Balatro

Steam Reviews

Read all reviews on Steam

• Recommended Posted June 5, 2025 on Steam This game is incredible to study probablities with! So far I have learned that: 1 in 2 odds can also be written as 100% 1 in 4 odds can also be written as 0%
• Recommended Posted February 3, 2026 on Steam Peak game. Please add progress compatibility with other platforms, i.e. mobile
• Recommended Posted June 24, 2025 on Steam Well after 100%ing the game I can say, without a doubt, That this is the worst game I've ever played. You can definitely tell that this was made by a single developer, due to the extreme levels of dedication, creativity, and insane commitment to detail in every godforsaken joker, consumable, and just general vibe. And don't even get me started on this "soundtrack", as it's more of a constant and droning theme to the entire game. It too has obviously been created with love and I can't get enough of it (or seem to get it out of my head while not playing the game. So I guess if you want a great looking, sounding, and enjoyable game (that was obviously created with love) then I guess pick up a copy. As for me I'll be sticking to my AAA titles, and definitely not putting another 900 hours into this "great game"
• Recommended Posted December 15, 2025 on Steam Don't buy this game, you’ll lose hours of your life and keep coming back. Suddenly it’s 3 AM, you’re calculating poker hands like a casino accountant, and you’re convincing yourself that this run will be the last one (it won’t). Once you will start getting decent jokers and stacking them like DNA or Blueprint you will want to play more and more and more
• Recommended Posted October 5, 2025 on Steam I played a cracked version of this game for more than 300h and felt bad then i buy it. sorry localthunk. this review supposed to be more than 300 hours on review.
• Recommended Posted November 20, 2025 on Steam [b]Balatro[/b] is a roguelite deckbuilder pretending to be a pixel-art poker game. I know everyone's at least heard of it at this point, [i]but[/i] I've 100%'d it 2.5 times on mobile and wrote this to figure out where my life went wrong. [h3]Gameplay[/h3] [b]Balatro[/b] eases you into madness: You start with a basic deck of 54 cards, score points on traditional poker hands, and earn money. Spend that money on upgrades: joker cards that alter scoring, "tarot cards" that upgrade your deck, and "celestial" cards that increase point yields. It seems so simple. And then it goes off the rails. You're constantly unlocking new decks that behave in unique ways, new jokers that add crazy nuance and multipliers, new ways to score, etc. "Spectral" cards tempt you to risk everything in exchange for massive gains. New difficulties force you to level up faster. Before you know it, you've spent an entire overnight flight trying to score a hand with five gold sevens of clubs, and have yet to sleep a wink. [h3]What Works For Me[/h3] ✅ I actually love the artwork. It's so dumb and so simple, but some of the jokers are just… the best. ✅ I did not understand poker or poker hands before [b]Balatro[/b], but "Run Info" includes a simple visual guide that makes more sense than any video I've ever watched. ✅ The card synergies! The absolute insanity you can create with some Magicians and a Lucky Cat, or a King, a Mime, and a lot of chariots, red seals, and demonic deer! ✅ Players that stumble across particularly cool combinations can share "seeds" for others to enjoy too, or use their own seeds to conduct post-mortems on rounds that didn't quite work. Seeded games do not count toward victories or achievements. If you're still in relatively early game, this was in my most recent play-through and is hilariously OP; I have never hit the billions so quickly: DWDV2JTN [h3]What Doesn't Work For Me[/h3] 🟥 The Steam version is less intuitive than the mobile app (but does work well on Steamdeck). On mobile, you drag and drop cards to buy, sell, use, etc. On desktop, the cards sprout little tabs that you have to click to buy, sell, use, etc. It's less tactile and a little more… fiddly. 🟥 The mobile version is a battery vampire. I recently flew from the USA to Italy and back again, and despite having my Switch and a half-dozen reports to write, played [b]Balatro[/b] the entire time. The battery pack that powered my husband's and my phones through a week-long blackout last year was fully depleted by the time I returned home. 🟥 Endless mode ramps up too quickly, especially on lower stakes. You want to refine an interesting deck, but the game gives you a few extra antes before saying, "Okay, now score 300 million." Well, ♥♥♥♥ you too. 🟥 No one will read this review because this little indie game that the dev reportedly made for his friends has taken off like [i]Stardew Valley[/i]. I am so late to this party that it isn't even fashionable. [h3]Final Thoughts + Recommendation[/h3] If you haven't played [b]Balatro[/b], or if you have but don't understand the hype (like me at first): it starts off pretending to be poker, but it's not poker. It is a tricky, RNG-driven roguelike with some [i]insanely[/i] cool engine-building and so much variety that you will never play the same game twice. In a weird way, I think it reminds me more of engine-building board games like [i]Terraforming Mars[/i], [i]Race for the Galaxy[/i], and [i]Splendor[/i] than any particular card game. I love a good puzzle and building a good foundation, and that's what [b]Balatro[/b] is about. It's also super easy to play in waiting rooms, lounges, in front of the TV, and so on. If you enjoy [b]Balatro[/b], then I'd suggest checking out [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/Luck_be_a_Landlord/?curator_clanid=45365863]Luck Be A Landlord[/url][/i], [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/]Slay the Spire[/url][/i], and [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3211750/Neongarten/?curator_clanid=45365863]Neongarten[/url][/i] for similar-but-different games. [quote][b]Follow [u][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45365863/]Eekz Today[/url][/u] for more crafting, life sim, management, strategy, and story-rich recommendations.[/b][/quote]