Shacknews Indie Game of the Year 2024 – Balatro

There’s something magical about a good card game. When you look at games like Solitaire, Spider Solitaire and Freecell, they have addictive puzzles and luck elements to them. Even if you don’t gamble. Games like that don’t happen every day by any stretch of the imagination. But there’s one game happening in 2024, and it’s amazing. Of course, we’re talking about LocalThunk’s Balatro.

For the uninitiated First of all, what are you doing? Balatro can be purchased cheaply and is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and mobile devices. This is why it’s worth giving a try whether you’ve already bought it or not. It is a cheating card game where you have to collect poker hands to score chips and beat the target chip count in a limited number of hands. Each level of the game is divided into small blinds, big blinds, and finally boss blinds, which not only have high chip targets but also big blinds. But there are also special conditions, such as playing cards in a certain set without giving points. You can play only one hand or discard your cards in each hand played. Just to name a few

If this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry. Jimbo is here to help you. Jimbo is the Joker and has about 149 friends. The Joker is your key to surviving Balatro’s increasing chip targets. Thwart the Boss Blind conditions with your own special bonuses. and overcome stacked odds. Including cards like Smeared Joker, which makes spades and clubs count as the same suit. and hearts and clubs act as the same suit. which is suitable for playing flush hands This is especially true if you have a joker that gives you bonus chips or multipliers at blush. There are also planet cards that level up hand types to earn more chips and multipliers. Tarot cards that let you do things like change suits Spawn Joker and earn extra money for your ongoing store and Spectrum cards that give you huge bonuses. There is usually a cost.

One of the most interesting parts of Balatro is that runs can go wrong very quickly. But progress will make you feel good whether you win or lose. You might be playing a level and adding a couple of jokers until the Boss Blind disables your most frequently played hand. Oops. But you’ll unlock jokers along the way, gain new decks, and even unlock new difficulties. with special conditions if you can make it to the final round. This created a band worth following and consuming millions of hours around the world. This game is a performance killer game. But it’s our favorite killer game that will make it Shacknews’ Indie Game of 2024.

Balatro is now available at PC– Xbox– PlayStation– Nintendo Switch– appleand robot Equipment Be sure to read about the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Game: 2024 feature.