It isn’t terribly difficult to find nice things for me to say about Balatro. It was the surprise game of 2024 that quickly locked its claws into anyone who decided to see what all the fuss was about. The solo-developed labor of love born out of the pandemic combines a brilliant mix of genius roguelike design, a pleasing retro pixel aesthetic, and a premise simple enough for anyone to be able to pick up and play, combined with a nearly endless level of depth. Andrew and I both had it as our GOTY 2024.
It’s great on pretty much everything
Buy the RG Slide Direct @ Anbernic
Balatro had been on my Steam wishlist leading up to its release in February 2024. I’d been sent the trailer from a friend who knew it would be an easy sell for my likes. I was still trying to figure out what a roguelike even was, but if it had single-player poker, that looked good enough to me.
Rounders Likely Hit Me At The Right Age
Oh, it works on that too
When Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003, I was in college. Poker was absolutely everywhere at the time. I even worked as a club dealer for a short period before local authorities correctly assumed that maybe all the pot rakes weren’t going just to charity and operating expenses, but that’s a story for another day. Needless to say, poker was deeply in the culture at the time.
As the years went on and trends changed, I still played in the occasional home game with friends, but the idea of sitting and playing from 5 PM until the next morning was no longer appealing as I was older and had a lot more to juggle in life than college classes. Plus, as exciting as the swings can be, losing money is never fun.
So it was this history with the game that made Balatro so appealing. Kind of a middle-aged dad compromise to reconnect with memories from my younger years. Friends from decades gone were now spread out across the country, and schedules and time zones make scheduling an online card game almost as difficult as one in real life.
What we can do, is connect over how much we’re enjoying playing the same game. And from the time of release until now, and who knows how far into the future, we’re all playing Balatro.
Buy the RG 406V Direct @ Anbernic
One Game To Rule Them All
It starts off simply enough…
Since the time I first bought Balatro and played through the initial introduction and tutorial, I knew this was going to be for me. The way the game brilliantly combines the world of poker, solitaire, and more traditional RPG card game elements makes it nearly irresistible to skip by any time I sit down with a device where it’s an option. And it’s now an option everywhere.
I have over 120 hours of playtime in Balatro on Steam. That might not be many hours for some hardcore folks out there, but it represents a fair bit for me. Personal downtime is a precious commodity when you have kids, and when you also regularly test and review new handheld devices, that tends to cut into gaming time quite a bit, too. Trust me, we might be talking about games non-stop, but I guarantee you that all of us here at RH lament the fact that we don’t have more time to devote to actually playing these things. But I digress.
That 120 hours is only on Steam. That doesn’t account for the individual new sessions that I’ve started on pretty much every Android or Portmaster-capable device I own. I’d already ported it to my phone prior to the official Android release, but I had my wife pick up a copy for hers when it debuted on the Play Store. That was a while ago now, and much like me, she hasn’t slowed down a bit. Oh, and I have a pretty deep session on Game Pass going at the moment too.
Balatro on the CB408
Balatro is the perfect game for almost any situation. I can play it on a small handheld screen or a giant TV. Still fun. I can sit down for 10 minutes and chip away at an ongoing run, or I can lose myself for hours – determined to finally best the latest unlocked challenge. Even if you’ve managed to complete everything the game has to throw at you (and there’s a lot) there is still a near endless amount of replayability, just as there is for so many other classic card games.
Why Buy It Again?
I love the ease of digital distribution, and I think that what Valve has done with Steam, especially while keeping the company private, has been a net benefit for the entire world of gamers. Companies offer free games on a regular basis just to try and tempt you to play in their ecosystem because of Steam. It’s a win for the consumer. Having said all of that, I still love physical media. While it may be a sentiment that’s falling out of favor, looking at games on a shelf still brings me joy.
Portmaster gives you the Balatro option almost anywhere
Buy the RGB30 Direct @ Powkiddy
I can walk up to my collection and look back on beloved games. I may not play them again tomorrow, or even any time soon, but I know they are there for me if I ever need them. They belong to me, and no licensing ownership transfer can take them away.
The Switch 1 may be one of the last true physical media systems, as we move more towards a reality where a disc or cartridge is little more than a secure download key. As the sun sets on that library and gears up for the new Switch 2 family of releases, I plan on padding out my Switch 1 physical library as deals present themselves.
So now, with Prime Week here again, it is time. $20 for a physical copy of Balatro is too much for me to resist. This simple, yet absolutely brilliant game has given me so much joy that it demands a place on the shelf. I love the idea that a solo developer is the primary beneficiary of my support, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
So whether you’ve already owned it somewhere else, or have yet to dip your toes into the pool, now may be the time to grab a physical copy of what I’m now comfortable calling one of my favorite games of all time. Besides, I had to, I haven’t tried Balatro on my Switch OLED yet. I finally have all my Balatro bases covered, and I’m giddy to receive a copy of a game I’ve already bought several times. Physical or digital, platform of your choosing, make sure you go check this one out.
Balatro Special Edition (Nintendo Switch) at Amazon
What games have you bought on multiple platforms? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.