Poker Night at the Inventory

 Poker Night at the Inventory

Telltale Games developed Poker Night at the Inventory. It features four characters from different franchises, including Tycho Brahe of the Penny Arcade webcomic and Max from Sam & Max. The RED Heavy from Team Fortress 2 is also featured, as well as Strong Bad from Homestar Runner. The game was launched on November 22, 2010. Poker Night 2 was released as a sequel in 2013. The game was removed from Steam in May 2019. [2]

Plot

The Inventory is an underground secret club. The first draft of the 18th Amendment was purchased by a group associated gamblers in 1919. It was discovered that it could ban libations and games that could lower the productivity of our national workforce. Although this was never to be, the club continued to exist in secret to protect Congress from enacting prohibition. The newcomer competes in a friendly Texas Hold'em Poker match with Max of Sam & Max and Strong Bad from Homestar Runner. Tycho from Penny Arcade is the heavy from Team Fortress 2. Reginald Van Winslow greets the player, who is also an ex-captain of the Screaming Nawhal and sidekick of Guybrush Threepwood, Tales of Monkey Island. He explains the history of the Inventory and raises the blinds during the game. The introduction sequence features other Telltale characters.

Development

Telltale Games began a survey to gauge the reaction of fans to Telltale Texas Hold'em 2 on May 15, 2009. [4] Although the team loved the deep conversations the characters had in the original game, they decided to use licensed characters for the new game. [5]

Telltale CEO Dan Conners said that Poker Night was the result of employees at Telltale who were interested in "what video characters do" when they're not playing the games. They pitched the idea at other companies in the industry, and they were able determine which characters they could include. Telltale considered how each character would interact with one another, creating dialog, banter, reactions to plays, and other elements. [7] They decided that each character would have a fully-voiced voice and would respond to certain plays with distinct tells. Conners stated that their goal was for the players to have a great time "hanging out with friends online, playing poker and shooting the breeze". Telltale would like to create a series on this game with other characters, but it would require sales in excess of 100,000 to 200,000 units before they consider making it a reality. [7]

Telltale Games has had experience with several of the characters. Telltale's episodic adventures series include three seasons each of Sam & Max (based on Homestar Runner's web series) and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive Persons (based on The Brothers Chaps [9]). Both were developed with original creators Steve Purcell[8] & The Brothers Chaps [9]. These three-dimensional models were used to create Max and Strong Bad's appearances in Poker Night. Team Fortress 2 was also a favorite of the company's employees. They formed an informal team to enter a competition among several game development studios. Telltale offered unique items based on Sam & Max as a bonus gift to those who bought the third season of Sam & Max via Steam. The team developed a good working relationship with Valve. Arcade Poker