Poker Pals Review
PROS
- A very neat idea.
- As the board fills, the options for high scores become endless.
CONS
- The jokers can be as much a hindrance as they are a help.
VERDICT
Combining poker and scrabble ends up with a fun competitive game that should appeal to board and card game fans alike.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Poker has taken the world by storm for quite a few years or so and there are plenty excellent poker titles available for your iPhone. Words With Friends took Scrabble and made it into a very popular online game. Aspyr Media has decided to combine the two and this is how we have Poker Pals.
Yes, this is a turn based poker game played on a board. You play your hand, and then your opponent can use the hand you placed to create their own hand. Once the board starts filling, points can be gained from multiple directions upon placement, and the corners can be used to your advantage for massive points. The corners are where the jokers are. They are wild-cards. When placing a hand next to a joker, it will act as the fifth card, and automatically turn into the card that would be most beneficial point-wise for the hand played. The game ends when all spaces on the board have been filled.
The presentation is hardly worth mentioning. The cards and play field are easily readable and the sound effects are neither obtrusive nor immersive. The game can be played versus a computer opponent of three difficulty levels, online friends or random players, or in a hot seat mode on the same iPhone.
Poker Pals is a simple concept that works well enough to make it a fun board / card game experience. While we would like to see a recall button instead of having to drag all cards back off the board when thinking about turns, there's not much to go wrong with here if you're looking for a fun, competitive board game fix.
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