Balatro (9.1/10)
Balatro is a small indie game made by 1 dev that I heard mentioned a couple times with high praise last year putting it on my list to play with a notification in it ever got a big discount even though it's cheap at the base price. I knew it was a card rpg (somewhat similar to Slay The Spire which I really really enjoyed) with poker hands. The moment however I saw that it was nominated for Game Of The Year in the Game Awards it pulled my trigger to try it for myself almost knowing for sure that it would be something I was going to get enjoyment out of.
This was last year when I bought it (with a discount) on my Playstation 4 and I just quickly fell in love with it that it became an addiction which made me actually remove my PS4 from my appartment to avoid myself wasting too much time. However, as I recently went on a ski trip, I ended up getting the mobile version for my iPad & iPhone. This now has me back in a situation where all I want to do is play another run in the Balatro game.
The Balatro Basics
The best way I would describe Balatro is...
"A modern-day version of Solitaire but with 1000x the excitement en depth"
Basically you start out with a normal 52-card deck which you need to make poker hands with. Each type of hand has a number of chips and a multiplier attached to it and you are allowed to lay down a certain number of hands from 10 cards you get dealt also getting to discard some of them. The goal is to reach a certain amount of points to move to the next level where the points become higher and higher.
Each level (Ante) consists of 3 Phases (Small Blind / Big Blind / Boss Battle) and based on how well you perform you get some Dollars that after each phase you can use in the shop to buy upgrades to help you score better shile shaping your deck in a way that it has a lot of synergy.
The Different Types of Upgrades
- Joker Cards: These generally tend to make the game easier or give you extra points. By default you are able to have 5 of them and there are 150 Different Joker Cards in the game with different rarities. Some examples are that you can make a flush or straight with only 4 cards / Give extra Dollars at end of the round / Give bonus chips or multiplier / ...
- Tarot Cards: These Generally make individual cards better. Some examples are to turn 3 cards into Spades, Make them bonus cards which give them +30 extra chips, Duplicate another card, ...
Planet Cards: These upgrade the base score of individual hands. For example a 20x2 base scored for a 2 Pair when upgraded with a planet card becomes a 25x3 base score at level 2 equally increasing in further levels.
Voucher Cards: These are more expensive at a fixed 10$ (virtual) cost and increase the general game metrics. For example, a Voucher can give you permanently +1 card so instead of having 10 to choose from you get to draw 11.
Spectral Cards: These are similar to Tarot cards but a but more speculative. An example is that one randomly picks 1 card out of 10 and makes all 9 other cards in the same number or face of that cars. This means you can get stuck with a lot of 2's or get 10 Aces which are worth way more points.
So you need to make the right choices and at times rely on some luck also to be able to shape your deck along the way to something where there is a crazy synergy between your cards and the jokers you pick up in order to beat the exponetially increasing score thresholds that need to be reached.
The normal 52-Card deck you started off with after quite some rounds looks more like this
There are also many different card decks (15) to choose from which unlock and each of them has different base rules for the game. (Example you by default get 1 extra discard). Within each deck there are also 8 different difficulties which unlock each time one is cleared. the way to clear a game is by reaching round 25 after which you can choose to continue and test how far you can keep going in endless mode. So in total there are 120 Levels to complete if you want to 'finish' the game and more jokers unlock along the way based on certain achievements you compelte by playing.
All of this makes for a super fun gameplay experience where each run is totally different based on the Jokers and other shop items you get to pick. A single run toward level 25 takes about 40 minutes to an hour and your really need to build synergy and have a proper strategy in order to reach that far. However, if you really manage to pull off something good, the scores can get insanelt high. Everything is also accompanied by the right sounds and animations which makes you feel like your are enjoying a casino experience. The addictive nature of this game which feels like gambling (with skill) also is the reason why this initially was labaled as a 18+ Game. This however got turned back and is now rated at 12+
Why Balatro is A Timeless Masterpiece!
For me, balatro is a game that I see surviving the test of time similar to how games like Tetris & Minecraft still can give the highest enjoyment to this day.
1. Game Design over Monetization: This game was designed by a single game dev I believ in his free time who made it for the love of it and with the idea that maybe a couple of his friends would end up playing it. Everything was done to create something that is enjoyable despite the fact that it was something perfectly suited for pay2win microtransactions. This is rare these days and for just 10$ in the app store you get the full game experience which you will be able to enjoy forever.
2. Endless Replayability: Balatro has so many variables that no 2 games are the same which brings about endless replayability. It's very easy to pick up but hard to master and you really learn along the way as many times I went 'I shoud have done that differently or I missed that' only to do it right the next time.
3. It's Pure Fun & Dopanime: It's rare to have games that just suck you in and make you want to keep playing even if you start to get tired. This is exactly what Balatro does and at any point of the day I can start a game and have my mind totally in a differnt world for 40 minutes even if it all is just some pixel art. You always start with the goal to reach level 25 and the aim to pull off something insane which is very satisfying when you succeed.
4. Original Concept: Balatro can be seen as a card rpg and it is somewhat similar to Slay The Spire but it still feels like a fully original concept that has never been done before and one that just works really well.
5. Universal Critical Acclaim: While Balatro is something that fully scratches an itch for me in something that I enjoy and look for in a game. It also gets very high worldwide review scores which is fully justified. All it takes is to sit down and try it for yourself once to be sold on it (if you are into games like this). The fact that a 'simple' indie game was nominated for game of the year also just says a lot.
Conclusion
Balatro for me is a game that is so good and addictive that I need to protect myself one way or another from it as it is taking awat a lot of time from other things in my life. I believe it will become a timeless classic that I will continue playing and get back to for the rest of my life enjoying it without ever really getting tired of it. It is really rare for games like this to be made these days but I'm really glad that it still happens. I rate it a near perfect 9.1/10, Highly Recommended !!!
| # | 2025 Played Games | Score |
|---|---|---|
| #01 | Balatro | 9.1/10 |