Combining the disparate worlds of poker and combative kart-racing, Arctic Stud: Poker Run sends players out to the frozen wilderness for a series of races in which strategy and bluffing are as important as speed and force. Developer Game Refuge has taken inspiration from real-life "poker runs," where participants use various forms of transportation to reach checkpoints and grab playing cards, but the inclusion of machine guns, heat-seeking missiles, and dynamite is most certainly a case of artistic license. The overall goal of each race is to finish with the best hand of cards, but speed still plays a part because after one player finishes, the remaining competitors have only 90 seconds to compile the best hand possible. Racers choose from more than three-dozen playable characters as they blast, blindside, and bluff their way through 126 levels across nine environments. Gamers can participate in single-player, multiplayer, and tournament elimination modes, and each mode can be tweaked to make competition fair for novice poker players or to provide more bluffing and strategy for veterans. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide