Poker Game Devs Need to Up the Ante

Poker games are some of the most ubiquitous of the genre, with multiple developers publishing variants of online poker on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS through the years. There are hundreds of poker sites online that can be played on your browser. There are even more that can be downloaded as standalone apps on your phone, with casino games being among the most popular gaming apps on the Apple App store. But when you think about it, all of these are pretty much the same, aren’t they?

Most games will follow the same formula: you launch the game, start a match with AI (or another player), and then play the game. Some games will give you a glossary of poker terms, so you’re not caught clueless when people start saying “GG” or telling you that you got a “bad beat”. Some will provide you with an in-game tutorial, so you refresh your poker knowledge in a game instead. Some will let you unlock content with your winnings, so you can customize your games. But all of them are the same: you launch the game, you play poker, and you close the game. There isn’t much else to do.

If you’re someone who’s just looking for a quick game of poker, that’s probably exactly how you like it, but what if you were looking for something more? What if you were looking for a game that doesn’t just let you play poker, but takes you on an adventure as well? Just like open-world games, poker games could use an overhaul.

It’s certainly a challenge for game developers, who have to find a way to balance a focus on poker with incorporating elements of other games. After all, in most other genres, card games play second fiddle and are often relegated to little more than mini-games on the side. Case in point, the many card games incorporated into the Final Fantasy series through the years, such as:

Triple Triad was completely optional in Final Fantasy VIII, but many players still recall this fondly.

In Final Fantasy IX, Square introduced Tetra Master, which was a different card-based mini-game altogether.

In Final Fantasy XIV, Square recreated Triple Triad, but again, it’s completely optional, and doesn’t affect your game much if you decide not to get into it.

This is obviously not what poker game developers will want to do. We’re not suggesting that poker be brushed to the side and just turned into a mini-game! Instead, poker game devs need to start making games that don’t just have poker as a major element, but offer great storylines for those who want it as well.

We need only look at Yu-Gi-Oh! and all the card games it’s spawned in the past two decades for an idea of how this could be accomplished:

Most Yu-Gi-Oh! games take you on at least some type of adventure – albeit usually in the style of a visual novel. However, these games have the benefit of being able to draw from a 343-chapter manga, as well as an animated series. Most assets (and the story) have already been established – something poker game devs can’t really rely on.

However, there is hope, and poker game devs can look towards the wildly successful Gwent franchise for inspiration.

When CD Projekt RED built Gwent into Witcher 3, did they know they were making something that would develop into a full-blown game on its own? Probably not, but it’s hard to argue with the popularity of Gwent now. Since the game’s release on PC and consoles in 2018 (and then on mobile and macOS in the years that followed), it’s amassed a significant following and has even spawned its own esports category. What’s more, CD Project RED has also found a way to appeal to the adventure RPG fans out there by developing Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales.

Thronebreaker won a slew of game development awards, including Best Story, Best Puzzle, Best Narrative, and even Biggest Surprise, when it was released. It was presented as the single-player “campaign” mode of Gwent, which took you on a thrilling adventure as Queen Meve, where you recruited allies, built resources, and fought battles using Gwent.

Why then can’t poker game devs make something similar?

It doesn’t even need to be all that complicated! Think something akin to Pokémon, but instead of trainer battles, you have poker matches. Imagine: your standard poker game, but with a wonderful campaign mode mixed in. You enter the fantasy world and begin your exploration, meet a poker pro who teaches you the ropes, and then begin your journey to be the very best, like no one ever was!

They wouldn’t need to get rid of their standard format – the multiplayer, online, instant-match fights – either. These could stay so anyone just looking for a quick game could get it, but they’d also be widening their net and attracting fans of other genres. All they’d need is a compelling story, and they could have an award-winning game on their hands. Who knows, they might even have the next Biggest Surprise!