Balatro: Roguelite Poker Deckbuilder (NSW/PC/PS/Xbox) - Out Now

Herdanos wrote:Was struggling with Yellow Deck (certainly compared to Blue, which seemed much easier than Red) until just now, when I've got a superb run of jokers. Here's what I've got (now starting Endless Mode), left to right:

To The Moon - extra $1 (per $5 held) of interest at the end of each round. Got this early on and it helped me rack up lots of cash
Abstract Joker - +3 mult for each joker held (currently +24)
Space Joker so powerful!
Oops! All 6s - doubles listed probabilities. Meaning Space Joker upgrades my hand 50% of the time. And I didn't realise those upgrades remained for the run!
Greedy Joker - +4 mult for each scored Diamond card (I've used lots of Tarot cards to convert other suits into Diamonds)
Smiley Face (negative) - played face cards give +4
Blueprint (negative) - copies ability of Joker to the right
Driver's Licence (negative) - x3 mult if you have at least 16 enhanced cards in deck (currently 29)

If I can somehow find the Joker that adds to your mult for each card added to your deck, I'll be laughing in Endless Mode!

And I found that Joker... but still lost to the Ante 10 Small Blind. Just!

Yeah Space Joker and All 6s are a beast combo. You save so much cash on planet cards alone.

Not my image, but this is brutal

wanted to get it done before the patch came into live and i can say a fair few of those are truly hateful, some were easier and funner than i anticipated and some were true suffering

i think a lot of them fall into the same problem as gold stakes currently in that you just need to reroll endlessly until you hit the start skips or base joker you need otherwise you are just pissing time and tries away

i think overall im glad i did it and i hope some more are added in future but i think they should focus on flavour instead pure difficulty imo

now ill just chill on it for a bit and wait for the patch before i think about gold stakes on all decks

False wrote:

What does the % on the right signify?

what % of players attained it

That makes more sense! At first I thought it was your progress towards that particular goal...

thankfully not

Just got this, and despite thinking I wouldn't like the poker aspect and the rather functional visuals, it has got it's hooks into me. I love a good roguelike and this definitely falls into the categories.

I only really have one gripe with the game, and that's the lack of permanent unlocks and unclear endgame. The lack of permanent unlocks does make it a "purer" roguelike, as each run you are starting from zero rather than just slowly grinding your way to inevitable victory, but I must admit I quite like the feel of the grind and like every run is progressing something, even if it is just a tiny background stat.

I guess the collection is the permanent part, thought I would say that the "collecting" aspect of the cards doesn't really draw me in. With something like Hearthstone, the design of the cards meant that they had a footy-sticker style appeal. The cards and the aesthetic of Balatro are a little... dry for me.

Likewise, with other roguelikes like Hades, there were story threads running through that meant progression felt like a linear thread towards something. That's lacking here and, again, it's a little dry just unlocking decks.

Admittedly, these are minor gripes. The gameplay is addictive and engaging that I can see myself loading this up over the next few years for a quick run. The lack of an endgame, as others have mentioned, also means there no pressure to finish it or preserve through impossibly hard decks. I can just play as much as I want, put it down, and come back to it fresh.

Parksey wrote:Just got this, and despite thinking I wouldn't like the poker aspect and the rather functional visuals, it has got it's hooks into me. I love a good roguelike and this definitely falls into the categories.

I only really have one gripe with the game, and that's the lack of permanent unlocks and unclear endgame. The lack of permanent unlocks does make it a "purer" roguelike, as each run you are starting from zero rather than just slowly grinding your way to inevitable victory, but I must admit I quite like the feel of the grind and like every run is progressing something, even if it is just a tiny background stat.

I guess the collection is the permanent part, thought I would say that the "collecting" aspect of the cards doesn't really draw me in. With something like Hearthstone, the design of the cards meant that they had a footy-sticker style appeal. The cards and the aesthetic of Balatro are a little... dry for me.

Likewise, with other roguelikes like Hades, there were story threads running through that meant progression felt like a linear thread towards something. That's lacking here and, again, it's a little dry just unlocking decks.

Admittedly, these are minor gripes. The gameplay is addictive and engaging that I can see myself loading this up over the next few years for a quick run. The lack of an endgame, as others have mentioned, also means there no pressure to finish it or preserve through impossibly hard decks. I can just play as much as I want, put it down, and come back to it fresh.

