3 ms·

I love this post a lot. Our entire world is perpetuated by platforms that are desperately begging us for engagement. It feels to me at least that I'm being pull

I love this post a lot. Our entire world is perpetuated by platforms that are desperately begging us for engagement. It feels to me at least that I'm being pulled in a hundred directions, for all my time for all time. My engagement with Balatro is not quite the same as localthunks. I go in phases where I play a lot and then put it down and walk away, and then weeks later I get back into it. But that also feels like it's in the spirit of what localthunk is talking about here. 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. I wonder what our digital world would look like if more tools and platforms adopted an approach that was not clinging desperately for everything all the time all at once.

cwizou 2y ago
> 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.
- ChainnChompp 2y ago
  > - 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.
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  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.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - ronyeh 2y ago
    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.)
sdwr 2y ago
I don't know how you can say that with a straight face. Balatro is building on 50 years of addiction-seeking game design. Everything from the sound effects, to the random round rewards, to the pacing of unlocks is optimized to be as attention-grabbing and dopamine-releasing as possible. It's like praising Coca-Cola for not tasting as sweet as Pepsi
- banannaise 2y ago
  It's a roguelike deckbuilder. The randomness is necessary to the genre. I think you've missed something important: none of these elements in Balatro are monetized. The only way the developer makes more money is through players telling other players how fun the game is, which convinces them to buy it.
  - bscphil 2y ago
    > players telling other players how fun the game is I wonder if we've collectively been trained to perceive addictiveness as fun. It's good that the developer isn't being directly monetizing eyeball-hours, but when users have grown to expect that specific dopamine hit that proves addictive, you end up having to include it anyway.
    - junon 2y ago
      Idk, I think it's also just fair to say that one finds Balatro fun. Not everything has to have a psychological basis for harm.
  - kevinmchugh 2y ago
    There's also nothing timed in balatro, so there's no need for the next game to be _now_.
  - djeastm 2y ago
    >I think you've missed something important: none of these elements in Balatro are monetized. Monetization doesn't really affect addiction, which was the question at hand.
ronyeh 2y ago
Maybe it’s a comfort game for you. But it’s an addiction for me. I need to stop, so I can find something else to get addicted to.
- bombcar 2y ago
  Hello, it's me, Factorio.
  - joquarky 2y ago
    Factorio is not a game, it's a lifestyle.
  - ronyeh 2y ago
    I have known about this game for a while. I have never bought it because I fear for my productivity.
    - pjerem 2y ago
      No worries, you can just go to Satisfactory then. :D It’s Factorio but you also can make your factory aesthetic (and by aesthetic, I mean, glorious).
- rc5150 2y ago
  For me it was Battleship Solitaire (https://lukerissacher.com/battleships https://lukerissacher.com/battleships), which I found via hackernews. For the first few weeks I played it every day at every opportunity, and since then I fire it up at least every couple days and burn through it. Its a less involved Sudoku logic puzzle that is mind-bogglingly satisfying to complete.

cwizou 2y ago

> 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.

ChainnChompp 2y ago
> - 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.
bigstrat2003 2y ago
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.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ronyeh 2y ago
  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.)

sdwr 2y ago

I don't know how you can say that with a straight face. Balatro is building on 50 years of addiction-seeking game design. Everything from the sound effects, to the random round rewards, to the pacing of unlocks is optimized to be as attention-grabbing and dopamine-releasing as possible. It's like praising Coca-Cola for not tasting as sweet as Pepsi

banannaise 2y ago
It's a roguelike deckbuilder. The randomness is necessary to the genre. I think you've missed something important: none of these elements in Balatro are monetized. The only way the developer makes more money is through players telling other players how fun the game is, which convinces them to buy it.
- bscphil 2y ago
  > players telling other players how fun the game is I wonder if we've collectively been trained to perceive addictiveness as fun. It's good that the developer isn't being directly monetizing eyeball-hours, but when users have grown to expect that specific dopamine hit that proves addictive, you end up having to include it anyway.
  - junon 2y ago
    Idk, I think it's also just fair to say that one finds Balatro fun. Not everything has to have a psychological basis for harm.
- kevinmchugh 2y ago
  There's also nothing timed in balatro, so there's no need for the next game to be _now_.
- djeastm 2y ago
  >I think you've missed something important: none of these elements in Balatro are monetized. Monetization doesn't really affect addiction, which was the question at hand.

ronyeh 2y ago

Maybe it’s a comfort game for you. But it’s an addiction for me. I need to stop, so I can find something else to get addicted to.

bombcar 2y ago
Hello, it's me, Factorio.
- joquarky 2y ago
  Factorio is not a game, it's a lifestyle.
- ronyeh 2y ago
  I have known about this game for a while. I have never bought it because I fear for my productivity.
  - pjerem 2y ago
    No worries, you can just go to Satisfactory then. :D It’s Factorio but you also can make your factory aesthetic (and by aesthetic, I mean, glorious).
rc5150 2y ago
For me it was Battleship Solitaire (https://lukerissacher.com/battleships https://lukerissacher.com/battleships), which I found via hackernews. For the first few weeks I played it every day at every opportunity, and since then I fire it up at least every couple days and burn through it. Its a less involved Sudoku logic puzzle that is mind-bogglingly satisfying to complete.