Current Events > Balatro is the second good roguelite deckbuilder

(+) Yeah! (+)

after Slay the Spire, obviously. Peglin kinda counts, but it's not REALLY a deckbuilder (but it is).

There's also Inscryption and Across the Obelisk

Balatro seems slightly too hard imo, but i probably just suck at it

does Inscryption count?

Balatro is a SOLID game. I do think it isn't Slay the Spire levels of good nor Inscryption or AtO good. But it's a solid game that won't disappoint. It honestly feels more arcadey than anything. It would probably get up there with an implied story or a story and probably some random evens in between rounds that help out the deck. But it's too late for that since the gameplay has been solidified so much.

I finally had a good run going, but still died on ante 5/8 :( I was so close too, only like $200 away from ante 6/8

Finally won my first run tonight!

This might be the best "poker" game ever made imho

Eh, Inscryption is not really anything special as a deck builder, even when you play in Kaycee's Mod mode. Its more the atmosphere and other aspects of the game that are cool.

As far as deck builders go though, don't discount Monster Train.

Ye, as a deckbuilding rougelite Inscryption is just okay. The base game is 100% a classic that everyone should play, but that is because of a lot of things that are lost in the mod.

And Balatro isn't in the top 10 for deckbuilders, still good though.

ellis123 posted...

Ye, as a deckbuilding rougelite Inscryption is just okay. The base game is 100% a classic that everyone should play, but that is because of a lot of things that are lost in the mod.

And Balatro isn't in the top 10 for deckbuilders, still good though.

What's top 10 for you?

I'd like to throw out Monster Train as a good roguelite deck builder, flew under a lot of people's radar

badjay posted...

What's top 10 for you?

Oh god, that's a hard one. Besides the #1, which is so much better than the alternatives that it is basically on a different plane of existence from the rest, I don't know if I really have a "locked in" order in that vein. In a generic sense I'd go with:

1. Shandalar. Duh. Anyone who has played it understands why a full RPG Rougelite deckbuillder is something we desperately need and why it sits in a league of its own.
2. Across the Obelisk. Extremely complex card system with a super engrossing story-like structure. Far and away the best unlock system for characters in the genre and just generally hits all of the best notes (minus the one overpriced DLC).
3. Pokemon TCG. Yes the Gameboy game. It does basically everything right for what it set out to do. It is a part of the big Pokmon craze for a reason. You can kind of lump TCG2 in this spot as well as it's a bit harder to rate due to not being quite as freeform but still largely being an upgraded version of the first.
4. Cross Blitz. Still in early access so it could end up being a dud, but from what was there it has one of the better set-ups in terms of being fast and easy to get into while also having really good depth when you start to understand how to break the system.
5. Griftlands. They really failed the landing so the game has been knocked down in the standings (in my eyes) when it left early access. Still one of the better takes on the formula.
6. Slay the Spire. The one that really popularized the genre for good reason. It's the gold standard for the genre.
7. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. This one is probably the furthest from the genre by a country mile as the card portion of it is weak compared to the others, but being eclectic and highly unique isn't a bad thing and the story and replayability is definitely there.
8. Signs of the Sojourner. Probably the best one to highlight about how I don't think that StS is the be-all, end-all for the genre. Having your deck be your characer's personality and the game themed as you holding conversations with other people is highly novel and fresh. At the same time it doesn't go as hard as Inscryption on the "this game can only really be played only once" that I view as a core requirement for the genre (hence why Inscryption doesn't show up on the list despite being the best here outside of Shandalar).
9. Monster Train. It largely just comes across as Slay the Spire-, but its intrinsic charm and unique (in the genre) gameplay keep it pretty fresh.
10. Deep Sky Derelicts. A bit awkward in that this one is the least compelling to do a second run in out of all of the Rougelites I've ever played, but the first run is one of the strongest and if you're into the genre then it can definitely do it for you if you're into the space-grunge theming.

As said, this really isn't that stock of a list and there are several that could easily make it in based on how I felt on a particular day (Banners of Ruin for an example). Heck, Balatro could make it in depending on how I felt at the time, I just don't think it's such an easy shoe-in like I would for anything in the top 7 of my list (which basically would always make it in no matter how I was feeling in particular). In that same vein it also depends on how I was going at them as the ability to "just play forever" is a lot less important to me than having several runs be as fun as possible. Something like Signs of the Sojourner, for instance, you really don't have any real value in playing forever as the core system just doesn't facilitate that. However, the gameplay is just too fun for the couple of times that you are doing something wholly unique outweighs that fact in my mind. Life is short, don't stick to one game forever just because it is designed that way.

ellis123 posted...

