No other houses, or little villiages to go to for any sort of side quest. No side games to play. Nothing. And the side games were horrid in that title.
Chocobo Hot and Cold was very addictive for me and a lot more enjoyable than FFVIII's Triple Triad, imo. And as for no side games, I don't know how you played the game, but I thought there was plenty of sidequests. Here's a few:

BlackJack
After finishing the game, let the credits roll until the phrase "The End" appears. While it's on-screen, enter the following sequence of buttons on your controller to access the to access the hidden card game "Blackjack": R2, L1, R2, R2, Up, X, Right, Circle, Down, Triangle, L2, R1, R2, L1, Square, Square, Start. The dealer deals out of two decks and stands on 17, and you begin the game with a bankroll of 1,000.

Mr. Morrid's Coffee
After leaving the Ice Cavern, head to the Observatory Mountain before going into Dali. There's an elderly fellow named Morrid inside the hut, who's just crazy about his gourmet coffee! You can find 3 different bags of this in different locations around the world of FFIX.

Excalibur
You can get a very powerful sword for Steiner by completing a short side quest. Return to Daguerreo on Disc 4. An old man near the Library's Inn asks you to look out for an item called the "magical fingertip". You can get it at the auction house. Take the Magical Fingertip back to the old man in Daguerreo. When you give him the item, he tells you his life's story and then gives you Excalibur.

Friendly Monsters
At various locations on the World Map, a random battle occurs but the music sounds sweet and melodic. The creatures that appear won't attack either; instead, they ask you for ore or sometimes other jewels. If you give them the things they ask for, they will give you AP.

Frog Catching
When you enter the frog pond area of any Qu's Marsh, Quina asks to spend some time catching frogs. You can chase them around the marsh and if you catch enough, Master Quon will approach you and give you some items.

Rope Jumping
It was cute to see Vivi jump rope with the little girls.

Mognet Central
Delivering letters to various moogles in the world so you can revive Mognet! It's tons of fun because you only have a name that the letter goes to, and not the location. It's up to you to track down the moogle that it belongs to.

Feed the Moogle Family
Each time you receive a Kupo Nut for delivering mail between the moogles, return to Gizamaluke's Grotto and feed it to the father of the moogle family. You'll receive a random item in return.

Nero Brother's Gambling
If you go into the Weapon Shop with Zidane in Alexandria at the beginning of Disc 3, you will encounter the Nero Brothers (Benero, Genero, and Zenero). They will ask if you want to play a game with them that involves finding the correct brother. They will then mix themselves up and you have to guess which brother is which.

Ragtime Mouse
When you are walking in the world map, sometimes you may encounter a strange monster with another music. It gives you a quiz. It is a monster called Ragtime Mouse. If you answer correctly, it will give you some Gil, but wrongly, it will disappear.

Ranking in Daguerreo
The true identity of the four-armed bandit is revealed after you've collected enough treasures to gain a Treasure Hunting Rank of "S."

Racing Hippaul
You can only take part in this mini-game with Vivi at the beginning of Disc 3. Hippaul stands with his mother on the main street in Alexandria. When you speak to Hippaul's mother, Vivi and Hippaul will run a race.

Treno Auction
After the group's initial visit to Treno, return to the King's Mansion and the auction. Some Key Items and some extremely useful equipment are auctioned off here, and this auction is the key to receiving a very powerful weapon!

Treno Weapon Shop Monsters
Depending on when you visit the Weapons Shop in Treno, you can have one character duel with a monster that the owner has caught and caged under the floor. You can fight one monster during Disc 2, one of two different monsters during Disc 3, and only one monster on Disc 4.

If you think those are boring, well, that's your opinion, but there's PLENTY of things to do in FFIX. Not to mention all the ATEs that happened in the story! Those were always a blast to check out, for me anyway.