Balatro | Xbox Review
It seems every year I come across another roguelite game that ends up on my Game of the Year list. They usually come out of nowhere and surprise me, but they almost always involve combat. The first one that’s graced my console this year doesn’t have any weapons, stamina, mana, deaths. It’s a poker game. Yes, you read that right. But before you click off to another review full of blood and guts please hear me out. Balatro, from one-man developer LocalThunk, is so much more than your traditional poker game. It’s gloriously addicting and very hard to put down. If you have even a remote interest in poker at all, you owe it to yourself to give this brilliant title a try.
Know When to Hold ‘Em
Unlike traditional poker, in Balatro you’re not playing against another player. You’re not even playing against any form of A.I. The goal is simple: play poker hands to earn enough chips to beat the blind that is posted (the first blind is 300 chips). You have a limited number of discards and a limited number of hands you can play. Points are scored according to the type of hand you play. The rarer the hand, the more chips you earn. If you earn an amount of chips equal to or higher than the blind, then you advance to the next ante (round) to try a higher blind to beat. Of course, you’ll earn some cash to spend on goodies in between rounds. If you make it all the way to the eighth and final ante and beat it, you win!
It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Well, that’s only the beginning, my friend. As you can imagine, simply playing standard poker hands isn’t going to be enough to earn tens of thousands of chips in later blinds. Each poker hand has not only a chip value, but also a multiplier, which obviously increases the value of the hand. The key to victory lies in joker cards, tarot cards, celestial cards, and countless other types to improve your multipliers, change the available cards in your deck, and earn more money.
Know When to Fold ‘Em
And that’s where the beauty of Balatro lies. The sheer amount of opportunities you have at your disposal is staggering. Jokers act as “cheats” to increase multipliers for particular hands and a myriad of other bonuses. Planet cards increase the value of particular hands, and tarot cards let you alter the available cards in your deck. Maybe you want to work your deck to have all of one suit so you can chase after flushes. Maybe you want to destroy certain cards in your hand to raise the odds of certain hands. The possibilities are endless, making each “run” a unique experience. Its impossible to put down, even after losing a round. The “one more run” mentality is stronger here than in any game I’ve played in a while.
What makes this game particularly impressive is the fact that it’s made by a single developer. As you can imagine, this isn’t an experience that requires 4K resolution. In fact, the art style leans into its classic look. Everything from the cards to the background images look straight out of a Vegas video poker machine. Even the sounds of shuffling cards feels authentic. There’s also a sort of grainy filter on the screen to make it feel like you’re playing on a CRT monitor. That might not sound like a selling point, but I promise you it works quite well in this situation.
The only negative I have is that the progression ramps down rather quickly. At the beginning, you’re earning all kinds of new cards to add to your arsenal. It’s almost like they want to give you that “first taste” to get you going. After winning a few hands, it gets increasingly difficult to unlock new tools. But it’s not keeping me from playing by any stretch of the imagination. There’s so much to do and so much to see. And those wins feel oh so satisfying.
Balatro Final Verdict
I simply cannot recommend Balatro enough, especially at its price point. I’ve put in easily over twenty hours into this title, and I’m not stopping anytime soon. The more you play, the more you unlock, making it easy to come back to to see what’s next around the corner. I’ve recommended this game to multiple close friends, and every single one of them have told me how much they’re enjoying this experience. If you have even a remote interest in poker, you need to play this fantastic title. You won’t regret it.
To hear me talk more about Belatro, be sure to listen to our February 14th podcast episode around the 55:57 time stamp.
This review is based on a purchased Xbox copy of Balatro. It is also available on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and the Humble Store.
Balatro
$14.99
Pros
- Insanely Addicting
- Infinite Possibilities of Strategies
- Runs Perfectly At Any Speed
- Fitting Card "Noises"
Cons
- Could Use Slightly More Achievable Goals
