Wonder Square (Final Fantasy VII)

The Wonder Square is a location in Final Fantasy VII, and part of the Gold Saucer. It houses a number of secrets and many of the minigames the player plays throughout the game can be replayed in Wonder Square for prizes and GP.
None of the minigames in the Wonder Square are mandatory, though the area itself must be visited once in "Sanctuary of Amusement" when the party meets and recruits Cait Sith. The minigames themselves are mostly valuable as a way to earn GP in order to spend it at the Gold Saucer, while also providing the only opportunity to replay minigames found throughout the story.
==Layout==
===Overview===
The Wonder Square is split into three areas. The first area is the main area and links to the other areas of the Gold Saucer. This area also contains entrance to the two-story building that houses numerous attractions, accessed from a raised corridor. The two floors are circular, but the floors are not aligned and the top-floor hangs over the edge of the first in an external view.
===Entrance===
The entrance area is a roofless and well illuminated area that casts an orange-red tint on the sky. The entrance has chutes at the bottom labeled with the other Square names to lead to the other areas of the Gold Saucer. The area has a red carpet and a number of benches and street-style lamps border the floor. In the far background a screen showing a human face constantly appears.
The Wonder Square houses its main attraction in a building accessed via stairs to the left of the entrance through a raised corridor. A constantly changing projection above the staircase made up of nine smaller screens in a three-by-three grid shows numerous advertisements.
This area is where Cloud meets Cait Sith, a fortune-teller cat robot riding on a mechanical Mog. He reads Cloud's fortune ("What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear") and uses the excuse of wanting to know how the fortune turns out to join the party.
This area is briefly be revisited after Cait Sith steals the Keystone. If the player chases Cait Sith he will enter the Wonder Square from the Speed Square. When the follows Cait Sith will be hidden by a costumed-person, then move on into the Chocobo Square.
===Building===
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Referred to as "Building 1f." " in the menu, it features a central platform with minigames bordering the room. A set of stairs at the bottom leads back into the Wonder Square entrance. On the opposite side is a stairway to the second floor.
On the right-hand side there is Basketball Game, a basketball throwing game. To the left-hand side there is Arm Wrestling where the player can have a virtual arm-wrestling match with a wrestler opponent or a sumo wrestler opponent. In the top-left there are two Wonder Catcher machines that have a chance of yielding prizes.
On the left a staff member allows the player to trade earned GP for items. Some prizes are not revealed until they are bought, some are available only after a specific point in the game, and some can only be bought once.
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Referred to as "Building 2f." " in the menu, the second floor is another circular room filled with minigames. Its crowdedness can make it difficult to navigate.
A recurring theme in this room is minigames played previously in the story: three of the five minigames available are such, but do not become available until after they have been played in the story. Thus only three minigames are available on the first visit.
Most of the minigames in this room do not take place in this field. The three minigames that are also tied with the storyline take the player to a different screen (or module), while one is based in its own field area scenario.
In the center is the 3D Battler minigame, the only one that visibly takes place in the room. It is accessed through the controls beneath the platform, and the game involves a rock-paper-scissors style system. The game is largely down to chance as the system makes the opponents select their attacks in response to the player's, allowing opponents to be progressively more "challenging".
On the right of the screen is the Mog House minigame, an interactive scene with the scenario of helping Mog find a mate.
To the left of the entrance is the G Bike minigame based on the Midgar Expressway biking event, where the player must dispatch Shinra motorcyclists and preserve the truck.
To the right of the entrance is the Snow Game based on the event in "Beyond the Snow Fields " where the player snowboards from the Icicle Inn into the Great Glacier. The Snow Game does not become available until Cloud returns to the party after the "Searching for the You of That Day" events.
Below the Snow Game is the Submarine Game based on the Underwater Reactor Shinra Sub Huge Materia event. The minigame does not become accessible here until after the storyline event has occurred.
At the top of the screen, to the right of the G Bike minigame, is the Fortune Telling. It is not a minigame but gives the same answer based on the player's position in the story and only offers mild hints. The fortune constantly changes throughout disc 1, but gives the same fortune for the rest of the game from then on.
==Games==
The arcade houses many minigames that can be unlocked during the course of the game. Once the player has played the minigame in the storyline, they can return to the Wonder Square and replay it.
===Arm Wrestling===
Arm Wrestling . Cloud must tap (PlayStation) or [OK] (PC) or (Switch) rapidly to beat the virtual opponent to win 2 GP for beating the Wrestler and 1 GP for beating the Sumo Wrestler. The game costs 100 gil to play and is located on the first floor.
===Basketball Game===
Basketball Game , referred to as "Super Dunk" on the machine, has the player hold (PlayStation) or [OK] (PC) or (Switch) to charge, and they must release the button to throw a basketball. The game costs 200 gil to play and is located on the first floor. If the player misses, they get nothing. If they win, they can try again. Once they miss, the player receives 1 GP for every successful hit. Every 10 hits, the player is allowed to take a chance on an 11th shot to double their GP. If they miss, they win nothing. If the player gets 44 consecutive hits, the game ends, they win 300 GP.
