Poker has been overdone on the mobile and puzzle games, unless they are really original, are now also cliché. By combining the two formulas, Microforum's Puzzle Poker is an addictive and interesting play, but it's still a little too basic for its own good.
In a Tetris-inspired well, players manipulate pairs of random cards to construct poker combinations horizontally, vertically, and diagonally and then eliminate them for points. Three of a kind and higher count, and the cards are limited to 10, jack, queen, king, and ace, though all four suits are available. The game is easy to pick up for veterans of poker or Tetris and its clones.
The game has 19 levels of speed that increase based on points. It also has two play modes: normal and mission. Normal is the traditional well-based puzzle style where the game ends when the cards reach the top of the screen.
Mission mode plays a little closer to a game of poker. Like a throwback to the Atari classic Klax, each stage gives the player a specific assignment to complete the round. It starts off with easy targets, like getting two 3 of a kinds or one 4 of a kind, but quickly progresses to getting three 4 of a kinds or surviving 100 cards. Normal mode has a pretty standard level of difficulty for a puzzle game, but mission mode is much more challenging.
Puzzle Poker's graphics are surprisingly detailed, making it more akin to an arcade puzzler than a mobile game. Stylish backgrounds featuring anime-style women change every level and the cards have a cute, subtle bounce when they land in the stack. The sound is a bit above average for a puzzle game, making it average compared to other mobile games.
Puzzle Poker is a decent alternative to the glut of puzzle games out there. However, there really isn't much to it. Fans of the puzzle genre might get a kick out of the game, but it doesn't have much appeal beyond that.