Oh god, that's a hard one. Besides the #1, which is so much better than the alternatives that it is basically on a different plane of existence from the rest, I don't know if I really have a "locked in" order in that vein. In a generic sense I'd go with:

1. Shandalar. Duh. Anyone who has played it understands why a full RPG Rougelite deckbuillder is something we desperately need and why it sits in a league of its own.
2. Across the Obelisk. Extremely complex card system with a super engrossing story-like structure. Far and away the best unlock system for characters in the genre and just generally hits all of the best notes (minus the one overpriced DLC).
3. Pokemon TCG. Yes the Gameboy game. It does basically everything right for what it set out to do. It is a part of the big Pokmon craze for a reason. You can kind of lump TCG2 in this spot as well as it's a bit harder to rate due to not being quite as freeform but still largely being an upgraded version of the first.
4. Cross Blitz. Still in early access so it could end up being a dud, but from what was there it has one of the better set-ups in terms of being fast and easy to get into while also having really good depth when you start to understand how to break the system.
5. Griftlands. They really failed the landing so the game has been knocked down in the standings (in my eyes) when it left early access. Still one of the better takes on the formula.
6. Slay the Spire. The one that really popularized the genre for good reason. It's the gold standard for the genre.
7. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. This one is probably the furthest from the genre by a country mile as the card portion of it is weak compared to the others, but being eclectic and highly unique isn't a bad thing and the story and replayability is definitely there.
8. Signs of the Sojourner. Probably the best one to highlight about how I don't think that StS is the be-all, end-all for the genre. Having your deck be your characer's personality and the game themed as you holding conversations with other people is highly novel and fresh. At the same time it doesn't go as hard as Inscryption on the "this game can only really be played only once" that I view as a core requirement for the genre (hence why Inscryption doesn't show up on the list despite being the best here outside of Shandalar).
9. Monster Train. It largely just comes across as Slay the Spire-, but its intrinsic charm and unique (in the genre) gameplay keep it pretty fresh.
10. Deep Sky Derelicts. A bit awkward in that this one is the least compelling to do a second run in out of all of the Rougelites I've ever played, but the first run is one of the strongest and if you're into the genre then it can definitely do it for you if you're into the space-grunge theming.

As said, this really isn't that stock of a list and there are several that could easily make it in based on how I felt on a particular day (Banners of Ruin for an example). Heck, Balatro could make it in depending on how I felt at the time, I just don't think it's such an easy shoe-in like I would for anything in the top 7 of my list (which basically would always make it in no matter how I was feeling in particular). In that same vein it also depends on how I was going at them as the ability to "just play forever" is a lot less important to me than having several runs be as fun as possible. Something like Signs of the Sojourner, for instance, you really don't have any real value in playing forever as the core system just doesn't facilitate that. However, the gameplay is just too fun for the couple of times that you are doing something wholly unique outweighs that fact in my mind. Life is short, don't stick to one game forever just because it is designed that way.

I won't deny Shandalar is probably one of the better deck builders that exist. But I wouldn't count it as a rogue lite deckbuilder. Same with pokemon TCG. Although both are great deckbuilders.

It's interesting what you think of Signs of the Sojourner, but say that Griftlands failed their landing. How did it fail? I thought it was pretty cool.

I was honestly just trying to see a gauge of roguelite deck builders that you had in mind more so than deckbuilders is why I originally asked. Not your fault, it's on me for not being clear. I've just been on a binge for roguelite deckbuilders and was curious to see what else there was. I played the ones listed so far.

are deck builders one of the few high saturation, high average sales indie genre out there??
I see non-devs talking about them all the time, so I'm wondering if I should make one some day.

No one has mentioned Chrono Ark on Steam, which is a party based RPG deckbuilder.

BucketCat posted...

are deck builders one of the few high saturation, high average sales indie genre out there??
I see non-devs talking about them all the time, so I'm wondering if I should make one some day.

I would say they're hard to make. As a base comparison there are 730 cards in Slay the Spire (quick google search). Split that into fourths since there are 4 classes so about 183 cards per class. Do you think you have the capability to make 183 fair and balanced cards for their rarity that also seem fun and help make different synergies and enable multiple play styles? If so then you can go ahead and make one.

