Roguelikes are in fashion. It’s not just that God of War and The Last of Us have given in to pressure and included roguelike modes, but that more and more games of the genre are appearing, more regularly, gaining public exposure. And it’s normal. Roguelikes – games where after each defeat we have to start from scratch, having to make the most of all our acquired knowledge – are pure video games. A genre impossible in any other medium. Although they can draw from outside it.
That’s what happened with the latest unexpected hit in the gaming world, Balatro. Taking the foundations of poker, it creates a progression system similar to other card-based roguelikes, such as Slay The Spire. We use a classic poker deck, except for the jokers, and we have two counters: one for points, where each card gives as many points as its value to add to our hand’s value, and one for multiplier, where the rarer the hand, the more potentially multiplied points the cards we play will have, in order to achieve an objective. The blinds start at 350 and go up to 100,000. It’s that simple.
The simplicity of this base is what makes everything around it accessible to anyone. Because throughout the game we can obtain different types of cards, which will change the way we play. Jokers change the amount of points or multipliers we receive on certain cards or hands. Planet cards enhance a type of hand that we can play. And tarot cards enhance our specific cards with various effects. Including changing their value or the color of the card.
If we add to that the fact that in the game we can buy common cards, it’s easy to see where the complexity of Balatro lies. Its essence. Depending on the cards, jokers, and bonuses we find, a possible strategy will be shaped among all the ones we have available. Making sure that no two games are the same.
There are more mechanics, more bonuses, more surprises. We have a dozen decks to choose from, and each one changes certain basic aspects of the game. One may allow us to make more plays, another more discards, or do something that breaks the game a little, like giving us 2 dollars for each hand not played, 1 dollar for each discard we have left, and not receiving interest in return. Something that radically changes the way of playing.
But that’s the magic of Balatro. Being the perfect gateway to more complex and obscure games like Slay The Spire. A fantasy that takes advantage of its simplicity and immediacy, by rooting itself in something well known by most people like poker, and especially its deck, to create a game that appeals not only to those who are already dedicated roguelike players. Because if a game can definitely make roguelike mainstream, that’s Balatro.
If you’re curious to try it out, since it has exceeded 250,000 copies sold in just 72 hours, Balatro is available on Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch for a price of €13.99.
