You've probably never heard of it before, but today's new Xbox release of Balatro definitely shouldn't go unnoticed - and that's because when the first reviews went live a few hours ago, it landed on a ridiculous 94 average rating!
We're seeing 9/10s and 10/10s from a variety of outlets so far, all of which have been lavishing praise upon this new "poker-inspired roguelike deck builder". Here's what some of the Balatro reviews have been saying:
Hardcore Gamer (5/5)
"A paradigm for what roguelikes and deckbuilders should aspire towards, Balatro is addictive, expertly-crafted and the new front-runner for what is easily the best gaming experience of 2024."
Rock Paper Shotgun (Very Positive)
"A clever roguelike card game about cheating your way to victory, Balatro is a generous and mesmeric take on poker with endless strategic possibilities."
ScreenRant (5/5)
"For fans of deckbuilders, Balatro is an addictively delicious, menacing creation which devours hours without mercy. It should be handled with great care."
PC Gamer (91/100)
"A roguelike deckbuilder debut already worthy of joining Slay the Spire and Monster Train at the King’s table. Essential."
GameSpew (9/10)
"Simple and devious, Balatro is, quite frankly, brilliant — and I’m going to be playing this for months to come."
As mentioned, Balatro is available today on the Xbox Store, and it costs just £12.79 / $14.99 if you want to give it a try. If you're not seeing it on the store just yet, it should become available at some point over the next few hours.
We'll throw more details about the game itself down below, along with a few extra screenshots.
"Balatro is a poker-inspired roguelike deck builder all about creating powerful synergies and winning big. Combine valid poker hands with unique Joker cards in order to create varied synergies and builds. Earn enough chips to beat devious blinds, all while uncovering hidden bonus hands and decks as you progress. You’re going to need every edge you can get in order to reach the boss blind, beat the final ante and secure victory."
Have you been following the progress of Balatro for a while? Let us know down in the comments below.
Comments 15
I have never heard of this or fully understand what the game is but those kind of reviews have definitely put it on my radar.
Just bought it on my Switch.
game of the year contender? why do we have series consoles. should just stick with xbox one or little phones tbh.
Removed - inappropriate language; user is banned
Even with those high review scores, everything about the description of this game sounds absolutely unappealing to me
I watched the trailer and some how I'm even more disappointed than I expected from something that is apparently GOTY contender. I am sure it's fun and everything but I can't see it appealing to most people.
I did knew about it. But I had no idea it had released already so thanks for the reminder. Already bought it, don't care about the reviews.
For some reason it won't let me buy. Anyone else have this problem?
I have no idea what this is...no idea what it's about....but I am quickly scampering to see how much it costs
@StylesT £13/$15 according to the article
@Sveakungen Just bought it on my Xbox!
Been playing this for the last hour, it's really good, seems to have a lot of replayability too.
@TheLastHarbinger I realized after I posted my comment that someone will reply with that! Wonderful game on every platform!
Really wish Full House Poker would come back. That was such a fun poker game. Only decent one I know of for Xbox right now is, Prominence Poker, and that is incredibly bad overall. Once play it for couple nights, can absolutely sense and see how the game is rigged.
It's pure crack. I seriously can't stop playing. It's so easy to start a "just one more run" endless loop.
Might have knocked Slay the Spire out of the number one deck building rougue like spot.
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