Though poker-based titles seem to be all the rage on Steam, thanks to the almost impossibly addictive sensation that is Balatro, the latest to catch our eye has been around far longer than the aforementioned roguelike poker title. Let’s take a closer look at a game that’s currently in early access on Steam: Poker Warlords.
Indie developer, SkeleJelly Games, found themselves with a real hit on their hands with the StarCraft II mod, BattlePoker. With its roots in an even older prototype, which was first tested as a Warcraft 3 custom game in 2009, BattlePoker was further refined and then released in 2020, becoming one of the top 10 games in StarCraft II Arcade within a few weeks. It’s remained one of the top 10 games there ever since, which is a pretty remarkable and noteworthy achievement.
This success has convinced SkeleJelly Games to create a full, standalone sequel; the resulting game, Poker Warlords, is now in its Early Access phase on Steam. For the uninitiated, this means that, though development is not yet finished and gameplay elements, as well as the audio and visuals, will continue to progress and evolve until the final, ‘full’ release of the game.
How Do You Play Poker Warlords?
Primarily built as a multiplayer experience, though players can take on AI if they choose to. Poker Warlords draws a lot from the game of poker, as the name of course reveals; players familiar with the popular card game should definitely feel instantly at home with at least one half of the gameplay in Poker Warlords. The hybrid gameplay adds what feels a little like a real time strategy (or RTS) title, though battles are played out automatically, according to the values, stats and order of cards in each player’s poker hand.
At the beginning of a round, each player will initially be dealt one card; this will show the type of unit, and the number of units the card will produce, along with details of the maximum number of units possible for that type. For example, 6 Catapults, with a maximum number of 14, or 16 Hunters with a maximum of 24.
It’s worth noting that units have a variety of different stats and specialties; Health, Armor, Damage (with a type, such as physical or magical) and DPS (damage per second), which is useful to know, and can be seen by simply hovering over the card with your mouse pointer. Units also have abilities and at least one Alliance (though Dragons have no Alliance at all!). A player’s army will receive a special bonus if two cards share an Alliance type (such as Human, Elf, Orc, Undead or Wizard for example; note that units may have more than one Alliance type). There’s an impressive amount of different unit types; 30 in all, with 7 Alliance types.
Once you have your first card, you can choose to Check, Raise or Fold, depending on how confident you are at that stage; if you have just 2 Carnivorous Plants of a possible 14, for example, do you cut your losses immediately and fold, or do you hold out hope that your next two cards will be the ones that you’ll send into battle?
Other players will be doing the same with their own cards, and the screen is very much laid out as if players are arranged around a table, with poker chips and the pot clearly displayed. Provided that you haven’t folded, you’ll be dealt a second card, and a third; you can arrange these cards in your hand so that you have a front row of attack, and a back row. The third card would be discarded.
Once each player who remains after the betting stage has finished with their stakes and arranged their cards, battle commences; as this is an auto battler, players have no control over what happens during combat, though of course the positioning of cards plays a vital part in how the round of combat unfolds.
Battle takes place using an overhead view, and the units on your cards being transformed into actual creatures and weapons. The last player to have units standing in the battle wins the pot, and another hand is dealt, with more betting of chips prior to the next round of combat. The last player with chips remaining, after all other players have lost theirs, is the overall winner of the game.
Is Poker Warlords Fun To Play?
Though it isn’t the most visually exciting game in the world, it’s worth a reminder that this is Poker Warlords in its Early Access phase; SkeleJelly Games are currently reworking many of the visual assets, adding music and building a proper progression system, with an early 2025 launch being aimed for.
Despite the fact that the game is in a fairly barebones state from an audiovisual point of view, it’s remarkable just how incredibly compelling the gameplay loop is in Poker Warlords. We were also left really impressed with its truly impressive array of inventive units; beyond the expected types such as Archers and Catapults are some really interesting and unusual combatants, such as Haunted Graves which spawn Skeletons, or Carnivorous Plants that move slowly but inflict devastating attacks (the only thing missing here are the plants shouting ‘Feed me!’).
Though it can be frustrating to be dealt a card, or multiple cards, with a low number, such as 2 Haunted Graves (with a maximum of 24 possible), this forms part of the bluffing process, and a strong bluff could see you win a round, and significant numbers of chips, without battle even needing to take place.
It’s easy to see why Poker Warlords, in its initial form as BattlePoker, became such a hit in StarCraft II Arcade, as it meshes the two styles of gameplay together very successfully, and despite its basic presentation (which is set to be refined and updated in any case, prior to full release), it’s a game that becomes incredibly addictive, very quickly indeed!
When Will Poker Warlords Be Fully Released, And How Much Will It Cost To Play?
SkeleJelly Games are aiming for an early 2025 release, but of course this is subject to change and far from final at this stage. One thing that is certain, is that Poker Warlords will be free to play; note that even though this is the case, the developers have made assurances that this does not mean it’s pay to win. Players will earn coins and experience by playing games; these can be used to unlock cosmetic items such as custom table skins, avatars and even decorations for your poker room.
All in all, Poker Warlords is certainly an impressive game at this stage, and is likely to be even more so by the time it’s ready for release. You can check out Poker Warlords, and add it to your wishlist, on its Steam page, which can be found here.
