Recent reviews by Redlink

*Spoiler Warnings*

Visuals 9/10
Audio 9/10
Progression (linear/roguelike) 7.5/10
Replayability (can be modded) 9.5/10
Difficulty 6/10

Overall 8.2/10


Visuals 9/10
You will launch Balatro and start playing, maybe an hour or two, then when you get off, you will have had the image of cards burned into your brain until it is all you think about. The cards have variants with special abilities, that if nothing else, are super fun to dupe and have a deck full of, because who wouldn't want 30 shiny cards that make you millions.
There are a few card selections for the different suits, which include cyberpunk, amongus, stardew valley, dont starve, and more.

Audio 9/10
The music is phenomenal, a little repetitive, but it is very fitting. I would recommend checking out the menu theme for Balatro on youtube. The sound audio is perfect honestly. Nothing sounds out of place and at least for the first few times playing it, certain sound effects are super satisfying.

Progression 7.5/10
Progression does exist in Balatro. When you reach Ante 8 and complete the boss blind, you will have the option for endless, or return to menu. The deck you used (and there are 15 decks) will have an option to increase the difficulty, which stack with each completion of the increased difficulty. The reason I scored progression low, was because there are no real permanent upgrades available, only more cards to choose from. I would have liked to have seen at least some cosmetic changes like custom sleeves or prints for completing certain challenges. Nonetheless, the games progression is enough to play it at least 2-3 times through with your favorite decks.

Replayability 9.5/10
The game has a weird "luck" factor. I usually just restart a match to get a better blind then skip it for the reward, but once you get into your 3rd-4th ante with good cards, you usually stick around for the rest of the match.
About 30-60 mins per run, then up to 8 difficulties per deck (15)
So your minimum game time should be up to 60 hours if you play pretty fast and complete the entire base game, outside of achievements. I have not played modded, but I have seen some on youtube, and I could easily see myself coming back after a few months to play the base game, then giving modded a try.

Difficulty 6/10
This game is super easy, EXCEPT, if you have terrible short term memory or just stop absolutely re-reading your cards or challenge conditions. Sometimes the blind will say "must play 5 cards" and then I will see an amazing 4 of a kind, play it, gain no points + have those cards removed, then immediately say "EVERY TIME!" because I have done it more times than I care to admit. The game loves to hand you the wrong cards when it matters most, but it wouldn't be fun if it just handed you the right cards every time.

Overall 8.2
The game does live up to its reputation and the tag for "roguelike" is accurate, however, be mindful that it does not personally feel like a true roguelike. There is no "extraction shooter" feel to the game or permanent upgrades that make runs easier, however it does have a ton of unlockable cards that are objectively better, so it does in some since have "permanent upgrades", only you will unlock more and the odds of you coming across those helpful cards again are going to decrease.


Closing thoughts

I bought the game full price and I would say it was worth every penny, but definitely worth the price on sale.
I hope to see some multiplayer options in the future with cards that grief opponents and your own chips go into the blind.
Lastly, for anyone modding, please do add a custom deck feature, at least to add a few cards into, so that you already have a specific build to go for.

You there!

Buy the game for the soundtrack and stay for the great game on the side!

this game is stupid unsint\all of you ownm it and if you download it still unsistall cuz you know da wae is ot blr but its roblox cuz your head is a cylindar and wqe all know that the cylindar s da wae and not the ya know thing aqnd yeah dont get this game even tho I have played a ton of it and think is tdif iwquf njhigfn jiqen wfge

Pretty decent game to play when you are bored and want something simple to do yet challenging enough to keep you awake. Music in this game is reactive based on what you do or how much time is left which is a cool feature. Challenges, campaign, and arcade are very nice although the only downside would be the fact there are no achievements for this game. 8/10 worth playing.

This is the single best 2D sandbox game to exist. If you don't have this game then get it.
1600 hours in, still the best.

Great platformer!