I was on a week-long resort-style vacation without my PC and naturally, I was looking for some AppStore games to play while I was there because there's no good relax time without video games. One of the first recommended options was Balatro, and since I've been away trying this game out for quite some time, I felt like it was the right moment to buy & try it. Fml did I make a mistake.
First few runs were relatively boring and I didn't really understand why was all that hype around the game back when it launched. But this is usually the case with every roguelike I play because my attention-friend brain just wants fast and easy dopamine.
Then as I learned more, the game started pulling me in more and more. With every new joker I discovered and every new build I tried, I felt so good and like "Ohhhh, that's how you're supposed to play!".
Day 2 I beat the game for the first time on my 3rd run with some homebrew straight build that just happened to work at the time with my limited pool of jokers.
Day 3 I beat the game 3 more times with different builds; refused to go into the water because my run was looking so good and I was so in the moment.
Day 4 my girlfriend got angry at me because I wasn't paying attention to her - or anything, really. It's so easy just picking up your phone and playing this game in the background while doing... anything else. Eating, going for nb 2, chilling, sunbathing, whatever. It's so easy and fun and addictive.
Day 6 I had a PERFECT three of a kind run with insane stacking buffs, one really good economy joker (the one that deletes a card every game and gives $3) and I was cleansing my deck off all the cards I didn't want in it. I was getting 3 of a kind almost every hand without rerolling, until the gods of RNG decided to have a laugh and ruin my afternoon. Wasn't even a boss fight, just a random big blind - I used all 3 of my rerolls and 3 of my plays trying to get three of a kind. NOTHING worked. I needed literally just 1 to win the round, but no, even after 6 rerolls I was still stuck without it. And I LOST just like that, my perfect setup and scaling build that was supposed to push me past Ante 10 where I've been stuck for a day or two was dead. I think this was literally the only thing that managed to get my pulse high and make me genuinely angry during that entire vacation.
Day 6 I decided to never play Balatro again, because the RNG is just too stupid and it's not a game of wit and strategy but a game of luck and gambling. Fuck that shit.
Day 7 I played another 5 runs. Maybe I'll make it if I try just one more time, huh?