Balatro

A Podcast Review of Balatro: This week we cover the 2024 poker-inspired deck-builder Balatro! Just how deep into this will we get?

What an absolute banger of a game! Balatro is the first deck-builder that has really hit for either of us since Slay the Spire dropped in 2017. We cover the developer background (Luck be a Landlord inspirations!) and our own experience with IRL poker (can David name all the hand types?) plus what we want out of a rogue deckbuilder. On this episode we try to put our fingers on what it is about Balatro that allows for so much skill expression while also being so approachable and easy to pick up and play. It's gotta be the build variety, right?

Balatro comes in as our favorite game we've covered so far on the podcast because it truly embodies what we love about roguelikes and roguelites. The procedural generation ensures that you can't just force the same strategy for every run while also allowing for totally busted overpowered combinations of jokers that you'll be chasing forever after. There's clearly a ton of skill in balance between deck-fixing and economy while maintaining enough score generation to keep the run alive. Unlike most complex games it managers to stay fully approachable to new players - that's the real magic in Balatro.