Balatro, the indie roguelike game, has taken the gaming world by storm, claiming over 11,000 years of playtime from players. But what makes this game so addictive? We spoke to professional poker player Ken Cheng to find out.
According to Cheng, Balatro’s success can be attributed to its unique blend of strategy and luck. “Poker is a beautiful game,” he says. “It’s a very well-designed game for a game that hasn’t been designed by anyone [in particular], and it’s still very interesting now.” The game’s use of a 52-card deck, with joker cards that change the way high scores are calculated each round, adds a layer of complexity and excitement to the gameplay.
Cheng argues that Balatro’s willingness to be different from traditional poker games is part of its success. “I think it’s great that some people have tried to make poker-based video games; they failed because they’ve tried to make it too similar to poker, whereas Balatro went outside the box.” The game’s art style and simplicity also make it accessible to new players, while still maintaining the core mechanics of poker.
But what about the fear of real-life gambling? Developer LocalThunk has explicitly stated that Balatro should never incorporate real-life gambling into its gameplay. “When I recently created my will I stipulated that the Balatro IP may never be sold or licensed to any gambling company/casino,” LocalThunk wrote on X.
According to Cheng, Balatro recaptures the thrill of playing poker for the first time. “Poker right now is very boring, because optimal play is very boring,” he says. “It’s just folding a lot of the time. When I first got into poker, it was so exciting and so riveting, like the hands you make, the situation players get.” Balatro’s roguelite deckbuilder gameplay allows players to experience that same excitement with each new run.
Cheng concludes that Balatro is an example of how a solo dev can stumble upon a hit game by taking risks and trying something new. “Games are at their best when it feels like something new is being invented before your eyes,” he says. And in a gaming landscape full of safe, iterative AAA games, Balatro’s success is a breath of fresh air.
Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/roguelike/after-an-unbeatable-year-for-balatro-we-asked-a-professional-poker-player-to-break-down-what-makes-the-indie-roguelike-so-good