There are two ways to hit the basket: either as a direct hit, or bouncing the ball off the panel. There is a small randomized distance factor added to each throw, so the player must be precise. Holding the button for 0.428 seconds maximizes the chance of making the shot. The time to release the button is the exact moment Cloud stops moving, best spotted when the left side of the ball touches the longest spike in Cloud's hair. Basketball Game is a good way to earn plenty of GP before chocobo racing becomes available.
On the PlayStation Classic mini console, it's possible to use the save state cheat feature to easily get 44 hits and win 300 GP.
===Wonder Catcher===
The Wonder Catcher is referred to as "Proxy Catcher" on the machine. There are two crane games that can potentially reward the player with rare items. The game costs 100 gil for either machine. The left and right machines have different prizes. Due to a programming error, when the player wins an Ether, the game will display the win as a Phoenix Down, and vice-versa. The game is located on the first floor. The game's randomness is determined by a single byte value that increments with character movement. The top prize of 100 GP occurs when the random value is exactly 8. 
====Left machine====
Prize 	Chance
Potion 	
Nothing 	
1 GP 	
3 GP 	
Phoenix Down (receipt: Ether)	
Megalixir 	
80 GP 	
====Right machine====
Prize 	Chance
Potion 	
Nothing 	
1 GP 	
3 GP 	
Ether (receipt: Phoenix Down)	
Elixir 	
100 GP 	
=== G Bike===
G Bike , referred to as "G-Bike" on the machine, is based on the motorcycle minigame played on the Midgar Expressway. The player rides behind the Shinra Hauler SA-37 and must attack enemies to keep them from ramming the truck— attacks right and attacks left. The player can also attack enemies by ramming into them. The player earns 500 points for killing enemies and loses 50 points every time the truck is hit.
There are two types of bikers whose AI differs slightly: orange and red bikers. The orange bikers immediately attack the truck and the red bikers try to drive the player away from the car. The best strategy is to quickly dispatch bikers as they appear on the screen and to go for a domino effect when a group of bikers draws close. The red riders are easy to knock down by simply ramming into them.
The player wins 2 GP for any score above 5000, but if they score 10,000 points or more, they win 10 GP, and the first time they get 10,000 points they also win a Speed Source. The game costs 200 gil to play and is located on the second floor.
Scoring 10,050 points in the PlayStation 4 version earns the Corel's Angel trophy.
Square Enix briefly brought the G Bike game to mobile platforms, called Final Fantasy VII G-Bike.
=== Fortune Telling===
Fortune Telling , referred to as "Crystal Fortune" on the machine, has no prizes and only dispenses vague hints on what will happen next in the story/where to go next. It only works on disc 1, on disc 2/3 it only says "never give up hope". It costs 50 gil to play and is located on the second floor.
Point in game 	Fortune
First visit in "Sanctuary of Amusement" 	Use caution in relationships.
After obtaining buggy in "The Desert Prison" 	Your lucky color is red.
After completing Cave of the Gi in "In the Land of the Study of Planet Life" 	You may meet someone new.
After talking to Shera the first time in Rocket Town in "A Sleeping Village Dreaming of Outer Space"	You have ties with those that fly.
After obtaining Tiny Bronco in "A Sleeping Village Dreaming of Outer Space" 	What you are looking for is near.
After obtaining Keystone in "Secret Date" 	Use caution in relationships.
After the Gold Saucer date in "Secret Date" 	What you search for is in the Southeast.
After finishing the Temple of the Ancients in "Within the Temple of the Ancients" 	Beware of the North.
After sleeping the first time in the Forgotten Capital in "Parting with Aeris" 	A great turning point is near.
When Gold Saucer reopens, after Cloud is back from Mideel from "Clash in the Deep Sea" onward 	Never give up.
===Mog House ===
Mog House is not so much as game as it is a scene. The game introduces a Mog (named Mog) who is at the age when he should be looking for a mate, and he is learning to fly to impress female Mogs. The player must feed Mog five Kupo Nuts so he can learn to fly. If he is overfed, he'll fail. Mog will make a squeaking sound different than the sounds he made before when he has had the right number of Kupo Nuts.
Once he learns to fly, Mog meets a female named Mag. The player must feed him three Kupo Nuts so he can fly and impress her. Afterward, the two have many Mog children. Although the game offers no reward, the first time the player completes it, the man in front of the game gives the player 30 GP. Mog House costs 100 gil to play and is located on the second floor.
===3D Battler===
3D Battler is a "rock-paper-scissors" type game where the player faces four opponents. is a low attack, is a middle attack, and is a high attack. High attacks beat low attacks, middle attacks beat high attacks, and low attacks beat middle attacks. Two attacks of the same type cancel each other out. The first battler to land 10 blows wins.
