Brights Including Willow’s Rainman Sankou (6 Points): Any 3 Brights Excluding Willow’s Rainman Akatan (6 Points): All 3 Poetry Ribbons - Cherry Blossoms, Plum Blossoms, Pine Aotan (6 Points): All 3 Purple Ribbons - Maple, Chrysanthemum, Peony Inoshikachou (5 Points): The Boar, the Deer, and the Butterflies - Bush Clover, Maple, Peony Hanami-zake (5 Points): The Camp Curtain and the Sake Cup - Cherry Blossoms and Chrysanthemum Tsukimi-zake (5 Points): The Full Moon with Red Sky and the Sake Cup - Japanese Pampas Grass and Chrysanthemum Tane (1 Point): Any 5 Animals (+1 extra point for each additional Animal) Tan (1 Point): Any 5 Ribbons (+1 extra point for each additional Ribbon) Kasu (1 Point): Any 10 “Junk” Plains (+1 extra point for each additional Plain) If you would like read further about Koi-Koi, view a visual aid to assist in memorizing the combinations, or put your newfound knowledge to the test in a flash rendition of Koi-Koi, I recommend the following links. Just bear in mind that all of these present content contrary to the gameplay of AV Hanafuda Club, so please don’t confuse yourself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koi-Koi http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/hanafuda/hanafuda_e.html http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/hanafuda/rule_e.html =============================================================================== -----------------------------KOI-KOI VS. BAKAHHANA----------------------------- =============================================================================== In my experience with Hanafuda, I’ve never actually heard of a game titled “Bakahhana” outside of AV Hanafuda Club. However, it plays roughly the same as Hana-awase, a slightly less common game than Koi-Koi but still present in many Hanafuda video games. Your guess is as good as mine as to why they chose the name “Bakahhana”. Perhaps with the “baka” they’re trying to suggest that it’s a dumbed down version of Koi-Koi because it lacks the risk-taking, but it can potentially be just as challenging. Bakahhana plays extremely similar to Koi-Koi, but it has several key differences. Right off the bat you’ll notice that when the cards are dealt, the two players receive 7 a piece, while the table receives only 6, as opposed to the 8 for all in Koi-Koi. Once play begins, matching progresses exactly as it would in Koi-Koi, but you’ll notice that even when a yaku is formed, the lucky player is unable to end the round. Instead, Bakahhana continues until both players have exhausted all of the cards in their hands, either through matching or discarding. At this point, scores are determined. Unlike in Koi-Koi, the only cards that are ever potentially entirely worthless are the Plains. Each non-Plain is assigned a value based on the category it belongs to. A Ribbon is worth 5 points, an Animal is worth 10 points, and a Bright is worth 20 points. Additional points are awarded for forming yaku, but put the Koi-Koi yaku out of mind because several aren’t recognized in Bakahhana and many new yaku aren’t in Koi-Koi. The combinations recognized by AV Hanafuda Club’s Bakahhana and their point values, from highest to lowest, are as follows: Gokou (200 Points): All 5 Brights - Willow, Japanese Pampas Grass, Paulownia, Cherry Blossoms, Pine (Rainman, Full Moon with Red Sky, Chinese Phoenix, Camp Curtain, Crane & Sun) Shikou (60 Points): The 4 Brights Excluding Willow’s Rainman - Japanese Pampas Grass, Paulownia, Cherry Blossoms, Pine (Full Moon with Red Sky, Chinese Phoenix, Camp Curtain, Crane & Sun) Nanatan (40 Points): Any 7 Ribbons Excluding Willow’s Ribbon Akatan (40 Points): All 3 Poetry Ribbons - Cherry Blossoms, Plum Blossoms, Pine Aotan (40 Points): All 3 Purple Ribbons - Maple, Chrysanthemum, Peony Rokutan (30 Points): Any 6 Ribbons Excluding Willow’s Ribbon Nomi (30 Points): The “Drinking” set (same as Koi-Koi’s Teppou) - Cherry Blossoms, Japanese Pampas Grass, Chrysanthemum (Camp Curtain, Full Moon with Red Sky, Sake Cup) Omotesukawara (30 Points): The “Spring” set (highest card of first 3 months) - Cherry Blossoms, Plum Blossoms, Pine (Camp Curtain, Bush Warbler in Tree, Crane & Sun) Matsukiribouzu (20 Points): The Brights from Pine & Paulownia and the Moon - Pine, Paulownia, Japanese Pampas Grass (Crane & Sun, Chinese Phoenix, Full Moon with Red Sky) Inoshikachou (20 Points): The Boar, the Deer, and the Butterflies - Bush Clover, Maple, Peony Tsukimi no Nomi (20 Points): “Drinking while Viewing the Moon” - Japanese Pampas Grass and Chrysanthemum (Full Moon with Red Sky and Sake Cup) Hanami no Nomi (20 Points): “Drinking while Viewing Flowers” - Cherry Blossoms and Chrysanthemum (Camp Curtain and Sake Cup) Kusa (20 Points): The “Grass” Red Ribbons - Wisteria, Iris, Bush Clover Fujishima (20 Points): All 4 Wisteria cards Kirishima (20 Points): All 4 Paulownia cards Ameshima (20 Points): All 4 Willow cards Once the totals are tallied by adding the points earned through both individual cards and yaku, the difference between the players’ scores is awarded to the player with the higher score. On the rare occasions in which one player scores less than 20 points from card values alone, a redo is called, which is a kick in the pants if you slaughter your competition but makes for an unreliable back-up strategy if you’re really getting whooped. If you would like to read further about Hana-awase, the game Bakahhana is based on, and view a visual aid to assist in memorizing the combinations, I recommend the following link. Just bear in mind that this presents info contrary to the gameplay of AV Hanafuda Club, so, again, please don’t confuse yourself. http://hanafubuki.org/hanaawase.html =============================================================================== ---------------------------PLAYING AV HANAFUDA CLUB---------------------------- =============================================================================== Honestly, if you’ve read the previous three sections (and if you haven’t, GO DO IT), I could send you on your merry way right now to play AV Hanafuda Club, and you’d be reasonably prepared. But you’d like some semblance of a walkthrough, wouldn’t you? But before we skip ahead, let’s cover the... -------- CONTROLS -------- D-Pad - select an option in the main menu, indicated by the star icon - select a card, indicated by its flashing (left/right movement only) - select “koi-koi” or “shoubu”, indicated by its flashing (left/right only) - scroll the screen up/down during your turn to view your or her claimed cards START Button - start game A Button - confirm card / menu option / “koi-koi” or “shoubu” call - exit screens of scoring info and scenes of girls SELECT Button and B Button - not used -------------------- GENERAL FLOW OF GAME -------------------- After skipping past the relatively bland title screen, you begin by making your selections in AV Hanafuda Club’s main option menu. First, you have the choice between two different Hanafuda games, with Koi-Koi listed on top and Bakahhana listed below it. After picking your preferred game, it’s time to choose your nightmare, ahem, “beauty” to challenge, either Reiko on the left with her hair tied or Mayako on the right with her hair down. After you’ve made your selections, play commences as you should expect from learning Koi-Koi and Bakahhana above. The girl has her cards obscured from view on top of the screen, while yours are at the bottom. The cards that you and the girl have matched are stored off-screen in three rows, the top left corner having the Brights with the Animals to the right of those, the middle displays the Ribbons, and the bottom keeps the hoard of Plains. The screen scrolls in the appropriate direction after each turn regardless of if any cards are claimed, but if you need to assess the situation further, you can view your claimed cards and/or her claimed cards during your own turn by pressing the D- Pad to manually scroll. While you won’t be able to view point totals until the first round is completed, you and the girl both start with 25 points in Koi-Koi and 300 points in Bakahhana. However, you don’t need to worry about claiming all of a girl’s points as your own. In fact, AV Hanafuda Club is kind of dumb in that regard. There are 12 rounds in either game, and even if your or her points get into negative territory, there’s no Game Over nor victory. You play until the rounds have all been completed, period. For the first round, the girl begins as the dealer and gets first pick, but when your turn comes up, assess what cards are on the table. You want to play as much defensively as offensively. Aim for the most “dangerous” and valuable cards first – the Brights and the Sake Cup, which can form a yaku in as little as two or three cards and/or will pull in lots of points in Bakahhana. Not only do they provide you with quick and easy points, but, more importantly, you’ve kept them out of her hands. Really, that strategy can get you through the whole game in terms of winning rounds. If the round ends with no yaku formed at all in Koi-Koi or equal point totals in Bakahhana, it’s considered a tie, and the round is a redo. Obviously, you’re going to want to focus on getting the non-Plains as much as you possibly can. In particular, the Poetry Ribbons and the Purple Ribbons are great to target since the pay-off is good for only three cards, and if you can account for all three between your hand and the table, it would be wise to even ignore a stray Bright or two in lieu of those. However, if you ever find yourself in dire straits in Koi-Koi, you may want to purposely target the Plains if you’re close to having 10 and thus a yaku. In terms of calling a yaku in Koi-Koi, two text options will appear on the screen