Every once in a blue moon, a game comes along that is so simple yet so exquisitely designed, it stands apart from its contemporaries. This special class of games typically becomes a touch point beyond the folks who consider gaming one of their primary hobbies. It floats into the mainstream zeitgeist where it garners further deserving appreciation from the general masses. The list of games in this exclusive category is Hall of Fame caliber: Tetris, Solitaire, Rollercoaster Tycoon, The Sims, Bejeweled, WiiSports, Farmville, Angry Birds, Among Us.
The newest addition to this illustrious list is LocalThunk’s Balatro. It was created by a single developer and released with little fanfare back in February 2024, but quickly became one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of the year. While it has already sold over 2 million copies across PC and console, it is finally available on the perfect platform to complete its clandestine quest for world domination. And I couldn’t be more thrilled about its release (and more concerned about the havoc it's going to wreak on people’s free time).
If you are unfamiliar, Balatro is a roguelike deck-builder based on the game of poker. Players start with a typical, four-suite deck of 52 cards. Players must make traditional poker hands in a certain number of hands (typically four) to beat a predetermined blind or score. Each type of hand has a different value, incentivizing players to play better as the blind gets higher. Fail to meet a blind, and it's game over for your current run.
It's a simple premise based on the Cantonese card game, Big Two. But the game’s depth doesn’t stop there. Every winning blind earns players cash that they can spend on a variety of change-altering cards. Jokers provide bonuses to hands played, buff specific cards, alter how scores are calculated under certain conditions, grant special abilities, and more. Players can equip up to five Jokers in search of the perfect combination. Arcane cards provide special one-time use abilities, and alter or add new cards to your deck. Planet cards that level up specific hands for increased scores, and more. Players can also expand their deck with additional player cards, increasing the odds of playing certain suites, numbers, and hands.
It may seem like a lot of information upfront, but the game goes out of its way to make itself easy to understand. Information about what comprises a Full House, Two Pair, or Flush is always accessible, a helpful touch for those not already familiar with Poker. But the randomized nature of Jokers and other helpful cards means there’s always something new to discover.
Expert design ties the entire experience together, accentuating every hand played with screen shakes, haptic feedback, and satisfying visual and sound cues. Playing Balatro provides all the euphoric, spine-tingling highs that I imagine gamblers experience in front of the flashiest of slot machines, without any of the devastating consequences such an addiction can incur on your real-life plans and finances. (thankfully, LocalThunk has stipulated in his actual will that Balatro will never become a game used for gambling).
Balatro’s possibilities are limitless. It’s a game that is as perfect as it is revelatory. It’s addicting and endlessly replayable. Like Tetris and Rollercoaster Tycoon before it, it's one of those games that you’ll be thinking about when you’re not locked in front of a screen playing it.
While all of Balatro’s best qualities are present in the console and PC versions of the game, (as it remains one of the highest-scored games of the year) it feels so at home on mobile. There’s something inherently more satisfying about playing Balatro on a phone or tablet compared to a controller. Games play smoother, as the tactile nature of selecting cards for play or discarding them lets you play as fast as your brain can think. It’s the port that feels like the intended way to play.
The only downside to Balatro on mobile is that a game this recklessly intoxicating can now exist comfortably in your pocket: a gift and a curse. It’s been a week since my partner and I started playing, and we have done little else with our free time. I’ve lost entire nights to Balatro playing in bed. In my partner’s case, I think she’s completely lost in the sauce; she’s had detailed visions of perfect deck builds during her lunch breaks at work and dreams about what combinations of Jokers could reap the perfect run. Balatro has my household in a chokehold, and I now sympathize with those who've been in a similar situation since February.
Simply put, Balatro is one of the year’s best games and is easily in the running for one of the best of the decade. It's an easy game to get into with bottomless depth. It’s a masterclass in game design, and about as perfect as video games can be. And if you haven’t played Balatro yet, know that the best version just dropped on a device you’re likely holding in your hands right now.
Go play Balatro. Go play Balatro right now.