There are jokers (and vouchers) you need to unlock before you they'll show up in future runs. You can check their requirements in the collection page.

Parksey wrote:I only really have one gripe with the game, and that's the lack of permanent unlocks and unclear endgame. The lack of permanent unlocks does make it a "purer" roguelike, as each run you are starting from zero rather than just slowly grinding your way to inevitable victory, but I must admit I quite like the feel of the grind and like every run is progressing something, even if it is just a tiny background stat.

as mori says, there are jokers you can only unlock by playing in a certain way and then adding them to the pool

also there are a couple of stats screens - there is the actual stats button hidden in options, then the collection button, then if you click your profile name more stats

also, im basically the total opposite, i think rogues should have everything available and in the pool from the start with no unlocks. ive just started slay the spire and its really annoying me how things are hidden away behind progress, so basically i need to fail again and again before i have access to the full usable pool, its dumb

Won first time using the black deck! Not bad considering I didn't realise there was an extra joker slot until over halfway in.

Think I've started to really click with this now, understanding which jokers are good early on, which you need later, which are the ones you can build a strategy around, why you shouldn't skip blinds (or when you might want to take the risk!), etc.

Though I also got lucky with the jokers and hands I was dealt this time, I think!

False wrote:

Parksey wrote:I only really have one gripe with the game, and that's the lack of permanent unlocks and unclear endgame. The lack of permanent unlocks does make it a "purer" roguelike, as each run you are starting from zero rather than just slowly grinding your way to inevitable victory, but I must admit I quite like the feel of the grind and like every run is progressing something, even if it is just a tiny background stat.

as mori says, there are jokers you can only unlock by playing in a certain way and then adding them to the pool

also there are a couple of stats screens - there is the actual stats button hidden in options, then the collection button, then if you click your profile name more stats

also, im basically the total opposite, i think rogues should have everything available and in the pool from the start with no unlocks. ive just started slay the spire and its really annoying me how things are hidden away behind progress, so basically i need to fail again and again before i have access to the full usable pool, its dumb

Yeah I can understand that viewpoint. I've been playing Rogue Legacy 2 at the moment, and the first game had quite a weird difficulty curve. You were very weak at the start and had to unlock health upgrades etc. Whilst it will be possible for very skilled players to beat it at level zero, for most it requires quite a lot of failures before you get in a position to start challenging the bosses. But the last 1/3 of the game tends to be quite flat and easy, as you've buffed your character above the game's difficulty level. Its the first couple of hours that are the hardest. Not to mention, the game's traits and ancestor system break you sometimes get blighted with "quirky" conditions that make it a busted run before you even start.

have given up on trying to get the gold stake win for now, the game is not having it. so back to white stakes for a while so i can go back to enjoying the game, and immediately got a strong vampire build going to ante 12. that's more like it.

Should have taken a picture of the ridiculous joker setup I used to win black deck. 8 jokers total, one was the one which added X1.5 for every uncommon joker, one was card sharp which added X for each card added to deck, vampire was in there. My highest hand was only like level 5 or something by the end.

Butting my head against the red deck for weeks, but finally beat it.
Then beat the blue deck first try. Baseball Card with lots of Uncommons is crazy good. Fibonacci and Even Stevens built the base multi level up. I also got the cards to skip a number in straights and 4 cards only for straights. Best hand was over 700k.

Basically, I've been underestimating multipliers a lot.

Just had my best run, think my highest scoring hand was around 1e15, although I was using the balanced deck!!

To start I got the card that has 1 in 3 chance of x2 to hearts. Then I duplicated it with a spectral card. Then I got the card that add X1 multi every time you destroy a face card. Then I got the card that treats every card like a face card. Destroyed non-heart cards up until x15 multi. Got a blueprint to copy the x15 multi. Got the card that doubles all of your odds. Good fun!

Finally completed yellow deck. (that's yellow and blue done now) I even managed to get to Ante 10 and lost out at £520,000.

Sometimes you can be flying on this and a bad decision or some bad luck and you have lost. On this particular run I was scrapping through a lot of the early rounds but once I got past Ante 4 the work I had been doing started to really pay off and I was then flying through

For those of you that have achieved the higher stakes, what do you think is the best deck to use?

pre-patch, abandoned or checkered are easiest as they make it easier to hit hands whilst you are getting built up