Poker Smash - XBLA puzzle game, Available Now. NSF56K

eelektrik · January 2008

So you're probably asking, what is Poker Smash?

Its what you get when you combine the classic Panel de Pon(Tetris Attack, Planet Puzzle League, etc) style of puzzle game, with five card stud. Gameplay consists of a 10x5 playing field with blocks rising from the bottom of the screen. Instead of just blocks of different colors, they consist of 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces of all 4 standard playing card suits. Your goal is to swap tiles horizontally to try and line up tiles that make up a poker hand of Three of a Kind or better.

You also have a couple of tricks up your sleeve to help you setup huge combos. For starters there are Bombs that you start off with, they replenish over time but they let you destroy individual tiles to make lines fall into place. They also have the added benefit of keeping the screen from scrolling upwards until they explode. There is also the ability to slow down time. You can hold in the right trigger to slow down time to 1/4th speed in order to let you move tiles around to get combos to line up. This drains a meter that will fill up as you score points. Combined with the bombs and some quick thinking this gives you the ability to set off large combos that will net you massive points.

The game also has split-screen 2-player play, and 5-players over Xbox Live.

I hadn't even heard of the game until picking up the latest OXM and finding a review of it in there. They gave it a 9/10 and I love a good puzzle game so I will definitely get this when it comes out. It will be available February 6th on XBLA for 800 points.

Time for the pretty pictures.

Spoiler:

The Official Website has some short gameplay videos.
http://www.voidstarcreations.com/pokersmash/downloads.html

Zombiemambo · January 2008

This looks fun, but I'm terrible at poker, and I don't know the hands too well.

FreddyD · January 2008

I'm really, really tight with my points but I think I'm going to have to drop 800 on Poker Smash. A cross between poker and Tetris Attack sounds too addictive to pass up.

Ruins · January 2008

I bet this is the free game we get for the Live downtime.

eelektrik · January 2008

Ruins wrote: »

I bet this is the free game we get for the Live downtime.

That would be quite alright with me. Though I'll be getting the game free or not.

Djiem · January 2008

eelektrik wrote: »

Ruins wrote: »

I bet this is the free game we get for the Live downtime.

That would be quite alright with me. Though I'll be getting the game free or not.

Seriously. Panel De Pon is awesome, and so is Poker. The combination of the two can only lead to success.

FreddyD · January 2008

Ruins wrote: »

I bet this is the free game we get for the Live downtime.

They should just announce it because all the rumors must be having a negative affect on XBLA sales.

But I don't they need to give Poker Smash away to get the numbers up. Just having the word "poker" in the name ensures it will sale at least 50k.

RainbowDespair · January 2008

I'd never heard of this game until just recently either, but it's got my attention. I'm still not sure how to play it exactly, but it looks like it could be a lot of fun.

eelektrik · January 2008

Yeah, the latest 1Up Yours podcast was talking about it too, they seemed to really enjoy what they played of it at CES and were raving about the game. Also I was not aware but apparently this game will support replays and sharing of said replays online. Cool beans. Still no word on an actual release date other than 'soon'.

Legacy · January 2008

FreddyD wrote: »

Ruins wrote: »

I bet this is the free game we get for the Live downtime.

They should just announce it because all the rumors must be having a negative affect on XBLA sales.

I haven't bought anything since they said they'd be giving something for free.

UnbreakableVow · January 2008

Cool idea, but I don't know the first thing about poker.

eelektrik · January 2008

Well this game now has a release date, posted on the VoidStar Creations website. February 6th, or next week for the date impaired.

EskimoDave · January 2008

Looks interesting. Definitely piques my interest.

Retarded_Turkey · January 2008

Can't wait for this.

eelektrik · February 2008

Its now available on Live. And also enters you into a contest to win an Xbox 360 Elite even if you just download the trial. I just grabbed it, impressions later.

Roshin · February 2008

I have heard that this is actually quite good and was ready to get it, but then I saw the glowing OXM review and now I just don't know anymore. I may pass.

eelektrik · February 2008

So the games got multiple modes, just tried Action which is your typical play until you lose while it gets progressively faster. You can choose what speed to start it as, I assume it gives you more points the faster its going so you can get to the big points with less time spent. I started off at 1 and lasted until it was upto 31. It gives you detailed stats at the end as well showing how much you made of each type of hand, how many times you made multiple hands on one move, how many times your multiplier went up(It resets the next move after your combo ends)., and so on.

During the game Challenges will show up on the right side of the screen for 10 seconds or so, and if you manage to make that hand during said time you get bonus points, but theres no penalty for failing, just an extra incentive to try.

Theres also Timed Mode which just lasts 3 minutes and you try to get the most points you can. Puzzle mode which has a series of prearranged setups and you have to figure out the combination of hands to clear them all, 55 in total that I can see without having unlocked past the first 5 yet. And a practice mode thats well, practice. Theres also a Custom Playlist mode that seems to only let you choose backround themes or something. Haven't tried it all yet, nor have I unlocked any more themes yet anyways.

