The Most Satisfying Poker Minigames in Gaming

Modern game developers love to fill their worlds with a range of experiences to make them feel more alive. That’s why minigames exist within games. One of the most commonly appearing minigames is arguably one of the most retro games of all – poker. This card-folding classic has made its way into a lot of open-world games over the years, but not every minigame is made equal. So, which game provides the best poker simulator?

Red Dead Redemption 2

If immersion and realism are your goal, then the most satisfying poker simulator would be Red Dead Redemption 2. However, it’s realism as a cowboy in the 1890s, not the modern day. As outlaw Arthur Morgan (or a created character), you can visit tables across the bayou and play Texas Hold’em against NPCs or real people online.

Texas Hold’em is a favorite for a lot of players, and it owes a lot of its popularity to its use in movies and other media where a slick two-card hand looks best. If you don’t know what those hands mean, then you’ll want to reach for a Texas poker cheat sheet before you go all in. While the game has its own overlay to explain how poker works, online resources tend to have more detail and some little tricks the rude saloon owner doesn’t want you to know.

Turns out, the developers at Rockstar Games are fans of Texas Hold’em too, including it in not one but two Red Dead Redemption games. So what makes it immersive? Besides the gritty Wild West aesthetic, the game moves at a real pace. Every action players take, including placing cards down, is all done with seamless animations. Characters make small talk and tell stories at the tables, and they even have tells that aren’t signposted that you have to look for yourself. It’s also one of the best-looking games out there with many celebrated realism features, but your mileage may vary if cowboys aren’t your style.

Watch_Dogs

If you want poker with a twist, without all that immersion and realism, then Watch_Dogs provides a Texas Hold’em experience unlike any other. Set in a near-future Chicago where everything is digitally connected, the actual game follows hacker-turned-vigilante Aiden Pearce. Pearce can control virtually anything using his mobile phone, making the game a dark neo-noir adventure.

The game suffered controversy due to its noticeable graphical downgrade on release. However, for those who could get past that hurdle, they found a world filled with strange minigames from zany digital hallucinations to shell games where you need to follow a ball under a cup. 

But we’re here for the poker, and that’s where things get interesting. Using Aiden’s special abilities, you can hack into the other players to see their stress level. Even more deviously, you can hack a camera that’s usually in the room to see others’ cards when they take a peek.

Using these cues, you can play poker in a way that’s impossible in real life. You should note that, even with help, you can never see everybody’s cards, meaning you can still lose if you play poorly. Of course, if you’re the sporting type, you can always try clearing the table without ever using your abilities.

Between these two games, you have two poker minigames that are satisfying for very different reasons. One a historical simulation that should appeal to hardcore poker players, while the other is a fun spin on how technology can change the nature of the game and tilt the odds in your favor.