VideoGame_Discussion

Better than StS? I just started playing Spire again on mobile, plays quite well!

MrBean wrote:

Not better- yet. I put so much time into StS it’s pretty special. The jury is out but it’s very similar feel- addictive, can’t put it down and slow improvement that dangles rewards to keep you going.

Yeah I've put about 20 hours into balatro and absolutely love it. Hard to say if it's better than STS but it's definitely in the top tier of deckbuilding rogue like games.

Jorbs is playing it, all I needed to know lol

Gypsy wrote:

I need to watch one of these mega dorks do a run. I’ve figured out the best way to win is get a mult number joker, a mult x joker- and hopefully a chip joker. Then just level up a hand repeatedly. It really doesn’t matter which hand if things work out. There’s a joker called supernova? I think that adds mults based on number of times your hand has been played. I’ve won quite a few with pair or two pair almost exclusively. Things seem to be opening slowly so I’m constantly finding new deck building ideas after a new joker shows up.

I've won the majority of my runs using a deck based on flushes. They just seem really easy to get reliably, and getting all 5 cards in your hand scored each turn adds up a bunch of points.

I've been trying to avoid using flush decks now that I have a few wins under my belt just to try some of the other cards/combos

Does it get any different after so many playthroughs? I've put probably a dozen runs in Balatro, and it seems like not much changes except unlocking more Joker cards. It's fun-ish if you like traditional playing cards, but I'm not seeing the appeal beyond that as something described as a deckbuilding roguelike.

Feeb wrote:

https://www.twitch.tv/jorbs/videos?filter=archives...

He's probably the best STS player I've seen. I haven't looked too much into this game but was watching him play it some earlier today.

Master_Z wrote:

It does but it’s much slower feeling than it should be. New decks, new difficulties, legendary jokers etc that create all new strategies. My only gripe is it starts to feel old before you see a true refresh.

Watched their trailer video.. Made me want to play StS.

On my first really good run I unlocked a ton of new stuff and that's when the game started to open up.

My best piece of advice is to focus on your economy on the first few antes. On your first few blinds, use as many discards as you can so that you win in as few hands as possible. This will give you more money. If you are able get to having 20$ or so, the interest will start to rack up and you will find yourself generating more than you need to spend per round. Once you have plenty of money you can start going wild in the shop and then the deckbuilding strategy goes nuts.

You can use the yellow deck to jump start this process.

Also be sure to think about skipping blinds - especially the first in reach round. A few of the rewards for skipping the blinds are extremely good. The one where all the cards in the next shop are free is insanely fun

I tried watching the trailer and some gameplay. Really didn't catch my attention, at all. But to be fair I know that there are games out there that a player wouldn't appreciate unless they give it a try. So I can't actually say much about it. I wonder if there's a demo to try out.

It would be hard for a trailer to do this justice- the feeling of accomplishment and achievement you get from playing can’t really be conveyed by watching it. Lots of game are like this for me.

I've been playing Balatro.
I've just started to win games.
I've also had some tragic last minute losses.
Lots of nice variations for each play too.
It is fun.

Much like Slay the Spire, it's about scaling. You need jokers that get stronger as you play, in other words. Another big tip - try to save at least $25 each round because interest is essential. This is tough but you should be able to win through the first boss without buying anything. Also, the order of your jokers matters. Put "x mults" on the right (so the multiplier has the most effect).

I actually had a loss where the final boss scrambled and hid my jokers and I died. Though, I realized later I could have paid attention when it was scoring and moved the hidden multiplier to the end and likely won. Next time, I will do better.

One of the recent Humble Bundles is all Rogue-lite deck builders, i'm considering picking it up. I've only played Floppy Knights, any of the other games decent?
Worth picking up?

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/devious-deckbui...

If anyone here is playing on PC, I recommend opting into the beta branch to get access to the upcoming patch early. The changes in the new patch are amazing, especially if you are finding yourself frustrated over some of the higher difficulties.

In addition to a number of changes to Jokers, Tarot cards, and Planet cards, it also completely changes the difficulty modifiers of Orange and Gold stake difficulties in a way that makes those difficulties far more compelling.

Or you can just be patient and wait for it to hit the main branch, but if you play alot I think the beta patch changes are worth getting.

