Poker Warlords Press Kit
Fact Sheet
- Developer: SkeleJelly Games
- Release Date: End of 2024 / Early 2025
- Platforms: Windows, Linux, Steam Deck
- Price: Free to Play
- Availability: Steam
Description
Poker Warlords is the first poker autobattler. The pitch is simple: it's like poker, but instead of using a standard 52-card deck, you get dealt cards that represent fantasy armies. For example, you might get dealt "16 Royal Knights" and "8 Archmages". Instead of a classic poker showdown based on a hierarchy of hand strengths (straight beats a pair), your cards spawn armies in the arena that battle for the pot. The battle is an autobattle, meaning there is no player input once the battle begins. Players who have played poker and any other autobattler (TFT, Dota Underlords, Backpack Battles) will often catch on in their first game.
Story
Nick (aka SkeleJelly) invented the original idea for Poker Warlords in 2009 as a Warcraft 3 custom game. Nick was a huge fan of the Warcraft 3 custom game scene and spent his weekends at LAN parties, playing custom games with friends, and making many of his own. Although he had prototyped a lot of game concepts, there was magic in the air the first time they tried the poker + autobattler concept and they stayed up all night playing. In that original version of the game, the betting had to be done in-person which prevented the game from being shared and it stayed underground.
In 2020, a friend reached out to Nick and they reminisced about how fun the game concept was. Inspired again a decade later to revisit the idea, Nick remade it for the Starcraft 2 custom game arcade and BattlePoker was born. To his surprise, it went viral and became a top-10 most played game, proving the concept had broad appeal. An incredible community formed around the game, and the next years were spent hosting regular tournaments and growing the BattlePoker community.
Riding off the success of BattlePoker, Nick began working on Poker Warlords at the beginning of 2021, now creating the game for the third time. He considers the project his life's biggest accomplishment, even more so than a PhD in computer science! He has since realized his life's dreaming of creating his own game studio and is now joined by his long time college friend Justin (aka Concordia) and BattlePoker staff Garen (aka Frostacles) in bringing Poker Warlords to the Steam audience. Poker Warlords was publicly announced at the end of 2023.
Features
- 30 custom units with abilities:
Poker Warlords has 30 unique units with abilities across 7 alliance types, creating a rich combat system to complement the betting. For example, Orc Pikeman do triple damage against mounted units, which will wreak havoc on enemy knights. Use knowledge about the combat system this to your advantage by slow playing strong hands, bluffing in key spots, and staying one step ahead of your opponents.
- Modes for every player:
For the competitive player, Poker Warlords offers a ranked matchmaking mode and leaderboard. For a casual night with friends, private custom games can be created. Poker Warlords also has a faced-paced Spin and Go format and will support large, multiplayer multi-table tournaments for a diverse range of game formats just like poker.
- Customization and progression:
Poker Warlords is free-to-play with no pay-to-win mechanics. Earn coins and experience by playing games, which can be used to unlock avatars, custom table skins and decorations for your poker room. Flex on your accomplishments with trophies and awards from tournaments and special events.
Trailer
Logo
Screenshots
Contact
Inquiries:
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the game at pokerwarlords@gmail.com.