The house gecko at a card table in a night forest, grinning, one claw on a face-down card.

SIDEHAND

Poker, with a little magic.

A solo poker roguelike built on real Texas Hold'em. Win pots to hit, fold to arm yourself, and play a second, magic hand onto the table.

Never played poker? The house gecko teaches you at the table, one idea at a time.

PC · SteamWishlist on Steam Android · Early accessGoogle Play

Solo and offline · No ads · Mouse, touch or controller

A fight at the Cold Deck, a table in an ice cavern: the player wins with a straight and the hit lands on the Fox's health bar, fourteen times one point five.

The fight

Every pot you win is a hit.

Each fight is a game of Hold'em. Win a pot and it lands as damage on your opponent's health bar.

The hand you win with matters far more than the size of the pot. Make everyone fold and the pot still hurts: a steal damages every opponent who folded.

The Final Table on the Moon: a magic 9 picked up from the Sidehand, and every card it could land on marked with what it would become.

The Sidehand

Fold, and keep a card.

You are dealt three hole cards and drop one before the flop. That card, and one from every hand you fold, goes to your Sidehand: a second hand you play onto the table.

Drop a 4 on your 9 and it becomes a King. Drop a heart on your health bar and it heals you. Throw chips into the pot out of thin air, or fuse two magic cards into one.

Wild cards put Five of a Kind on the table. Real poker cannot make that hand.

The tables

Nine tables, nine ways to play.

A run is three acts, and you choose where they happen. Three tables play Classic Hold'em; six play a house game from real card rooms. Each has its own painting, its own music and its own boss, and every boss resists one hand and fears another.

A mossy round table among the roots of an old forest, in daylight.
The Green TableClassic Hold'em
A table of ice in a frozen cavern, with fur-draped chairs.
The Cold DeckClassic Hold'em
A stone table on the Moon, the Earth on the horizon.
The Final TableClassic Hold'em
A table on a stump in a misty swamp, seats of mossy roots.
The MuckNo-Limp
A small round table in a cluttered attic bedroom.
The Flop HouseBomb Pot
A table in a Victorian aquarium hall, a whale passing behind the glass.
The Fish TankDoor Card
A table in an autumn forest, a lantern hanging from the branches.
Under the GunPush or Fold
A table on the deck of a paddle steamer at sunset.
The RiverKill Pot
A table in the wicker basket of a balloon, above the clouds.
Sky's the LimitFixed Limit

On Steam you buy the game and every table is yours. On Google Play the three Classic Hold'em tables are free, for good, and one purchase, Every Table, opens the other six and every table added later.

The opponents

Every one of them plays real poker.

From the Calling Station who never folds to the Shark who counts your folds. Learn how each one plays, and you have met the people at a real table.

An old golden retriever in a cable-knit cardigan.
Calling StationCalls almost everything. Never bluff it.
A tortoise, unimpressed.
RockPlays only very strong hands.
A mandrill in an open red shirt.
ManiacRaises constantly, bluffs often.
A red fox, side-eyeing.
FoxBalanced, tricky, slow-plays a big hand.
A black cat in a green dealer's visor.
TAGPlays few hands, bets them hard.
A hyena in a pink shirt.
LAGPlays many hands, hard to read.
A grinning shark.
SharkCounts how often you fold to a raise.
A toad in a polo shirt.
The TellSays too much. Watch the log.
A mole in a hoodie, headphones round its neck.
The GrinderTightens up when it is ahead.
A goldfish in a boater and a striped blazer.
FishToo many hands, too many calls.
A sperm whale in a cream linen jacket.
BossWhaleDeep pockets, loose hands.
A mossy, stone-shelled turtle.
BossStonewallShrugs off pairs. Fears Two Pair.
A white tiger.
BossGear ShiftSwitches gears every three hands.
A horned owl in a purple waistcoat.
BossAdaptive ReadLearns from your showdowns.

Never played poker?

Start here.

This is the part the other poker roguelikes do not have.

First Steps in the lakeside cabin: the croupier asks you to drag the 4 onto your 9, and a gold arrow shows the way.
The game on a phone at the Fish Tank, the Coach open: it names your hand and says raise, with its reason.

The same game on your phone, Coach open.

First Steps

The house croupier teaches you at two real tables, one idea at a time: which hand beats which, the blinds and the bets, then the magic. Already know poker? Skip straight to the magic.

A coach that plays fair

It tells you what you hold, which cards would help and what to do, in plain words or with the equity, outs and pot odds. It only reads what a real player can see, so what you learn works at a real table.

A practice wing

Nine short lessons, drills at four difficulties, guided hands, and a Skill Radar built from how you actually play.

A victory at the Fish Tank: three sealed booster packs, the Trick, the Snowball and the Match, and you choose one.

Between fights

Build a deck that breaks the rules.

Win a fight and choose one of three booster packs. Destroy the weak cards, clone the best, shift ranks, convert suits and print nineteen enhancements onto your cards, from Doubled and Tripled to conditional wilds and the one Legendary.

Come back tomorrow

One deal a day, the same for everybody.

The Daily Deal is one fight a day. Six Stakes of difficulty, six starter decks, twenty-one achievements, and cards to unlock with the bankroll you earn every run, win or lose. Bankroll buys options, never power.

  • Solo and offline
  • No ads
  • No real money: the chips are pretend, the poker is real
  • Mouse, touch or controller
  • English · Français · Español · 简体中文

Poker, with a little magic.

Coming to Steam and Google Play.

PC · SteamWishlist on Steam Android · Early accessGoogle Play Every ruleThe Booklet