Totally addicted to Balatro

Some time last year my friends told me about this great new game called Balatro. It kinda took the world by storm and scooped many gaming industry awards, but despite the recommendations I didn’t really give it a try until the start of this year. A decision that I may come to regret, because this game is addictive! I’m playing it at lunch, I’m playing it after work and when I’m not playing it I’m thinking (and even dreaming) about it.

Which is why I think you, dear reader, should also give it a try - if you haven’t already. A familiarity with poker is helpful, but not essential, the game does a really good job of showing you what the various hand values are. Where you’ll need help is figuring out which combinations of the many random joker, tarot and planet cards will work for your run.

The roguelike elements of this game keep it fresh and exciting, you can go into a run with the best plans but it can all come undone at the turn of a card, forcing you to learn and adapt (and pray to the card gods for that polychrome salvation). Get it on mobile, get it on PC, get it on consoles - it’s literally everywhere and is one of the best games I’ve ever played.

My Balatro adventures

Any time I’ve been playing it near my PC, I try to make sure I’ve got OBS open to record my runs. For some reason I haven’t been streaming myself play this one, though it’s taking up so much of my spare time I probably should!

Linked and embedded below is my YouTube playlist of completed runs, please watch these videos if you want to get a feel for how relaxing and addicting Balatro is. If you end up buying the game, that’s awesome. If you don’t, well please chuck a like on the vids and subscribe to my channel, as I do occasionally post non-Balatro things too.

Playlist link - Balatro by Pursuit of Loot

Thants

Thanks LocalThunk for the many, many hours of fun and frustration 💜