My only complaint so far is the music is pretty damned repetitive and not all that great. So far my one run through Action put me at 3rd on the leaderboard for it, heh. Not many people playing this yet.

powersurge · February 2008

If you dig Tetris, Lumines, Meteos, etc.. you will most likely dig this one. I really like the bit of added depth that having poker hands provide. Full House Zomg!

RainbowDespair · February 2008

Playing the demo, I was pleasantly reminded of Tetris Attack, one of my favorite games of all time. With the exception of the music (which can easily be remedied by using one of your own custom soundtrack), this game is excellent. The different poker hands, bonus point challenges, and special abilities (slow down and bombs) all combine to make a surprisingly deep puzzle game. Definitely going to buy this game sometime.

eelektrik · February 2008

Well I'm absolutely loving this game so far. I'm not all that fantastic at Action or Timed but they're fun anyways, but I love the Puzzle mode, with them having alternate solutions in them, trying to find solutions that aren't obvious but score you more points is great. I just spend the last couple hours working on one puzzle, which has an obvious solution that only requires one move and combos the rest, I went for the Straight Flush for big points. Managed to figure it out and reclaimed #1 on the Puzzle Combined Total leaderboard.

Viscountalpha · February 2008

I did like this demo. I may have to try some of the other modes. It is unique from a perspective and the bomb thing is a little odd? But overall a neat experience. I wonder if there is mutiplayer or anything competitive.

eelektrik · February 2008

There is 5-player over Live, and 2-player same screen, but I haven't tried either yet. Can't play on live right now as my account isn't gold right now.

Spore Cloud · February 2008

This is the first XBLA game I've purchased and I like it a lot. The graphics exceed what you would expect from a puzzle game and its got an interesting and unique style. Even if you've never played poker its a very easy game to get the hang of, there are usually so many combinations on the screen at once getting 3/4/5 in a rows are no problem. Once you get the hang of the basics you'll gradually start looking for deeper and more rewarding combinations. I find it it impossible to do more than 3 chains at a time and im stumped as to how there is currently a player that has gotten as high as 40 something chains. Maybe it'll dawn on me if I play more. It's worth checking out, possibly the next sleeper hit.

EskimoDave · February 2008

The puzzles are damned hard. Well, at least I find them difficult. I've only managed to get 10 of the first 15 puzzles.

Cantido · February 2008

I'm loving it. I still have to learn to take advantage of Slo Mo, which is not for making decisions, but racking up combos.

eelektrik · February 2008

To get an idea of how the game should be played(Easier said than done), go into the theater and watch PutSumStankOnIt's video. Its number 1 on the top 100, and will likely be there for some time as his Timed score is about 5 times that of 2nd place. Apparently hes one of the devs, and playing the game for 2 years, but you have to watch it to just appreciate how obscenely good he is at this game.

And the reviews for this game seem to be a mixed bag for some reason. Some reviewers get it and some don't. I particularly don't get Eurogamer's complaints about Puzzle mode, as I love the static puzzles with multiple solutions and wish there were more than 55, I'm sure they could release more as DLC, and I'll grab them up ASAP if they do. Personally this is fast becoming my favorite puzzle game since Tetris.

Retarded_Turkey · February 2008

Bought it last night and it's awesome! I did the first like twenty or so puzzles and then rocked some of the endless one.

Getting some of the achievements are gonna be a bitch.

RainbowDespair · February 2008

At first I was thinking this was just a pretty fun game. Then I started to figure out how you could use bombs, slow down, and speed up to rack up more impressive combos & my opinion skyrocketed. This game's a blast.

uk3 · February 2008

I love this game and all, I loved Tetris Attack back in the SNES days, and I spent some time playing it not too long ago on an emulator at work for hours at a time. I'm far from crazy good, but I'm not terrible, I'm not used to using bombs or slo-mo so I need to get that down. One thing though is completely screwing me up, and that thing is Full Houses. Full Houses have messed up so many of my combos it's not even funny. I mean - I get it, lolpoker and all. Flushes and Straights are neat (though almost always accidental), but Full Houses, oh man, it's so frustrating to not carry on a chain because the two cards you were counting on dropping down actually were 2/5ths of said house, and explode in front of your very eyes. I just think it goes against the whole match 3+ spirit of all these types of games.

That and when I have a full screen of cards and not one single Jack and a challenge pops up saying "GET 5 JACKS HOLY SHIT THIS IS WORTH LIKE 80,00 POINTS!" and I end up frantically scrolling too far to the top thus ending my 30 minute session. Or I accidentally line up a Full House and obliterate two of the Jacks on the board.

Fantastic game though.

Penny Arcade

Poker Smash - XBLA puzzle game, Available Now. NSF56K

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