Balatro Is Still Stopping Me From Playing Any Other Game

Highlights

Balatro is a must-play for deck-building roguelike fans, with addictive gameplay that hooks you from the start.
Even tried-and-true favorites like Final Fantasy 7 couldn’t compete with the allure of Balatro’s unique mechanics.
Once hooked on Balatro, breaking free becomes a struggle as the game’s grip tightens, leading to a singular focus on gameplay.

Over the last year or so, I’ve come to a major realization—I’m addicted to deck-building roguelikes. I replayed the phenomenal Inscryption last May, ran through Monster Train for a second time in June, got truly addicted to Slay the Spire again around August and then put an absolutely obscene number of hours into Hearthstone Battlegrounds between October and March. However, while I was truly in on these games, they never stopped me from enjoying something else at the same time.

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February rolled around, and the internet blew up for Balatro, a poker-focused deck-building roguelike. I knew it would be my jam, but knowing I had two 14-hour flights coming up, plus the fact I was playing Persona 3 Reload, meant that I held off from diving in. Now I have, though, it’s game over.

How It All Began

I’m a strange one on flights. I usually don’t consume any media other than music. No matter the length of flight, I stick my headphones in, sleep mask on, and drift in and out of consciousness, only coming alive to look at the in-flight map or to eat, drink or pee. I know, I said I was strange.

During my recent flight to Japan, though, I decided to buck that trend, kicking off the flight with some of this Balatro the kids were talking about. From run one, I was hooked. There was no adjustment period, no questioning, “Is this game for me?” I was just in.

Every evening, when I returned to my hotel after walking 20,000 steps, I would unwind with a game or five of Balatro. While my fiancée was artistically sticking the day’s receipts and maps into her scrapbook, I was staring into a screen, bizarro jokers staring back at me.

The Addiction Takes Hold

When I returned home, I was jet-lagged and couldn’t really stomach diving into my next planned adventure, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, so instead, I opted to, you guessed it, play some more Balatro. From this point on, my inability to enjoy other games was born.

A week or so of rabid Balatro play passed, and I decided that it was probably time to put the game down and kick off Rebirth, so I did. I loaded up the game and was instantly blown away by the visuals, and the sounds transported me back to my Game of the Year from 2020, Final Fantasy 7 Remake. It should have been a home run – but something just wasn’t clicking. After an hour or two of persisting, I realized exactly what that was. I wasn’t putting together a deck of playing cards trying to beat my high score.

The allure of the Jokers, like a siren to a sailor, was too strong, and I found myself back in its vice-like grip.

Balatro had a much tighter hold on me than I thought. I figured that maybe, if Rebirth wasn’t working for me, I’d go back to one of my comfort games and start Pokémon Gold again. I’d wean myself away from Balatro with something so familiar and timeless; it’d be easy. But, I was wrong; the allure of the Jokers, like a siren to a sailor, was too strong, and I found myself back in its vice-like grip.

I’ve given up trying to break free now. It’s got me, and I need to accept that. As time passes, maybe I’ll finish up with the game, or maybe, just maybe, Balatro is the only game I’ll ever play again. Who’s to say?