There's a lot of buzz surrounding Balatro right now, the poker-based roguelike deckbuilder. While this is a genre many balk at, the indie title has thus far proven to be a winner, with early reviews putting it in the 90s on Metacritic. It's now available on PS5 and PS4.
Each run begins with a regular deck of standard playing cards, and you need to play valid poker hands in order to earn points to defeat each stage. However, between bouts, you'll use your money earned to buy jokers, each of which can have a huge impact on how you play. They might multiply your score every time you play diamond cards, say, or reward you for every hand you play with no face cards. On top of that are various other ways to modify your deck, and the trick is to find synergies that let you make absurdly powerful plays.
If you happen to be a PS Plus Premium member, you can take the game for a spin. Balatro is now part of the Game Trial lineup, meaning you can download and play the full game for one hour. Our review is in the works, but the embargo is up and, well, we think you should give it a shot.
Have you played Balatro yet? Will you be giving it a try with the Premium demo? Ante up in the comments section below.
Comments 11
I already wrote on PX that I have no idea what this is but I'm really intrigued.
The reviews for it are glowing across the board so it's definitely something I want to try.
(Terrible pun upcoming) I'll take a gamble on it.
I played the demo during the Steam Next Fest and it was as addictive as everyone says.
Sounds like right up my alley!
Well that hour free trial went by way too quickly….this is frikkin fun!
Don't even know how to play Poker anyway so unless there's a tutorial I wouldn't have a clue what I'm doing 😅
I quite like poker so I'll definitely give this a go. I still play prominence poker now and again, although my luck is terrible in that.
@RubyCarbuncle There’s a tutorial, plus if you hit the touch pad it’ll bring up lots of info including all the hand types and their values, so you always have that to refer to.
Sounds fun. I like deck building games. I'll try the demo for sure
Well the one hour trial has turned to 2.5 hours and a purchase. Very addictive!
Looks fun but I'd definitely prefer something like this handheld (and not a $200 add-on peripheral)
@Quintumply Ahh good to know.
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