I personally don't think it's "easy" to do, but rather very difficult with a lot of play testing to be done. You also can't blindly follow ANY opinion because you risk of alienating others. Make the game easier or harder for example has consequences. Then you have to think of replayability. The upgrades to many of the cards and what are good effects for those.

Then you have gameplay. Do you do what Balatro is doing? StS? AtO? There's a lot of flavors that exist. A two pronged system like Griftlands?

Difficulty scaling/ascensions. You have in Balatro, StS, and AtO. Stakes vs ascensions vs Madnesses are all difficulty scalers in the game. So you'll have to think about those and how your system interacts with difficulty. Obviously you want only the best and most skilled players to win in those but it also has to be satisfactory instead of grindy or "luck" based. So how do you factor "skill" into your random game. Thin out decks is a popular and very obvious solution but maybe YOU have a creative take on this? Some deck builders have creative takes like certain cards always start in your hand or you're able to call important combo cards up when the time comes. When you think about it StS really is damn good at balancing stuff.

badjay posted...

I won't deny Shandalar is probably one of the better deck builders that exist. But I wouldn't count it as a rogue lite deckbuilder. Same with pokemon TCG. Although both are great deckbuilders.

It's interesting what you think of Signs of the Sojourner, but say that Griftlands failed their landing. How did it fail? I thought it was pretty cool.

I was honestly just trying to see a gauge of roguelite deck builders that you had in mind more so than deckbuilders is why I originally asked. Not your fault, it's on me for not being clear. I've just been on a binge for roguelite deckbuilders and was curious to see what else there was. I played the ones listed so far.

Both are absolutely Rougelites. They both have you start with a generic base-line that you make better through random cards you obtain through the game until you make it to the end. The main difference between them and something like StS is that they are fully developed card games, something that isn't relevant as a part of the Rougelites as a genre (see Hearthstone's game mode for an obvious example of that as an undenyable Rougelite), and the fact that they don't force you to have a limited run and instead give you an open world to run around in. However, Shandalar doesn't have a single pre-defined aspect and is arguably a *lot* closer to Rouge than Slay the Spire is for it. It creates a randomized world for you to run around in, with randomized towns and randomized quests, and if you want to get the best stuff you have to go into randomized dungeons. If Shandalar isn't a Rougelite then literally nothing in this topic is. Pokemon TCG there is a bit better of an argument against, but considering just how many randomized elements are there if you do a limited battles run (ie. no grinding) then you are exactly ending up with the gameplay feel and style of something like StS. Just with more the ability to "extend your run" by grinding. It is as opposed to something like Card City Nights where there is no randomized power increases and everything is set in stone outside of the Triple Triad-esque card game actually playing out.

And Griftlands is so high up in my list because it *is* "pretty cool." The problems weren't enough to not make it easily a top Rougelite, just that it moved from something like the easy 2/3 slot (if they stuck the landing they would be above Pokemon TCG on the list most likely). They didn't ever flesh out the dialog-based combat and didn't flesh out the character interactions, both which were things that really needed to get a bit more juice to really make it as high as I would have hoped. As it stands there really isn't much of a point in interaction with the random townsfolk most of the time and the dialog combat doesn't feel particularly fresh or unique despite some early dev insights kind of talking about it going in an interesting direction (that they obviously didn't go through with). So yeah, 100% worth it, but it is still a bit of a let down as someone who pre-ordered it the second it was available. Signs, on the flip side, didn't have near the hype for me as it was always much smaller in scope and was more based on a unique concept, of which I thought that they did a great job in realizing. And the reason it is so much lower than Griftlands is because it isn't as good in my eyes.

And I can't say it's surprising that you would have already played all of the best ones if you're on a binge for them. Most of the best ones are recommended pretty consistently and there is definitely a pretty big gap between the top 20-30 (number pulled out of my rear) and the rest. Like, I could probably come up with some games that you haven't played, but I can't say that I would really be able to come up with one that you hadn't played *and* was actually worth playing.

badjay posted...

yeah, the sheer volume of cards would be difficult, I just think it's a neat observation since I see the genre getting talked about a lot when I really wouldn't expect it to be so popular.
I'd probably never actually try to make one, mostly because I don't know much or anything about deck building games beyond basic stuff like yu-gi-oh or MTG, but it's still a fun idea to think about ways to implement a card-based system
like, my last project (which is scrapped and on hold indefinitely) was a roguelite dungeon crawler with random upgrades/perks similar to risk of rain, and I couldn't balance 30 of those let alone hundreds lol.

ellis123 posted...

Both are absolutely Rougelites. They both have you start with a generic base-line that you make better through random cards you obtain through the game until you make it to the end. The main difference between them and something like StS is that they are fully developed card games, something that isn't relevant as a part of the Rougelites as a genre (see Hearthstone's game mode for an obvious example of that as an undenyable Rougelite), and the fact that they don't force you to have a limited run and instead give you an open world to run around in. However, Shandalar doesn't have a single pre-defined aspect and is arguably a *lot* closer to Rouge than Slay the Spire is for it. It creates a randomized world for you to run around in, with randomized towns and randomized quests, and if you want to get the best stuff you have to go into randomized dungeons. If Shandalar isn't a Rougelite then literally nothing in this topic is. Pokemon TCG there is a bit better of an argument against, but considering just how many randomized elements are there if you do a limited battles run (ie. no grindiong) then you are exactly ending up with the gameplay feel and style of something like StS. Just with more the ability to "extend your run" by grinding. It is as opposed to something like Card City Nights where there is no randomized power increases and everything is set in stone outside of the Triple Triad-esque card game actually playing out.

Hmm...I guess you're right in a way. To me a roguelite deck builder has you losing somewhat frequently and starting over from the start. There's an element of quick play but also quick leveling up. I just don't think I get that feeling from Shandalar nor Poke TCG. But now that I think about it more. "Quick" is very relative. A "run" of griftlands "feels long" probably like several hours while a "long" StS run is about 1.5 hours at the worst. AtO has longish runs probably around 2 ish hours, but that comes from playing with others more than anything. I'm sure that gets shortened playing solo. I think ultimately the point of a game to fit roguelite deckbuilder for me is you're playing it multiple times either because it's quick to beat or quick to lose in, regardless you "Learn from your losses from starting over at the start again with nothing." Probably starting over again with maybe meta progression of some form. You're encouraged to play again to discover what new synergies you get with relics. I just don't see that in Shandalar nor Poke TCG. Not saying they're garbage games. I loved playing both. I'll be honest when you mentioned shandalar I was scratching my head wondering why it didn't show up on steam until I realized it wouldn't it's an old ass game i played a long time ago lol.

ellis123 posted...

And I can't say it's surprising that you would have already played all of the best ones if you're on a binge for them. Most of the best ones are recommended pretty consistently and there is definitely a pretty big gap between the top 20-30 (number pulled out of my rear) and the rest. Like, I could probably come up with some games that you haven't played, but I can't say that I would really be able to come up with one that you hadn't played *and* was actually worth playing.

This I can agree with there's a quality metric between the very best that a lot of people just try to imitate. You start realizing how great StS was when you start looking at others that tried to copy it. Even if they add tons of little features you go back and realize how well balanced StS is or many of the things that they did that just was "right."

How far did you get in the madness system of AtO?

Also to contribute to the topic that nobody else mentioned. There's also One Step from Eden. One of my favorites and beloved deckbuilders. It's a roguelite and an action game. You can't just "action" your way through the entire game because you do have to have a good deck to be able to do anything, but being a good player of the action aspects enables you to survive longer. I would easily put it above Balatro in my eyes.

StS is not balanced at all. Shit ranges from completely useless to broken as fuck infinite turn combos. It's like one of the worst balanced games I've ever played.

I'm a big fan of deck building roguelikes and I've been hearing so much about this game. I might get it when it's on sale on the Switch. As an aside, I don't understand the love for slay the spire. I just got it and did a handful of runs and it was fine. I'll definitely give it more time though. To me Dicey Dungeon is the best, followed by Inscryption.

Tyranthraxus posted...

StS is not balanced at all. Shit ranges from completely useless to broken as fuck infinite turn combos. It's like one of the worst balanced games I've ever played.

This kind of stuff makes me wonder, do people play at higher difficulties? It's easy to fall into the trap of THIS is the card combo I always have to force through no matter what else exists. Yes you CAN do infinite turn combos, but there are other viable strategies that exist to stabilize decks and let you get there. Often times the modest deck that lets you just win the game barely are also as good as the deck that lets you one turn a boss. At the end of the day you're going for a W. You have some distinction in how hard you stomp enemies with a score evaluation system. But I think beating Ascension 20 on StS takes some skill and thought rather than going hur dur combo winner.

