Balatro’s Steam Summer Sale: The Surefire Bet You Can’t Miss

Man, where do I even start with Balatro? You know, it’s one of those games… you see it on sale during Steam’s summer madness and you just kinda think, “Well, why the heck not?” Honestly, I couldn’t resist. Doesn’t matter if the discount’s tiny or huge — grabbing Balatro feels like the safest gamble ever. Trust me on this one.

So, picture this: I know zilch about poker. Like, seriously, I couldn’t tell you the difference between a flush and a full house if my life depended on it. But ask me anything about Pokémon TCG mechanics and I could probably give you an hour-long lecture. Anyway, Balatro hit my radar only because it cleaned up at The Game Awards, 2024. Funny, huh? The thing is, it’s a card-based roguelike that lets you bend poker rules however you want. Made by this solo dev, LocalThunk. Dude just blew up with it. Released in Feb 2024, everyone went nuts. Viral hits, rave reviews, and seriously, those “just one more run” marathons that steal your sleep? Yeah, that’s Balatro. It started on consoles and PC, then, bam — September 2024, it’s on every phone. An ‘Everywhere Game’, kinda like Fortnite or Minecraft. I guess it caught fire like that.

So for me, I was all-in, no question. Burned through my entire three-month free Apple Arcade trial just on Balatro. And get this — on iOS, there’s this exclusive version called Balatro+? Yeah, had to have it. Totally consumed me. Quick games, epic marathons — if you name a game, I chucked Balatro on top of it. Even double-dipped buying it on different platforms. Steam would’ve saved me headaches, but you know how impulse buys are, right?

Oh, and classic me, didn’t realize my free Arcade was up, and I’m here paying for it just for Balatro+. So, I just went ahead and bought the darn thing from the App Store. $9.99, boom, done. Was sweating over whether I’d lose my progress between versions though. Booted it up, and man, sweet relief. Everything carried over! Then — surprise surprise — it pops up as a freebie on PlayStation Plus. So, I say “why not”, and restart my epic journey on entirely new turf. Starting over’s strangely refreshing sometimes, you know?

Fast forward a bit — new MacBook Air in hand. I’m thinking I’ll sneak in some Balatro, between Baldur’s Gate 3 sessions. (Don’t even ask how many hours that game eats up). But nope, can’t use the paid version on MacBook. It’s an Apple Arcade exclusive moment. So yeah, faced with either subscribing again or going for another Steam purchase. Choices, choices… Gotta love them, right?

And this is weird — I’m stuck trying to unlock all the stuff with this red and blue Anaglyph deck. It’s a wall that’s mocking me. Rage-quitting’s the new norm. But still, the pull is crazy strong. Even LocalThunk said he had a mental health meltdown during those last months. Yet, he’s still glued to his creation. Only just hit that 100% completion mark, and I guess I’m next?

Anyway, who am I trying to fool? Wherever Balatro goes, I’m tagging along. No question about it.