|
Balatro is a deck-building game for the Nintendo Switch published by Playstack in 2024. The game uses poker styled hand mechanics for a score based roguelike.
Gameplay[]
Balatro is a roguelike deck-building game. Each playthrough of the game is called a "run." The player chooses a deck, each with unique effects, at the beginning of each one. A run is divided into eight antes with three blinds each of increasing difficulty. Blinds can either be skipped or played. A blind consists of multiple rounds, where the player has to utilize various combinations of cards to score points. To defeat blinds more easily, the player may choose to buy various cards which change the rules of the game. These items are bought in a shop in between rounds.
Plot[]
Reception[]
The game was a major hit to critics. According to Metacritic, the game received a 90/100 from the aggregate reviews with OpenCritic confirming that 100% of critics recommended the game. It was nominated to a number of Game Awards including winning the 2024 The Game Awards Independent Game of the year and Golden Joystick Awards for the same category. The publisher announced that the title grossed $1 million in 8 hours and had sold over 250,000 by the end of the third day of sale.
Controversy[]
As a game that uses cards like an actual deck of cards, the game was initially rated as 3+ by PEGI for Europe but was raised to 18+ for "prominent gambling imagery" shortly after launch. This rating change cause the game to be delisted from the eShop in Europe. Balatro publisher, Playstack had to petition with the organization to restore the rating. In late 2024, PEGI returned the rating to 18, resulting in the game being delisted again.
External Links[]
- Balatro on the Nintendo eShop
This Nintendo Switch-related article is a stub. Please help by expanding it.