A pair can become far more powerful once you’ve levelled up its score and multiplier a few times. Between each blind you have access to a shop where you can buy cards that level up hands. You can keep playing more common hands, like high cards (1 x 5 = lol) or two pairs (20 x 2 = better!), or use one of your three chances to discard and replace cards in the hopes of making a flush, straight, or other hand that could potentially win the blind in one smug move.įairly straightforward stuff, but what makes Balatro so brilliant is the twists it piles upon that solid core. In the first blind you have to get at least 300 points to beat the dealer, a number that’s annoyingly a bit higher than 28. So a pair of 2’s would be 14 points x 2 = a pathetic 28 points (don’t play a pair of 2’s). The value of the cards you played to make that hand is also applied. a pair gives 10 points and a x 2 multiplier = 20 points. Each playable hand has a set score and multiplier-e.g. You draw five cards at the start of each blind and can play four hands. Each blind (poker jargon for ‘round’) sees you up against the dealer, having to achieve a set score to win. It’s a deckbuilder about making poker hands. But none of these, nor any other game I paid good money for this year, has won me over like the demo for Balatro. Wildfrost depicted the cutest climate apocalypse ever and was a blast to play. Astrea Six Sided Oracles replaced the decks with dice, which wasn’t exactly a killer PR move to make these games seem less nerdy (fun though). The terrific Cobalt Core introduced tactical positioning to the genre, which also positioned it high up my most played games this year.

Yikes.Ģ023 has been a great year for deckbuilders.

Odd, considering I’m actually proud to tell you that I’m coming up to 1000 hours in Monster Train. I’m not comfortable admitting how many hours I’ve spent slaying a certain spire. I don’t have any children (at time of writing), but if I did, I would love my deckbuilders more.

Why is poker night called the joker