Poker Night at the Inventory
Encyclopedia
Poker Night at the Inventory is a poker
video game developed by Telltale Games
. It features four crossover characters: Tycho from the Penny Arcade
webcomic, Max from the Sam & Max
franchise, the Heavy-class from Team Fortress 2
, and Strong Bad
from the Homestar Runner
web series. The game was released on November 22, 2010.
was acquired by a group of connected gamblers. It was discovered that it could not only outlaw libations, but games and amusements that could decrease the productivity of the national workforce (the 18th Amendment in reality does not outlaw this). So the club has been around in secret, just in case Congress tries to set prohibition into law. As a newcomer, the player competes in a friendly game of Texas Hold'em Poker
with Max of Sam & Max
, Strong Bad
from Homestar Runner
, Tycho from Penny Arcade
, and the Heavy-class from Team Fortress 2
. The player is first greeted by Reginald Van Winslow, former captain of the Screaming Narwhal, and sidekick to Guybrush Threepwood
in Tales of Monkey Island
. He explains the back story of the Inventory, and raises the blinds in game.
poker simulation between the player as an unseen participant and the four characters, Max, Tycho, The Heavy, and Strong Bad. Each player starts with a $10,000 buy-in and stays in the game until they are broke, with the goal of the player being the last player standing. The game uses no-limit betting and a gradually-increasing blind bets
over the course of several rounds. Randomly, one of the four non-playable characters will not be able to front the money but will offer one of their possessions as buy-in for the game. The player can win these items as Team Fortress 2
unlockable equipment only if he or she is the one to bust that non-player character out of the game. The game keeps track of the player's statistics over the course of several games, and by completing certain objects (such as number of hands or games won) can unlock different playing card or table artwork to customize the look of the game.
Telltale Games have had previous experience working with several of the characters. Two of Telltale's episodic adventure series include three seasons of Sam & Max and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
based on the Homestar Runner web series; both were developed in conjunction with the original creators, Steve Purcell
and The Brothers Chaps
, respectively. The appearance of Max and Strong Bad in Poker Night are based on the three-dimensional models from these games. The company's team were also fans of Valve
's Team Fortress 2, including creating an informal team to participate in a competition between several game development studios; Telltale offered to create unique items based on Sam & Max to be given as a bonus gift for those who purchased the third season of Sam & Max through Steam, and formed a friendly working relationship with Valve as a result.
Telltale aimed to make the game dialog-centric between the four featured characters. To that end, they created a large amount of dialog for each character and possible interactions between the characters; according to Jake Rodkin
, Telltale's graphic designer, they wrote more lines of dialog for the game than a typical Sam & Max adventure episode. Telltale always wanted to respect the original characters and worked with the individual creators and studios to improve the lines; they previously had gotten similar input from Matt Chapman for Strong Bad, while Jerry Holkins
was extremely helpful to refine Tycho's character based on Telltale's draft dialog. The developers also wanted to avoid any forced interactions, and instead developed what they felt were natural relationships: Tycho dislikes Strong Bad while getting along well with Max, while the Heavy looks upon Strong Bad as a tiny Heavy. The characters are also written to be somewhat cognizant of their nature; according to Rodkin, Tycho and Strong Bad are aware of their video game nature, while Max is ambiguous and the Heavy remains blissfully unaware of his death-and-respawning cycle, simply attributing his memories of dying over and over again as dreams.
Poker Night is the first game to include a voice artist for Tycho; provided by voice actor Andrew "Kid Beyond" Chaikin
. The other three characters are voiced by their current voice actors: Max by William Kasten, Heavy by Gary Schwartz, and Strong Bad by Matt Chapman. The game uses existing 3D models for Max, Heavy, and Strong Bad, while Tycho's is built from scratch; at the time of the game's announcement near the Penny Arcade Expo
, Telltale was still working on refining Tycho's model, though it was briefly seen during their Make a Scene panel at PAX.
