Balatro ١٢+

I don’t normally write reviews and I’m not usually one to be into too many mobile games or even for that matter card games but this, there’s something about it that has an addictive and rewarding effect. I think the mix of elements of tarot and it’s design seem very fun and mysterious it’s not something that you’re too unfamiliar with, but just enough mystery to keep you wanting more. From the art, the classic pixel style art in remembrance of old Solitaire on Windows XP or Windows 98 it gives almost a nostalgic vibe as well as the music, hands-down probably the most entertaining card game that isn’t ordinary or some fake casino style solitaire style mobile game that pushes ads in your face. The pace of which the game and rounds run at as well is just perfect. Get those combos and get that reward system rewarded, you know that funny little center in your brain where you just want a little more? it hits all the right spots and it keeps you going, it’s amazing. Hands-down, 10 out of 10. Five stars, 100%.

If you are into Poker or Roguelikes (Binding of Isaac for example,) you will most likely find Balatro to be a very interesting and fun. Jokers are like powerups for your deck and lead to a lot of fun interactions and interesting combos. Now with that being said, I feel the nature of how the game difficulty progresses ruins the expectation of experimentation. As to meet with the high antes you either need to set up the same powerful, but repetitive combos, or get very lucky, which leaves a very small window to mess with jokers as it becomes very quickly becomes punishing to do so.

This does not ruin the game in the slightest, just my ability to explore it further.

I own this game on PC as well and very much enjoy the interface changes made for mobile and I actually find myself trying to drag cards in the PC version because I’ve become accustomed to dragging them here. Highly recommend for mobile. My only gripe for mobile is for some reason, this game makes my phone very hot and eats battery very fast. Like it’s taking a LOT of processing power to play. My phone usually has a long battery life but to lose 20% or more on a single run of Balatro is kind of unfortunate. If this gets fixed, it’s an easy 5 star.

This game was objectively fun. It is a genius dopamine rush and quite unique. The developer clearly knows how to make a viral hit. However, the only real point to the game is to unlock things. I had played for hundreds of hours on my phone. I had nearly unlocked the full “collection” and completed 15/20 challenges. Then, I wanted to see how the game looked on the iPad. What a terrible decision. I’ve now lost everything, any and all progress. iOS Gamecenter happily logs me in and tells me I’ve already earned the majority of the achievements. Balatro thinks I’ve never unlocked a single thing and never won with a single deck. This is a game that centers entirely on unlocks and progress, but fails to store your data with any degree of reliability or replicability. I will never play this game again. Play at your own risk and, if you do, be sure to only ever play on one device. This review was posted after version 1.1.15 was released which erroneously claims “Cloud save improvements”. I also filed a bug report with the developer and received this response:

“The developers are aware of the issue and are looking into why this is happening. Currently, there is not a way to restore individual profiles. In the meantime, I would suggest playing on one device.”