Geekscape Games Reviews Poker Night At The Inventory

What if I told you that there was a game out now that for a meesly five bucks, lets you play Texas Hold ’em poker with some colorful characters that have great conversations between one another as well as unlock items to use in a widely played game that is still going strong today? You would rush out and buy it if you were sensible right? Hmm. Seems you need a little more convincing. Ok let me try to show you why Poker Night at the Inventory is a must buy (besides being cheap).

Telltale Games presents us a game that could have been a simplistic card game in which Telltale Games could have made in 5 minutes and left it at that. Instead, they decided to put a little more effort into Poker Night at the Inventory and what you get is a deceptively fun game. The art style in which the game is presented is in the fashion that Telltale Games has done their previous titles such as Sam & Max as well as Tales from Monkey Island. As you are ushered into a private back room, you see four easily recognizable characters from games you might have played. Max (from Sam & Max), Strong Bad (from Homestar Runner), The Heavy (from Team Fortress 2) and Tycho (from Penny Arcade) are your opponents for this high stakes Texas Hold ‘Em poker game.

At its core, Poker Night At The Inventory is just a basic poker game. What makes it worth the money and time to play is the colorful stories that each character tells during the game. I have sat there not playing my hand just to hear stories told by Strong Bad for the sheer fact alone that he has some funny things to say. Every now and then, one of the characters will not have enough money to play at the beginning of a new game so they offer up an item that in essence, is a part of who they are. For example, Max will give up his gun and badge as collateral. If you are the player to knock that character out of the game, you get that item and can use it in Team Fortress 2. This goes for any of the characters in the game which makes this a must buy for the Team Fortress 2 fans out there. One thing I like that Telltale Games did is when characters get knocked out of the game, they are still doing things in the background where you can see them. I like this little detail Telltale decided to do. It just makes the atmosphere of the game that much more fun as well as being able to see that the developers cared to make it not seem like a quick money grab.

Ok, so maybe there isn’t that much to Poker Night At The Inventory and I can see if you don’t like poker or the style of Telltale Games, this game is not for you. On the other hand, if you like a fun couple of hours with some really extraordinary fellows, play Team Fortress 2 still, love Telltale Games and are willing to skip that Mocha Latte from whatever coffee shop you visit, you will thank yourself later.