Poker Night at the Inventory

Telltale’s crazy take on mashing up poker and humor together

Whoever said that poker is a dead-serious mind sport obviously hasn’t played Poker Night yet.

Poker Night is one of the few, unique games that bring something new to the table. Telltale really went out of its way in letting gamers see poker under a different light, removing all the nerve-racking bluffing and replacing it with hilarious banter with four of the geek world’s most relentless characters including Max from the Sam and Max series, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, The Heavy from the award-winning game Team Fortress 2, and Tycho of Penny Arcade Comics fame. That’s right. Players get to battle it out on the gaming table with these four, unusual, Friday-night poker chums.

Nope, you’re definitely not playing with these gorgeous babes. (Image source: casino.betfair.com))

Usually, games are remembered and judged through their game play, graphics, or story line. While Poker Night has all that, the game truly shines the most with its comical factor. Poker Night is extremely hilarious, featuring smartly-written lines from some of the gaming universe’s most recognizable icons. The best part of that is, despite not having a real connection with each other, there’s chemistry between them all, making it as if they’ve been buddies for a very long time.

See? Just look at how they all liven up whenever they’re near each other. (image source: penny-arcade)

At the start of the game, the player will be introduced to the “The Inventory,” an underground club of “professional” card sharks. At times, some of the 4 characters won’t have enough money to bet with and will offer in-game collaterals instead, such as a pair of sunglasses, a Luger, or a whopping mini gun. Such items can be used in unlocking certain items on Team Fortress 2. Winning enough matches will also earn players new poker decks and tables to be used in the game.

Just make sure to win the mini gun FAIRLY. (image source: deviantart.com)

In the game, players will regularly hear the four characters chat with each other. Seeing The Heavy taunt Strong Bad or hearing Tycho’s obsession with giraffes is silly and witty. Those who have played or read the four characters’ respective games or comics will definitely appreciate their lines more since many of the inside jokes are based on their titles.

Outside its clever theme and humor feature, however, Poker Night’s AI can be a bit annoying and daunting at the same time. Playing on hard mode, it would seem that instead of winning based on skill, the AI knows exactly what the turn, flop and river cards will be. Instead of being random, it feels as if the game fabricates the results instead of them occurring naturally. So even for the most veteran card sharks out there, prepare to lose a lot in the game. As in A LOT.

Minus the receding hairline, yeah. You’ll be doing a similar pose many times when playing hard mode. (Image source: alexanderpitt.blogspot.com)

Overall, Poker Night at the Inventory is a great game to play, especially to those who want to learn how to play Texas Hold ‘Em in a hilarious and easy way. The characters are witty, the animation is smooth, and best of all, it’s available for only 5$ on Steam.