Balatro

IGN

Simon Cardy·Mar 8, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

A deck-building poker roguelike of endlessly satisfying proportions, Balatro is the sort of fun that threatens to derail whole weekend plans.

GameSpot

Alessandro Barbosa·Mar 7, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Balatro's ingenious combination of poker and roguelite gameplay creates an intoxicating combination that's hard to pull away from.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Mar 1, 2024

Critic100/100

Agreement—

Balatro is a roguelike for gamers who don't like roguelikes... and then everybody else on top of that. It utterly nails what it sets out to do, providing an instantly accessible, satisfying, and addictive gameplay loop that anybody can grasp. It's an immensely enjoyable experience from the start, but as you get deeper in, there's really nothing else quite like it. We suspect we'll be hearing a lot about Balatro when conversations steer towards Game of the Year, because this is a clear and obvious frontrunner. Utterly sublime.

Eurogamer

Christian Donlan·Feb 29, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Our review of the poker roguelike Balatro.

Game Informer

Marcus Stewart·Feb 28, 2024

Critic95/100

Agreement—

Balatro is an engrossing and entertaining deckbuilding roguelike and one of the best games of the year.

Push Square

Stephen Tailby·Feb 21, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Between the main game, seeded runs, and a Challenge mode to really test your skills, there's endless fun to be drawn from Balatro. With so many variables to experiment with, sleek presentation, and hypnotically addictive gameplay, this is easily among the best deckbuilders, and possibly among the best roguelikes, we've played yet.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 21, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Balatro is an incredibly clever indie gem that uses the bones of regular poker to build an incredibly approachable and fiendishly addictive new experience. There's a wonderfully slick core to this one, building decks and taking on dealers as you add wild special cards and variables to your pack is trance-inducing stuff and, backed by a fantastically understated soundtrack and perfect visuals, it makes for one of the first proper, actual, absolute must-play games of 2024.

PC Gamer

Abbie Stone·Feb 19, 2024

Critic91/100

Agreement—

This poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder revels in the thrill of cheating.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Katharine Castle·Feb 19, 2024

Critic—

Agreement—

A clever roguelike card game about cheating your way to victory, Balatro is a generous and mesmeric take on poker with endless strategic possibilities.