What makes a video game a “good” game? Removing all subjectivity from the arguably loaded question, one would assume the game would be an enjoyable way to spend your free time.. Maybe it’s something unique? Perhaps it has a great story, or highly stylized artistic visuals. Hell, maybe it’s just damn fun to play. Honestly this question could have limitless answers and every response would be valid. When The Game Awards announced their titles for Game of the Year, a bit of attention was given to one of the games that at first glance didn’t quite stand with the others. A tiny little card game called Balatro.
Of course it’s an obligation at this point for me to point out that I am an absolute sucker for quality Roguelites, doubly so if that game is a deck builder. Balatro happily fits into this refined category, blending the familiarity of poker hands with the randomness of roguelike deck builders. The marriage of the two simple ideas creates a wonderful bite sized experience that offers a ton of replay value, plenty of challenges, and that “just one more game” feeling that makes addiction seem not all that bad. If that doesn’t make for a good video game, I’ve got more for you.
Visuals in Balatro are basic, to be fair. The digital 8-bit style of backgrounds and cards are minimal and lack the fidelity of something like Black Myth: Wukong, which was also nominated for Game of the Year. Despite this comparison, I see the style of Balatro to fit well. The glamour of realistic or highly stylized graphics are not needed here; the gameplay does not require it and instead the attention can shift to the gameplay only. With all this in mind I still think Balatro looks incredible. The variety seen on the Joker cards are both humorous and identifiable. The markings on your cards as you grow and edit your deck become clear visual indicators of what you have in your grip. In this regard the visuals truly compliment the action.
Speaking of action, there isn’t a traditional sense of “action” in Balatro, but you will still find your heart racing and adrenaline pumping when the game amps up in difficulty. Each round as you try to make Poker hands to score points in order to meet an ever-increasing goalpost, discarding cards in hopes to draw your coveted 5-of-a-kind or straight flush elicits just as much excitement as slaying bad guys in an RPG like Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. Watching as your chip count goes up, and then when your multiplier kicks in from all your Joker cards that you’ve managed to link together in a near-perfect patter is incredibly satisfying. And don’t even get me started when your hand you play is so good the point column literally bursts into flames. What a feeling when it happens. Simple yet effective.
Like any great Roguelike and/or deck builder, there’s an absolute ton of variety and replay value here. A large amount of “decks” to start with can give you a challenge right off the bat, such as a deck that only has Hearts and Spade cards, or one that does not have any face cards to begin with. Adding new cards poker cards to your deck, augmenting them with special effects to multiply and score more points, or even completely destroying cards to make your deck more efficient allows for mountains of customizability. And once you think you’ve got the best deck ever, the game throughs in a random “Boss Blind” debuff to deal with, really testing your deck making skill. Randomness is the name of the game here, and Balatro delivers a compelling, simple, and addictive platform to try something out and potentially be rewarded for your gamble.
As with every Game of the Year nominee (and so many other excellent video games that were not honored with a nomination) Balatro is rewarding to play time and time again. From the first hand you play on your first game, to the final hand when you beat the last ante on a round, you feel like you’re improving. You unlock new Jokers to use and new modifiers to challenge. You realize something you tried once was great until a clear hole for how to deal with a certain Boss Blind wrecked you, and then adapt to that change for later runs. You start to wonder “do I really need to sleep now, or can I play a few more hands?” and then stay up way later than intended. And when everything works, and all your planning and card manipulation pays off, and you land a huge multi-million chip scoring hand, you finally understand. You understand why this game was a Game of the Year nomination.
Balatro is fun. Just like Metaphor is fun. Just like how Elden Ring is fun. And just like a game like Astro Bot, the game that eventually took home the Game of the Year crown is fun. Balatro makes you, the player, enjoy your time. The bite-sized rounds aren’t as long as battles in Black Myth or Final Fantasy VII, but they’re just as strategic and exciting. The visuals aren’t as impressive as something like Metaphor but they do the game justice for what it is trying to achieve. The gameplay isn’t a celebration of gaming in general like Astro Bot, but it is a game that blends one of the oldest games out there with a modern subgenre to near perfection. If that doesn’t qualify something like Balatro as a Game of the Year candidate then I refer back to the top of this post for my final argument.
Balatro is damn fun to play.
Laters,
Jsick
