By combining the familiar rules of poker with deck-building elements and the chance of rogue-likes, developer LocalThunk has created one of the most innovative and addictive games I have ever played.

The core goal of Balatro is to score points by making poker hands with a deck of 52 cards. This makes it a ridiculously accessible game, as someone possessing even passing familiarity with poker can understand what you need to do to win. However, any player will quickly find they're going to need some help to get higher scores, which is where LocalThunk's delightful twists come into play.

By introducing the titular joker cards (the word "balatro" is Latin for "buffoon") and a myriad of other modifiers, Balatro slowly reveals itself to be a game of ridiculous depth and synergy. And, as with all great rogue-likes, the more you play, the more you unlock: additional cards, decks, jokers, difficulty levels, and challenges await to be discovered. All of this combined with a very satisfying core gameplay loop makes Balatro the ultimate triple-threat: easy to learn, challenging (but not impossible), and incredibly addictive. It is an absolute triumph of game design.

And all of this for just $15? Or $10 on mobile?

Well, you'd be a fool not to give Balatro a try.