I have two monitors on my desk. Normally, the left one is reserved for work chat, and the other I use for writing and for checking the web. But lately, something else has been hanging out in the corner of my left monitor: Gambler’s Table, a new idle coin-flipping game out now on Steam, that I can’t stop playing.
The goal of Gambler’s Table is to click a coin to flip it over. And then flip it again. And then again. And again. And again. When this coin lands with the money symbol facing up, you get a dollar. When it lands heads up, showing a skull, you get a skull point that can be used to buy hats.
Don’t worry about that. Just keep flipping. Quickly, you’ll have enough money to buy a second coin to flip. And then a third coin. A fourth coin. That’s a lot of coins to flip by yourself!
Don’t worry, Gambler’s Table has little minion men you can buy who will also flip coins for you. As you rack up more money, you can buy upgrades that make coins flip faster and increase their profit per flip. Eventually, you’ll get silver coins. And gold coins. Before long, you’ll be waving your cursor around to flip dozens of coins in seconds, thanks to an upgrade that removes the need for clicking. Earn enough money, and a skill point will be provided, offering a powerful upgrade that is permanent. Then you can wipe the whole table to start over, earning even more money and getting another skill point in the process. Repeat…forever?
A part of me understands that what I’m doing is mindless and that I’m only doing it because, like so many gamers, I have a need to see numbers go up. And yet, I keep flipping coins, building up a massive amount of money, wiping the table clean of all coins and minions, and starting over. Every so often, I stop and use my skull points to buy a new hat for my minion. It’s my treat to them for flipping coins. Then I catch them resting on the job and have to give them a hard poke to get them back to work. Coins won’t flip themselves, you know? We all have a job to do here at Gambler’s Table.
In fact, I’m wasting a lot of time right now writing this when I could be over there, on my other screen, flipping coins. My minion boys are doing it. But if I helped them, things would go so much faster. So I’m done telling you about Gambler’s Table. I don’t have any time to tell you about its incredibly smooth animations and wonderful coin-flipping noises. Nor can I talk about the sillier upgrades that are available later, and the wonderful effect that happens when you wipe the table clean for a new run. I have coins to flip, damn it. Now leave me be.
Editor’s note: In the hours since receiving this blog from Zack, we’ve not heard from him. Emails and texts have been ignored. His wife called and said the door to his basement office is locked, but she can hear a clicking noise and what sounds like someone humming “Flip…flip…flip…flip.” We are hopeful Zack will return soon.
