Telltale Texas Hold'em -- a game you should play (Here's why!)
TelltaleGames
Former Telltale Staff
The year was 2005. Telltale was a young company staffed by a handful of eager designers and programmers who were just setting out to revolutionize the gaming world. The first step toward world domination: Create a casual game with engaging characters to showcase just what Telltale could do, and learn something about making funny games in the process. Telltale Texas Hold'em was that game.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't play Hold'em until a few months ago when I was asked to write copy for a casual game portal that would be adding it to their line-up. I dutifully loaded up the game during my lunch break, thinking I could breeze through before everyone staggered back in from their hamburger and Starbucks runs and noticed what I was doing. Three hours later, I was still at it. And yeah, everyone noticed, but I didn't care. This game is addictive. And wicked funny.[readmore]
It doesn't matter if you know nothing about poker. (I didn't!) Hold'em has a great tutorial that will teach you everything you need to know to compete with expert Harvey Weinhead, cheater Boris Krinkle, stoner Ted Dudebrough, and crazy old Grandma Shaky through hand after hand and heaps of banter. This was the first game to be made with the now legendary Telltale Tool, and it's hands down the funniest poker game you'll ever play. Why does a poker game have to be funny, you ask? Well... to keep it from being boring, I guess. To make it feel like you're playing cards with friends in your kitchen, rather than huddling in front of your computer all by yourself. Anyone who's ever wished the mini-games in Sam & Max could be played over and over again, this is your game. Hours into it, you'll still be hearing new jokes.
Okay, so it's been out for three years. Why am I pontificating about Hold'em now?
It's because the game just got a major update. It's now Vista compatible. (Finally!) Some bugs have been fixed. (No more split pot crash!). And it uses our new activation system, which means it can finally sit pretty in your Telltale account along with everything else you've bought. (Awesome!) If you're already a customer, you'll find it there already, just waiting for you to redownload and fire it up.* And if you're not a Hold'em customer yet, have we got a deal for you!
To celebrate the release of the new version -- and to celebrate the game itself, since it still holds a special place in our hearts and in the annals of Telltale history -- we've dropped the price to $8.95. Which means, you know, you should really check it out. (There's a free trial, too, if you want to play first and pay later.)
It's kind of amazing to play Hold'em and think about how far we've come... and also where we came from. Telltale was founded and built up by a group of enormously talented and enthusiastic people. We've grown to over fifty employees, and most of us who are here now weren't in that cruddy (so I hear) little office at the beginning, but we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who were. And if you've ever played and enjoyed a Sam & Max game, so do you.
*If you bought Hold'em in early 2005 when it was first released, your order might not be in our system. Send our support team an email with your first/last name and the email address you think you used for the purchase, and we'll add it manually.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't play Hold'em until a few months ago when I was asked to write copy for a casual game portal that would be adding it to their line-up. I dutifully loaded up the game during my lunch break, thinking I could breeze through before everyone staggered back in from their hamburger and Starbucks runs and noticed what I was doing. Three hours later, I was still at it. And yeah, everyone noticed, but I didn't care. This game is addictive. And wicked funny.[readmore]
It doesn't matter if you know nothing about poker. (I didn't!) Hold'em has a great tutorial that will teach you everything you need to know to compete with expert Harvey Weinhead, cheater Boris Krinkle, stoner Ted Dudebrough, and crazy old Grandma Shaky through hand after hand and heaps of banter. This was the first game to be made with the now legendary Telltale Tool, and it's hands down the funniest poker game you'll ever play. Why does a poker game have to be funny, you ask? Well... to keep it from being boring, I guess. To make it feel like you're playing cards with friends in your kitchen, rather than huddling in front of your computer all by yourself. Anyone who's ever wished the mini-games in Sam & Max could be played over and over again, this is your game. Hours into it, you'll still be hearing new jokes.
Okay, so it's been out for three years. Why am I pontificating about Hold'em now?
It's because the game just got a major update. It's now Vista compatible. (Finally!) Some bugs have been fixed. (No more split pot crash!). And it uses our new activation system, which means it can finally sit pretty in your Telltale account along with everything else you've bought. (Awesome!) If you're already a customer, you'll find it there already, just waiting for you to redownload and fire it up.* And if you're not a Hold'em customer yet, have we got a deal for you!
To celebrate the release of the new version -- and to celebrate the game itself, since it still holds a special place in our hearts and in the annals of Telltale history -- we've dropped the price to $8.95. Which means, you know, you should really check it out. (There's a free trial, too, if you want to play first and pay later.)
It's kind of amazing to play Hold'em and think about how far we've come... and also where we came from. Telltale was founded and built up by a group of enormously talented and enthusiastic people. We've grown to over fifty employees, and most of us who are here now weren't in that cruddy (so I hear) little office at the beginning, but we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who were. And if you've ever played and enjoyed a Sam & Max game, so do you.
*If you bought Hold'em in early 2005 when it was first released, your order might not be in our system. Send our support team an email with your first/last name and the email address you think you used for the purchase, and we'll add it manually.
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