For PC gamers who enjoy a good poker experience, there’s been a gap in the last few years. Telltale’s Poker Night 2 was widely viewed as the best such game in some time when it came out in 2013, and it’s probably still the best in the genre. It’s still recommended with “very positive” reviews on Steam, and truthfully it’s still quite a lot of fun. It’s hard for a poker game to become "dated," particularly when it’s designed with sharp, modern graphics and popular characters from numerous gaming franchises—as was the case with Poker Night 2.

However, it’s worth recognizing that it's been three years since this game came out, and in the meantime there hasn’t been a carefree poker gaming follow-up. That’s not to say there aren’t options for those who are in it for the casino experience. The online gaming industry has grown vastly more sophisticated in this department, to the point that an overview of available gaming options now showcases just about everything you’d find in a real casino. In addition to standard poker and blackjack options, there are slots, scratch cards, backgammon, roulette, and even live dealer options including video feeds to human game moderators. In other words, if you’re in it for the actual table games and gambling, you have plenty of options.

For those looking for a more casual experience without real money on the line, a game like Poker Night 2 can be the perfect solution. It’s playful but challenging, engaging and competitive but without any real stakes. The question now is what could be done a few years later to top this experience.

Poker Night 3

The most obvious possibility would be for Telltale to simply follow up on Poker Night 2 with a sequel featuring a new cast of characters. And presumably, they have access to more characters’ rights than they might have had back in 2013. We now look to Telltale for gaming action related to Game Of Thrones, Batman, and Minecraft—among other properties—and it was recently announced that the company is working on a Guardians Of The Galaxy title. Those games alone would make for a brilliant selection of opponents. Just imagine sitting at a table with Batman, the Joker, Jon Snow, a Minecraft zombie, Star-Lord and Groot!

Nintendo Poker

Though various Mario games have flirted with gambling concepts over the years, it seems fairly unlikely that Nintendo would release a full-fledged poker game, particularly for PC. That said, the company has been more willing to branch out of late, announcing Super Mario Run for mobile devices and introducing a new, innovative console—so anything is possible! This would quite simply make for the most entertaining cast of characters out there in a lot of gamers’ minds. Think of the groups in play for other ensemble Nintendo games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., and you get the picture.

Square Enix Poker

We could point to any number of specific developers and suggest that they make their characters available for a poker game, but Square Enix stands out because it’s been operating across platforms (with console and mobile titles) consistently for some time now. They, too, could imitate Poker Night 2 with a fascinating mix of characters, from Lara Croft to Agent 47.

These are all merely ideas at this point. And in the meantime, Poker Night 2 is worth going back to if this is a genre that interests you and you haven’t seen anything good in a couple of years. It's a damn fine game.


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Last Updated: Dec 14, 2016

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