Roguelike Reviews: BALATRO

A Cheater’s Playground Wrapped in Digital Cardboard

At first glance, it’s like the rebellious cousin of every card game you’ve ever played—a cousin that insists on teaching you brutal lessons through countless runs. 

The Good

Balatro isn’t your run‐of‐the-mill card game—it’s a playground for fucking cheaters. The moment you stop trying to play poker, and focus on rigging the game, you’ll start seeing your losses turn to victories. It took me over 10 failed runs to realize rather than trying to get a higher score by getting better cards, my efforts were better off reducing useless cards. It’s such a simple concept, but it gave me an Ah-Hah! moment. Games that give these kinds of emotional responses are rare, and for that reason alone I recommend people that like rogue-likes to give this game a chance.

• Innovative Mechanics: The game’s design encourages you to think unconventionally. It rewards those who embrace a “cheater’s mindset,” where outsmarting or outright cancelling the built-in traps becomes the key to progression.
• Strategic Depth: As you peel away the layers of Balatro’s challenges, every match becomes a lesson in subtle tactics. Every victory, however small, feels like you’ve cracked a hidden code.
• Learning Curve as a Feature: The steep initial climb isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. With time, what once seemed arbitrary turns into an opportunity to squeeze a few more point multipliers into your run. You’ll start with Chips are so important! Then consider yourself a fool for underestimating Planets. Then find newfound love for the Mult. IYKYK
• Preventable Losses: There will be many runs that you think the game cheated you, but an older, wiser you, that has more runs under their belt will defeat that same scenario. And the realization of that mastery is one of the pinnacles of gaming.

The Bad

While Balatro’s ingenuity is undeniable, its progression system leaves much to be desired. The game demands a level of perseverance that can wear down even the most dedicated players.

• Punishing Grind: Advancement hinges on unlocking new cards and abilities through an overwhelming number of runs. 
• Design-Induced Frustration: You’re forced to tackle challenges that are by design, near impossible.And sometimes you win a run just because you got the ideal Joker for your setup.
• Incremental Progress: The payoff for all that effort rarely feels proportional. Each unlock is hard-earned, but the path to reaching it is cluttered with repetitiveness and an unyielding grind that tests your patience.

The Ugly

Some elements of Balatro cross the line from challenging to maddening. These are the moments that sap your enthusiasm and leave you questioning your life choices.

• Unwinnable Setups: Oppositely to preventable losses, some encounters are doomed from the outset. At higher difficulties you’ll find you’re thrust into scenarios where defeat is practically guaranteed, and the game offers no reprieve—forcing you to just restart the run.
• Psychological Toll: The repeated cycle of near-certain failure not only hampers your progress but also wears on your morale. The Joker “host” makes a few demeaning remarks every now and then, but really my biggest gripe is the lack of 1 click restart!

Final Thoughts

Balatro is a study in contrasts—a game that boasts an innovative approach yet grinds you down with its unforgiving progression system. Its brilliance lies in the way it pushes you to rethink what a card game can be, encouraging a shift from conventional play to a more resourceful, almost subversive approach. Honestly the most addicting part, is that the gameplay feels exactly like a TCG draft. And I love me some MTG drafts.

For those who thrive on strategic challenges and relish the thrill of outsmarting a rigged system, Balatro offers a deeply rewarding, if occasionally infuriating, experience. Every failure becomes a lesson, every setback a nudge toward eventual mastery. But if you prefer a smoother, more forgiving journey, persistent grinds and unyielding difficulty is part of roguelikes, so you might want to avoid the genre as a whole.

Whether you see it as an ingenious puzzle waiting to be solved or a relentless trial that mocks your every move, there’s no denying that Balatro leaves a mark on anyone brave enough to face it.

Final score for Balatro:

TryItIfYouGotTheTime out of 10