No video game this year recorded the creativity of the Engadget team rather like Balatro did, and when it came time for each employee to pitch their preferred video games of 2024, everybody– and I indicate everybody– wished to blog about BalatroIn the end, instead of requiring everybody to eliminate for the opportunity to blog about their love of the video game, we rather chose to ask the group to compose their own private take on Balatro
My Steam Deck is a Balatro device and I enjoy it
My Steam Deck is a Balatro maker at this moment, and no, I’m not grumbling about this. I’ve broken out my Steam Deck for a lot of video games before Balatro and I intend on playing lots more on it in the future, however for now and possibly till I take my last breath, its main function is joker generation.
Of all, Balatro simply feels good on a portable gadget. It’s the type of video game that you can play passively while viewing television or listening to a podcast, or with extreme focus as you attempt to gather jokers, stakes, accomplishments and sticker labels en route to Completionist++. The Steam Deck is the perfect platform for this kind of video game, because, specifically in mix with a comfortable PC setup, it permits gamers to stream in between these 2 states without losing development. The mobile variation of Balatro is rad and the Switch variation is peachy, however I began using PC and, more than 500 hours later on, I’m unwilling to begin over on any other platform.
I definitely enjoy snuggling on the sofa with Balatroplaying it on the PC at my desk, utilizing it as an interruption on long commutes, and getting a couple of hands in before bed. The Balatro Maker– uh, I imply, Steam Deck– allows my fixation in a smooth method.
— Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Balatro is a card video game you can feel
Balatro is a video game you mainly play in your head. There’s a huge selection of modifier cards, each with their own impacts and effects, and you overcome their permutations like you’re playing with a chemistry set. It’s a video game of choices, all of which are contingent on the choices you’ve made prior. Some work, most explode in your face.
This is what makes Balatro engaging, however it’s not my preferred feature of it. What I like most is how concrete it is. How it makes a digital playing card video game have any felt effect at all. It’s the little tck and shake each card does when scored. The donk when a joker contributes to your multiplier, the method the donks accelerate and increase in pitch as enthusiasts and retriggers accumulate.
