The presentation was full of surprises for those who watched the recent Game Awards. Not only did the adorable dark horse, Astro Bot, take home the GOTY but games that no one ever heard of made an appearance in the domination. One that stood out among them was a card game with simple graphics and a one-song soundtrack. This is Balatro, and even though the game has been out since February of 2024, not many people had heard of it until the show. It was nominated for five awards (including Game of the Year) and won three of those categories! Talk about excellent advertising! Many individuals, including myself, purchased the game on mobile purely out of curiosity. After all, how does a simple card game rub elbows with AAA titles and established franchises? The answer is simple: genius game design that creates a memorable and, dare I say, addictive experience.
The genius behind this game is it takes something very familiar and adds roguelike components. The gameplay is separated into 8 separate antes, which could be considered “worlds.” These antes are broken up into 3 separate blinds, which are the “levels” of the ante. The amount of chips required to pass each blind gradually rises over time, and the Boss Blinds, which are the last levels of each ante, present the player with a unique obstacle they must play through (like locking down a certain suit or taking away all the player’s discards).
Playing poker hands is the name of the game. Each poker hand provides a specific number of chips and a multiplier bonus to increase the player’s winnings. The trick of the game is to get the most bang for your buck with simple poker hands by manipulating the chip yield and increasing the multiplier bonuses. This is done through auxiliary cards like tarot, celestial, spectral, and of course, Jokers. Each one manipulates the decks, card ranks and suits, multiplier bonuses, and so on. This presents nearly limitless ways to play in a run.
As you play through the game and make run after run, more Joker cards and special decks are unlocked for the player to use. There are 150 unique Jokers that can be unlocked in Balatro, and part of the fun is discovering them and what they can do. Setting up a build of specific Jokers around specific poker hands or suits can get a player pretty far in the game, but risks will always be a part of the challenge. Using that last discard to get the right card for the play is about as nail-biting as it gets, and it is often the only way to push through an entire run.
If you are looking for an incredible, technical, high-end graphic experience, then you are not going to find it in Balatro. This game is beautifully basic in that regard, sporting very charming pixel art that borders on creepy from time to time. This game also has only one musical track that is a mix of synthetic lo-fi and ASMR. The track offsets the often tense moments within the game by providing a calming ambiance.
I would not consider this game perfect by any means, after all, it is just a card game and will never be more than that. The fact that so much can be done with a simple card game suggests that there is a grand potential for new titles to come from this medium. I’ll tell you what, if my mom can say that it is a great game, someone who doesn’t even play games, then I think there is something to this!
J.R. Sommerfeldt is a family man, licensed counselor, farmer, fiber artist, and indie game enthusiast living in the heartland of America. He has found solace living the simple life, and his preference for games centering around narratives, crafting, and exploration is a testament to this.
