Balatro has been a massive success for its developer LocalThunk and sales of the card-based game show no signs of slowing down. The developer wrote a timeline on his blog detailing his thoughts about the high review scores which poured in after the game’s release. He said that he was expecting average ratings for Balatro to be around 6/10 and 7/10. He then went on to say that even though he made the game, he wouldn’t have scored it higher than an 8/10.
“February 19th rolls around. The 19th is the review embargo day, and [publisher] Playstack did a truly exceptional job getting this game in the hands of traditional media to write their reviews before launch.”
“I didn’t know what to expect. This was a pretty weird game after all. Average ratings of 6 or 7?”
“I am shocked. That rating doesn’t make any sense,” LocalThunk remembers thinking. “I don’t think I would have rated Balatro higher than an 8, and I made the damn thing.”
He’s being humble unlike some activists disguised as journalist who will rate DAV a near perfect score but give Sparking Zero the same score as Concord.🤷
I returned to Balatro yesterday for the first time since the launch period. It’s exactly as good as it was then. Any game that is pretty much flawless in execution and presentation and is also different to everything else on the market is a long way better than a 8 out of 10.
I’d give it 8/10. And that’s using an accurate scale btw… not this thing where 7/10 is considered average or even bad. 5/10 is mathematically average.
Me neither. Isn’t the game basically Poker? You people will play just anything.
It’s not really poker and there’s no gambling. You just play Poker hands for points and use modifier cards to do so. Kind of a rogue-like experience.
That’s what I thought too, until I played it
Incorrect. It’s not basically poker. It’s a rogue like that uses poker hands as a base to expand into something far different. The real magic is in the shop screen between rounds. You start trying to make a couple pairs and by the end, you’re figuring out how to make infinite score combos with “Flush Houses” etc. Play it.
There wasn’t a single thing you just said that made me want to give it a chance. No. I don’t think I will play it. You folks on the internet are all the same. You have no taste, you glorify sewage, you shun gems, and you force me to be like you. The difference is you’re not even trying to be subtle about it.
It’s amazing how everything you don’t like is sewage and everything you do like is a gem. How did you refine your tastes to such perfection?
Ooh, we’re really getting into the heart of Blah’s insecurities now.
8/10 is the correct score. Doesn’t change anything anyways~
Faglatro sucks ass wouldn’t rate it higher than 2/10