Great news! You too can develop a debilitating gambling addiction for only $15!

I don't think you could create a more addicting game if you tried. The pick-up-and-play element of this roguelite deckbuilder is so strong since it's based on poker, a game invented in the goddamn 1700s. For those of you keeping score at home, that's before we figured out how to synthesize cocaine.

And yet somehow, despite its simple origins, Balatro is just packed full of content. The game keeps throwing new shit at me left and right and I haven't even cleared the third stake yet. The satisfaction of making an absolutely busted deck setup is insanely gratifying, like what do you MEAN that I can score three million points by playing a single crumpled holofoil ace of spades with some red wax on it while the sound design and screen shake activate every neuron in my monkey brain. Is it legal to do that. I don't think it should be. This game needs like a Prop 65 warning or something.

Probably gonna continue playing this one until it stops having a Tetris effect (no not that one) like impact on my dreams. I woke up in a cold sweat last night because I was dealt some clubs when I needed hearts. That sounds like a metaphor for something. Hopefully Mercury isn't in retrograde or I might be in trouble. Maybe I should consult a psychic, or at least one of my goth friends who can read tarot and is a little too obsessed with astrology. Or perhaps I'm just a fool. I fold, cash me out dealer before I royal flush my life away.

Anyway good game. Don't even think about checking it out.

* Played perfectly on Ubuntu 20.04.6 via Proton 7.0-6.

Reviewed on Apr 27, 2024


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