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Against all odds, a roguelike card game from a solo developer has made it into this year's Game of the Year conversation. Even securing a nomination for the top gong at The Game Awards, Balatro is holding its own among much larger scale projects, and for the millions who've played it, this will come as little surprise.
At a base level, Balatro is about playing poker hands to score points, with your sole objective being to score equal to or higher than a target. Each run begins with a standard, 52-card deck, but the magic quickly starts to kick in.
Various systems come into play that provide you with opportunities to upgrade your deck, add or remove cards, and imbue your run with all kinds of game-changing modifiers. It's all of these design aspects working in harmony that give Balatro its compelling allure; you have so many ways to twist the rules in your favour, and seeing your plan come together and deliver huge scores is one of 2024's most satisfying gaming moments.
It's a game not so much about building a deck as it is about rigging one; discovering powerful synergies between your cards and Jokers you pick up along the way, then doubling down by enhancing the stuff you need and transforming or destroying the stuff you don't. While not every run will end in success, you're always unlocking more Jokers or learning something about your approach. And when you do win, it feels fantastic — and you can carry on into endless mode to see how far your score-blazing deck can take you.
That's basically it, to be frank, but it's so brilliantly executed at every stage. Balatro takes the roguelike and boils it down to simple terms — regular playing cards and countless paths to victory. Perhaps its simplicity is what has really resonated; there's no story to worry about, no monetisation nonsense, just a fun, moreish challenge. Some of gaming's all-time greats are no more than that.
Push Square's Game of the Year top 10 is decided by votes coming from internal staff and regular contributors. Our community Game of the Year poll also factors into the result. Feel free to agree or disagree with our list in the comments section below.
You can check out all of our Game of the Year coverage by clicking the link.
Do you agree with Balatro being our #5 Game of the Year? (611 votes)
- Absolutely, it's in the right spot
- It should be higher on the list
- It should be lower on the list
- It shouldn't even be on the list
- I don't know / I haven't played it
Comments 52
A roguelike card game may be the most antithetical thing to my gaming tastes, but Balatro is brilliant. It's a miracle how addicting this game was for me.
Balatro is life
No.
Go away!
Ok.
One more round...
Balatro is already one of my favourite indie games of all time and almost certainly my most played game this year across PS and Steam. I can’t sing its praises enough.
Robbed. Sh*ts all over every bloated modern RPG by having a specific design manifesto that it carries out to an extremely high degree.
Balatro deserves a higher place, and I have a sinking feeling you’ve got Black Mid Wukong in the top 3
Is this really better than Rebirth though? Or Dragons Dogma?
@Mikey856
Yes.
Haven't played it as its not my style of game and would probably be bored playing it. But it's nice to see something different for a change, especially more so to see an indie do this well.
That leaves Infinite Wealth, Stellar Blade, Metaphor and Astro Bot for the remaining spots, but in what order 🤔.
@Cloud39472 The trophy list is. I should mention I haven’t played Balatro, and don’t even know what the trophy list is, but simply by virtue of the fact that FF7 Rebirth has one of the most piss poor trophy lists ever curated by a selfish game director unfit to occupy that role (and who has publicly apologized for his failure), Balatro’s list is automatically better by default no matter what it is.
Not the type of game I would ever play, but it's great so many people enjoy the game that doesn't have a budget of a small South American country.
@Mattock1987 Wukong is definitely not even in the top 10. It didn’t seem to be a hit among Pushsquare staff or readers in the same capacity as it was in some circles. The top 4 is certainly Stellar Blade, Metaphor, Infinite Wealth, Astro Bot… potentially even in that order…
That said, Balatro deserved higher. I gave Rebirth my personal GotY, but honestly Balatro is closer than I ever thought a game could be. I’d consider 2024 a miss year overall, but Rebirth, Balatro, and Astro Bot aren’t just fantastic games from this year, but genre-defining classics that hit better than most games even in solid years.
@Balaam_ I'd sooner give up gaming entirely than consume them like you do. It all sounds so utterly miserable, which is quite an achievement when gaming is a form of entertainment.
Not played it, but this bodes well for Stellar Blade being Push Square GOTY 🤣
Is it possible to play this game if you don't know the rules of Poker? If so, this Will be my next game.
This is one of those games I just don’t get. I played it and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. But I’m in the minority on a lot of things, so oh well.
@Icey664 Stellar Blade is probably no 4 but I definitely wouldn't cry if it did goty, it was an excellent very polished action game which was sadly overlooked because it came out earlier in the year😁
@somnambulance thanks for the reassurance. I forgot about Infinite Wealth.
@Balaam_
Why do you care so much? I've seen you post this so many times . I get trophy hunting is addicting and fun even, but it's just a game.
