In Final Fantasy VIII , you can play Caraway for the Ifrit Card only after you’ve talked to him about cards and reached the point where he accepts it; then you need to lose the Ifrit Card to him on purpose so he can later offer the Rinoa Card.

How to do it

  • First, speak to General Caraway about cards so the card option is available.
  • Then play him with the Ifrit Card in your hand.
  • To make sure he takes it, people usually recommend using Abolish Random first and filling the rest of your hand with low-value cards.
  • After you lose Ifrit to him, he’ll later mention that he lost it to someone else, which is part of the path to getting the Rinoa Card.

Why this matters

The Ifrit Card is the gatekeeper for Caraway’s card chain in FF8, so if you keep it, you can’t advance that side quest. Once you’ve done the loss and recovered the card later from Martine, you can card mod it again if you want.

TL;DR: Talk to Caraway about cards, then intentionally lose the Ifrit Card to him; that unlocks the next step toward the Rinoa Card.