Introduction
Balatro is a roguelike deck-builder for Steam and Nintendo Switch. I am reviewing the Steam version. Baltro was developed by LocalThunk, and published by Playstack. The game released on February 20, 2024 on all major platforms.
Overview
In Balatro you are playing hands of poker trying to get the highest number of chips. You have your standard poker hands you can play. You can purchase joker, planet, and tarot cards to augment your scores per hand.
Gameplay
Balatro is a Poker game, but one where you aren’t competing against another player, but against a target score.
When you start your first playthrough, you are dealt a hand of 8 cards. You have a target score for each level. During your turn, you can play up to 5 cards. You can combine your cards to constitute the majority, if not all of the standard poker hands. (See picture)
This is all well and good, but after the first few levels, you will need a boost to get to the target score. That is where Joker, Planet, and Tarot cards come into play. You can purchase different modifier cards after each level. Each card has a description of the effects it will grant you. Using the cards you will accrue multipliers and those will greatly increase your score.
Your run will continue until you fail one of the levels. Then you have to start over.
Performance/Graphics
This will not be a surprise to anyone but Balatro performs at a solid 60fps on the Steam Deck. The visuals of Balatro are pixel art. They are pleasant to look at and definitely work for a Poker style game.
Sound
The sound in Balatro is pretty forgettable. I play it while watching tv so that isn’t a bad thing. In this case it really lets you focus on the game at hand.
Value
You can buy Balatro from Steam or the Nintendo eShop for 14.99. I like card games, and Balatro is no exception. I find it very hard to put down. By the time my run ends, I am ready to get back to the game. If you like deck-building games, and/or Poker games, you will have a lot of fun with this game.
Conclusion
Balatro is a Poker game with deck-builder and rogue like game mechanics. You don’t play against anyone else, only a target score. LocalThunk developed the game. Playstack published Balatro. It is easy to learn, and has plenty of tutorials for those unfamiliar with poker and of course, Balatro. I enjoyed the game immensely. You can buy Balatro on Steam for $14.99 and on the Nintendo eShop for the same price. It is a simple, super-addictive game that will give you entertainment for hours and hours.