It might not seem like a prescription for success on the game charts to play a video poker game that appears like it’s being played on a TV screen from the 1980s. However, since its complete release this week, [forbes.com] the incredibly addicting Balatro has emerged as a sleeper smash on the Steam game service. {www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
Balatro is a steal for only $13.49, [forbes.com] and as of this writing, it is in the top 10 titles on Steam in terms of revenue, competing with blockbusters like Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, [forbes.com] and Baldur’s Gate 3. Steam’s summary states that the thousands of user reviews are “overwhelmingly positive.”
The Steam counter indicates that I purchased the game a few days ago and have already invested almost nine hours of my life in it. What, [forbes.com] therefore, is so insanely delicious about it? {www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
Hearthstone and Poker
I’ve played a lot of poker games in the past, but I quickly gave them up as it’s boring to play cards against a machine without the possibility of earning or losing real money.{www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
Balatro plays around with the rules of poker to combat that boredom [forbes.com]. You’re just trying to get enough chips to go on to the next round (referred to as “blind” in poker parlance), rather than aiming to beat other players’ hands.
You will need to play excellent hands of poker in order to accomplish that; while knowledge of Texas hold ’em hands is advantageous, [forbes.com] it is not required. You will also need to bolster your hands with a range of other cards.
The joker cards [forbes.com], which you gather as the round goes on, are the main boosters. Benefits like adding score multipliers for hands played with hearts or increasing your chip total if you play a hand with just one card are examples of these. {www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
There are 150 distinct jokers to gather, some of which are really cleverly made. Bonuses are awarded if you have a 10 or a four in your hand (ten-four, ten-four) when the joker card shows a walkie-talkie. Do you understand?).
Get the most recent information about promotions, new products, and content recommendations from Forbes and its partners. {www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
Similar to how deck builders like Hearthstone need you to create combinations to defeat the larger bosses, the real scoring begins when you figure out how to employ those jokers in conjunction with one another. Jokers must be played in a specific order, which means that as you go through the rounds, you must carefully consider how to build your hands.
Tarot Cards by Balatro
Balatro
There are other ways to improve your poker hands than jokers. Additionally, [forbes.com] there are tarot cards that have the ability to increase the score of particular cards in your deck or of particular kinds of hands.
Additionally, some vouchers offer enhancements, such adding an extra joker slot or raising the maximum amount of hands you can play in a round.
You use the money you get paid for winning poker hands to purchase jokers, tarot cards, and vouchers. You win more money the quicker you accumulate the necessary number of chips to advance to the next blind.
All of this may seem a little overwhelming, and it is. But beautifully so. I was nearly lost during the first few hands, even after watching the tutorial, [forbes.com] trying to figure out how each of these many boosts was applied to my cards.
After that, something clicked, and soon you were chewing on the end of a pen, attempting to think of methods to apply enough multipliers to a Full House in order to obtain the 5,000 chips required to cross the finish line and advance to the following round. {www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
There will then be a very painful scene when you have to give up a winning joker combination in order to improve the buffs needed to earn the enormous scores, or else you will lose the entire game because you didn’t get the appropriate amount of points due to a bad hand. Be ready for those times. Place bulky items out of reach.
Great Potential
The enormous potential for growth of Balatro is arguably its most fascinating feature.
Like with any deck builder, you may add or remove new cards and boosts at any moment to drastically alter the rules of the game and make you reevaluate your strategy.
Although it’s only single-player at the moment, it’s simple to see how an online head-to-head matchmaking feature might be included as well. {www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/02/22/balatro-the-poker-deck-builder-thats-a-huge-hit-on-steam}
While you wait, you may already play an exciting game of poker for less money than the cost of a stiff drink in a casino. Is there anything not to love?
