Hell of a Deal

Tuesday Reveal: Hell of a Deal Final Week
24 days ago – Tue, Apr 07, 2026 at 07:09:51 AM

Hello Backers

It's Tuesday and time for the next reveal, as well as some additional looks at the core set Bosses. 

TUESDAY REVEAL!

Like I said yesterday, many of you probably expected one last round of Gamblers - and you'd be right! The Solo game now has 13 unique Gamblers to keep things interesting. Once we got on a roll, we kept pushing to see if we could hit 13 as a thematic number of them and found they all added something special to the experience. 

The Drifter:

The Drifter is in and out after one round of play. He brings 3 face-up cards with him, which is a lot of open information and potential upside for you to build a hand with. His transient nature is the counter balance to that rich opportunity. But, if he doesn't pan out to be much of a help that first round, well - you can also pay a Soul from the pot to keep him around an extra round. That's an interesting choice.

The Conjurer:

Two face down cards and one token to spend, but it is maybe one of the most powerful tools in your holster. Changing cards in the Community hand is a game changer, literally. There are not many ways to do it in the standard game. In the Solo game, this is your second. Unlike the last Gambler to do so, this is not a random draw replacement. It CAN be a cleverly crafted solution. 

Sure, you could swap a face down card from this Gambler, but by playing your Reveal 2 Cards chip, you can see what he's got and plan appropriately. You could even trade a card with him from your hand and then swap from his hand to the Community board. There are a bunch of ways to have this Gambler set you up for a win - for one round anyway. 

And that's it for the Gamblers. Lucky 13 to round out the set!

So, what's all this hub bub about Wednesday? You only have one day more until you find out!

( This is gonna be a goodie! )

Meanwhile, I'd love to showcase two more of the core game bosses you may not have seen yet.

Jack Potts:

Jack Potts is a bit of a wild card and can set you up for opportunities as he sets himself up. Jack adds to the Community hand. After the Flop, he will reveal 3 cards from the deck. If any of those cards match a face up card in the Community hand, it stacks onto the matching card (max 1). The rest just get put in the discard pile. This happens all over again after the Turn and River. 

It might mean that nothing changes. Sometimes the pairs just don't show up. I've never seen it happen, but it could be that the Community hand suddenly has 5 sets of pairs! Either way, Jack has the same opportunity as you do. But a Full House is a much more common hand when facing him - on both sides of the table. Do yourself a favor, peek at his cards if you can. 

Roul-ette:

Roul-ette is another agent of chaos, maybe more so. She's got 5,5,5 as a back up hand. Three times during the round, she is gonna shake things up by forcing players to choose a card from their hand and place it in a face down stack, along with one of hers. They get shuffled and redistributed at random, once after the Flop, the Turn and the River.

Revealed cards are unaffected and it is a good way to control some of the chaos. After all, there are Curses that might discard part of your hand at the beginning of the hand. Maybe you trade away a card you have been forbidden from using for something you can use? Since you choose the card, it is seldom a dangerous thing (but wouldn't it be terrible if somehow it became a random pull from your hand? Hmmmm....). It does, however, keep things interesting.

Okay everyone. Have a great evening - and I will see you again tomorrow with a little sizzle for your stake. : )

Curt

Final Week: Monday Reveal
25 days ago – Mon, Apr 06, 2026 at 06:46:15 AM

Hope everyone had a good weekend. As we move into our Final Week, I decided to handle our last content additions as daily reveals, without a specific "goal" to hit. Just a celebration of a great campaign. 

Today's reveal shouldn't surprise anyone. (And probably not tomorrow's either.) But just wait until Wednesday.

The Devil Himself x 6

C'mon, how could we NOT have 6 Devils from which to select at random? This is the last of them we dreamed up - and admittedly, he is a bastard. 

Like most, he has Trip Aces as a back-up hand, is dealt three hole cards AND can use all three. BUT one of those three is dealt face-up. The Devil treats that card as WILD. Any suit. Any value. His back-up Aces are the least of your worries! PLUS, just to make sure no one gets any funny ideas, that face-up WILD card cannot be affected by players at all. All I can say is, "Have a Lucky Day."

