You heard it right. I never played high stakes poker before, well outside that one time with low stakes cash. But seriously, if anybody played this one, I don't think they'll be the same again. This one might cure your addiction to real life gambling problems or make them worse.
There's so much possible with a roguelike deckbuilder such as this. Maybe even surpassing what Inscryption did, the best that I can say is that I never felt this high over poker. How much can you ante up, keep the cash flow going, booster packs, buffs, power ups, etc. The challenging bosses keep the loop going. And the thing is, I still wanted to keep going.
Disclaimer might be that you'll lose sleep, be out of touch with reality, heck might even lose complete sanity over it. Well, temporarily. Yet it'll most likely be the best time ever spent. It's own vortex sucking in, leaving me everchanged that's for sure. Next time, IRL poker won't be the same again.
I'll preface this by saying this isn't any regular poker game. One is because my tutorial guide is a floating joker card with some sinister undertones around. He managed to situate me well into the basics, before understanding the core concepts, and mechanics.
Each of the blinds are like boss challenges, it starts small. Nothing too crazy, and it warms up to experiment with my deck at first. Just a regular deck, nothing out of the ordinary for the 4 sets of suits that I have. Why would that change? Well, this game decided that isn't good enough.
Every blind afterwards take me to the shop, where winning the game would pay me in cash. Based on how well I played with less hand and if possible, more interests per round. But saving money is nearly impossible, because the offerings are so good, and pertinent to survive the next few blinds. Enhancements that changes the card's state, to card packs. The rewards keep the loop fresh.
And finally, we got the modifiers. You have odd number cards on played hands? You get extra score on each of the cards. Face cards can increase their multipliers, changing to 4 cards for straights or flushes, these things go very crazy. I already have cards modified too.
You can be the best poker player out there, with limited discards to the cards you have, so that you take a chance with your deck. That doesn't work out, tough luck, improvise, adapt, I-Ching. But do I play this for the sole reason of winning? What is my endeavor for the actual game plan?
Why yes, collecting the type of cards I buy from the shop. Much like people obsessed with their Pokémon do. I think after playing 5-6hrs, I managed to collect a decent 5% of the stuff in total. Boosters, Jokers that multiply, Vouchers, etc. Why are these so important?
Imagine this, you got a Tarot card that'll increase the score points and multiplier for Straights or Flush or both. 5 cards on the hand, with multiple Joker cards, upto 5 of them now, I am stacking more extra points from two pairs, or even three of a kinds. The golden rule usually means that cards recognized from the runs factor in the score. Unless you have a Joker card that counts every card.
The modifiers I mentioned, the Joker cards are what makes the plays so intense, especially when in the middle of the last blind fights for each ante. Finishing 3 blind rounds pushes an ante upwards. The final ones can debuff a card of any suit or force to win only in one particular hand.
I have played only so far, yet seeing other players do 50-60hr runs on this have come across many different kinds of cards and battles. It's this huge, mystical force that never ends. Never ceases to amaze someone who just got the grasp of the concept for this game.
Continuing to play, it's not about winning. It's about uncovering more of the sauce to success. Even if I lose, going all the way back, doing another 2-3hr till the final boss challenge, I never feel like it was a complete waste. The rush of winning is here, but being a collectathon itself is a whole other ordeal. What's even more, I want to learn how to earn more cash to buy whatever's in the shop.
Balatro is pure addictive fun. Sometimes even more fun than real life poker. I mean, I am all up for the actual stakes, but a game like this does what no other human player can ever do. It creates a ridiculous fantasy scenario, where gods themselves tamper something very basic.
In return, creating a monster of a game with such an addictive loop, it'll be hard to stop. But sometimes I can stop in the middle and quit just to let my mental state rest for a bit. No one likes a cold streak, and I do my best to play like I mean it. Funny enough, I was never into poker before.
You don't need to have experience playing poker as well, just play to anyone's heart being content. And who knows, maybe after playing this, I can probably go ahead and try online poker. Sadly that won't be possible due to my lack of finances and supposed payment method required to participate even. Sure, that's a 'man's game', but the sense of superiority I've felt playing this won't match it.
Unless you're some ESPN watched pro, maybe that's different. There are options to even tweak the UI, interface, and other elements. Some accessibility options. Also, did I forget to mention that I am playing at base difficulty? Imagine doing what I did, but facing against near impossible odds.
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