Also, i've been playing a mobile game called Spincraft which is a rogue like deck builder meets a slot machine and it gradually turns into a RPG as you unlock different slot machines that are represented by characters.
It's extremely addictive and very very free. You'll get a 15 second ad after about 20 minutes of continuous play.

I’ve only put around 12 hours into it. I’ve found that doing what @bill said with jokers and ordering them correctly, keeping cash and winning as fast as possible / fewest hands to get the interest - then keeping the deck simple like focusing an easy hand - 2 pair, 3 of a kind, straight or flush and trying to pump it up with jokers and planet cards- this is how I’ve got stupid high scores and win easy. When I try to go with the flow and improvise a new deck the last boss is a wall for sure.

I find the Balatro is not really about poker. You're not really trying to play poker better or get better hands. It's much more about jokers and synergy. If you're doing it right, you can be playing crappy poker hands (2 pair) and still getting super high scores.

Simon_Belmont wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion. I actually wanted to play Balatro, but I didn't see an app for it, so I decided to get Spincraft. Will try it out.

The app art looks fun/appealing:

image

Gypsy wrote:
That's funny.

Might be as good an indication as any that it's a solid game. (unless he was just trying it out but didn't stick with it)

Spincraft is a rip-off of "Luck Be A Landlord" which was an inspiration for Balatro.

bill wrote:

Oh wow, ok cool. I'll look up Luck Be a Landlord.

Thanks Bill!

bill wrote:

Yeah that’s what I do. Super simple hands. It’s more about making the odds not exist or higher in your favor. Of course there is risk reward but not necessary to depend on luck.

@Simon_Belmont

I just tried out Spincraft, and played for waaay longer than I expected. It's pretty fun. I just picked a bowling ball and then a pin soon after. I wonder if I'll be able to pull it off, getting them adjacent, 10 times.

Fun game.

I'm having trouble beating the black deck. That -1 hand/round is tough in the early game.
Beat it just now. Cavendish to the rescue!

@bill Black deck is tough to get off the ground but once you get moving it's not too bad. It really gets in the way of my general early game strategy, which is to only play flushes for the first three rounds. By the start of Ante 2, if you don't have a decent joker, you might as well restart the run.

Yeah, I basically just kept trying until I had some luck. It was an interesting game otherwise. Was using DNA some and managed to get 8 jokers going. Once I got past early game it was easy.

nonamesleft wrote:

Good! Just wait until you unlock enough stuff with Lady Arcade and you can change characters, which completely changes the game and turns it into something else. Same mechanics, just a different, somehow more addictive game type.

I've tried so hard to get into these card games but ultimately get bored. I think it's the lack of really doing anything besides clicking on cards and reading, meanwhile I love stuff like Nuclear Throne, Enter the Gungeon and other twin stick bullet hells. The only card game I like is Ring of Pain, but it's nothing like StS/other card games.

Simon_Belmont wrote:
I got out. Couldn't break the bowling pin. Maybe next run.

I died in the final boss for the "On a Knife's Edge" challenge (with the Ceremonial Dagger perma-joker). That was a fun one. I want to play again.. and win!

I did beat the "On a Knife's Edge" challenge on my second try. Definitely a fun twist to have a Ceremonial Dagger joker destroying a joker to gain +mult. I got Riff Raff which made 2 jokers per round and eventually some negatives for more slots that synergized nicely.

I had another run where I got a legendary joker from a spectral card. This joker copied a consumable card then made it negative as well (increases the number of consumable slots). I had another joker that gained +mult when I used a tarot card, so that was a nice synergy once I got the hang of it.

Balatro is great for synergies. I'd say even more than Slay the Spire. They make you have to play differently each time to exploit them.

Just started playing this tonight, mega addictive but I love it. There's a real sense of satisfaction when you break new ground/unlock new jokers/etc. Really digging it.

I'm still playing. I've been mostly trying to beat the challenges. I've done several, but still need to go back to beat 15 Minute City (my focus today, I think). I recently got Medusa which was more fun than I expected. Otherwise, I've beat green stakes and all decks up to painted deck (all that I've unlocked so far).

I've been playing this for around a month, but I've been super busy. I've probably played around 40 hours or so. Like you guys said, progression is really slow. I feel like some of the harder difficulties rely on luck of getting good jokers. Then there's times I'm feeling really good only to have an extra large blind too early in the game before I can level up enough.

I wonder what strategies people are using. I usually try for anything flush related and Xmultiplier related and try to build those up as much as possible.

