Review: Video Poker Touch/Qt
Score:
71%
Here's something unusual - an application from Offscreen Technologies which, depending on the version you grab, isn't necessarily free! Video Poker Touch is one of their titles which is sold as a commercial app - which makes a review even more appropriate, as you need to know whether it's worth buying. In summary - possibly! - it depends on how hooked you are on the concept of video poker and how concerned you are about the relative 'flatness' of the game. As hinted at above, there is a free version, but only for Qt-compatible handsets and with in-game ads.
Buy Link | Download / Information Link
The two versions, though implemented in totally different underlying programming languages, play identically - the screens here are from the ad-free, commercial version (£3). The Qt version is free but adds a small rectangular ad panel beneath the playing cards - this gets refreshed between hands (i.e. quite often) and depending on your network speed can slow down gameplay slightly.
Poker purists will, of course, shudder at the idea of an arcade, mechanised version of their favourite card game. Essentially, 95% of the skil and fun of the game is removed and all that's left is a fairly random dial-up of hands, hoping for card combinations that make up valuable Poker hands.
But that's to miss the point of Video Poker, which is aimed directly at the casual game market - something which is a pleasant diversion in a queue or on public transport or sitting up in bed. It can be played for 30 seconds or 3 minutes or 30 minutes, with equal satisfaction. And there is some skill (or at least, strategy) here, as you'll see.
Here's Video Poker Touch's one and only screen:
You'll get the idea from the images - you bet for each hand (before you see the cards!) from one to five chips/dollars/whatever, you get to 'hold' any of the cards and then 'deal' again, after which your possible card combinations are analysed.
The chart at the top of the screen shows the possible winning hands and their rewards, depending on the stake put in - having the chart up all the time isn't just a cosmetic, space-filling exercise - when you win, the card combination concerned flashes up, fruit machine -style. This is Video Poker, after all...
The element of skill/strategy comes in choosing which cards to hold for the second round of each hand - enhanced cleverly by virtue of having three 'Jacks or better' as a winning hand, in addition to the classic poker combinations. So - do you hold the two '5's, in the hope of a third one or do you hold that 'King' in the hope that you get two more royal cards and thus win the 'Jacks...' line instead? The riskier the hand, the greater the rewards should you get it, of course.
Offscreen's implementation is fairly 'flat', in that there's no pretense at a back story, no characters, no cut scenes, no music, no choice of tables/machines, and so on. What you see is what you get. The only three buttons are self explanatory and the 'x' icon first clears the current game (which takes a microsecond and which makes it far too easy to zap a game that's going wrong, but whether you use this is a matter for your conscience - this is only a fun title, after all) and then exits the app altogether.
I've always had a soft spot for Video Poker as a game genre - I even wrote a version myself for the old Psion palmtops back in the 1990s! It makes the perfect 'casual' game, has an element of gambling without any actual monetary loss (or, sadly, gain!) and has a certain compulsive 'one more go' appeal.
Offscreen's two implementations here both hit the spot - try the free Qt version if you have a recent phone or otherwise just go for the paid up version. Even if you think £3 is too much for a little Video Poker game (it's really not), consider all the other Offscreen titles you've downloaded and used for free over the last two years, maybe buying this could be a thank you to the developers?
Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 25 May 2011
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at