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.
The Official Website has some short gameplay videos.
http://www.voidstarcreations.com/pokersmash/downloads.html
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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.
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.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
I haven't bought anything since they said they'd be giving something for free.
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.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
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.
Getting some of the achievements are gonna be a bitch.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd 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.