Now that Balatro is out on mobile, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And while it’s a great game, its tutorial doesn’t do the best job of setting you up for the kind of success necessary to hook you. In my first few hours, though I was completing the objectives laid out, it felt like I was stumbling my way to success instead of achieving it through strategy. Onboarding was a bit too abrupt, focused on the barebones of how to play instead of blending that with tips on how to play effectively. With that in mind, here’s some useful info and tips on how to get started.
In Balatro, the main gameplay loop is amassing enough poker chips to beat a set chip total called a blind. To do that, you must create the ideal poker hand that maximizes the number of chips you can earn. I think what I initially had so much trouble with was understanding how scoring worked. Numbers were flying at me, and I didn’t know what they meant or where they came from. Knowing how scoring works is critical to maximizing your chip-earning potential.
Each hand you play is assigned a simple math equation:
Total chips earned = chip value of cards x multiplier score.
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The math equation is different for every type of poker hand, and the more powerful a hand is, the bigger the equation. You don’t have to remember hand hierarchies or their equation values — simply hitting the “Run Info” button will pull up a reference list. Now, here’s the important part: this math equation changes based on the cards you play and any modifiers you’ve earned. For example, the base equation for two pair is 20 chips x 2 multiplier score. If I play two queens and two 3s, I can figure out my score by adding the total chip value of my cards (10+10+3+3=26) to the equation’s chip value (20) and then multiplying that number by 2, equalling 92 chips.
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I’m loath to admit how long it took me to understand what was going on, but once I figured it out, everything clicked. I finally got what it was that makes this game hard to put down. Some of these blinds require amassing thousands of chips, so the main point — and honestly the biggest fun factor — of Balatro is beefing up those equations and your cards as much as possible. Which brings me to the next tip.
I wish the game took more time to explain that, early on, money is everything. For each blind, you have a number of chances or hands to earn enough chips, and if you don’t like the cards in your hand, you have a number of opportunities to discard cards in hopes of getting better ones. You earn the most money by beating blinds in the least amount of hands and with the fewest discards as possible. There are other ways to earn money, too, with special cards and perks you can get. Once you unlock it, use the special deck that starts you off with an extra $10 instead of the regular $4. Look for the perk (called a “tag”) that gives you $25 for beating “boss blinds” — or harder blinds that introduce some kind of negative effect like lowering equation values while requiring you to earn abnormally high amounts of chips. Bank as much as you can, as early as you can in order to…
