Balatro similar games & best alternatives

Balatro - Trailer
Balatro - balatro_1.avif
Balatro - balatro_2.avif
Balatro - balatro_3.avif
Balatro - balatro_4.avif
Balatro - balatro_5.avif
Balatro - balatro_6.avif

Balatro

Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch • 2024

Should you play it?

The poker roguelike. Balatro is a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos.

What works

  • Addictive and highly replayable
  • Deep strategic gameplay with accessible learning curve
  • Unique joker and deck combinations
  • Polished audiovisual presentation
  • Excellent value for price

Things to keep in mind

  • Can be repetitive at high skill levels
  • Some rng frustration and difficulty spikes
  • No multiplayer or social features
  • Sedentary and potentially addictive gameplay
  • Minimal narrative or story content

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Aotenjo: Infinite Hands

  • Dice A Million

  • Dice Player One

  • Merge Maestro

  • Cropdeck

  • LuckLand

More fantastical

Games that feels like Balatro but with more imaginative fiction

  • Monster Train 2

  • Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend

  • Card Quest

  • Solitairica

  • Breach Wanderers

  • Looper Tactics

More violent

Games that feels like Balatro but with more combat and destruction

  • Stray Path

  • Monster Train

  • RUNGORE: Beginner Experience

  • Throne of Bone

  • Vault of the Void

  • Circadian Dice

More story-driven

Games that feels like Balatro but with deeper narrative immersion

  • Black Jacket

  • StarVaders

  • Pyrene

  • Floppy Knights

  • Once Upon a Galaxy

  • Meme Mayhem

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Balatro. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Balatro. These titles are not in What to play next.

Balatro: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Survival, Fellowship, Intimacy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Story, Violence, Fantasy.

Last update: 21/08/2026