If you have been counting, this increases our total Boss count to 22 Bosses; 15 minions, Nick Hauss and 6 The Devil Himself. We are super excited to be able to bring them to you and we've kept Leon busy whipping up all the amazing art.

It occurs to me that there are a number of Bosses that have always been part of the core offering that we never had the chance to highlight. So, in case you are interested, I'm happy to share what makes them special to face and how they may change your strategy.

Dedly Aloor:

Dedly has a back-up Straight to the 10. Think about THAT. That is one big mountain to climb. But Dedly will lend you a hand. Would you like to draw another card? Go ahead. Be our guest. Draw two. But if you don't also suffer a Temptation, Deadly Aloor draws a new card as well.

The extra cards may well help you make a hand that can stand up to his default Straight - but if you let him draw cards too, he's got the same chance. And if you decide to deprive him of those extra cards, you walk into the real trap, loading up on Temptation.

Demona:

When a Heart is revealed in the Flop, Turn or River it triggers Demona's ability. You must suffer a Temptation or Fold. Maybe you've got a solid hand or are working on something promising. You pay the Temptation. The second part of the ability is, if you stayed in, you may choose to wager a second chip this round. Why not? You've been wanting the ability to bet more the whole game! But of course, the cards don't always go your way and for those who took a bad beat or just never had the hand develop the way they'd hoped... you are now getting soaked on Temptation and Curses.

Both of these Bosses are honeytraps, in that they both reward you for opening yourself to risk. Sometimes you can turn the odds against them, but other times they're just giving you the rope you need to hang yourself. As a designer, this is one of my favorite reward/punishment systems in gaming. As a gamer, this is the most damning mechanic for me. I love pushing my luck, even at my own peril. Fun!

BTW, if you hadn't taken a look already and are looking for a VERY comprehensive (and entertaining) walk through of all the rules, check out Mark Maia's How to Play Video here:

Okay, I'll be back tomorrow with our Tuesday reveal.

Til then, play smart!

Curt

Latest Unlocks & Play Suggestions
28 days ago – Fri, Apr 03, 2026 at 12:28:54 PM

Hi all

Wow. Helluva couple weeks so far. I kinda feel like I'm in a casino, as there hasn't been much distinction between night and day. It's a good thing I love what I do!

I'm going to introduce you to our two new Gamblers, but then I'll be talking more about the foil poker deck Add Ons and making some suggestions for game night too. Then, I'll be taking the weekend for family celebrations, some additional layouts for next week's announcements and -  back to it on Monday!

Gamblers 10 & 11

The Highroller:

Talk about fun - and a nice play on the word "Highroller" - spend a token and Roll the Bones die. But unlike when you have to roll it as a penalty for Folding, the die works in reverse! Instead, you can roll to Heal a Temptation, get rid of a Curse - or if less fortunate, or be forced to discard a Favor card. Two uses of the ability and one down card rounds him out.

The Martyr:

Pretty straight forward. A one-use "get out of jail free" card that removes one of your Curses. Not flashy, just damn useful. Again, using his ability will remove him - and his card - from play. So make sure that Curse is really holding you back.

Remember, you will only ever see three Gamblers per game, so this provides a lot of variety with 11 now in the mix.

Foil Deck ADD ON

I've had a couple private messages asking about the Foil Decks, so I thought I'd share the answers with everyone. First, the why.

As gamers, we love to care for our games and sleeve our cards to protect them - but as a poker player, the thought of playing a sleeved poker deck  - gave me hives. : )    I... I'm just not sure I can do it. And as any card player knows, eventually, regardless of the quality, a deck of cards will get worn out. So, what to do about that?

Hell of a Deal can be played with ANY poker deck. It was an important design consideration to not mess mechanically with how the deck works, so you could swap out and play any deck with it. BUT our deck is thematically tied to the game with the face cards, so we wanted to be sure players had back up decks.

