Poker Stacks is brand new in the App Store. I posted on it earlier today over on whatsoniphone and wanted to share it here on Gear Diary, as well. The game’s developer claims it is-

based on games like Bejeweled 2, Tetris, or Bubbles and builds on them in that you are trying to match real poker hands to clear the board and move to the next level.

Moreover, they claim-

If you love games like Trism, Puzzle Quest, Fuzzle, Poker Dice, Glyph, or Aurora Feint and/or you enjoy Video Poker or Texas Hold ‘Em you have to give Poker Stacks a try.

I love Bejeweled and Tetris is nothing short of a classic. Moreover, I was out with a friend last night who adores Trism. So it struck me that mentioning a brand new game in the same context as those amazing ones might border a bit on chutzpah. So I figured it was worth checking out.

I had a chance to play Poker Stacks last night and one thing is already clear… it isn’t chutzpah at all… the game is fantastic!

It took it for me to really start getting the hang of Poker Stacks but once I did I found it to be both fun AND challenging. And that is one great combination!

The game’s description suggestions you read the “Help” screen before playing. When I was a kid I loved building models and I never read instructions. I still don’t most of the time since that is part of the fun. Trust me- read the instructions. While the game isn’t complicated the few seconds reading the instructions will allow you to enjoy it much more quickly.

Here’s is how the game is played-

The idea is to select poker hands to clear the board so that all of the remaining card tiles fall into the given bottom rows(arrows on the side) before the time runs out. Advancing levels bring new challenges. You can slide your finger over up to 5 cards to select the poker hand. Order isn’t important so straights don’t have to be in order and pairs don’t have to be right next to each other. Tiles not directly involved in the hand’s scoring,’kicker cards’, will remain on the board. Bigger hands mean bigger points. You can also swap a piece exactly once with an adjacent piece between each hand played and the back will then turn blue showing the swapped piece is frozen in place. Finally, you can slide pieces vertically into open spaces, gravity will pull them down if it can.

I started playing the game and, quite honestly, didn’t want to put it down.

I was trying to figure out what I like so much about it and I think it is this-

In similar games such as Bejeweled or JewelQuest 2 there are set options for what moves can be made. A jewel of a specific shape and color is always going to be THAT jewel of THAT specific shape and color. To clear rows THOSE are the game pieces that need to be lined up into threes, fours or fives. And only those. There is no choosing a circle and two triangles this time and perhaps three triangles the next.

In Poker Stacks, however, you are creating any variety of poker hands. As a result, you might use cards to create a pair, or you might use them to create a full house, or perhaps you’ll create a flush, etc. As a result, there is far more strategy involved in playing this game than the others. That alone makes it more fun.

In addition, with each round the minimum hand increases. For example, in the first round you must at least have one pair in a “hand” of five “cards”. A short time later three of a kind will be minimum. And it gets increasingly difficult as time goes on. You can also create your own challenges. For example, you can play a round and ONLY choose to create pairs. Or you might do a round with only three of a kind.

The more I played, the more I found myself getting drawn into the game and moving through levels more rapidly.

In all, it is a great game that requires a good deal of thought and strategy. It is a good deal of fun in the short term and, I suspect, it will also have “legs”, as well. At an introductory price of just $.99 it is a superb deal!

You can find Poker Stacks HERE in the App Store.

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