Review: Balatro — One Of The Most Addicting Roguelikes Out There
December 16, 2024
It's not often that an indie game makes such a big name for itself that it ends up being nominated for Game of the Year. Balatro isn't like most other indie games out there, though. It genuinely feels like it has been crafted to perfection. It is the absolute best that it can be. What makes it all the more impressive is that Balatro was made by a solo developer who goes by the name, LocalThunk.
Balatro is proof that exorbitant amounts of money aren't needed to make a great game. Really, all a good game needs is a strong concept, and Balatro absolutely delivers on that front. The idea behind it is phenomenal, and you can really feel that as you play the game. You know you're playing something special when 3 hours go by and you feel just as entertained as the moment you started. Balatro is out on so many platforms; it is absolutely worth playing it on any of them.
Enjoyability: 12/12 — Every Win Is A Big Win
Building up to success is what makes roguelikes especially satisfying. Balatro does this immensely well by making every blind feel like an important victory. Even just being able to purchase new items feels good once you've gotten far enough into a run.
Beating blinds feels great in Balatro, but even just basic deck strategizing is genuinely entertaining. Every aspect of the game is wholly captivating. Winning feels good. Winning on your terms feels even better. Balatro respects your time, and it also respects your intelligence. The game doesn't quite respect your luck, but that can be easily forgiven. Randomness makes for a more dynamic experience.
Gameplay: 11/12 — Poker On Steroids
Balatro is a roguelike poker game. Even if you don't know how poker works, the rules are actually quite easy to pick up. The tutorial is particularly helpful, and the game frames the rules in a way that you'll have total mastery just within 20 minutes of playing. The gameplay is actually pretty simple once you get used to it. But for as simple as Balatro is at its most basic, the game expects some smart strategizing to really get far.
Balatro's Joker cards really define the experience. They allow for a variety of different strategies. In fact, what makes the game interesting is that it forces you play in new ways. From one run to another, it's almost impossible to have the exact same game plan. What you want to prioritize is also wholly up to you. There's no wrong or right way to play the game. Overall, the gameplay is very well-constructed.
Atmosphere: 10/12 — All Kinds Of Clownish
Balatro doesn't exactly offer much to look at. There aren't any scenic views or anything like that. It's just cards. The soundtrack isn't exactly all that diverse either. There's just one theme in the whole game. Now, granted, there are variations of the theme that do slightly mix up the audio experience, but...it's still just one theme.
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Despite all that, Balatro has a fairly distinct charm to it. The game doesn't lack personality in any sense. It may have just one song, but that song is incredibly entrancing. It fits the game perfectly. And also, Balatro may be a card game, but it's definitely not boring to look at. The card art and the animations add a unique flair to the game that make it easy to come back for more.
Design: 11/12 — Perfectly Balanced, As All Things Should Be
Balancing card games is nothing easy. I can't imagine the amount of time spent on Balatro's development that was dedicated purely toward game balance. Through playing the game, you can clearly tell just how well-defined everything is. There are "broken" strategies, for sure, but it is very difficult to build a deck with permanent staying power. To put it simply, the difficulty feels just right in Balatro.
The player has just enough autonomy for the game to feel fair. A lot of Balatro is dependant on luck. Card draw is random. Shop items are random. The contents of a pack are purely random. The odds might sound stacked against you. And, well, they are. Which is why success feels great. You won't ever win by just playing cards. You win by building a winning strategy. That's good game design.
Direction: 11/12 — More Jokers, More To Do
Collecting new Joker cards is oddly satisfying. The appeal of Balatro isn't really its unlockables, but it does grab your attention for sure. It's a quick hit of serotonin, seeing a new card get revealed. Once you've become plenty familiar with the game, you also start to become interested in new, potential strategies. Unlocking new decks has the same exact appeal. It just makes you want to play more and more.
Getting into a new run of Balatro isn't some huge commitment, which definitely feels like a breath of fresh air. You can leave at any time and come back where you left off. There isn't some intense action that you desperately need to tend to. This makes the game fairly relaxing to play. The hours go by real quick. Balatro is a fairly low-stress game that is fun to play at any time. Very few games have that quality. Even fewer games manage to also be as effortlessly addictive as Balatro.