Of course, if we were going to offer extra decks, why not make them great! I had seen some cool Bicycle decks with foil backs and edges and had to have them for my Dealer's Choice night. That seemed the perfect touch for our decks too.

The Add On features a Gold foil and a Red foil deck, 310gsm, black core cards, with a proper playing card varnish. And, because there was a little buffer room in the cost, we decided to sweeten the deal (for Backers only) with a standard size Dealer Button. Our treat.

Many backers have already added one or more of these dual-packs to their pledge. And I think anyone who feels like I do about playing poker with sleeved cards is probably wise to do the same. If you need more later, you can catch us at a show since we will make a few extra. (But the eventual retail copies won't have the button inside).

Tips for Game Night:

Board Game Night and Poker Night are similar at my place, but I think poker night just has more Bourbon. Well, you can enjoy the evening as you will, but I do recommend the following when playing Hell of a Deal.

Have a Soundtrack

Music playing in the background really elevates the evening's activities and I think even more so with Hell of a Deal. If you watched the campaign video, you already have a good idea of what our soundtrack sounds like. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, we highly recommend Swing music, specifically modern, high velocity Neo-Swing.

My top recommendation for artist is: The Royal Crown Revue. Album: Mugsy's Move. and if you listen to nothing else, the opening track, "Hey Pachuco!" is the absolute anthem for the night. But play the whole album to hear other great songs like, "Zip Gun Bop", "The Walkin' Blues" and "Honey Child."

Then let the algorithm find other greats like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (self titled album has all the hits, like "The Boogie Bumper", "King of Swing", and "Jumpin' Jack")The Squirrel Nut Zippers ("Prince Nez", "Hell" "Put a Lid On It"), Cherry Poppin Daddies ("Zoot Suit Riot",  "Ding Dong Daddy" and "Brown Derby Jump" deeper cuts like Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers ("oo Poppa Do", "Everybody's Talking about Miss Thing", "Voo-It") and Indigo Swing (Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" "The Indigo Swing"). Hionestly, I just play Mugsy's Move and let the algorithm do the rest. You can't go wrong - and you can't find a better environmental backdrop for a rubberhose animation casino in Hell anywhere!

Pour a Cocktail

Nothing wrong with Dr Pepper or Mt Dew, obviously. Or your favorite craft beers. But to me, Poker Night means whiskey, and bourbon specifically. I am happy to sip it neat all night, but if you wanna class up the joint - try this simple, classic:

Woodford Old Fashioned

Traditionally, the Old Fashioned, most famous of all the classic cocktails was made with Rye and sometimes I still do. But Woodford Reserve Bourbon never disappoints.

·       Ingredients:

o   2 oz Bourbon (Woodford Reserve)

o   1 Sugar Cube (or 1/2 oz simple syrup/demerara syrup)

o   2-3 dashes Angostura bitters

o   Orange peel (for garnish)

o   Maraschino cherry (MANDATORY Luxardo brand. If you make it with any other cherry it is a crime against humanity.)

o   Large ice cube(s)

·       Instructions:

1.    Muddle: Place the sugar cube in a rocks glass, add the bitters, and a small splash of water (if using a cube). Muddle until the sugar is dissolved.

2.    Add Spirit: Pour in the bourbon.

3.    Chill: Add a large ice cube and stir well until chilled.

4.    Garnish: Express the oil from an orange peel over the glass (twist it), then place it in the drink.

Cheers all! And have a great weekend.

Curt

New Gamblers and a sexy Chip Upgrade
29 days ago – Thu, Apr 02, 2026 at 11:28:17 AM

Hi Backers

I hope you haven't grown weary on all the updates. I'm just excited to talk about the game and all the new additions we are crashing through!

New Gamblers!

Once we realized how well the Solo game was going, we challenged ourselves to come up with some more concepts for the Gamblers. Gaeton got inspired with some amazing ideas, which we pressure tested like crazy, tweaked a bit and let the cream rise to the top. Now I am just doing layouts as quick as I can.

