On a foggy autumn evening in 2010, four friends from four very different places met up to play a high-stakes round of Texas Hold ‘Em poker. A fifth person was also invited to participate: you. So imagine what it was like the first time you took a seat next to the titular rabbity thing of Sam & Max, Strongbad of HomeStar Runner, the Heavy of the Team Fortress franchise, and Tycho from Penny Arcade. Sixteen years later, the cards, the chips, and even these characters have called you back to the table in a remastered version of the first Poker Night at the Inventory.

First off, it is amazing the work Skunkape is doing to keep the older Telltale Games alive, well, and looking better than they originally did. Their work on the Telltale Sam & Max trilogy featured some of the best remastering, to the point where it sometimes felt more like you were playing remakes rather than an older title with a spit shine. Skunkape continues with this tender love and care in Poker Night at the Inventory, which looks, moves, and feels just as fresh as it did when it popped up on PCs and Macs the same year of the first-ever PAX East.

Well…okay, while PAX is still super popular, perhaps I can’t say the same about the Penny Arcade comic that it was spawned from. Yes, it’s still around, but I couldn’t name a single person in my friends’ circle that reads it. On the other hand, people still know the other three properties that Max, Strongbad, and the Heavy come from, and they still partake in the games, comics, and webtoons that feature them. It’s just poor Tycho that may struggle to connect with players sixteen years later.

But I am getting a little ahead of myself. This is about Poker Night at the Inventory. You start by laying out $10,000 on the table. And then, it’s off to the races. The object of the game is to walk away with all $50,000, not to mention avoid losing all of your cash. To do that, you must keep on playing Texas Hold ‘Em until you are the last player standing. And man, is it just as hard now as it was years ago to stay in the game.

There are ways to figure out how to keep tabs on everyone. If you can figure it out, every player has a tell that reveals what kind of hand they have. A twitch of the hand, a punch to the face, and even a change in one’s eye color can be the hint that you need to either stay in the game or — in some cases — tell you that folding would be in your best interest. However, paying attention to everyone at the table can be tricky, as eying one player’s tell may make you miss the tell of another.

So long as you’ve still got cash, you can survive many rounds with these four wise-cracking gambling addicts. Even if you are nearing bankruptcy, it’s still very entertaining hearing these players converse with one another. Max asking the Heavy for weapons advice, Strongbad talking about the other weird characters in his world, and Tycho…yeah, even if I grew up reading early Penny Arcade comics, I have no idea what he’s spitting about. It’s entertaining nonetheless, to the point where even if you lose all of your cash, you might just want to continue watching the game unfold to hear all of the conversations.

Should you win the entire pot, you will unlock new cards and tables based on the characters you’re playing against. However, gaining that victory is super challenging, as you might find yourself playing 20 rounds of Texas Hold ‘Em, and only win the pot twice! Be that as it may, it provides hours of entertainment that will leave you laughing, even if you’re frustrated by the sight of your cash earnings dipping lower and lower.

PROS:

• Super fun poker game
• Entertaining conversations
• Always challenging

CONS:

• Sometimes hard to read tells
• Not many people may get the Penny Arcade references

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Poker Night at the Inventory is just as fun now as it was in Fall 2010. The game is addictive (thank God it’s not real cash!), the dialogue is funny, and the challenges are just as hard to master as they were in the past. One hopes that Skunkape will release the sequel remastered sometime down the road, but for now, catching up with Max, Strongbad, the Heavy, and — yes — even Tycho has been wonderfully nostalgic!

Promotional consideration provided by Emily Morganti. Reviewed on the PC via Steam.