I actually started this game for the third time and it finally clicked with me. I definitely get the hype and agree with it's accolades it's earned so far b
Does it synch with the mobile version? Frankly is a game I would play a lot more using my iPhone (and is included with Apple Arcade) but would be nice if it synchs between platforms.
@Mikey856 no, no it is not
@Mattock1987 " I have a sinking feeling you’ve got Black Mid Wukong in the top 3"
Your sinking feeling is wrong then 🙂 it probably didn't make the top 10, the only person I've seen mention Wukong from the staff is Robert who reviewed it and it didn't even make his top 5.
@Juanalf I hope I’m wrong! I always assume the worst
I think I have played 6 new games this year and this would not be in my top 5. It seems that everyone and their dog this year rates it highly so I must be missing something. I prefer Suicide Squad and that game is just above average in my opinion.
Balatro is not a better game than final fantasy 7 rebirth or silent hill 2 remake.wack.word up son
Not sure when I’ll play this but I’ve heard pretty much nothing but good things about it.
I get that this is a great game by a single person but placing it higher than games which took years and years to make which look and sound stunning with full voice casts and soundtracks etc is pretty crazy
I don’t really get the hype for this game isn’t it just poker?
Never played this one but hard to imagine it is more impactful and compelling than Rebirth.
Brilliant game, fully deserving of any praise coming its way.
What's the fuss with this game?
This better than FF7 or Silent hill ?? Yeah OK 🤣🤣🤣🙄
@Mikey856 From a pure gameplay point of view.......aye.
@Corc11 There's a saying "All fur coat and no knickers" which covers a lot of these "good looking and great sounding" games you mention. Its gameplay first and foremost for a lot of gamers.
@Corc11 And I think it's even crazier to conflate quality with gestation time.
@marktehshark69 No, it's not.
@Corc11 By that logic Call of Duty or Assassins Creed should be GOTY every year right?
Balatro would be higher on my list. An awesome game and an incredible achievement.
@Balaam_ While I love trophy's myself although not to the extent of yourself I presume I watch a playstation access on hardest platsbthe other week. Rebirth was of course on it due to the excessive grind of mini games and Chandley sims but Balatro was also there. Apparently it has an insane trophy that requires a perfect set up over multiple games and is virtually pure rng sooooo not sure if it's actually worse than FF7 🤔
@marktehshark69 no it's not 'just poker' in the same way the last of us isn't just pong with added bells and whistles. Go and play it. It's like a tenner or something.
@Blauwe_Chimay Balatro is a single player rogue like deck builder, which uses poker terminology in name only. It's obviously easier if you understand what a straight or full house is, but the fundamental rules of poker hands are easy to learn. The game has you levelling up cards and situations with your cards, which is miles away from any form of poker. The game is completing difficulty levels and unlocking additional jokers (modifiers).
Well this is out of left field 😛
@Mattock1987 what would it matter if Black Myth is top three? Isn’t that the point of these lists, that everyone’s opinions are different, and we’re reading to see what Pushsquare’s top is? You may not agree with it, but having ‘a sinking feeling’ is wild. Hope it hasn’t kept you up at night.
I picked this up on a whim on the Play Store, mainly due to the noise around it and the price. I figured I would maybe play a few rounds then never touch it again .
It has made me use my Chromebook again, its basically now become a tablet for Balatro.
It's in my top 3 for this year along with Manor Lords and Astro (Metaphor would probably be in there but I've yet to pick that up).
I think it’s placing is fair, as your mileage will vary depending on your genre comparability (deck games are still relatively niche in mainstream…. Maybe not the same ‘universal’ appeal as something like Astro)
For me personally, it was actually my no.1 this year … but I adore games like Spire, Inscryption etc + I actually play poker IRL.
My top 3 would be Balatro (1) , Nine Sols (2) , Lorelei (3)
I think it would be criminal for Balatro to not be placed ‘somewhere’ in most top 10 lists for the year, but I appreciate the ranking may vary. Been a strong year, and very genre diverse
I seeing everywhere, that this game gets praised so much.
But even though, I have zero interest in playing it.
@UltimateOtaku91
To be honest that's what I thought. I don't particularly enjoy card games even if they are within other games such as Gwent in the Witcher. However, thought I'd check what the fuss was about as a few friends playing and read a few Steam reviews many of which said they don't normally like this type of game but...
Anyway, the short of it is I was very wrong, and find it really difficult to put down. Dismiss it at your peril!
@Jey887 call of duty the only game with voice cast and a storyline?
@Jrs1 you'd never see Snake on nokia phones winning game of the year if the game awards were around back then.
@Corc11 Maybe not but remember not everything that wins awards or commercially successful means its good, cod and fifa come to mind 😃
I think its crap, but what do I know, i think vampire saviours is garbage as well
@lazarus11
Is that you Jon Snow?
I agree with PC Gamer mag that gave it their GOTY award. Nothing else was even close.
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