It's a realization I've come to when you play a ton of these there's always the obvious way to win at the easier levels that becomes much more difficult to win with when you get to the higher difficulties. Often to the point that you have to revise how you think about the game in order to even win with some consistency not just one off wins because you got "lucky."

For example in Balatro winning with flushes is the common way to get an easy win, until you start realizing how Jokers interact. In AtO it used to be a full block run that would win me early on until I started realizing having just enough block is better than having overwhelming amounts of block. In StS I would always think the thinnest decks were the ONLY way to play until realizing having a deck with good effects is more stable overall and easier to accomplish at higher difficulties.

Yes it's easy to shit stomp the easy difficulties and dismiss it, but when you're trying to win the higher difficulties with some consistency instead of relying on the 1/100 combo happening you change your thought process and realize how balanced some games can be. It just takes some thinking to get there and determination. But yes a lot of games you can win because you get the most broken combo and win the game. But is that really winning because of skill or luck? If you think a win is a win that's fine, but I like winning knowing I won because I calculated things to a point of consistency rather than praying to god to please give me spinning top so I can just spam my 0 cost cards to victory and then get shit stomped by time keeper or whoever the fuck it is lol and get mad because I got "unlucky" and the game robbed me.

badjay posted...

This kind of stuff makes me wonder, do people play at higher difficulties? It's easy to fall into the trap of THIS is the card combo I always have to force through no matter what else exists. Yes you CAN do infinite turn combos, but there are other viable strategies that exist to stabilize decks and let you get there. Often times the modest deck that lets you just win the game barely are also as good as the deck that lets you one turn a boss. At the end of the day you're going for a W. You have some distinction in how hard you stomp enemies with a score evaluation system. But I think beating Ascension 20 on StS takes some skill and thought rather than going hur dur combo winner.

The truly broken combos are a matter of luck. You either get them or you don't. The fact that you can just luck your way into a complete stomp is what makes it poorly balanced. You can kind of argue that you have to know the strategy to use the broken combo but that's just basic card familiarity.

Games like monster train don't have that. There's luck, but there's no way to luck into a 1 turn kill every boss.

badjay posted...

Hmm...I guess you're right in a way. To me a roguelite deck builder has you losing somewhat frequently and starting over from the start. There's an element of quick play but also quick leveling up. I just don't think I get that feeling from Shandalar nor Poke TCG. But now that I think about it more. "Quick" is very relative. A "run" of griftlands "feels long" probably like several hours while a "long" StS run is about 1.5 hours at the worst. AtO has longish runs probably around 2 ish hours, but that comes from playing with others more than anything. I'm sure that gets shortened playing solo. I think ultimately the point of a game to fit roguelite deckbuilder for me is you're playing it multiple times either because it's quick to beat or quick to lose in, regardless you "Learn from your losses from starting over at the start again with nothing." Probably starting over again with maybe meta progression of some form. You're encouraged to play again to discover what new synergies you get with relics. I just don't see that in Shandalar nor Poke TCG. Not saying they're garbage games. I loved playing both. I'll be honest when you mentioned shandalar I was scratching my head wondering why it didn't show up on steam until I realized it wouldn't it's an old ass game i played a long time ago lol.

Quite. It's all extremely relative, and as someone who has actively played actual Rougelikes a lot of the whole "this is just like Rouge" from the Rougelite genre is just bunk to me. Hence why I sometimes call them Tetris-likes: literally everything they share with Rouge they share with Tetris, and many things that they share with Tetris they don't share with Rouge. Things like meta-progression and quick play/ease of getting into are not at all things I think of when I think about Rougelikes, but that is basically the entire genre when it comes to it when you talk about the whole shtick with Rougelites. Similarly it's all relative, especially when it comes to player skill. I've beaten Shandalar dozens of times, some of which definitely fell into the "sub 1 hour" range (I wasn't exactly timing). Certainly the genre is made up of more games like StS, but until the genre starts getting called "Slay-likes", or whatever, I can't knock off a game that I think is actively closer to Rouge than any of the others from the genre. It may not hit all the same notes as StS, but Shandalar absolutely hits more Rouge notes than StS does.

badjay posted...

