2013 video game
Poker Night 2 is a poker video game developed by Telltale Games.[1] It
is the sequel to Poker💲 Night at the Inventory and, like its predecessor, features
characters from different franchises. The game was released for Steam, PlayStation
💲 Network and Xbox Live Arcade in April 2013, with an iOS version released the following
month.[2][3][4] Due to expiring licenses,💲 the game was pulled from sale in September
2024.[5]
Gameplay [ edit ]
Like the original game, Poker Night 2 is a💲 computer-based
poker simulation between an unseen silent participant (the player) and four characters
that is played in The Inventory that💲 was featured in the previous game. Each player
starts with the same amount of virtual money (which was raised toR$20,000💲 per player
andR$100,000 total fromR$10,000 per player andR$50,000 total in the original game), and
competes in standard poker rules to💲 try to eliminate all the other players by
exhausting their money. In addition to the Texas hold 'em style of💲 play featured in the
original game, Poker Night 2 introduced the Omaha hold 'em style as a playable mode as
💲 well. Like the original game, there is a large amount of dialogue due to the banter
that the characters share.
The💲 four additional characters in addition to the player are
Sam from the Sam & Max franchise (voiced by David Nowlin),💲 who is assisted by Max
(voiced by David Boat), Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. (voiced by Patrick
Warburton), Ash💲 Williams from The Evil Dead franchise (voiced by Danny Webber), and
Claptrap from the Borderlands series (voiced by David Eddings).💲 GLaDOS (voiced by Ellen
McLain) from the Portal series takes a supporting role as the dealer. During the hands,
these💲 characters provide humorous chatter between each other and towards the player.
Reginald Van Winslow (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) from💲 Tales of Monkey Island reprises
his role as the host.[1][6] Additional brief cameos include Steve the Bandit (voiced by
Mikey💲 Neumann) and Mad Moxxi from Borderlands, Doug and a Save-Lot Bandit from The
Walking Dead, General Skun-ka'pe (Roger Jackson) from💲 Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse,
and a waiter from Gravity Bone.
There is a large amount of dialogue, due to💲 the banter
that the characters share. The player, however, is silent (and this acknowledged by the
other characters in dialogue).💲 The game features unlockable in-game card, chip and
table designs, as well as "Bounty Unlocks" for completing certain goals, which💲 unlock
Borderlands 2 content and, depending on the platform played, Team Fortress 2 items on
Steam, Xbox Avatar items, or💲 PlayStation 3 themes.[6][7] Simultaneously using chips,
cards, and tables sharing the same theme alters the design of the Inventory, opening💲 up
new conversation possibilities. Players can also buy the other characters drinks from
the Inventory's bar in order to more💲 easily expose their tells.
Development [ edit
]
Gameplay of Poker Night 2, showing the player with a royal flush, beating Sam💲 (three
of a kind), Brock (folded), and Claptrap (folded). Ash has busted out of the game on an
earlier hand💲 and can be seen at the bar in the background.
The first Poker Night game
was developed by Telltale during a💲 lull in their release schedule, and proved to be
successful; Steve Allison, vice president of publishing at Telltale, believed it💲 was
the relationship between Telltale and Valve that contributed to the success of the
game, luring players with Team Fortress💲 2 items for performing well in the game.[8] As
completion of The Walking Dead neared, Telltale found themselves in another💲 lull, and
returned to the Poker Night concept as a way to fill the gap.[8]
Character selection
was more direct than💲 the first game, with Telltale wanting to bring in characters from
movies and television. Allison had a good relationship with💲 MGM Studios who were eager
to offer characters, and was able to secure the character of Ash from Evil Dead,💲 which
also was timed well against the release of the 2013 remake.[8] Similarly, Allison
stated that Cartoon Network readily agreed💲 to the inclusion of Brock from Venture
Bros., one of the Telltale team's first selections.[8] Gearbox Software, the creators
of💲 Borderlands, appreciated the first game, and allowed the Claptrap character to be
used.[8] The final spot at the table was💲 to be left open for a character from a
Telltale game, eventually resulting in Sam. They had considered using either💲 Marty or
Doc Brown from the Back to the Future game but realized that they would not be
appropriate in💲 a game with mature spoken content. Similarly, characters from The
Walking Dead series would not be a thematic fit for💲 the poker title, as it would make
people emotional about the game.[8] To help make the play more personable, they💲 needed
to have a dealer for the table, and GLaDOS was considered an obvious fit.[8]
Marketing
[ edit ]
Telltale started a💲 website called The Key Party in 2013 in order to promote
the game, with a new keychain related to the💲 game characters revealed every working day
from March 25 until April 1, when the game was officially revealed.[1]
Reception [ edit
💲 ]
The PC and iOS versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation
3 and Xbox 360 versions received "mixed or💲 average reviews", according to the review
aggregation website Metacritic.[9][10][11][12]
