GAME · RELEASED
Balatro
Build scoring combos from poker hands and unusual Joker cards in a single-player roguelike where each run changes the deck.
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Made by
LocalThunk · Playstack
Balatro is a single-player card game built around familiar poker hands, but its goal is to beat rising score targets rather than compete at a poker table. You play cards to make hands such as pairs, straights, or flushes. Each hand earns chips and a multiplier, and the score must clear a target called a Blind before your available plays run out.
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Between rounds, the shop offers Jokers and other cards that change how scoring works. A Joker might reward a certain suit, hand type, or pattern; Tarot and Planet cards can improve individual cards or level up a hand. Finding combinations that multiply one another is the core of a run. A weak deck can fail quickly, but a new run offers different shops, challenges, and opportunities to build another strategy.
LocalThunk developed Balatro and Playstack published it. The original release was on February 20, 2024 for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, with mobile editions following later. Its poker vocabulary describes the scoring rules; the game is not a real-money poker platform.
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