Balatro took the world by storm when it launched earlier this year. The rogue-lite is a great mix of classic poker-like mechanics and run-based gameplay. However, the developers have been taking their time to release the first balance patch, which makes sense when you consider how polished Balatro was from the jump. Last month, developer LocalThunk released the first balance patch as a beta, but today the patch has officially gone live for everyone with a few new adjustments. Most of these changes are balance updates to slightly switch up how various Jokers work during gameplay, but there are a few new mechanics for veteran players to learn.

Outside of the balance changes, one of the more notable updates for Balatro is the addition of the Perishable and Rental mechanics for Jokers. Perishable adds a new sticker to Jokers which makes them go away after five rounds. Rental, on the other hand, makes Jokers cost $1 upfront and $3 after every round. The team has also added the option to ban certain Blinds during challenge runs and has given players the option to toggle a Reduced Motion option to remove some of the more visually distracting flourishes. Of course, there is also a host of bug fixes and balance changes, for good measure.

Posted: May 06, 2024 1:56 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/balatro-first-big-balance-update/