A new take on a classic
It’s difficult to describe Balatro, but I’ll give it a shot. It combines the basic rules of poker, the low stakes of solitaire, and the extremely addictive gameplay loop of Slay the Spire. In other words, a poker-themed roguelike deck builder with a deep, but rewarding level of depth.Each hand scores points based on the face value of the cards and the combination of cards achieved (two pair, full house, flush, straight, etc.). As you progress, these are multiplied in a huge variety of ways by joker cards, consumable cards based on tarot, card enhancements, and a bunch more.
One run is all it takes for the hook to sink in deep.
It sounds like a lot, but one run is really all it takes for the hook to sink in deep.The whole thing was developed by one person over the course of a few years, and first released on PC and consoles earlier this year. Last week, it finally landed on Android as a premium game with no ads (.99), and on iOS as part of Apple Arcade.
Playing is a gamble
In the first 24 hours after installing the game, I had played more than eight hours of Balatro. In the days after, things didn’t look much better. I was beginning to become more and more comfortable with the rules and strategies of the game, but less and less comfortable with the stranglehold it had on my time and attention.Since it’s now on mobile devices, you can play it anywhere. Runs can take an hour or more, but the cloud save feature makes it super easy to pick it back up. If only it were that easy to put back down.Just like real gambling, Balatro has the potential to ruin lives, one ante at a time.
