Canadian-made Balatro on mobile is perfect for my gaming habits

For most of the year, I’ve been hearing people hype up Balatro. All I really knew about the weirdly named video game is that it’s a mix between poker and roguelikes, a gaming genre in which procedurally-generated content aims to make each playthrough (or “run”) feel different. It’s also sold over two million copies so far, which is incredibly impressive for a new indie IP. But after finally playing Balatro through Apple Arcade, I finally get the appeal.

First, on a personal level, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the game hails from Canadian developer Localthunk. Admittedly, the person behind the game is notoriously secretive; he won’t confirm his identity and unfortunately passed on a recent interview with me, so we don’t even know from where in Canada, exactly, he even hails. But still, as someone who’s incredibly passionate about promoting our often under-appreciated industry, it’s been awesome to see this Canadian success story.

But of course, it also helps that the game itself is quite fun. At first, I was worried my almost complete ignorance of the rules of poker would make Balatro overly difficult to get into. Commendably, though, the game only draws from Poker concepts in straightforward ways, thus making it approachable for everyone. The goal is to earn enough Chips to proceed to the next ‘Ante’ (of which there are eight) by playing different poker hands like ‘Straight Flush’ (five cards of sequential rank of the same suit), ‘Full House’ (three cards of one rank, two of another) or ‘Two Pair’ (two cards of one rank, two of another).

Your current ‘Blind’ (to borrow another poker term) will determine how many Chips you need, and that number will naturally increase over time. Meanwhile, end-of-Ante ‘Boss Blinds’ will inflict handicaps for that round, like a significantly higher Chips requirement or debuffing certain ranks so they don’t earn you Chips.

On the flip side, the game gives you a lot of tools to rack up tons of Chips. On top of whatever you’d earn from the numerical value of the ranks themselves, there are ‘Mults’ that multiply these earnings. That’s where the roguelike elements come in; an in-game shop will let you spend dollars you earn from each round’s performance on different packs to provide bonuses like increased Mults. The most helpful of these boost cards are the Jokers, which tend to provide the most Mults benefits, but there are also Tarots that enhance individual cards and Planets that increase the values of Chips and Mults for different poker hands.

That might be a big information dump, but suffice it to say, it’s all quite intuitive once you get the swing of things. Again, even I, as someone who knows next to nothing about poker, picked it up pretty quickly. (That said, the tutorial could use some work; if you leave for whatever reason, you won’t get any of those instructions again, leading you to have to delete and redownload the game to get them back. It’s a baffling oversight, considering a dedicated “tutorial” tab really should just be available from the settings or main menu.)

Above all else, I appreciate how Balatro incorporates roguelike concepts to provide variety to each run without doing some of the other things I tend to not like about the genre. Namely, roguelikes place a far greater emphasis on repetition than most genres, which I often find tedious, while also tending to go hand-in-hand with more difficult experiences, like Returnal, which aren’t usually my jam. But Balatro, to its immense credit, avoids both of those pitfalls for me. For one, it cuts out a lot of the busywork of other games where you’d die and have to start a run all over, running through the same sort of procedurally generated environments and fighting the same types of enemies to get back to the boss you died to. (I typically hate that.) On top of that, Balatro isn’t “difficult” in the traditional sense. There are no tough enemies that kill you after a long fight, and so the “penalty” for losing — having to restart a run — feels much more reasonable.

And while I’m not a poker guy, I did grow up on Yu-Gi-Oh!, so I totally revel in the inherent satisfaction of celebrating a good combination of cards in Balatro. Plus, the roguelike format means I can’t necessarily rely on a go-to hand, despite my predilection for ‘Two Pairs,’ which creates a welcome level of challenge and variety. For me, I just appreciate the greater emphasis on “having to make do with the hands you’re dealt” than “oh, you didn’t dodge at the precise moment so you have to do an entire run over.”

What’s also really working for me is Balatro on mobile. While I do like my Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, it’s just so much more comfortable to use my phone. And unlike a lot of games, which don’t necessarily translate well to the smaller screen, Balatro really does feel made for a touchscreen. The dragging and dropping of cards and packs feels right at home on smartphone. And as an iPhone user, Balatro really feels like a killer app for Apple Arcade. That service is already impressive for the number of games it offers (and with no ads or microtransactions, to boot), and Balatro is yet another great addition to that library.

I will admit, however, that Balatro‘s complete lack of narrative means it hasn’t quite had the staying power for me that it has with others. I have several colleagues who have put dozens of hours in the title (some on multiple platforms), but I haven’t had that same inclination. Of course, this isn’t a game that needs a story, but it’s certainly something I’d want to spend more time in a roguelike. It’s partly why Hades remains the only one of the genre I’ve truly loved; you get new and exceptionally well-written and acted scenes each run.

That said, having Balatro on my iPhone means it’s by far one of the easiest games to jump into, especially for short bursts. A couple of weeks ago, I had about 20 minutes to kill waiting to pick up Indian food, and that was the perfect opportunity to have a run of Balatro while waiting in the car. Hell, even those long days after work and the gym where I don’t want to play a big game on a console and instead opt to just lay back in bed are sometimes best served by a few runs of Balatro. (I just put over 80 hours into the incredible Metaphor: ReFantazio, so a smaller gaming experience is most welcome.)

And so, while I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say Balatro is one of my favourite games of the year like many others have, I’ve definitely really enjoyed my time with it so far. Especially on mobile, where it’s the perfect bite-sized experience to complement the meatier console and PC games I’ve been going through lately. Whether you’re new to Balatro or wanting a different form factor to play it in, you can’t go wrong with this port.

Balatro is now available on iOS (for individual purchase or included with Apple Arcade), Android, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac.

Image credit: LocalThunk/Playstack