Balatro's creator nearly didn't bother optimizing the roguelike for Steam Deck - but it's now one of the handheld's most-played games alongside Elden Ring and Stardew Valley

Balatro
(Image credit: Playstack)

Balatro is dangerously perfect for the Steam Deck (and the Nintendo Switch, speaking of handhelds). Many a lunch break and sleepless night has been spent staring into its card decks, chasing its big numbers, and deceptively whispering "just one more game" half a dozen times, but it almost wasn't optimiz⭕ed for the platform.

Don't just take my word for it. Valve's official charts place the poker-themed roguelike as the platform's third most-played game this past week, behind only perennial favorites 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Elden Ring and Stardew Valley 💎- the former getting a boost thanks to its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and the latter just, you know, also being painfully perfect for on-the-go play. That means Balatro is more popular on the handheld than some absolute juggernauts like last year's best RPG Baldur's Gate 3, GTA 5, Fallout 4, and the recently ported Kingdom Hearts collection. 

. "Turns out that was a pretty good investment, unreal to be so high on this list."

Balatro might have already caused irreparable damage to global productivity - having sold o𒊎ver one million copies so far🎀 when its creator expected to sell "maybe 10 copies" before going back to their IT job - but its rampage is far from over since 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the r❀oguelike isཧ also coming to mobile. Soon, we can all play "just one moreဣ game" whenever we like... a scary ꩵfuture indeed.

In case you haven't dived in yet, Balatro is currently 10% off thanks to Steam Summer Sale, the digital discount fest boasting 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:massive sales for Baldur's Gate 3, the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:all-timer RPG trilogies, and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the true GOAT: American T🅺ruck Simulator.

For more, check out the other 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best roguelike games.

Kaan freelances for 𒁃various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesrada🎃r. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.