The Swindler:

This Gambler has one of the biggest sets of cards available of any of the Gamblers; one face up and two face down. That's a lot of upsides. And his once use ability? Spend his token and swap your hand for his. The whole thing. Odds are, during one of the rounds, he'll have a winning hand - and now it's yours.

The Smuggler:

There's no getting around it. At some point, your gonna get a bad beat. You stayed in too long, wagered too many chips and now it's time to pay the piper. Happily, you are sitting next to the Smuggler, who will tuck away one of those chips back to your board, where it can't hurt you. You can prevent that kind of chip damage twice before he leaves the table. Still, having access to even a single face down card could have its value. So, think carefully.

Both of these provided fun moments and added some spice to play. Will they be the last? Not yet! It was a VERY productive few weeks.

I have been struggling on how to best showcase this next upgrade, as I don't yet have a sample I can photograph. 

First, as you can tell from the photos of the chips, they are already amazing. On the table, the chips are the star of the show and those who saw them up close at a recent show know how good they look and feel. If I pledged and got those, I'd be delighted. 

BUT we had the opportunity to meet with the printer in person at the GAMA trade show and they showed us some really nice finishes and treatments for the chip's graphic areas from samples they had done for other projects. And there was one that we just fell in love with.

This very subtle finish has a slightly frosted texture which gives the chip a super-premium satin look. It doesn't distract from the graphics themselves (as holofoil can sometimes) but enhances the richness of them with a velvet touch. That's the best description I can give. I will get a photo as soon as I can. But if I put them side by side, you'd choose these. No question.

This would bring the Gambler count to 11 - and I'll share the fun details about them tomorrow as we continue to up the ante.

Chat again soon!

Curt

The Jester 5-card set is no April Fools!
about 1 month ago – Wed, Apr 01, 2026 at 08:21:23 AM

Happy April 1st Everyone!

We are genuinely thrilled about yesterday's Solo game announcement and the reaction it received from the community. It felt so good when test upon test, pressure testing the Gamblers and the overall rule set proved so successful. Nothing broke. We simply tweaked a few things to enhance what was already working wonderfully. Very satisfying after all the push to get it right!

Well, we teased a celebration of Fools to mark the day - and here he is, The Jester. 

The Jester is the only Boss that comes with extra bits, and appropriately so. Naturally, it is a set of custom Jokers.

The Jester has a simple two pair (8's and 9's), so that's not so terrifying. But - before the round begins, you shuffle the four Jokers face down. Then before each of the four Betting Phases, you reveal the top Joker.

Each lists 3 Jests, tied to a particular Betting Phase, so if your current phase is shown - the Jest is triggered.

Pre-Flop: Default hand is now 7, 7, 7. Obviously, not great. But then he had a weak hand to begin with.

Flop: Remove an unplayed Power chip at random. ooooh. That's worse. That could really come to bite you - and it is different for everyone, because - randomly random.

Turn: Shuffle discards into deck. Burn 3 cards. Yeah, hope you weren't planning on fishing that critical card from the discard.

River: Jester & all players choose a card from hand. Reveal in unison. Discard the High & Low card. Well, that's not so bad I guess. Just choose your worst. Unless it were random. Hmmm. That's got me thinking. Never mind. That's a future discussion ; )

But here's the REAL Jest - you WANT them to trigger. Because, if two don't trigger, you stop the hand right where you are and proceed, with whatever you have on the Community board, directly to the Showdown. It is rare, but a suitably harsh Jest. Whoever laughs last, right?

And - I just have to highlight this wonderful illustrative choice from Leon... the Jester is actually the baton, not the puppet holding him. //// RIGHT????!!! I love this SO much!

Okay, well I was up crazy late and slept in a bit - so we are already well into our next goal. 

It turns out, as we were testing the 7 Gamblers and solo mode in general, we came up with some other ideas. And some of these are even more interesting than the first set. But more on those later, as we unlock them. But I won't post the new update til tomorrow - so hang tight.

Curt