Can you outbluff Phoenix Wright?

"Patience is a Virtue in Poker." That was one of the many helpful hints given by stationary NPCs in this poker game, and it also summarizes the game fairly well. There is no tutorial to teach anyone who doesn't know how to play Texas Hold'em, the version of Poker playable in this game, and the only way to learn trial and error if you don't already know how to play. This writer hadn't played Poker in 5 years, and it was a rough transition, and that was with a basic understanding of the rules.

Starting the game, you are either a overweight short cowboy or a tall thin blond southern gal, both with outrageously oversized hats and voices that are a pain on the ears. The same can be said for all of the NPCs too. The graphics are something you would expect from a DS in the overworld, but are more impressive in the poker games. The audio doesn't get better however from the voice acting. You won't miss a thing if you keep the volume off. It is worth noting that the 3D does look very nice, the game is played by looking at both screens, and the 3D effect just gets lost in transition.

The basic story behind Governor of Poker is that your character just decides one day that they want to become the very best like no one else was in Poker and beat the Governor of Poker, the best poker player in Texas. In order to this, you must first become the best player in your hometown, that means dethroning your local champ, and working your way up to the top in a rinse and repeat style story mode. Besides aiming to become the best poker player, you can also aim to own texas by buying all of the buildings in each town. This isn't entirely for greed purposes, for every house you own, you get a small amount of income every in-game week from owning it.

That's all Governor of Poker has to offer besides a online leaderboard that gathers an accumulative score, and a quick poker mode. One would think these modes are well polished for the lack of options, but they would be wrong. In the overworld, you can for no explainable reason only move with the D-Pad. Another nuisance is that when playing a game of poker, you have to wait for everyone to make their moves, raise their bets, fold, call etc. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but in an attempt to make the game realistic, the cpu actually waits before they make a move, like an actual person thinking. This idea is great in concept, but it draws out already long poker games.

Sadly, there is no multiplayer at all in this game, a completely missed chance, just like most of the game.

Governor of Poker is a good game, but the lack of content hurts the game in the long run, leaving a middling experience. This is easily the best Poker game on the eShop, but it an experience best enjoyed by poker aficionados, not a new poker player.

Overall: 6/10