[cwizou]

> It's a comfort game. A pasttime rather than an addiction. Balatro is a stress reliever for me and I can jump in, play, and jump out and it's fine.

Exactly.

To me there are two specific things that gives it that stress reliever, jump in/out spirit of Solitaire :

- You know from the start you may not win every round.

- Things can instantly and dramatically turn one way or another.

I think both are perfectly captured in Balatro, and it manages to achieve it with a vastly more complex design.

And it manages to add more depth while keeping that formula with a large number of jokers that, depending on what you get at the start, will dictate a different type of playstyle.

Sure, you can develop some strategies over time (money), but you (usually) can't force the direction of a run (at least early on), you have to work with what you're given. It's truly a brillant design.

[bigstrat2003]

I think Balatro is way too hard to be a good stress reliever. Unlike solitaire, I can barely win a run in Balatro and there's no indication as to what I could do better. I actually find it stressful more than stress relieving, if anything.

[beeflet]

On the first day I played, I would always get stuck ante 5-6. The thing is, you need to build your strategy around the "X Mult" jokers in order to progress past that point, which often involves completely pivoting your strategy in the middle of the run.

I think the term they use online is "CMX": First get CHIPs-boosting jokers, then get MULT, then get X Mult.

You also have to have good economy and take advantage of interest or some other money-generating card. It's very much a win-more game where you need to get the steamroller going. I don't think I've ever beaten the game without a good money generator, either a money-generating joker or interest.

[__turbobrew__]

You can get better at it, that is what makes the game so rewarding. Im just average at the game and I can probably win on the easiest difficulty 95% of the time.

Part of it is also just being OK with losing, if anything I think you deterministically lose more often in solitaire than in balatro.

I also see belatro similar to poker where you can take all the right actions, play to your outs, and still lose to bad variance. All you can do is your best.

[ronyeh]

Hey! I've played it for a while now (and haven't even followed any Reddit / YouTube guides yet).

Early game: Get a joker that gives you a big mult (e.g., Half Joker w/ +20 Mult for small hands). This will allow you to survive while you build out your points engine. (You can survive with flushes in the early game, but it can get harder to win with flush later, due to Bosses, unless you have flush friendly Jokers and a large hand size.)

Mid game: Generate $$$ so you can buy planets and tarot cards. Once you're happy with your jokers, you want to level up the hands that work well with those Jokers. Try easier hands like Two Pair or Pair or High Card. (Assuming you can generate enough cash to level up those hands.)

Tip: Blue Seals are helpful!

To Win: Look for jokers that get you increasingly higher +mult or xmult for things you'll do anyways. There are jokers that increase mult for using tarot cards, or jokers that increase xmult for adding new cards to your deck.

Tip: Steel cards are also awesome.

Tip: If you have an xmult joker, move it to the right side, as jokers trigger from left to right. You want to multiply after you add!

Disclaimer: I have not beaten ante 11 yet. I can get a couple million points with my strategy, but 7+ million is too difficult. I don't see an easy path to naneinf (not a typo). I guess I'll need to give up and watch some YouTube guides as some point.

I feel like I win about 50% or more of my games on regular white stake difficulty. I've won some red stakes, but I don't really feel a need to make the game much harder. I think if I played it safe I could win 75% or more of my games on white stake. The reason my win rate on base difficulty is lower is because I like to try weird strategies with different jokers.

The amazing thing about Balatro is.... there are many many different paths to a victory. Everyone has their own favorite joker, and it might all be different.

For a long time, I liked two pair hands the most. Now most of my games use pair or high card. I find it too difficult to get to ante 9+ with a 5-card strategy. (4-card flushes are OK.)

[sepositus]

It can turn into a brain burner very quickly. Tracking the interactions from five jokers (in order) can be a mental gymnastic session in some instances :) I find I enjoy it more when I've not just ended a taxing day (writing/troubleshooting software).

[ChainnChompp]

> - You know from the start you may not win every round. > - Things can instantly and dramatically turn one way or another.

Nailed it. A good rogue-like deck-builder should always have these qualities. My favorite for a few years now - Slay the Spire - lives by this.