As a poker fan I’m always on the lookout for a new poker game. I’m especially keen to find games that use poker in interesting new ways, like RPG We Slay Monsters or roguelike Poker Quest, both of which use poker hands as their combat system. So, when poker-inspired roguelike deckbuilder Balatro came along I was eager to talk to its developer – not just about the game, but also what I assumed would be our shared love of poker.
“It’s funny, I don’t play poker at all,” says LocalThunk, solo developer of Balatro. That is pretty funny, actually, because Balatro has, well, quite a lot of poker in it. You begin with a standard deck of 52 playing cards, you make poker hands like straights, flushes and full houses to score chips, you compete against bosses called blinds, and when you win a round you come away with cash.