Every so often I am tasked with reviewing a game that I’m no good at. It doesn’t happen that often as I can often find my way through any type of game. Sports, platform, action, shooter, RPG, whatever the genre I can get it done. This is one of those games that isn’t really hard to play, I’m just no good at it.
Teyon’s Governor of Poker blends a good old fashioned Texas Hold’Em style poker with some RPG elements. Your goal in the game isn’t simply to play poker, which this game does well. You are also tasked with building your fortune and taking over the town. The game takes place in the desert town of San Saba where you begin your journey to building your reputation and riches up to take over the whole state of Texas.
My trouble with the game is simply one of patience. If you’ve ever watched a poker tournament they are very slow paced as players try to outwit their opponents. As such, with the exception of big hands where the players wager large sums of money, their pots either slowly increase or dwindle. If you get too overzealous and put a big bet on your hand you can either make a ton of cash, or lose your shirt if your hand isn’t quite as good as your opponent.
I’ve had that happen to me on several occasions. When you think you have a great hand, and someone has one just slightly better, it can be very frustrating.
You start off the game with some money, which you can use to buy into daily poker games. You can also use that money to purchase properties in town. These properties give you a modest daily earning, but you’ll still need to win at poker to keep yourself afloat. Luckily (for me) you don’t have to win each tournament. The top three get cash winnings, so if you can last until some of the other players have busted you can make a modest earnings.
Once you do collect a few wins, or at least earnings in tournaments, you will earn a reputation in town. This will get you invitation to other private tournaments with other residents of the town. So you will have the option of more than one tourney to play in each day. The difference between the main tournament and the private ones is that these ones, not only do you only get money from winning it all, but you can also take your chips and leave at anytime. If you’re having a bad time and want to cut your losses, or quit while you’re ahead, you can get up and leave.
Eventually you can wager or win properties in the game at these private card games.
One thing you have to be careful of is how much money you have in total. If you don’t have enough money to buy into a poker game it’s game over. I also had this on more than one occasion.
Visually the game has a simple look which suits nicely. The town is presented in a top-down, pre-rendered fashion as is the poker games themselves. Different players are distinguished by the colour and style of large cowboy hats, which is fitting with the Texas setting. The audio in the game is also solid, with the dealers little quips and remarks fitting and smooth. The game is also almost completely controlled via the touch screen, which is done very well. The buttons aren’t used at all during the games.
If you’re looking for a nice texas hold’em poker game for the 3DS then this is definitely worth your while.