Poker on cell phones is like solitaire on PCs — it’s practically a staple. There is a reason for this, of course: It’s one of those games you can play for five minutes or a few hours, and have a good time. Hudson and developer SpiderMonk want to shake up the card-game genre, and do so with guns blazing in 6 Shooter Showdown Poker.

Pistols wild, mother*&#@%$!!!

As you can imagine from the game’s title, it takes place in the wild, wild West. There are all sorts of unsavory cowpokes looking to get rich at the flip of a card, and you’re one of them. Things start out relatively normally, as you hit the first casino to either play five-card draw or Texas Hold’em poker. They’re both a good complement to the other, and I was perfectly happy playing one for a while before switching over.

Once you stack some chips there, you can move to a seedier saloon atmosphere. Here, cheating is possible. If you’re dealer, you can choose what card to give yourself, and anyone can pull a card out of their sleeve after the final bets. This aspect is toned down enough that it doesn’t wreck all strategy, and I didn’t use it too often.

Complementing the cheating, you can accuse someone of playing unfairly. When this happens, you go into a rock/scissors/paper style confrontation with them. Rifles beat six-shooters, but are bested by the quicker derringer; six-shooters use their power to beat the derringer, and so on. You have a few hearts, and getting shot removes one. If they all disappear, you die and it’s game over. Luckily, both you and your opponent have a “surrender” option; while costing you some money, you at least get to go on living.

The graphics and control are exactly where they should be in 6 Shooter. Characters look good and ornery, and the cards are easy to read. Gameplay is set so you never need more than one hand to handle every option. It’s also a pretty lengthy game, with four stages of casinos/saloons, so you won’t be it any time soon. Everyone should have poker on their cell phones, so why not have poker with a twist? 6 Shooter Showdown Poker is innovative and clever, and will keep you occupied ’till the cows come home.