Balatro, or Balatro Poker, is an award-winning mobile game that was released in February 2024. Besides being available on Android smartphones and tablet devices, it’s also now available across several other gaming platforms, including macOS desktop and laptop computers, iOS devices, Windows PCs, the Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X consoles.
It’s classed as a poker-themed roguelike deck-building game but has also been categorized as an Indie game, strategy video game, and casual game. If you’ve heard about Balatro and want to learn more about this game, you’ve come to the right place.
We will also discuss how this game’s immense success could very well lead to an online cards game boom.
Could Balatro’s success lead to an online card games boom?
Balatro contains elements of several popular card games, and it has become so popular that many have said that it will likely lead to a boom in online card games.
If you enjoy playing poker and understand the winning hands, and if you enjoy playing blackjack and understand the blackjack card values, or if you’re a fan of any other traditional card games, like solitaire, rummy, patience, and crazy 8s, to name a few, then you should also enjoy playing Balatro.
After playing several rounds, you can see how the success of this game will most likely lead to a sharp increase in players trying out other popular online card games.
What exactly is Balatro, do I have to spend real money to play, and what’s the aim?
Balatro poker is essentially a single-player, Roguelike online poker game that doesn’t involve any real money betting. It was developed by a company called LocalThunk, published by Playstack, and it runs on the Löve game engine. It looks like a typical poker card game, but it’s quite unlike anything else and is proving extremely popular.
The main aim is to build your chip stack by forming standard winning poker hands each time you ‘ante up’ (aka play a new round) and win blinds.
You can earn more points by the value of cards you play and by the level of your hand. Jokers also play a part in Balatro poker and can be used to form winning hands. For example, they have four different rarities, including:
The game’s uniqueness, charm, and appeal come from its use of joker cards, which are distributed randomly in the shop.
Before each new run (or playthrough), players select a deck of cards, and each deck comes with unique cards and actions. Each run is divided into antes, with three separate blinds that get increasingly more difficult, known as the Small Blind, Big Blind, and Boss Blind.
The better the winning hand value, the more coins and win multipliers you will land. Before taking on the more challenging ‘boss blind’ you can choose to beat or skip to the slightly easier BB (big blind) or SB (small blind).
There are multiple rounds per blind, and players must utilize a range of winning card combinations to score at least the minimum required number of points. To win blinds more easily, you can purchase a variety of cards from a shop between game rounds, which changes the game’s rules.
Still confused? Don’t be. It’s a relatively straightforward game, and anyone who is already familiar with poker should quickly be able to get to grips with Balatro.
At The Game Awards 2024, it won the Best Mobile Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Independent Game, and it was nominated for the Best Game Direction and Game of the Year awards.
The hand’s base value is calculated and turned into ‘Chips,’ which are then multiplied by the ‘Mult’ score, which may increase depending on hands, cards, and current jokers. The game ends if the player runs out of hands before reaching the target score.
There are eight rounds to win before reaching the endless mode. The aim is to try and complete all 24 missions, and you must try to build your deck of cards around the jokers. The fact that a huge part of the game involves strategizing is another reason why it’s so popular.
Each joker can boost a player’s multipliers or chip stack. For example, you can buy a Joker card that adds four to the multiplier for every spade card you have in your hand.
Final thoughts
Online card games are more popular than ever, and just when you thought there couldn’t be any more exciting, engaging, and immersive new card games like poker arriving, along comes an award-winning game like Balatro.
Before playing, we would suggest perhaps looking at a few online tutorials about how to play and the basic strategies required to play, or at least go to YouTube and check out a few videos of Balatro being played by people who already call themselves experts or pros.
Unfortunately, to play Balatro, you must be at least 18 years old because of the PEGI-18 age restriction, although no real money gambling is involved.