when the option is available to you, with “koi-koi” on the left and “shoubu” on the right. There’s no shame in calling “shoubu” early and running off with your points. Unless you can tell that you have very good odds of improving your current yaku or forming more in the near future and/or the girl doesn’t appear to be close to forming any, it’s generally not wise to call “koi-koi”. Also, it’s pointless to aim for the rare double point bonus as its activation appears to be glitched and inconsistent (I’ve even gotten it without calling “koi-koi”). The AI behind the computer is nonexistent; even if it’s very early in the round, she will ALWAYS call “shoubu”. If you’re still trying to learn the combinations in Koi-Koi, it would be wise to pay attention to the yaku screen after you or your opponent claim points, as you can memorize the images as well as their values. It’s trickier in Bakahhana since it’s all represented in text, with “Anata no Yaku” (Your Yaku) on the left side of the screen and “Watashi no Yaku” (My Yaku - spoken from the girl’s perspective) on the right. Any yaku combinations are listed below that, with the “mochiten” (acquired points from the card values) right above the horizontal line, and the “goukei” (total amount) below the line. Finally, the bottom reads “Anata no Tokuten” (Your Score), which will be either a positive or negative amount depending on if you won or lost the round. If a player received a mochiten less than 20, black text reading “Fuke Yarinaoshi” will be displayed below that to indicate that the scores are thrown out and a redo must take place. After that you’ll go to the points exchange screen, in which the girl states how many points are being exchanged, and you see this exchange on the left side, where “Anata” (You) are listed on top and “Watashi” (Me – from her perspective) is listed below. On the right, you see “Kekka” (Result) with the rounds listed. If you won, a circle will appear next to the round number, and if you lose, an X will appear. Once you exit this screen, you’ll either jump straight into the next round or see a (barely) animated image of the girl speaking to you, depending on how much you’ve depleted her score. In terms of strategy, it doesn’t hurt to “card count”. No, this isn’t blackjack; I mean be aware of if two of a suit are already claimed. If you have one of the remaining two and the other is on the table, you know that your opponent has no way of claiming that card, which means you can consider ignoring it until later to focus on cards that she may take. The same scenario applies if you can account for all four of a suit between your hand and the table. The more cards on the table that are worthless to the girl, the better off you are because she’ll be forced to discard cards when she’s unable to make any matches at all. Speaking of focusing on particular cards, new entries to the table are always more desirable, even if it’s a Plain. If some cards are sitting on the table for several turns, that’s a fair indication that your opponent doesn’t have anything to match to those. Even if you can match those, you may want to save them for later and opt for a card that just popped up from the reserve pile. You never know what Plain the girl may be waiting for to pair with a Bright sitting in her hand. Upon completing the 12th round, you’re sent back to the title screen, no credits, no ending, nothing. Given this, there isn’t much incentive to keep replaying besides to enjoy the gameplay itself, but you could try to win all 12 rounds or improve your top score. Realistically, though, I imagine your main goal in playing AV Hanafuda Club is to view the images of the girls, but the game displays them in an odd manner. There are five animated images of each girl, and both girls follow the pattern of two poses, with clothed and nude versions of each, and then a final extra nude pose. Besides the weirdness of them undressing and redressing, the images aren’t displayed in a set order. Instead, they are awarded based on the number of points the girl has remaining, which means you can actually be doing yourself a disservice by getting a big scoring round because you may skip right past one or more of them. The point ranges differ between Koi-Koi and Bakahhana, but they share the same images. The point ranges are as follows: Koi-Koi ------- 22 to 18 = first pose clothed 17 to 13 = first pose nude 12 to 6 = second pose clothed 5 to 1 = second pose nude 0 or less = extra nude pose Bakahhana --------- 250 to 205 = first pose clothed 200 to 105 = first pose nude 100 to 5 = second pose clothed 0 to –25 = second pose nude -30 or less = extra nude pose In Reiko’s images, she wears a striped green bikini top, blue skirt, long blue socks, and red shoes, and bubbles surround her. In the first pose, she’s sitting on her folded legs, and she has a talking animation. In the second