With the end of February looming ever closer Square Enix have been releasing information concerning Patch 2.51 the penultimate patch prior to the release of Square Enix’s MMO reboot’s first expansion in late Spring. Patch 2.51 is  the second part of the 2.5 patch trilogy and contains the Manderville Gold Saucer, Chocobo Racing, Chocobo Breeding and Triple Triad. Patch 2.51 will release on February 24th 2015.

The Manderville Gold Saucer

The Gold Saucer will be located in Southern Thanalan, specifically in the Sagoli Desert. There will be four mini games available initially.

• Monster Toss
• The Moogle’s Paw
• Cuff-A-Cur
• Crystal Tower Striker

In addition to these four mini games there will also be several lotteries at the Golden Saucer which will include  a ”Jumbo Cactpot” and a ”Mini Cactpot.” All of these mini-games will be playable through the use of in game currency, Gil. There will be no Micro-transactions involved.

The area theme will be a remix of Nobou Uematsu’ original Final Fantasy VII Gold Saucer theme by Masayoshi Soken.

Triple Triad

Triple Triad will also enter Final Fantasy XIV with the same rules as the game originally had in Final Fantasy VIII. Three modes (all open, random and same) and 80 cards will be available initially.

Players will be able to dual other players in addition to NPC’s.

In the case of PvP. The challenger will set the rules of the duel.

Cards can be gained from winning duels and from Dungeon drops.

Chocobo Racing and Breeding

Chocobo Racing also turns up in Final Fantasy XIV. Players can now join races against other players with their Chocobo. By entering races with your Chocobo you will gain experience points and ranks. As your Chocobo gains ranks its stats and attributes will increasing and may also learn new abilities to use during races. Feeding your Chocobo varying types of Greens at your Personal or Free Company House stables will also increase said attributes.

You can retire your Chocobo from Racing. This will allow it to be bred with other Chocobo’s. This feature has yet to be explained in detail however (how many Chocobos can you own? Are they bred in stables?) but what is known is that they inherit abilities from their parents and their base stats are influenced by this too.

Want more news or information on Final Fantasy XIV? Have questions? Be sure to drop by the Fextralife Forums Final Fantasy XIV thread for the latest updates