In Casino Royale<\/em>, James Bond gets a bit of poker advice: You never play your hand. You play the man sitting across from you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Okay, but what if you just played your hand? What if no one was sitting at the other end of the table? Balatro<\/em>, a new turn-based card game available on most platforms, takes the mechanics of poker and turns them into the basis of a compelling roguelike, the subgenre of games where each playthrough is a single perilous attempt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Balatro<\/em> is a poker game inasmuch as Scrabble is a word game. Knowing the language and probabilities of poker will help you, but ultimately, this is a logic game. There are no bluffs, no pots, just the pure composition of poker hands satisfyingly paired with a thrilling game loop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This makes Balatro <\/em>dead simple: each turn, you try to play a good hand and score points. You can discard to try your luck for more helpful cards in your deck. There are a few other possible actions, but this is more or less how the game plays. Balatro <\/em>keeps your possibilities narrow, allowing your decisions to feel careful and plotted turn by turn. After you beat a round, you\u2019re rewarded with upgrade options that make your deck more powerful. Collectible jokers offer passive bonuses; improved or added cards can tilt certain hands; tarot cards are actions that can be deployed if you\u2019re in a bind; and so on. Part of the fun of roguelikes is learning each new dimension of the game through repeated playthroughs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s a familiar but welcome rhythm. In one run, I tried going for flushes as often as possible, which meant acquiring buffs that increased my hand size (making it more likely to draw the cards I needed) and gave me score multipliers for specific suits (maximizing the points I would score when I did land a flush). Another more successful playthrough was built around going for hands of two pairs, which was easier to draw and more consistent, though they gave me lower point totals\u2026 until I upgraded the multiplier and matched them with complementary jokers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The obvious comparison is Slay the Spire<\/em>, considered by many to be the king of roguelike card games<\/a>. Similarly, stacking certain powers and buffs can give you the feeling that you\u2019re cleverly breaking the game. But unlike many other roguelikes, the familiar logic of poker makes Balatro<\/em> more accessible \u2014 and more immediately compelling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some minor complaints: I\u2019d describe Balatro<\/em>\u2019s vibe as \u201cslightly eerie retro,\u201d and part of me wished it had committed more strongly to a theme or idea. I don\u2019t think every game needs a plot, but the UI of Balatro<\/em> never stops feeling like exactly that. After a few hours of play, it was never lost on me that I was staring at the same handful of menus and buttons. There are some gentle nods to astrology, made confusing only because it doesn\u2019t commit to them more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Also, there is something a little inelegant about the layout. For one, it\u2019s way too easy to accidentally hit discard instead of play \u2014 on the Switch, they\u2019re mapped to the X and Y buttons, and screwing that up just one time is enough to spoil a run. Another small gripe was playing handheld \u2014 probably the most natural fit for a lo-fi roguelike \u2014 I found some of the text and visual elements a touch too small.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If those sound like nitpicks, Balatro<\/em>\u2019s precision and balance elsewhere invite close scrutiny where that polish doesn\u2019t exist. Mechanically, this is as solid as they come and extremely impressive given this comes from a single developer. An early access darling, Balatro <\/em>has clearly been heavily tested and finely tuned thanks to an adoring community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A successful roguelike asks the player to balance strategy, risk and reward, and a bit of luck. It feels early to induct Balatro<\/em> into the genre\u2019s hall of fame, alongside the likes of Spire<\/em>, Hades<\/em>, Into the Breach<\/em>, and Spelunky<\/em>. (I would also add the very underrated Slice & Dice<\/em><\/a> to that pantheon.) The gauge tends to be how long people play it and what depth that sustained repetition reveals over time. But if I had to make an early bet, I think Balatro<\/em> goes the distance. Over the weekend, I finished my first run. Then I did it again \u2014 four more times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n