Welcome to the Final Fantasy Randomizer (FFR) website! We’re excited to introduce you to our community, our mod, and everything you need to know to get started.

FFR takes the original 8-bit Final Fantasy game for NES and allows you to shuffle important aspects like the location of key items, the difficulty of monsters and fiends, and even the location of towns and dungeons. Part puzzle and part speedrun, it’s a fantastic way to breathe new life into one of the most influential games ever made, and requires very little to get started.

Let’s take a look at how to join the FFR community and start running.

1) Join the Discord

First things first, say hello in our community Discord channel! You’ll find plenty of veterans and beginners just like you planning races, sharing tips, and assisting with questions. There are some fantastic resources and website for beginners conveniently pinned in the #resources-and-links channel under the “Duck Pond” (which is our home for new players).

You’ll also stay abreast of new developments and upcoming community events like the multiple tournaments we hold every year. There’s no better place to start than by hopping into the Discord!

2) Get a ROM and Emulator

Once you’ve joined the Discord, you’ll need a way to play.

There are plenty of NES emulators out there, but we recommend BizHawk and FCEUX (or, if you’re on a Mac, try these instead).

In addition to the emulator, you’ll need a ROM. For legal reasons we can’t link a download for you, but if you’re savvy enough to make your way here you should be able to find a usable copy!

It’s totally possible to play on your emulator with a regular keyboard, but many of our community members also suggest purchasing an NES or SNES USB controller. They usually range from $10-20 USD and can easily be found on a number of online retailers.

3) Randomize

Now that you can play the game, head over to the Randomize! page. There are a number of ways to start playing, but we recommend starting with the “Default” flagset, which is automatically generated if you click the previous link. This will keep the changes light: the contents of magic shops will be shuffled, the locations of a number of key items will be shuffled, and you’ll have early access to a few places and NPCs (specifically Sarda, the Crescent Lake Sages, and Castle of Ordeal).

Of course, we highly recommend that you beat Final Fantasy 1 at least once before trying out the Randomizer so that you know what’s going on.

Don’t worry if this first attempt at randomizing takes you upwards of four or five hours. While most runs of the Randomizer will clock in around one or two hours, it may take you a few weeks to start bringing your times down. Learning and strategizing is half the fun!

Before you know it, you might be gearing up to participate in one of our beginner-focused “Duckling Derby” tournaments.

4) Watch Us Race

When you’re not running your own seeds, why not join the community for our streamed races and learn a thing or two?

You can find us broadcasting two to three times per week on the Speedgaming family of channels (including SG2, 3, and 4) and on Randomania. Check the Discord for our full schedule.

Looking to watch on your own time? Our YouTube channel has tons of great past races available for you to watch on demand.

In addition, runners will frequently plan independent races and then publicize them on the #race-organization channel, allowing you to participate or simply watch the race using a site like Multistream!

We can’t wait for you to start running the Randomizer. Please ask the Discord if you have any questions, and don’t forget to BREAK THE TIME LOOP!