One of the best video games of the year is mix between roguelite and poker sim in one of the most peculiarly entertaining indie games of recent years.
We really suck at poker. It’s the kind of ineptitude where we had literally no idea what any of the possible scoring hands are, what they’re called, or which is the most or least desirable. It’s all a big mystery, just not an especially interesting one. Poker has always been something that other people did, and until Balatro came along, that was perfectly fine.
The reason that changed is that this roguelite deck builder is built using the language and mathematics of poker. That means that despite the fact that it’s ruinously addictive, on paper it sounds really boring. Even more so if poker is a language you don’t speak, and maths feels more like a chore than something you’d pay to do voluntarily. If that’s your starting position, prepare to be astounded.
Presented in blocky 16-bit-style, and accompanied by gentle sound effects, ambient music, and fake CRT interference to set off its faux early-90s looks, Balatro is utterly unassuming. Fortunately, part of that humility is not taking previous poker knowledge for granted, so a full list of potential scoring hands is never more than a single button press away.
Its other jargon is similarly barrier free. Games are played in sets of three blinds, which just mean scores you have to beat to continue. The first round is a small blind, followed by a big one, and then the boss blind comes with a random built-in debuff, which can be anything from diamonds not scoring any points to your replacement cards after each hand being dealt face down.
Each round you play has a preset number of discards, letting you purge cards you don’t think will be useful, in the hope of getting better ones from the dealer. You also have a set number of hands you can play to reach the blind’s minimum score, with each set of cards you lay down scoring points based on their face values, and the poker hand you’ve managed to construct.
Cards’ face values act like gambling chips, which are then multiplied by a number based on the specific hand you’ve played. Balatro’s joy and intricacy comes from the meta game built around what turns out to be a pretty simple-to-learn set of card patterns. That starts with jokers (a balatro was a professional jester in Ancient Rome), which add modifiers to each hand you play. These range from giving you more chips or higher multipliers, to adding rewards for particular cards or suits.
These modifiers can also be more esoteric, encouraging you to play in weird ways, like stacking your deck with extra 10s, or deliberately using all your discards at the start of the round to gain a multiplier that only triggers when you have no discards left. It spins the game in strange and unexpected ways that vary enormously in each run. But that’s only the base layer of the game’s complexity.
Add to that tarot cards, which confer buffs on different cards in your deck; planet cards, which add a permanent upgrade to your current run; and vouchers that offer bonuses like an extra hand each round, or discounts in the shop. It’s to Balatro’s eternal credit that after a few runs you find yourself playing fluidly and quickly, with the game undertaking all the maths for you and your decision-making becoming faster as you gain a feel for which combinations of bonuses are likely to make the most difference.
That’s hugely variable, because for truly massive scores you need to farm upgrades for both the number of chips you earn per hand and their multipliers, a process that requires you to find synergies between different card bonuses. That’s partly down to the luck of the draw, and partly tactics, which doesn’t end with playing the most efficient poker hands – you also need to think carefully about how and when to shop.
The shop lets you buy both extra playing cards and the various denominations of bonus card. It’s available at the end of each round, however you also earn interest on any unspent money in the bank, adding an extra level of potential. Saving your cash until you spot cards that will make the most dramatic difference to your run can be transformative.
As well as all that, you’ll unlock new decks with various built-in advantages, from extra hands and money for the shop, to far more obscure benefits later on. There are also slews of fresh jokers with even more extreme bonsuses, and some with concurrent debuffs, although they’re rarely enough to put you off their often significant bonuses.
The result is a roguelite that only gradually reveals its interwoven layers of tactical intrigue, cleverly obscuring them at first, letting you get used to the form, before gently adding ways to turn things to your advantage. It’s fascinating how many of its biggest potential bonuses come with risks, your biggest payoffs arriving just when things look bleakest.
Unfortunately, Balatro seems to have fallen foul of PEGI’s sometimes bemusing ratings system. Despite featuring only a set of cards on screen, it’s currently rated 18 in the PlayStation Store because of its allusions to gambling. Given that a huge number of games feature a risk vs. reward structure without being rated adults-only, it’s presumably words like chips, stake, blinds, and poker that have become its stumbling block.
It’s a shame, because there’s nothing inherent in the game that feels unhealthy, or that would encourage gambling in real life. In fact, Balatro’s only real downside is also one of its strengths: the straightforwardness of its interface. Offering shortcut buttons on the controller for your most frequent tasks – playing hands, discards, etc. – makes the controls vanish into your subconscious.
The drawback of such a refined scheme is that it’s incredibly easy to hit discard when you meant to press play, or to lay out your cards before you’ve finished selecting them, which at critical moments can end an otherwise promising run. Like a tightrope walker without a safety net, that just means you need to concentrate and take things slowly, but it’s always lurking in the background, ready to punish complacency.
Even though it’s not about gambling per se, there is a fair amount of luck involved, but that’s offset by the fact that you also find yourself getting better at the game. That’s partly down to permanent upgrades, but also because your ability to weigh odds and different potential tactics against each other improves. It’s an intoxicating mix that carries you forward on a euphoric tide of chance, unlocks, and increasing expertise.
Described in words, Balatro can sound like an unnecessarily convoluted, action-free bore. It could also sound like gambling, with its poker jargon and emphasis on risk taking. The reality is that it’s an enthralling, pared back strategy game whose complexity is, if anything, far greater than it first appears, revealing itself over the course of runs that are in themselves joyously compelling.
Balatro is a brilliantly engineered, multi-layered monster of a game, and it’s almost impossible to believe it comes from the mind of a solo developer.
Balatro review summary
In Short: An expertly constructed and intricate roguelite deck builder that draws on the language and concept of poker, before twisting it with an infinity of modifiers, unlocks, and delicately balanced risk and reward.
Pros: A huge and evolving challenge. Its complication at no point feels overwhelming and its appeal relies on no prior knowledge of poker. Great value for money.
Cons: There’s no undo button, so mistakes can be catastrophically easy to make. Laser narrow focus does eventually start to get tiring.
Score: 9/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Playstack
Developer: LocalThunk
Release Date: 20th February 2024
Age Rating: 18
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