One of the most celebrated indie games of 2024, Balatro is by Canadian dev LocalThunk. This one has been all over the gaming press with rave reviews.
It’s a poker-themed roguelike game based around deck building. It helps if you’ve got some knowledge of card games (which we don’t), but after a bit of experimentation you can be away with this one. But be warned! Like most gambling-based stuff… it’s addictive.
Hypnotic Poker Romp Balatro Will Take Over Your Life
This is available on all consoles and PC. Happily, you can also get it on your smartphone. Hurray!
We’ve seen many reviews say that, even if you know nothing about card games, this is still for you. We know sod all about card games. It’s always confused us.
However, Balatro offers up a tutorial to help you to get to grips with things. But it really does help to have a solid understanding of what you need to do. If you go in blind to this one, it can be a bit confusing (at least for the first few plays).
A beginner’s tutorial as below is a solid starting point. Innit.
Okay, so the idea is to play poker hands, score big points, and defeat the bets of other players. In classic retro game style fashion, you can trigger off increasingly vast combos (like its a ruddy fighting game or something), which surprisingly makes the game very fast-paced and energising.
It’s also tripping, sort of hallucinogenic. Almost like that bit in bit from the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) film where Gene Wilder is ranting and raving in psychedelic fashion.
But you just wouldn’t expect the rush you’ll get from a card game.
That’s the brilliance of indie games like this. Balatro is presented in a deceptively simple format. Them whams you with its immense, looping imagination. Kind of like Vampire Survivors and its addictive loops.
Here it is in action.
We love the games presentation. Plus, that fabulous retro styled music suits the game perfectly (actually, the music and graphics remind us of classic Metroidvania Celeste).
The game launched a year ago in February 2024 and was considered by many critics to be the best game of the year. High praise indeed.
In classic indie game developing fashion, it’s all the work of one man. LocalThunk is a pseudonym (duh), a humble bloke who’s been keen to stay out of the limelight. The game was an unexpected sensation and he’s choosing to stay anonymous about his game (something similar happened to the Flappy Bird dev Dong Nguyen in 2013).
If that’s his choice it’s important to respect that (and we’d do the same thing, tbh).
What’s important is to give the game a go! This is an instant classic title, not just in the indie gaming community but across the whole industry. Brilliant conceived, so very inventive, and always surprising—this addictive little number will knock your socks off.
