Pokeruno

Combining two classics: Duo and Poker

By Christine Mi, Yuecheng Zhou

Summary

Pokeruno is a game combining the basic gameplay of Duo and the rules of Poker. In Pokeruno, you play cards matching the suit or number of the displayed cards — but instead of 1 displayed card, there are 5, and you have the opportunity to form poker hands from the displayed cards. The stronger the poker hand you can form, the stronger its benefit to you. But be careful… some poker hands can set up your opponent to return the favor!

Rules

• Each player starts with 7 cards out of a standard deck of cards, jokers included.
• Decide between you who goes first. Whoever goes first starts with +1 card.
• Flip 5 cards from the deck. Make sure this does not make a poker hand (besides a high card). If it does, re-do.
• Duo rules apply where the card played must match the suit or the number. The goal of the game is to play all of your cards (or have the fewest cards in hand when the deck runs out). You want to try to play poker hands in order to force your opponent to draw cards, or discard your own cards.
• On your turn, play 1-2 cards from your hand on top of any of the 5 cards on the table. If you play 2 cards you must draw 1 from the deck after you play your 2 cards (unless you play a winning hand).
• If you can’t play a card, draw until you can.
• When you discard cards, they go on the bottom of the deck.
• The card you play has to contribute to the poker hand in order to get the benefit of the hand 

• Example: Say there is a 2, 2, 5, 5, 10 on the board. If you play a Q over the 10, you do not make a Two Pair even though there are two pairs visible on the board, because your 10 did not contribute. However, if you played a 10 over a 5, you would make a Two Pair (2, 2, 5, 10, 10). And if you were instead to play a 5 over the 10, you make a Full House (2, 2, 5, 5, 5). 
• Second example: Say there is a 2, 2, 6, 8, 10 on the board. If you play a 2 of a different suit on a 2, you do make a Pair.

• Joker are wild cards, subsequent card must match its color (a played joker does not have a number after it’s been in play).

Poker hand effects:

Four of a Kind	Discard up to 3 cards and reset the board (draw 5 cards from the deck and place them on top of the face-up cards)
Full House	Give other player 1 card and reset the board
Flush	Give the other player 2 cards and reset the board
Straight	Discard up to 2 cards
Three of a Kind	Skip other player’s turn
Two Pair	Other player draws 2 cards
One Pair	Other player draws 1 card
High card	Nothing happens

*If your hand is multiple of the above hands, such as a Straight Flush, you may resolve all effects

Design Statement

The main issues we grappled with when remixing this game were: How do we add more complexity and depth to Duo, a game that is essentially a matter of luck, with fairly minimal strategy? How do we give the player more agency to make more choices and decisions within the game? Duo is a simple game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but how do we make it a little more strategic? 

By transforming Duo into a game utilizing standard poker hands, we hoped to expand the strategies available to players. Do you make a Two Pair and possibly set your opponent up to make a Three of a Kind or a Full House — or do you play it safe and play a One Pair even if you have the cards to play a higher poker hand? Do you play 2 cards instead of 1 (and take the penalty of drawing 1 card) in order to play a better poker hand? By adding these choices and decisions, we wanted to make for a richer gameplay experience where the player is encouraged and sit and think about their next move, vs. simply matching numbers and suits.