Balatro is one of the (many, many) games marked down for Steam’s annual summer sale. Take it from me: Picking up Balatro on sale — no matter how big or small the discount — is one of the safest bets you can make.
As someone who couldn’t tell a flush from a full house but could rattle off every Pokémon TCG Pocket mechanic by heart, I only gave Balatro a shot because it cleaned up at The Game Awards in 2024. Balatro, a card-based roguelike that lets you play god with the rules of poker, is the brainchild of solo dev LocalThunk. Despite its modest origins, Balatro exploded in popularity following its February 2024 release, thanks to a mix of glowing reviews, viral gameplay, and “just one more run I don’t care that it’s 3 a.m.” playstyle. Initially released on consoles and Windows PC, it received ports for mobile phones in September 2024, meaning, like Fortnite and Minecraft, it’s one of those Everywhere Games.
I wanted to try Balatro so bad, I burned my entire three-month free trial of Apple Arcade on it. (Balatro+, an iOS-exclusive version of the game, was available with a subscription.) It quickly consumed me, and I couldn’t put it down. Whether it was quick sessions or marathon runs longer than a movie, I found myself playing Balatro more than any other game I owned. I even threw money away purchasing it on multiple platforms, something I could’ve avoided if I’d just picked it up on Steam from the start.
After three quick months, I realized my free subscription had expired, and I’d been paying for Apple Arcade just to play Balatro+. I decided to buy the paid version of the game outright from the App Store for $9.99, but soon began to worry that all my progress wouldn’t transfer over. After booting up the game, I was elated to see all my progress from Balatro+ made it to the paid version, and I could pick up where I left off. But once the game was up as the PlayStation Plus free game for May, I quickly realized it didn’t matter whether my progress carried over or not, because here I was, starting fresh on a whole new platform anyway.
Soon after, I picked up a MacBook Air, and alongside sneaking in some sessions of Baldur’s Gate 3, I wanted to play some rounds of Balatro on it too. Unfortunately, I realized I couldn’t play the paid version on it; you have to play Balatro+ with Apple Arcade. If I wanted to play Balatro on my MacBook without a subscription, I would have to double-dip by buying it again for Steam.
It’s strange. I’m still trying to unlock everything, but I’ve hit a wall trying to unlock every chip with the red and blue Anaglyph deck, and I’m rage-quitting more now than I ever have before. But no matter how upset I get, it doesn’t keep me away from the game for long. Even the creator, who said he suffered a mental health crisis during the final six months of development, is still playing the game himself, having only just attained 100% completion.
But who am I kidding? We all know I’ll follow this game to whatever platform it ends up on.