A poker roguelite that lets you cheat your way out of Hell — demo out now

Why this demo actually matters for card-game fans

This caught my attention because The Devil’s Due is not just another “card game + roguelite” mashup – it’s a swaggering, rule‑bending take on poker that asks you to treat cheating as a core mechanic, not a gimmick. Norwegian studio Games People Play dropped the first public demo on Steam alongside a new gameplay trailer at the OTK Games Expo, and it’s an early peek at something that could be both delightfully clever and dangerously easy to break.

Key takeaways

• The demo covers the first two layers of Hell, letting you sample combat against sin‑inspired monsters and boss encounters.
• Cheating mechanics – swap, conceal, boost, sabotage – are the star, but they come with a suspicion meter that creates genuine risk/reward tension.
• Between duels there are shops, shrines and minigames that reward creative rule‑breaking, plus roguelite progression and permanent upgrades.
• Developer pedigree: Games People Play previously released SpreadCheat, so this isn’t their first rodeo with dishonest shenanigans.

Breaking down the pitch: poker, but more rotten

The Devil’s Due starts with a simple, provocative hook: you’ve already lost your soul playing poker with the Devil, so now your escape depends on outplaying and out‑cheating a parade of demons. Combat is resolved through head‑to‑head poker duels where hand strength equals damage and the sum of your card values functions as defense. That baseline gives the game an immediately readable structure — you can grok whether you’ve won or lost a hand quickly — but the twist is the ever‑expanding toolkit of cheats and trinkets that let you bend the rules mid‑duel.

Designer Jack Kristoffersen’s line — “Just poker where you unlock a whole suitcase of absurd cheating tricks” — is telling. The game promises real poker feeling, but with a suitcase full of ways to rig the deck. That’s an intriguing balance to strike: keep core poker logic intact so plays matter, while still rewarding players who invent dirty combos and strategies.

Why this matters now: genre mashups and player agency

Card roguelites have been fertile ground for experimentation for years — the Slay the Spire template proved you can marry deckbuilding with progression loops, and titles like Hand of Fate showed that card-driven combat can be tactile and cinematic. The Devil’s Due sits comfortably in that lineage but leans hard into player agency by letting you rewrite core rules. In an era where players want systems to toy with, not just master, a cheating‑heavy design has real appeal.

Why premiere the demo at OTK Games Expo? It’s smart. The community there eats up weird, streamable systems — and The Devil’s Due sells itself as a game you’ll want to show off when you pull a successful mid‑duel card swap that turns a loss into a spectacular bluff win.

What the demo lets you try (and what to watch out for)

• Play the first two layers of Hell and face monsters themed around the seven deadly sins.
• Experiment with cheats (swap cards, boost values, sabotage enemy hands) and trinkets that modify playstyle.
• Visit shops and shrines where you can scam or be scammed, and try out suspiciously “fair” minigames.
• Sample early roguelite progression: permanent unlocks, relics, and changes to your cheat deck.

But there are open questions. Will the suspicion meter meaningfully curb abuse, or will optimal routes devolve into predictable cheat combos that always win? How much of the game is skill versus meta knowledge of which trinkets stack well together? These are the balance issues the full game will need to solve — the demo is a good playground, but lack of long‑term variety could make runs feel repetitive if the devs don’t tune enemy variety and upgrade pacing.

The studio and the tone: cheeky, Scandinavian, and self‑aware

Games People Play is a two‑person Norwegian studio founded by lifelong collaborators Jack Kristoffersen and Joachim Barrum. Their last title, SpreadCheat, arrived on Steam in May and already showed their taste for mischievous systems. The Devil’s Due leans into Monty Python-inspired animations and a tactile UI, selling a tone that’s part dark comedy, part carnival con. It’s the sort of aesthetic that makes cheating feel fun rather than malicious — which is important given cheating is literally the game’s mechanic.

What this means for players

If you like card games that reward clever sequencing and systemic thinking — or you enjoy showing off weird combos on stream — this demo is worth an hour or two. Play it to see whether the suspicion system creates real tension, and whether the roguelite loop gives you satisfying progression between runs. If you’re hoping for a poker simulator, temper expectations: this is poker through a funhouse mirror.

TL;DR

The Devil’s Due demo is an entertaining, risky experiment: a poker roguelite that turns cheating into its central play loop. It’s charming, potentially streamable, and loaded with ideas — but the long‑term fun will hinge on whether the developers can keep cheat combos fresh and the suspicion mechanic meaningful.