7/10
Balatro is a surprisingly original and addictive game that manages to turn something as simple as poker into a much deeper experience. The combination of jokers, cards and different synergies creates a lot of possibilities, and finding a build that completely changes the way you play is genuinely satisfying.
The main issue for me is that the gameplay can become repetitive after a while. Once you understand the core loop, a lot of runs can start to feel quite similar, especially compared to other roguelikes with more variety in their moment-to-moment gameplay.
That said, I really appreciate how simple the game is to understand while still having a surprising amount of depth. It’s a very well-designed and original concept, but personally I don’t think it has enough variety to put it among the very best games of its genre.