It’s a mighty tough prospect to attempt to scientifically, categorically name the very best episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Oh, there is certainly a top five–though even that would be pretty heavily contested–most people’s would include stuff like Harley and Ivy, Heart of Ice, and Robin’s Reckoning, and, naturally, the incredibly influential and tremendous Almost Got ‘Im (check out my picks). The brilliance of having Batman’s most persistent foes meeting up to play a game of poker while sharing stories cannot be overstated, and now you and your friends can relive it with a card game based on the episode.
The game from Cryptozoic Entertainment (which we first caught wind of thanks to io9) is set up like Mafia or Werewolf. Five to eight players choose one of a select group of Gotham City’s elite villain-ry–Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc–and participate in a poker game. But, just like the episode of the TV show, one of you is secretly Batman in disguise, and you have to either determine which of your supposed friends is a secret superhero, or get to the end of the game without being found out.
The game also employs a full 52-card poker deck, with each hand of poker guiding the action and giving the players things to talk about. Every character has an extensive backstory, and breeding suspicion and mistrust is the perfect way for Batman to get to the end undetected. Watch the video above to see the full story.
And for just around $20, you can have yourself a Batman adventure.
Are you jazzed for an “Almost Got ‘Im” card game? What other episodes of Batman: The Animated Series would make for good multi-player games, and what would the conceit be? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: Warner Bros Animation/Cryptozoic Entertainment
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He’s written the animation retrospectives Batman: Reanimated, X-Men: Reanimated, Cowboy Rebop, and Samurai reJacked. Follow him on Twitter!
