Balatro

Balatro is a singleplayer roguelike deck-building game based on the rules of poker. The player chooses a deck, each with unique effects and cards, before each playthrough or "run". A run is divided into antes, each with three blinds of increasing difficulty. During a "round" against a blind, the player uses their hands and discards to play poker hands and attempt to score the required number of chips (points).

To make it easier to defeat blinds, the player may purchase various cards that change the rules or provide an advantage. These are bought in a shop between rounds with an in-game currency.

Balatro was developed by LocalThunk, an anonymous solo developer based in Saskatchewan, Canada. In an interview, he said that he mostly plays online competitive games, and that he ponders roguelike games more than actually playing them. Despite the game's theme, LocalThunk said he does not play poker, nor does he want the game to be used for gambling by casinos and players.

Development began in 2021, two-and-a-half years before release, initially intended to be one of several small games that were shared with friends. The initial idea was an online version of the Cantonese card game big two, which has players playing a number of cards to create poker-like hands. After seeing the number of roguelike deckbuilders on Steam, and watching a Twitch stream of Northernlion playing Luck Be a Landlord, a slot machine-themed roguelike, he was inspired to turn his big two clone into a singleplayer roguelike deckbuilder without online play. According to LocalThunk, he avoided playing deckbuilders to avoid taking ideas from these games, and had only played Slay the Spire near the end of development to understand how it implemented its control scheme. He at one point considered the name Joker Poker for the game, before settling on Balatro, from the Ancient Roman term for a professional jester or buffoon.

Balatro has received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator website Metacritic. OpenCritic, another aggregator, said that 100% of critics recommend the game.

The game's playability has received praise from critics. Simon Cardy from IGN described it as "ludicrously fun" and "remarkably approachable," while Jordan Helm from Hardcore Gamer called it "addictive" and "expertly-crafted". Writing for The Guardian, Keza MacDonald stated that "Balatro might be the best card game you will ever come across".