Review : Balatro : Joker’s Wild…Literally : Seasoned Gaming
Steve’s latest review is the casino themed deckbuilding game, Balatro, that scratches that rogue-like itch. Come and place your bets! Steve EspositoFebruary 19, 2024February 19, 20240 Comments
Balatro has a very basic concept that slowly becomes more complex as you dive deeper into the game’s mechanics and start forming your deck. Every basic card has a value equal to each card’s face. You pull a number of cards from your deck and create a hand consisting of up to five cards. These hands play in accordance to the traditional point mechanics in traditional poker. You get points for the type of hand you play plus the value each card played. There are various bonuses that multiply the total score, awarding you with a number of chips at the end of every hand, with the goal being to beat the various predetermined score which must be beaten before the number of playable hands reaches zero.
Simple, right? Well, there is more to it, with the first major mechanic revolving around the joker cards. These act like passive bonuses that increase your multiplier or add to your score. You also have planet cards and tarot cards that can manipulate your hand in various ways. Some cards can even reward you with additional coins, so you can buy and add even more cards to your deck. This is where Balatro’s unique style really shines through.
As a huge deck building fan, Balatro really speaks to me on a spiritual level by making it slightly difficult, but not impossible, to create the perfect deck, especially considering the way that every card could become useful. For instance, I had a joker that would multiply the score of every “two pairs” that I played. This turns my lowly 2’s and 3’s into legit choices to up my score just past the threshold. If you developed your deck in a certain way or don’t have any viable hands to play, you can also discard up to a certain number of cards for new ones, which is great for those last-ditch moments.
Going All In
There are levels in Balatro, but they are quite different from rogue-likes of the past. There is no branching pathway that a character goes down, giving you choices of what you are facing off against. Instead, it is quite linear, and I am fine with that. There are no shop keepers or healing nodes of the like.
Instead, you have a full level consisting of three rounds. There is the “small blind” and “big blind,” which are callbacks from the traditional poker game. Both of these blinds lead to the boss blind, which throws in a new mechanic unique to that round. You’ll have to use every card you have to beat some of these, and, as lady luck would have it, between each level you have a shop.
The shop gives you the chance to spend coins and purchase new joker cards (up to five total) which are added into your passive card bar. There are also additional effect cards (up to two) which can be used in a variety of different ways. There are also booster packs which allow you to pick more cards to add to your deck. There are even enhanced face cards that will provide additional bonuses when used. I still haven’t seen them all, and, honestly, I don’t know if I ever will. There are so many different varieties of cards, you actually have to genuinely try if you wish to create an objectively bad deck. Additionally, some cards can level up your hands for greater scores.
Just like every deck building game, there comes a point where all the cards line up, giving you bonus multipliers which add up to gigantic scores. While the first three rounds can be challenging without the necessary cards, when you start saving and spending as you see fit, the game can truly display the complex systems that practically do the work for you. It’s less thinking about what hand is best and more thinking about what joker will give you the best bang for your buck.
Winning the House
From a distance, Balatro seems like a rather confusing game, but it really comes together to provide players with an engaging and rewarding experience. For a deck building rogue-like, a concept I have seen so many times over, Balatro thrives within its style. The poker aesthetic is a great backdrop that plays into the essence of the game while the metaphysical concept adds that flavor, making Balatro’s setting feel akin to a casino from hell or Atlantic City.
What I also really enjoy about Balatro is how, even when I lose, I don’t feel bad. There are other card styles to unlock which add certain bonuses to your hands, changing up your play style from the start. You can easily dive in and play it for one to two hours at a time, but Balatro would make the perfect mobile title, overtaking my addiction to Spider Solitaire. With the ability to be played on the Steam Deck and releasing for Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation, there is no shortage of places to play.
Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go pay my bookie. Somehow, I owe him.
Thank you to LocalThunk and Playstack for the review code. You can find Seasoned Gaming’s review policyhere.
Share:
-
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
-
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
-
Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
-
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Like this:
LikeLoading…LikeLoading…Steve Esposito is a dedicated content creator with a focus on his love for technology, video games, and the very industry that oversees it all. He also takes part in organizing the Long Island Retro and Tabletop Gaming Expo as well as a Dungeons and Dragons podcast: Copper Piece. You can find him on twitter @AgitatedStove
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D : Remaking a Classic
AinsJune 28, 2024
PC Gaming in 2024
PeterJune 26, 2024
The Legend of Zelda : Echoes of Wisdom
Seasoned GamingJune 19, 2024
AinsJune 28, 2024PeterJune 26, 2024Seasoned GamingJune 19, 2024Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
Continue reading
このサイトはコレクションに関連する記事のみを収集しています。元のテキストを表示するには、以下のリンクをコピーして開いてください：Review : Balatro : Joker’s Wild…Literally : Seasoned Gaming