The game was teased by Telltale Games a week prior to its official announcement through a short video on Game Trailers TV, showing the silhouettes of the four characters' official art. The game was officially announced by Telltale Games on September 2, 2010, the eve of the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo
. Players who have also purchased Team Fortress 2 will be able to unlock unique items based on the four respective franchises within that game through progress in Poker Night; a special poker visor for Team Fortress 2 was also available for those that pre-ordered the game.
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
video game developed by Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
. It features four crossover characters: Tycho from the Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade (webcomic)
Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
webcomic, Max from the Sam & Max
Sam & Max
Sam & Max is a media franchise focusing on the fictional characters of Sam and Max, the Freelance Police. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted in a 1987 comic book series...
franchise, the Heavy-class from Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
, and Strong Bad
Strong Bad
Strong Bad is one of the major characters of the Homestar Runner series of animated Flash web cartoons. He is portrayed by Matt Chapman, the principal voice actor and co-founder of the series. Strong Bad enjoys pranking the other characters of the series, along with his ever-diligent lackey pet...
from the Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. It mixes surreal humor with references to retro pop culture, notably video games, classic television, and popular music.The cartoons are nominally centered on the title character, Homestar Runner...
web series. The game was released on November 22, 2010.
Plot
The Inventory is a secret club built underneath a video game storage warehouse. Established in 1919, after a first draft of the 18th AmendmentEighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
was acquired by a group of connected gamblers. It was discovered that it could not only outlaw libations, but games and amusements that could decrease the productivity of the national workforce (the 18th Amendment in reality does not outlaw this). So the club has been around in secret, just in case Congress tries to set prohibition into law. As a newcomer, the player competes in a friendly game of Texas Hold'em Poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
with Max of Sam & Max
Sam & Max
Sam & Max is a media franchise focusing on the fictional characters of Sam and Max, the Freelance Police. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted in a 1987 comic book series...
, Strong Bad
Strong Bad
Strong Bad is one of the major characters of the Homestar Runner series of animated Flash web cartoons. He is portrayed by Matt Chapman, the principal voice actor and co-founder of the series. Strong Bad enjoys pranking the other characters of the series, along with his ever-diligent lackey pet...
from Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. It mixes surreal humor with references to retro pop culture, notably video games, classic television, and popular music.The cartoons are nominally centered on the title character, Homestar Runner...
, Tycho from Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade (webcomic)
Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
, and the Heavy-class from Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
. The player is first greeted by Reginald Van Winslow, former captain of the Screaming Narwhal, and sidekick to Guybrush Threepwood
Guybrush Threepwood
Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood is the main character of the Monkey Island series of computer adventure games by LucasArts. The voice of Guybrush is actor Dominic Armato in the third, fourth and fifth games, as well as the enhanced remakes of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's...
in Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games and LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was...
. He explains the back story of the Inventory, and raises the blinds in game.
Gameplay
Poker Night is a computer-based Texas Hold 'EmTexas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
poker simulation between the player as an unseen participant and the four characters, Max, Tycho, The Heavy, and Strong Bad. Each player starts with a $10,000 buy-in and stays in the game until they are broke, with the goal of the player being the last player standing. The game uses no-limit betting and a gradually-increasing blind bets
Blind (poker)
The blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-style poker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three....
over the course of several rounds. Randomly, one of the four non-playable characters will not be able to front the money but will offer one of their possessions as buy-in for the game. The player can win these items as Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
unlockable equipment only if he or she is the one to bust that non-player character out of the game. The game keeps track of the player's statistics over the course of several games, and by completing certain objects (such as number of hands or games won) can unlock different playing card or table artwork to customize the look of the game.