This I can agree with there's a quality metric between the very best that a lot of people just try to imitate. You start realizing how great StS was when you start looking at others that tried to copy it. Even if they add tons of little features you go back and realize how well balanced StS is or many of the things that they did that just was "right."

How far did you get in the madness system of AtO?

Quite. The genre is super large, but the best ones tend to be really good while the vast majority tend to fall into the "they all right" sort of range. It's sort of where if someone actually cared to seriously rank them (and not just come up with them off of the top of my head like I did) there would be a pretty massive drop off in the impressions that the games gave at some point rather than just a gradual slope like you see in other genres.

And I never really got that far with Madness in AtO and only beat 3 (maybe 4... it has been a while). I've meant to get back into it but I've had lot of stuff on my plate gaming-wise and due to how much of a hurdle it is getting started in that one (starting off and doing all of the town/deck management is kind of a pain) makes it less compelling to get into than something like Cross Blitz (and if I wanted to muck around in deck management I kind of would just rather do Shandalar). Still what I would consider to be the contender for best after StS, with the only real black sheep that could go above it being Cross Blitz (as it is in Early Access with a lot of potential to flesh out what it does).

And I never tried One Step from Eden, so I can't really comment on it. It looks good enough in a fundamental sense, but I just haven't ever bothered getting it. Never got Megaman Battle Network either.

Dicey Dungeons rocks.

I really wish someone would make another game like shandalar. Its janky, but still probably a top 20 game ever made imo

MC_BatCommander posted...

I'd like to throw out Monster Train as a good roguelite deck builder, flew under a lot of people's radar

While I do really like it (and did mention it) it does take the "building" part to a bit of a level where you really DO need to do proper building and not just slap random cards that are "eh good enough" to what you are going for.

So yeah, getting the right cards and items is actually important to a good run.

On a side note, if its just cards and not the deck building aspect you like:

Sentinels of the Multiverse. Each hero has a pre-built deck that is not modifiable USUALLY (certain cards by a hero or two as well as some villain cards can add or remove cards from the deck in some way beyond just putting it in the discard pile for eventual reshuffle).

The setting is, well, a "not marvel/DC" hero and villain universe. Which is actually pretty well thought out lore-wise.

In a game, you typically play 3-5 heroes fighting the villain (in the table top, and technically online, you can split this up amongst multiple players or have every player just manage their own hero's deck, with you choosing the heroes, villain, and environment deck before the game starts).

Many of the heroes have some level of "build up" mechanics where they want to get Power and Equipment cards into play to expand what they can do and/or their versatility in dealing with what the villain (which is "auto-played" via rules printed on the villain cards) does to mess with them. The Environment is often a wildcard, with some being easier or harder based on what kind of events they have (generally, they can mess with both the heroes and the villains, but some like Rook City, basically an even more crime-infested Gotham, are notably more slanted towards giving you a harder time than messing with the villains, whereas the one with the dinosaurs and volcanos will basically go after anyone depending on the rules each dinosaur and prehistoric whatnot targets).

There is an alternate mode for some cases where a villain team is instead balanced to go against an equal number of heroes. And there is a final "raid boss" style of game that is, well, basically a multiversal Endgame sort of scenario.

A joke/reality is that because its a multiverse from the start, every game you play is technically canon. This does not affect the gameplay, its just official lore. So yeah, if you play with two heroes and two hero versions of what were originally villains against one of those characters' actual villain forms, the idea is that yes, this happened.

I highly recommend looking into it at least if you like superhero stuff and card games.

Wildfrost is good, i'd recommend that if you haven't tried it.

Got around to trying Balatro tonight, and Im immediately hooked. Its really something special, in such a simple package.

The idea of using normal playing cards in an unusual way for a game is a cool one.

While I wouldn't say its great or bad, there is a game called Poker Quest that does this too. If the idea of using playing cards in a game is cool to you, I would say to at least look into it, watch some gameplay, etc.

I want a card builder game based off that movie Throw Mama From The Train.

Ive played a little bit of Balatro. Won once with every basic deck color. Havent tried most of the other decks. Have used the heart/spade only deck to win at red chip.

Mostly been trying for two pair and full house. Though with the heart/spade deck it is nothing but flushes.

Jokers feel way too important. When they are trash, I quickly lose. When they work well together I 1 shot ante 8.

One of my favorite runs so far was power leveling High Card combined with Splash and a few other jokers to score Mult using face and suits as needed.