It takes a lot to shock us these days, but genre-bending takes on card and strategy games like Poker Warlords get the job done. It will arrive later this year, but you can play a demo on Steam right now.
SkeleJelly Games, the small studio from the creators behind the famous BattlePoker StarCraft 2 mode, is promising large armies, complex combos, and high-stakes competitive matches that feel unlike anything you’ve played before… at least outside of Blizzard’s famous RTS.
“Each card dealt spawns a medieval fantasy army,” the Steam description states. You’re just playing traditional poker rounds, but you also get to choose what cards you’re going to use in auto battles that remind us of the RTS classics. With the rise and fall of autobattlers behind us, this could be an interesting twist on the formula to bring it back to life in the mainstream.
Of course, in-game betting and gambling are part of the package; you want to win the pot, but no real money is being used here. This is a regular video game that’s all about simple fun. Whether you want to climb the leaderboard or enjoy more casual games with friends, Poker Lords will be a strictly free-to-play game with “no pay-to-win mechanics.”
Its launch is currently set for 2026, but a demo is already available on Steam and is being regularly updated. At the time of writing, Poker Warlords has no plans to release on consoles.
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