Development
Poker Night grew out of an idea from Telltale employees, wondering "what video characters do when they're not 'on the clock' in the games we play", according to Telltale CEO Dan Conners. From there, they pitched the idea to other companies in the industry and were able to work out which characters they would be able to include. Telltale considered how the four characters would interact with each other, developing dialog, banter, and reactions to certain plays. The characters, they decided, would be fully voiced, and would have distinctive tells and dynamic responses that would manifest themselves as the game progressed. Conners stated that the goal was to create the experience of "hanging out with their virtual buddies, shooting the breeze and playing a good game of poker". Telltale is considering a potential series based on this game using different characters in the future, but would need to see sales exceeding 100,000 to 200,000 units to make it feasible.Telltale Games have had previous experience working with several of the characters. Two of Telltale's episodic adventure series include three seasons of Sam & Max and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People is an episodic point-and-click adventure game developed by Telltale Games based on the Homestar Runner web cartoon, with Strong Bad as the lead character. A total of five episodes were released for WiiWare and Windows between August 11, 2008 and...
based on the Homestar Runner web series; both were developed in conjunction with the original creators, Steve Purcell
Steve Purcell
Steve Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007...
and The Brothers Chaps
The Brothers Chaps
The Brothers Chaps are Michael "Mike" Chapman and Matthew "Matt" Chapman, creators of the Homestar Runner series of animated cartoons. The brothers are originally from Indiana, but now live in Atlanta, Georgia.-Matthew Chapman:...
, respectively. The appearance of Max and Strong Bad in Poker Night are based on the three-dimensional models from these games. The company's team were also fans of Valve
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
's Team Fortress 2, including creating an informal team to participate in a competition between several game development studios; Telltale offered to create unique items based on Sam & Max to be given as a bonus gift for those who purchased the third season of Sam & Max through Steam, and formed a friendly working relationship with Valve as a result.
Telltale aimed to make the game dialog-centric between the four featured characters. To that end, they created a large amount of dialog for each character and possible interactions between the characters; according to Jake Rodkin
Jake Rodkin
Jake Rodkin is an American computer game designer, writer, and graphic designer. He was the co-director Tales of Monkey Island, was the director the fifth episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, was the co-leader and co-writer of Poker Night at the Inventory, and was the co-leader and...
, Telltale's graphic designer, they wrote more lines of dialog for the game than a typical Sam & Max adventure episode. Telltale always wanted to respect the original characters and worked with the individual creators and studios to improve the lines; they previously had gotten similar input from Matt Chapman for Strong Bad, while Jerry Holkins
Jerry Holkins
Keith Gerald "Jerry" Holkins né Parkinson is the writer of the webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals...
was extremely helpful to refine Tycho's character based on Telltale's draft dialog. The developers also wanted to avoid any forced interactions, and instead developed what they felt were natural relationships: Tycho dislikes Strong Bad while getting along well with Max, while the Heavy looks upon Strong Bad as a tiny Heavy. The characters are also written to be somewhat cognizant of their nature; according to Rodkin, Tycho and Strong Bad are aware of their video game nature, while Max is ambiguous and the Heavy remains blissfully unaware of his death-and-respawning cycle, simply attributing his memories of dying over and over again as dreams.
Poker Night is the first game to include a voice artist for Tycho; provided by voice actor Andrew "Kid Beyond" Chaikin
Kid Beyond
Kid Beyond is a singer, beat boxer and live looper based in the San Francisco area.-Early career:Chaikin attended Brown University and was a leader in the co-ed fraternity Zeta Delta Xi. He sang in the Jabberwocks, a student a cappella group...
. The other three characters are voiced by their current voice actors: Max by William Kasten, Heavy by Gary Schwartz, and Strong Bad by Matt Chapman. The game uses existing 3D models for Max, Heavy, and Strong Bad, while Tycho's is built from scratch; at the time of the game's announcement near the Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
, Telltale was still working on refining Tycho's model, though it was briefly seen during their Make a Scene panel at PAX.
The game was teased by Telltale Games a week prior to its official announcement through a short video on Game Trailers TV, showing the silhouettes of the four characters' official art. The game was officially announced by Telltale Games on September 2, 2010, the eve of the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
. Players who have also purchased Team Fortress 2 will be able to unlock unique items based on the four respective franchises within that game through progress in Poker Night; a special poker visor for Team Fortress 2 was also available for those that pre-ordered the game.