Hey Everyone,

it's been a while but this is a big one! Worth just skim reading this so that you get an idea of what's changed since the last update. Keep an eye out for the next community post as the game will be moving in a new direction and that news deserves it's own post.

Hold'em Fold'em isn't just poker anymore. Both new games use the same tables, card cosmetics, reactions and chat you already know.

Cheat (also known as I Doubt It, among many other regional names) is the classic bluffing game. Play your cards face down, claim what they are, and call CHEAT! on anyone you think is lying. Every challenge is staged like a showdown: both players' panels flank the pile, searchlights sweep the table, and the cards turn over one at a time before the loser picks up the pile and takes a knockout. A rules panel keeps the rules one glance away, and the bots come in four styles, from Timid to Brazen. Play until the first player is out, until the last human player is out, or for full standings. Add a time limit if you want a guaranteed finish.

Shithead (also known as Palace, Shed or Karma) is the classic shedding game. Match or beat the card on the pile, burn it with a ten or four of a kind, and don't be the last player holding cards. That player is the Shithead, and the table makes sure everyone knows. Every magic card has its own effect:

• 2 resets the pile, and a little terminal reboots to say so.

• 3 is a mirror: it turns to glass and the card beneath shows through.

• 7 stamps a wax seal: the next play must be 7 or lower.

• 8 strikes the next player, who misses a go.

• 10 burns the whole pile.

The House rules menu lets you switch each magic card on or off, choose whether magic cards play on anything, add jokers (wild, or jacking: the next player picks up the pile), make queens jack, and set the length of the setup swap. Face-up magic cards wear a small icon so you always know what a card does.

Both games have save & resume for solo games, an end-of-game ceremony, ten achievements each and their own lifetime stats.

1. From the title screen, choose MULTIPLAYER, then pick Cheat or Shithead in the GAME row (LB / RB on a controller).

2. HOST a new lobby and set it up: for Cheat the end condition, time limit, bot style and what happens on a timeout; for Shithead the House rules… and the end condition. Then use Invite Friends… to bring in your Steam friends, or set Who can join to Public. Or use FIND GAME to browse public games, or JOIN BY ID with a lobby ID from a friend.

3. Every player at an online Cheat or Shithead table needs that game's pack, the Cheat Pack! or the Shithead Pack!. Solo play against bots is included for everyone, and online poker needs no pack. If you don't own a pack yet, its game button carries a green (DLC) tag; click it to see the pack on Steam.

4. Each pack also includes an animated card finish that other players can see. The Marked Deck looks like an ordinary deck until your cards tilt, and then the marks show. The Gull's Deck has glistening sand and a gull that wanders across your cards.

The host manages the bots and players from the sidebar. If a player drops, a bot covers their seat so the game never stalls, and they can take it back if they return in time.

Two new tables are full 3D scenes, animated around the felt:

• Card Room: a quiet Japanese-style card room, with tea steaming on the console.

• Visualiser: Based on the open source ProjectM music visualizer. The felt dances to the music you're playing, with five presets written by Longdog for the game. It shows a one-time photosensitivity notice before you first use it.

3D tables wear a 3D badge in the table picker. Under Customisation → Table, set 3D table motion to Moving or Still. Still draws the scene once and holds it, which is much lighter on the graphics card and is the Steam Deck default. Settings → Display adds a 3D table render scale and 3D table edge smoothing.

More animated tables are coming very soon as DLC, including an island at sea, an enchanted wood and a volcanic caldera.

• Lobby presets. One press sets up a game: Casual (endless re-buys), Tournament (no re-buys: the last player with chips wins) or Fast match (short stacks, a 15-second timer and fast bots). You can still tweak anything afterward.

• Tournaments are simpler. Any re-buy limit now makes a game a tournament: it's marked with a green Tournament badge and counts toward the tournament achievements. The separate Tournament mode, and its rising blinds, has been retired.

• Win chance on all-in run-outs. Each hand shows its share of the chips as the board runs out, side pots included, glowing from cold to hot. It's under Customization → Interface → Win chance (Always, Run-outs only or Off).

• The run-out breathes. The board deals more slowly on an all-in, and the river gets its moment.

• A proper finish. Games now end with a fireworks ceremony (Customization → Effects → Results ceremony turns it off). In a limited-re-buy game, busting out for good lets you watch the rest or end the game there.

• The table explains itself. Re-buys left, players joining or timing out: the game now tells you instead of changing silently.

• New Hand Drawn Deck, with Hand Drawn Red and Hand Drawn Blue backs. Courtesy of https://hazmat-game-studios.itch.io/

• Rename the bots. The seven regulars can be renamed under Customization → Bots (solo games).

• Customization is tidier, split into tabs: Cards, Table, Effects, Interface and Bots.

• The Shithead roast (a crown, and then a gull) has its own switch under Customization → Effects, as do the Magic card icons.

• New music track: "I Remember the Mall".

• Esc pauses any solo game (so does a mouse's back button). On a controller, use Pause in the sidebar. The screen says GAME PAUSED.

• Full controller support in both new games, including scrubbing through your cards with the sticks.

• Steam Deck: small text is larger, and text over the felt sits on a dark backing so it reads on the small screen.

• Borderless fullscreen by default on first launch.

• Server browser: each game has a Details toggle that shows its setup before you join.

• Online stability: a full pass over host handover, disconnects and reconnects in the card games.

• Everything new is translated into all 16 languages, achievements included.

Adding a few casual games seems like the next logical move for Hold'em Fold'em Poker. So first on the list is the classic game of Cheat! Simple rules and fun for a quick game with your friends.

The initial plan is to give everyone the ability to play this mode solo but to play multiplayer, the Host needs to own a copy of the Cheat Multiplayer DLC. Everyone else who connects can join with just the base game. We'll monitor player feedback on this model and will adjust if necessary. It seems like the fairest way to fund further development whilst also letting everyone try it out against the custom Cheat bots.

If you'd like to opt-in to the beta, the beta-branch code is: holdempublicbeta

Please Note!: The Beta branch is incompatible with the main version of the game for multiplayer, so only switch over if you're ok with that.