5 Best Video Games with Casino Minigames

If you think about it, a lot of video games over the past few decades have included luck-based minigames with wagering, so the distance between video games and casino games have never really been that far apart. Some games take this even further by including actual interactive casinos within the game world, or make casino games more useful than a downtime distraction.

In this article, we’re going to look at five popular video games that also included traditional casino and card games.

The Sims 3

Sims 3 players can purchase the Lucky Simoleon Casino DLC, which not only adds an entire casino with blackjack and slot machines, it also adds a Gambling skill that will level up as your sim plays.

Also, once you own the casino DLC, you can build your own casino, or even download custom content from the mod community. Unfortunately, while this may have the most features of any casino-related activities in any of the games on this list, you don’t actually play any of the casino games, you just watch your sim win (or lose) at them.

But still, building and managing your own casino in the Sims 3 is pretty much a minigame in itself. If you need some inspiration for building the perfect casino, check out some examples of gorgeous casino architecture in real life. And if you want to play casino games concurrently with building a casino in The Sims 3, there are plenty of online casinos you can visit. For an excellent selection of slots, table games, and jackpots, check out Casumo casino.

Far Cry 3

Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 was a delightfully explosive romp through a fictional tropical archipelago, with a gripping storyline between all the trigger action.

While the core gameplay revolves around attacking and capturing outposts to further the storyline, some of the outposts offer Texas Hold’em games, a fun distraction from driving between quest checkpoints. And of course, you’ll use your winnings to stock up on ammo and buy cooler guns.

Of course we’ll mention Red Dead Redemption as having an awesome Texas Hold’em game minigame as well, but you’d expect a poker game in a cowboy western theme. It was a rather nice surprise in Far Cry 3, kicking back in the tropics and going a few hands with the island locals.

GTA: San Andreas

Rockstar’s classic GTA: San Andreas was not only an entertaining throwback to the early 90s gangster rap era, it was a certified rags to riches storyline. And what rags to riches story is complete without dropping stacks of ‘duckets’ at the casino?

San Andreas had plenty of casino buildings peppered around the fictional Las Venturas, but only three of those casinos were actually accessible for the player. Once inside, players can find a variety of casino games including blackjack, slot machines, wheel of fortune, and video poker. San Andreas had quite the selection of casino games.

Craps and Texas Hold’em were also going to be included, and while both games were cut out of the final version of San Andreas, their in-game table and dice models can still be found in the game’s files.

Leisure Suit Larry

Sierra’s Leisure Suit Larry was a rather risque PC game in 1987, and would be considered relatively tame by today’s standards, but the plot entirely revolved around getting the awkward, goofy, leisure-suit-wearing Larry to lose his *ahem* virginity.

Of course, meeting women at bars and disco clubs, as well as cab transport between game areas, requires money, and you’re a bit short on cash. Fortunately, the game offers a ‘solution’ - the casino! In other words, progressing through the game requires hitting up the blackjack tables and slot machines every once in awhile, to replenish your wallet. Or lose it all and re-load the game, either way.

Pokemon RBY

The early generation of Pokemon games for the Nintendo Gameboy featured a Game Corner in Celadon City, where players could plunk coins into slot machines to try and win more coins. I find it kind of hilarious that slot machines would be in a children’s game, but since Pokemon is basically anime cockfighting, it’s not entirely shocking.

Okay, to be fair, they were arcade slot machines and you spend the coins on prizes - which included powerups and rare or exclusive Pokemon, depending on which color version of the game you’re playing.

Honorable mention: Dwarven slot machine mod for Skyrim

We’re including this just for sheer novelty, but a modder created a Dwarven-themed slot machine for Skyrim. And, thanks to the Havok physics engine used in Skyrim, your winnings will literally go spitting out of the slot machine, which is kind of funny to watch on a big win.

You can download the mod over at NexusMods.