Balatro Mobile is a threat to my free time and productivity

Balatro instantly became a Game of the Year contender when it launched back in February, and the roguelike poker game has continued to evolve since. It’s now coming to mobile devices, and I had the chance to play it before the official release. It’s the same excellent game I’ve been sinking hours into for months, but it's more portable than before.

Balatro Mobile is played in landscape mode and essentially retains every mechanic and feature from the base game, with a handful of tweaks to better fit smartphones and other mobile devices. There is a light force feedback that is felt when tapping cards, pressing buttons, and receiving your hand. It’s a subtle touch that makes the game feel clicky and responsive without a keyboard or physical buttons.

Developer LocalThunk has also tweaked the way players buy, sell, and use items in Balatro Mobile. Instead of tapping a card and then selecting what you want to do with it, you grab and drag it to designated areas on the screen. When buying a Joker card pack, I dragged it to the top of my screen to confirm. When buying a Planet card, I dragged it to the right side of the screen to buy and use it immediately. The same goes for selling cards, which you drag to the top-right area of the screen. It’s a sensible change that’s likely because the individual buttons from standard Balatro would be a tad too small on a phone screen.

The real perk of having Balatro on a mobile device is the portability and convenience. While playing for this preview, I played Balatro Mobile while waiting in line, in a friend's living room, and during the trailers at a movie theater. Pick up and play is the name of the game, and it was always fun to whip Balatro out when I needed to kill a few minutes.

With the convenience of having Balatro on my phone, I found myself playing in smaller sessions compared to my PC and Steam Deck. In a couple of instances, there was a long period after I suspended my game, and the app restarted, killing my run, as a result. It’s likely an issue with iPhones and not the game, but worth considering since this issue is nonexistent when suspending your game on Switch and Steam Deck.

Balatro is all but guaranteed to be in my top five games of 2024, and having the option to play it on my phone is only going to make me love it more. Am I frequently telling myself “One more run” when I should be addressing responsibilities or working? Sure. But that’s Balatro, baby.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_