I'm still playing this a ton too. I've beat 12 challenges, and have beat the game with every deck. I've beat all but gold stake on 3 or 4 of the decks.

Recently, i've had the most luck with pair or high card runs. Basically, you build such a strong series of jokers, that the hands barely matter at all. I generally try and get one really strong +chips, two good +mults, and two good xmults by the end. I rarely skip blinds unless the skip reward is for a negative joker. I take that one every time. I prioritize scaling jokers (vampire, hologram, spare trousers, etc) if I find them early and then do my best to juice those.

@bonham2 I think flush is a trap - it's too easily countered by a number of boss blinds, and you discard so many cards going for a flush that if you don't get your first flush off early you can find yourself with no potential follow up hands. Getting 3 or 4 flushes per round is really unreliable compared to something like pair or two pair. I rely on flush to get me through the first ante but after that I move to something more dependable.

My Switch says I've played 50 hours or more. I have 15 wins, 34% progress, collection 87%.

I don't love that win rate. I win more often with Slay the Spire and that just feels better. I also don't love that I have to do ascension-like (high stakes) to unlock decks. I was never that into ascension with StS.

Balatro has a crazy amount of unlocks for all kinds of things in all kinds of ways. It's hard to keep track of. At some point I may write them down and try to go after them more specifically.

I still feel like I'm still getting better. Though I agree that it's slow and more about the luck of getting the right jokers when I play. There are many junk jokers. Getting scaling jokers is so important to winning.

I think it's important to try to have a joker that gives chips, then another that does +mult, and finally X-mult. And, of course, scaling (usually with +mult or X if possible) The 3 together makes the cards matter less and thus boss rounds less of an issue.

The extra large blind has often killed me in the last round. I think it can be important to have some way to re-roll the boss blind, though that is also luck.

Money is a such a key element to the game as well. Early on, you really need to save up 25 for interest, then some of the best scaling needs money spent each round. The challenges have some amusing money-based variations that I liked.

Focusing on flushes is a good start strategy. Ultimately, you have to be open to anything and just see what works with what you have. 5-of-a-kind can be great given certain scenarios. Also, high-card is often something to focus on. Any deck that's focused on one sort of hand is weak to certain bosses too, though.

The Hieroglyph voucher (-1 Ante, but also -1 hand each round) is almost always worth taking. I didn't understand it at first, but basically it drops you back to an easier level (ante), so it gives you more time to build up your deck to be stronger, make some money, etc.

A couple spectral cards are scary but generally make your deck strong.

Sigil Converts every card in your hand to a single, random Suit.
-- helps make flushes

Ouija Converts every card in your hand to a single, random Rank, but reduces total hand size by 1
-- even better, you can often make 5-of-a-kind hands (very high scoring)

Personally very simple hands are key for me. Two pair, pair mostly. As @bumsplikity advises- harder hands are often a trap for me and I waste turns trying to build them. The right jokers and bonuses make a pair or two pretty wild.

bill wrote:

THAT'S WHAT IT DOES!?!

I've been skipping this for weeks. Looks like a solid investment after all.

Generally, I don't love Hieroglyph. One less hand per round is a gigantic reduction in potential points per round. I can definitely see it being worth it in some instances if you are really behind the curve and just barely keeping your head above water, but in those cases you are probably going to lose anyways because now you only have 4 hands instead of 5 going forward. Taking Hieroglyph basically gives 3 additional rounds to power up but you then have 1 less hand per round for the entire rest of the run. For me, the math doesn't add up.

Personally, if I feel like I need to buy Hieroglyph to keep playing, i'm better off doing a reroll and praying I find a joker that will push me over the hump to beat that round/ante.

I have taken it before when I have a scaling/farmable joker and I wanted more time to beef up said Joker, but generally I avoid Hieroglyph.

People on reddit seem to like Hieroglyph e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1c40vxd/...

-1 hand sounds bad, but in practice I find if I'm strong I rarely use all my hands.

I would add that the Acrobat joker (X3 Mult on final hand of round), is not a great joker for similar reasons. Though, it does shine in certain specific situations.

The step up to the last blind is pretty huge. Hieroglyph definitely feels like a cheat code at times. That’s the beauty of a RNG game based on a RNG game. It’s a gamble.

@bill Oh interesting. I haven't really been reading much about the game. I'll pick it up on my next few runs and try it out some more!