Greetings, friends, and welcome to Mobile Game Monday, where we chat about games you can play on the go. If you like gaming on a phone or tablet, this is the place for you. Join us every week as we go on all sorts of adventures.
I wanted Mobile Game Monday readers to start the year playing a winner. So, I offer the Game Awards Winner for Best Mobile Game of 2024, Balatro. A friend recommended this game to me a while back but I never got around to playing. When I looked up the best mobile game of last year, I was surprised to see it was the very same game my friend had been gushing about. After playing Balatro, I can confidently say that this is a game that you will be playing well into 2025 and beyond.
Balatro
Balatro is a roguelike deck-building game developed by LocalThunk and published by Playstack. Released in 2024, the card game combines elements of Solitaire and Poker. Play poker hands to meet a set score requirement or blind. However, there is much more to the deck than just your average playing cards but first let’s go over the mechanics.
RELATED: Mobile Game Monday: Solitaire
Gameplay
Every game consists of eight levels or antes and each ante requires players to beat three blinds that increase each round. The third round is a boss blind which has some type of restriction that increases the difficulty. For example, The Manacle reduces your hand size which is unfortunate since you only have so many hands to meet the required score. If you get dealt a bum hand, you can discard up to 5 cards per hand but these are also limited.

If you aren’t familiar with poker hands, no worries, you can easily look them up during play with the run info button. This will tell you all the hands you can play and how many points they are worth including any upgrades. Here you can also look at the blinds in this round which allows you to plan. Trust me, I learned the hard way how important this is after building a spade-heavy deck only to learn that that particular boss blind doesn’t score spades. Additionally, clicking on the deck will show you which cards remain in your deck including any upgraded cards.
Scoring
Earn points by playing various poker hands with a Straight Flush being the highest scoring and High Card being the lowest. Every hand has a point value as well as a score multiplier and your goal is to get both numbers as high as possible.

If you manage to exceed the required score with your given hands and discards, you will move on to the next blind. If you do not succeed, your game ends and you start all over again. It can be tricky but luckily there are all sorts of ways to increase your score and here is where things get really interesting (and fun).
RELATED: Most Anticipated Video Games of 2025
Jokers, Tarot, Planets and More
Easily the most interesting thing about Balatro is the various bonus cards you can acquire to help you hit that high score. These include Jokers, Tarot, Planet, and upgraded Standard Cards. Use your winnings from each round to buy these game-changing cards in the shop between each round. The type of cards available in the shop will change the entire trajectory of each game and make for endless replay value since every game is different.

There are a whopping 150 jokers each with a different helpful bonus. Just a couple of examples include the Lusty Joker which gives you a higher multiplier for heart cards or the Crazy Joker which gives you a multiplier for every Straight played. Tarot cards do a variety of things like allowing you to change up to three cards to a certain suit or manipulate ranks. Planet cards upgrade hands like Straights and Flushes and give you more points when those upgraded hands are played.
Additionally, card packs offer upgraded standard cards that increase multipliers and other cool bonuses. Vouchers are also available in the shop and usually give you a more permanent bonus like the Hone voucher which increases the chances finding of Foil, Holograph, and Polychrome cards. Even the deck color you choose gives you a bonus. For example, the red deck gives you an extra discard and the blue deck gives you an extra hand every round. Although there are tons of ways to improve your score it is still challenging to get through an entire game.
RELATED: GGA’s Best Video Games of 2024
Our Adventure Ends Here
I can see why my friend was so insistent on me playing Balatro, it is an amazing game. Easy to learn but difficult to master, Balatro is the perfect combination of skill and luck. The only negative thing I have to say about the game is how addicting it is (my friend warned me about this). Any spare moment I could get went to one more round of Balatro and after that game, I just knew if I played another I would beat my high score. Even the scoring phase is exciting because watching those points rack up is just as satisfying as it is nerve-wracking.

The graphics are reminiscent of the classic solitaire game we older folks played endlessly on the computer. So get ready for a nostalgic experience. There are no predatory microtransactions, subscriptions, or real-world shop of any kind. At Mobile Game Monday, we love a game that simply lets you play the game without being harassed to make purchases. Although there is no store, this is the most expensive game I have ever bought for my phone but I promise it is worth the high price tag.
RELATED: Explore all our Mobile Game Monday adventures
You’ve Been Warned
If I had played Balatro before we published our favorite games of 2024 list, it definitely would have been there. The only thing that might make this game a little better would be a multi-player aspect, especially since I have recommended this game to everyone I know. Honestly, though, the game doesn’t need it, it would just be a fun little bonus (maybe in the future). Please, please, please, do yourself a favor and grab this game. Just remember, I did warn you that this game is almost impossible to put down.
Balatro is now available for $9.99 in the Play Store and the App Store.
Take it easy, play it safe, and Happy New Year, gamers!
- Mobile Game Monday: FOREST ISLAND - February 17, 2025
- The Tournament Begins in TWISTED METAL’s Season 2 Trailer - February 13, 2025
- Mobile Game Monday: MEMORY TREE: FOR RELATIONSHIPS - February 9, 2025