In the 80s and 90s, when Hong Kong movies were at their most glorious, gambling films were very popular. "God of Gamblers", "Gambler", and "Saint of Gambling" have become popular, and I believe that many players have only learned about Texas Hold'em since then. After decades, the glory of gambling is gone, but Texas Hold'em is still a classic. You'll often see this element in all kinds of games.
Indie games in the gaming market tend to be more likely to bring new ideas and ideas to players, and developers put all their energy into making games fun with limited production costs. At the beginning of this year, a meat pigeon poker game called "Clown Cards" reaped a large number of players with its unique gameplay content, and its foundation was Texas Hold'em.
Surprisingly, however, Localthunk, the developer of Clown Cards, is not only not a fan of Texas Hold'em, but also does not play poker himself. Not only that, but Localthunk never wanted to tie it to gambling when it came to a game full of poker.
Recently, Localthunk even revealed the content of his will on Twitter: "The game IP shall not be sold or licensed to any gambling company or casino." ”
Released on February 20, Joker has sold more than 1 million copies since its launch, with a 97% positive rating on Steam. Although it only requires 1G of memory, the gameplay content is quite rich.
In March of this year, the European Rating Council decided that it contained gambling elements, so it adjusted its rating from 3+ to 18+, which also led to the removal of the game from the eShop platform, which made the developers feel quite sad.
Because although "Clown Cards" is built on the basis of Texas Hold'em, the meat pigeon element added is the soul. Whether you play Texas Hold'em or not, it doesn't affect the player's enjoyment of Joker. What really matters is the deck building.
"Clown" does not involve battles and games between players, but rather a game-progression. With clown cards, tarot cards, planet cards, ghost cards, and vouchers, players need to increase the score of their deck to a certain level in order to move on to the next level. Therefore, the Texas Hold'em element is not important, and it is equally applicable if you want to turn it into mahjong, fried gold, and landlord fighting.
Previously, Localthunk, the author of "Jokers", who does not know how to play cards, has revealed the opportunity to develop this game. It is said that he first saw the gameplay mechanics of Lucky Landlord on YouTube, and later added processing controller support for Slay the Spire. Through the fusion of the two, the existing gameplay of "Clown Card" was brought to life.
The high sales and good reputation have also brought a lot of popularity to "Clown", and its gameplay is also remarkable in independent games. If there are no more innovative and market-performing games in the second half of the year, it may be able to earn a place in the annual awards for indie games.
If you have encountered a game shortage recently, you may wish to try this game with a unique temperament, I believe it can bring you a new game experience.