Recent reviews by henrebotha

Balatro is a fascinating thing in that it focuses so totally on the technical strategy of roguelikes and card games. It comes off as very "pure": You start with the regular ol' 52, nothing fancy or weird, and even though the opportunities to mess with that come early and often, you're always still weighing the odds of drawing into the card you need to convert two pairs into a full house vs going for a less valuable but less risky flush. That's not to say that you can't get spicy with it; in fact, stacking up crazy modifiers is the only way you'll rack up big enough numbers to stay in the game. Loads of different builds are supported, from avoiding face cards to build up large streaks with huge multipliers, to playing an economy game where money is power, and many more besides. Several challenge runs can be unlocked to really push you to the limit in creative ways. The UI is efficient and snappy; starting a new run after dying takes as little as one second. The vibes are great, like a video poker machine in a vaporwave AMV. This is an extremely fun and extremely polished game that is very hard to put down.

Incredible fun. I can't stop playing survival mode.

This game is very, very good. The core gameplay loop is very fun, and really sells the feeling of playing old space trading & combat sims (Freelancer etc) while somehow condensing that into a tight roguelike form. There's great loot to find, and the combat is so slick. There's a surprising amount of depth to the particular way that this game handles movement. A few minor bugs (not directly affecting gameplay in the middle of a run) and some grammatical errors detract slightly, but my no means do they make the game not worth playing.

Amazing traditional fighter with true competitive spirit. A universal cancel mechanic allows for incredible creativity in combos, mixups, and more. Each character is deep and has a lot to offer. More characters are in the works. Rollback netcode means a perfect online experience. Super low spec is supported (I am able to run this on Intel integrated graphics). Best of all, this game is devoid of the juvenile "sex sells" mentality that plagues the genre.

I'm literally considering buying a PC just so I can play this (my current setup is very occasional).

A fantastically customisable, well-built peripheral. Highly recommended for power users.

An interesting and unique take on the roguelike-like genre. Fun shooty action and tons of collectibles.