pose, she’s sitting with her legs pointed in opposite directions, and she’s flapping her arm as she adjusts her hair. In her final pose, she’s laying on her stomach, legs up with one flapping, and twisting to smile and wink at the player. In Mayako’s images, she wears a white jacket, red high heels, and, as she puts it, “sexy black lingerie”, and cherry blossom petals surround her. In her first pose, she’s lying on her back, legs pulled up, and she has a talking animation. In the second pose, she’s on all fours, facing the player, and has a talking animation once again (saying in the nude version something along the lines of “You’re really perverted, but I like you”, haha). In her final image, she has a similar pose as in her first but from a different angle, and she’s getting a little shy as she covers her right breast over and over. So that should be all you need to get the most out of the naughty aspects of the game, but hopefully, even if you weren’t aiming to do so, I hope you discover an interest in Hanafuda in general for many years to come! =============================================================================== ---------------------------------CONTACTING ME--------------------------------- =============================================================================== Since I don't know Japanese, some of my translations could possibly be incorrect, but with the aid of Katakana and Hiragana charts and various resources, I think I got almost everything right. If you feel that a translation is incorrect, or any other information for that matter, let me know. Some translations come down to a matter of opinion, though, so I won't necessarily change something just because you don't like my translation. When and if there is a fan translation of AV Hanafuda Club (doubtful, I know), I will NOT change my FAQ to match it. If you e-mail me about doing such a thing, I will delete your e-mail, and if I'm not in a particularly good mood, you may get a not-so-pleasant reply. ;) I will also not answer e-mails regarding if there is, when there will be, or where you could find a translation patch. If there's any information you think is missing or info that you'd like to see added, e-mail me about that. I will NOT include info relating to the ROM or ROM hacking codes. That's not my thing, and I encourage all AV Hanafuda Club players to actually go out and buy the game. If you'd just like some help with something in AV Hanafuda Club, I would be happy to assist. Please don't ask questions that are already answered in this FAQ, though. Don't bother asking for the ROM or emulation help either. I will promptly delete your e-mail. If you just want to chat about the game, that's fine. I love talking about obscure Japanese imports. My e-mail address is triacesuperfan@hotmail.com =============================================================================== -----------------------------COPYRIGHT INFORMATION----------------------------- =============================================================================== This FAQ and the ASCII art within it are copyright 2010 Kristina Ann Potts. This FAQ may be hosted only if the author has been contacted and gave permission, nothing is altered, the FAQ is used in its entirety, and credit is given to the author. This FAQ may NOT be used for commercial purposes. =============================================================================== ---------------------------------THANKS TO...---------------------------------- =============================================================================== Hacker International creating and publishing what is actually a nice little Hanafuda game, even though they could’ve put gameplay on the backburner and relied purely on the “omg boobies!” factor. Anyone and everyone involved in the creation of the Wikipedia pages relating to Hanafuda and the games that can be played with Hanafuda cards, for not only providing information and references but also being the catalyst to my craze. GameDesign and anyone else involved in the creation and hosting of Hanafuda Flash at www.gamedesign.jp, which was linked to by the aforementioned Wikipedia page. Through trial and error, I learned how to play and became addicted. Their rules page also proved to be a helpful resource. Graham Leonard and his web site hanafubuki.org for the Hana-awase information. GameFAQs for allowing me to subject them to porn over and over as I submit data and FAQs for Hacker International’s library of games, haha. My friend Lech for giving me my AV Hanafuda Club cart in the first place. Andreas for supporting my Hanafuda obsession and even buying me the top-of-the- line Nintendo deck. tri-Ace because I gotta maintain my Super Fan status even without playing Star Ocean 4. And I thank myself because I guess I’m becoming the queen of Hanafuda coverage on GameFAQs at this rate.