Poker Face Paul's Gin

From Sega Retro

n/a

PokerFacePaulsGin title.png

Poker Face Paul's Gin
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega of America
Developer:
Supporting companies:
Genre: Table

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Game Gear
US
2328
Videogame Rating Council: GA

Poker Face Paul's Gin is a gin game for the Sega Game Gear. It was only released in North America.

Gameplay

Poker Faced Paul's Gin GG, Hand.png

Hand

Poker Faced Paul's Gin GG, Knock.png

Knocking

The game simulates playing the card game gin rummy. It uses a cursor interface where the D-Pad moves the hand-shaped cursor between cards and 1 or 2 picks up or places down a card.

Gin is a two-player game, but the game only supports one player playing against a computer opponent. The goal of a game is to win a "box" by earning 100 points. Games are played until a player wins a certain number of boxes (2 by default but changeable to any number from 1 to 9), thereby winning the game. This is accomplished by forming "melds" of three or more cards. The cards in the meld must match by having the same face value (such as three 2s or three Jacks) or by having the same suit and being in numerical sequence (such as the 4, 5, and 6 of clubs). Any cards that are not in a meld are considered "dead"; the goal is to place as many cards as possible in a meld and to be holding as few dead cards as possible.

On each hand, both players are dealt ten cards, which are automatically sorted in ascending value (with Aces worth 1 and face cards all worth 10). The player can pick up and move cards to sort them into melds. One "upcard" is turned up in the middle of the table, with the remaining 31 cards placed face down in the stock next to the upcard. The player can draw one card from the upcard or the stock (which draws an unknown card from the top). After drawing a card, the player must choose one card to discard (which can be the drawn card if the player decides not to keep it) to keep the hand at ten cards. Discarded cards are placed in the upcard pile. Then the opponent takes a turn and does the same. This continues until a player "knocks" or declares "gin." Pressing  START  raises a menu that allows the player to knock, declare gin, or ask for a hint (show all the cards in the upcard pile or suggest the next move).

Either player can knock when not drawing a card and when their dead cards total less than the Knock Limit (which is 10 by default but can be set to any number between 1 and 10 or only when calling gin); knocking ends the hand and shows the melds that both players have made and the dead cards that they have left. The values of the dead cards are added up. The opposing player (whichever player did not knock) has the opportunity to "lay off" any dead cards onto the other player's melds if they fit (which the game figures out automatically). Then the values of both players' dead cards are subtracted, and the difference is added to the knocking player's score. If the opposing player has fewer dead points after laying off, then the knocking player loses points and the other player gains those points plus an Underknock Bonus (which is 25 points by default but can be changed to any multiple of 5 between 10 and 50).

If the player has no dead cards (meaning all ten cards are in melds except the discard), the player can call gin. This is similar to a knock, but the opponent is not allowed to lay off any cards. The value of the opposing player's dead cards are added to the player's score, plus the player is given a Gin Bonus (which is 25 points by default but can be changed to any multiple of 5 between 10 and 50).

After the first hand, the loser of the last hand goes first. If neither player knocks or calls gin, the hand ends when the stock is down to the last two cards. The player whose turn it is can use the upcard and must either knock or call gin; if the player can do neither, then the other player must attempt to do the same. If neither player can end the hand, the hand ends with no score.

Characters

These characters can be chosen as opponents. They increase in difficulty.

Poker Faced Paul's Gin GG, Opponent Select.png
Jack
Poker Faced Paul's Gin GG, Opponent Select.png
Jane
Poker Faced Paul's Gin GG, Opponent Select.png
Ming

Production credits

  • Executive Producer: Jay Smith
  • Programming: Brian Beuken
  • Graphics: B. Davis, R. Ward, Richard Ashton
  • Music: Spidersoft
Source:
In-game credits
Poker Faced Paul's Gin GG credits.png
[2]

Source:
US manual
PFPG gg us manual.pdf
[3]


Magazine articles

Main article: Poker Face Paul's Gin/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(US) NTSC-U
80
[4]
Sega Game Gear
80
Based on
1 review

Poker Face Paul's Gin

Game Gear, US
PFPG GG US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngPFPG GG US Box Front.jpg
Cover
PFPG GG US Cart.jpg
Cart
PFPG gg us manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 afd61b89
MD5 c2c37127003087a7c5eebd63dce219c6
SHA-1 e21d29b2864b6eed3a4eb4dcf7443f1114e92bd4
128kB Cartridge (US)

References


Poker Face Paul's Gin

PokerFacePaulsGin title.png

Main page | Magazine articles | Reception


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Poker Face Paul games for Sega systems
Poker Face Paul's Blackjack (1994) | Poker Face Paul's Poker (1994) | Poker Face Paul's Gin (1994) | Poker Face Paul's Solitaire (1994)
Poker Face Paul's Cribbage (unreleased)