The more opponents the player beats, the more GP they win. They win 3 GP for beating the second opponent, 30 for beating the third, and 300 GP for beating four opponents. The game costs 200 gil to play.
Round 	Mechanics per hit 	Chance of beating	Cumulative chance	Prize 	Image
First 	120/256 win, 62/256 loss, 74/256 tied	92.58% 	92.58% 	No prize	
Second	87/256 win, 83/256 loss, 86/256 tied 	54.14% 	50.12% 	3 GP 	
Third 	64/256 win, 128/256 loss, 64/256 tied	6.48% 	3.25% 	30 GP 	
Fourth	64/256 win, 192/256 loss, 0/256 tied 	0.89% 	0.029% 	300 GP 	
Fifth 	0 win, 128/256 loss, 128/256 tied 	0% 	0% 	n/a 	
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The cumulative chance to win against the opponents' moves gives an idea how difficult it is to beat the 3D Battler: the player only has a 1/3460 chance to make it to a fifth battle, which cannot be won. Losing the fifth battle still gives the prize for winning the fourth battle: 300 GP.
Each attack by the opponent is reactive to whatever input Cloud makes. No matter what the strike is, the chances remain the same if it will win or not. No one opponent prefers one action over another (e.g., high punches do not have a higher chance of winning against the second opponent than other punches). Therefore, it is just as valid a strategy to continually perform one type of punch as it is to any other pattern of punches.
The script driving this game contains a bug that triggers a fifth fight, but no opponent exists for it. This opponent cannot be beaten as wins do not accumulate for Cloud. The final attack performed by the fourth opponent is technically the one active each round of this final battle. Therefore, if the attack that would lose to that final attack is thrown by Cloud, he would take damage. 
A random number lookup table is used to determine whether Cloud wins, loses, or ties the next attack. The game uses a single number between 0–256 that may increment on any frame with a rate of about 10-12 per second. To increase chances of winning, the player should not rapidly hit again after a loss, and instead give a real life random amount of time to give the random number generation more time to increment the value, allowing the game to behave more fairly. 
On the PlayStation Classic mini console, it is possible to use the save state cheat feature to try again on the difficult third and fourth rounds on opponents who often win, and keep using the save state cheat until the player beats the fourth opponent, which will get the player 300 GP.
===Snow Game===
Snow Game is a replay of the Snow Game minigame at Icicle Inn, located on the second floor of the Wonder Square. It lets the player ride one of three courses collecting balloons and avoiding obstacles. It costs 200 gil to play any of the three courses. The game is available after Gold Saucer reopens on disc 2.
This minigame has also appeared as a stand-alone game Final Fantasy VII: Snowboarding released for mobile phones in North America in 2005, and in Japan three years later in 2008.
===Submarine Game===
Submarine Game, referred to as "Torpedo Attack" on the machine, is a replay of the battle for the Huge Materia near the Underwater Reactor. It becomes available on disc 2 after it has been played in the storyline. The player must down a number of enemy submarines.
==Trading GP for items==
The attendant at the entrance to the arcade will allow the player to trade in GP for items. The items for trade are as follows:
Name 	Cost
Potion 	1 GP
Ether 	20 GP
X-Potion 	80 GP
Turbo Ether 	100 GP
Gold Ticket 	300 GP
Carob Nut 	500 GP
Gil Plus Materia	1,000 GP
EXP Plus Materia	2,000 GP
==Musical themes==
"Cait Sith's Theme" plays outside the Wonder Square, when the party first meets him. In subsequent visits, the track "Gold Saucer" plays outside and inside the area.
==Behind the scenes==
The screen on the Wonder Square entrance displays various scenes. One of the scenes is actually an unused concept art for Cosmo Canyon.
The Wrestler and Sumo Wrestler from the Arm Wrestling game appear to be based on the Street Fighter characters Zangief and E.Honda.
One minigame didn't make the cut to the final game: a basketball minigame based on the minigame from Wonder Square in the original, which was to be played on a court topside of Sector 7 near where Jessie's family lives. The ball is still there, and the player can interact with it so it rolls, but Co-Director Naoki Hamaguchi decided it would not be fitting to have the sounds of a basketball echoing through the quiet hours of the night.
==Gallery==
NPC-ffvii-Wrestler.png|Wrestler.
NPC-ffvii-SumoWrestler.png|Sumo Wrestler.
Ball-ffvii-throw.png|Basketball.
Bike-ffvii-GSsimu.png|Simulator motorcycle.
Mog-ffvii-field.png|Mog.
Mag-ffvii-field.png|Mag.
Mogling-ffvii-pink.png|Mog-child.
Mogling-ffvii-white.png|Mog-child.
Mogling-ffvii-yellow.png|Mog-child.
VIIBC Gold Saucer - Super Dunk.jpg|Super Dunk in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-.
==Citations==
Category:Field gameplay in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Minigames in Final Fantasy VII