Top 5 Gambling Games In Video Games
There are some amazing video games out there right now, which allow you to perform incredible feats of heroics, whether that be shooting you’re way out of a bar fight in ‘Red Dead Redemption II’, or saving the crew of your ship in ‘Star Trek Online’. However, sometimes, you just want to kick back and relax, and that’s where the gambling mini-games come in. We take a look at our top 5 mini-games, that let you step away from the violence, and kick back.
5. Red Dead Redemption II
Just like in the original Red Dead Redemption, the latest version of the Rockstar’s western-themed action-adventure allows you to pull up a chair at various locations across the map and win some money in the various mini-games. For those of you into cards, you can play both Blackjack and Poker. These games can be found in Rhodes, Blackwater, the Van Horn Trading Post, the Saint Denis saloon, and even sometimes at your own campsite. Another game which pops up at the camp and various places around the map is Dominoes, although if you fancy getting out into the world, you can also go to the park in Saint Denis. Lastly, for those of you of a less squeamish nature, you could bet your hand (quite literally!) on Five Finger Fillet, the game which involves stabbing a knife in between your fingers as fast as possible in a set sequence!
This is a great way to earn some virtual coin in game, but for those of you wanted to try out for real-world money, you could head over to the NetEnt Casino site where you can find links to lots of UKGC-authorised UK Casinos and can try your hand at winning real cash.
4. Fallout New Vegas
In the much beloved ‘Fallout New Vegas’, there are a multitude of gambling games to pick from… It is Vegas after all! Along with Blackjack and slot machines, this version of the Fallout franchise also has a unique game called Caravan.
Caravan is a card game started by caravan guards in the post-apocalyptic wasteland to pass the time from loose playing cards they found on their travels. To get a free starter deck of cards, head to see Ringo in Goodsprings. You can collect more cards as you travel throughout the game world.
The principle of the game is for each player to create 3 stacks or “caravans” of cards. Each person places a card on the stack, and the object is to keep the value of the stack above 20 and below 27. The first person to get 2 caravans between 20 and 27 wins. If you get a decent deck together, it can be a handy way to make a few additional caps in the wilderness.
3. Star Trek Online
Star Trek isn’t traditionally a universe you would connect with gambling, but there is one game that has appeared quite prominently, and that’s Dabo. The main location in the franchise where people will have seen the game played is on ‘Deep Space 9’ where Quark ran Dabo tables in his bar. However, it also made it into Star Trek Online as a nice way of winning yourself some Gold-Pressed Latinum to spend on shiny new gear!
Dabo is a game of chance developed by the Ferengi and is a cross between a slot machine and roulette. The main feature involves a roulette-type wheel containing 36 slots and a number of symbols. On each spin, the player bets whatever amount they desire on 3 symbols. Much like a fruit machine, how much you win depends on the which combination of symbols come up, and how much you staked. The biggest payouts come from winning a Dabo, which is when 3 symbols or colours match.
2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Whilst it might be set in a galaxy far far away, the Star Wars franchise isn’t immune to the fun of a card game. The most well-known card game in Star Wars is probably Sabacc, which was the game played by Lando and Han that saw the future Administrator of Cloud City lose the Millennium Falcon to the “scruffy lookin’ Nerf Herder”. However, in the classic ‘Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’ franchise, there is a similar game called Pazaak.
It has some basic similarities to earth’s poker, where the idea is to beat your opponent to 20 without going over. The first player to win 3 rounds takes the pot. The difference with Pazaak is that you have speciality cards that allow you to adjust your total up and down. So if you reach 21, you could play a -1 card, and win with 20. There are also Flip Cards to flip all the -/+ cards to their opposites, which can be a nasty way to mess up your opponent’s plans!
1. The Witcher 3 / Gwent
Lastly, we come to ‘The Witcher 3’, and a card game which became so popular in the main game that they spun it off into its own standalone esport series – Gwent.
Gwent is described as “a card game of choices and consequences, where skill, not luck, is your greatest weapon.” The turn-based card game pits two players against each other, with each game taking three rounds. Each player must play one card each turn from a deck of cards, placing the card in one of the two tactically distinct rows – either melee and ranged. The objective is to get more points than your opponent and win 2 out of the 3 rounds.
What makes the game so clever and addictive are the card decks. Each deck can be handcrafted by the player from a variety of possible factions, each with a different playstyle, and a multitude of possible deck compositions. The better combination of cards you can stack in your deck, the better chance you have of winning. However, the game is well balanced, meaning if you don’t refine your deck based on your opponent, you could come unstuck very easily!
If you fancy giving Gwent a try, you can get it for free on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
