B A L A T R O
holy shit it's poker, it's a roguelite, it's a poker roguelite and the numbers are EXPLOSIVE, this game is wired directly for my brain. there is a limited-duration free demo that feels like it's completely ready for release and I am banging on the gates waiting for them to open
Balatro is 99% mechanics and 1% flavor (though the aesthetic and music are quite polished in an unobtrusive way), it's a game where you're handed a 52-card deck, draw 8 cards, and are told "deal me some good-ass poker hands" and you just Go
the secret sauce of this game (other than I Goddamn Love Poker) is that thanks to a multiplicative scoring mechanic, your strength ramps incredibly fast at the start, with every new power boost making you feel like the god of numbers - and then you realize the game's scoring thresholds are ramping even faster than you are, and you have to rethink your entire strategy to keep up
the game also comes with an appropriate amount of Weird Roguelite Sauce, with vaguely opaque modifiers that surprise you the first time you see them, and ways to bend the rules I didn't see coming. the one that totally floored me was the powerup that sent me back to the previous level. merry christmas!! your present is Free And Easy Grinding
anyway I feel like I'm vaguely concerned that the design space of this game will lead to a dominant strategy emerging, to the point where if you don't get on the right build you just feel like your choices won't matter, but like, right now? great ride