I’ve just uninstalled and removed Balatro after yet a near, very close 8/8 ante finish. I have been failing and failing, I’ve only ever seen and gotten to 8/8 ante twice, this being the second time. Every other run has been just insulting me to where no strategy has ever worked, I feel like a lot of it is RNG and pre-determined outcomes based on seeded runs.

And I hate that way of playing. It always feels like I’m getting smacked down by a troll bully who I can never overcome. They’d kick me down every failed run I’d have, then they give me a false sense of security the further I get. “Awwww, getting tired of being owned? Here, let me help you by giving you a few seemingly lucky breaks. SMACK Oh! OWNED YOU AGAIN! FUCK YOU! LOLLOLOL! I BANGED YOUR MOTHER, GIT GUD, NOOB!1”

I just don’t understand why these kinds of games are around, even when I have a good idea who it is for.

  • Cocodapuf@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    29 days ago

    Here’s the secret to Balatro, there are basically two strategies that work. Focus on flushes, or focus on two pairs.

    Also, if you get that joker that makes all red cards the same suit and all black cards the same suit, then a 9 card hand always has a flush.

    Likewise, two pair is extremely reliable, it’s hard not to have it. Just get a bunch of blue seals and pump that two pair up to level 20+.

    Finally, jokers that give you flat bonuses are fine, at least early on. But you really want jokers that have increasing bonuses, that get better every round.

    • wpb@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      29 days ago

      There is a hidden third option: focus on jokers, play high cards or pairs. The idea is that you get all chips from jokers so it barely matters if you play a 2 or an ace or whatever, allowing you to ignore pretty much every boss debuff. You try to get to a point where you have scaling jokers scoring the chips, with a setup like this:

      • a joker just giving extra chips (like the square joker)
      • a joker adding mult (like supernova)
      • a joker multiplying mult (like constellation or hologram)

      The trick is that all of these should be scaling in the sense that their chips or mult go up as the game progresses, and that you need to play to that. Constellation, for example, gives you an extra x0.1 every time you use a planet card. See a planet card for a hand you never play (like any hand with more than 2 cards), you still buy and use it.