I got Balatro on my phone after Justin McElroy mentioned that it was in the App Store now. I’d heard the gang talk about it on Besties for a while and thought I’d like it, but knew it was a phone game for me. Not something I’d feel happy about sitting at my computer playing, like idle games.
Anyway, it’s quite fun! It takes up any amount of time I want it to, from bus rides (making a teeny minute bus ride feel like three minutes) to waiting for the kettle to boil. The game state saves in the background and there’s no real context loss from putting it down for a few days.
The gameplay loop is very tight, with a good number of larger loops within it. Even the individual hands (selecting cards and then playing them) is a fun, tiny loop. It certainly can be addictive if you have that personality type.
Outside of the hands, there’s the “rounds” where you have to decide if discarding and hoping for a good hand or playing a crummy hand and being happy with that. You have limited discards and limited hands you can play, and they’re both resources to manage.
Outside of rounds you spend the money you’ve won to improve your deck. Maybe increasing the score multiplier you get from playing a Pair or adding another Ace to your deck or another Joker.
The YouTube scene around Balatro is huge too. Watching the weird hands and decks that the streamers are playing makes me feel like I’m playing the game wrong though. How are they managing to convert all their deck into Kings? It sometimes feels like I’ve still mechanics to unlock, but progressing is difficult.
