Games like Balatro
If Balatro is your kind of game, the closest matches are Slay the Spire, Hadean Tactics and 9 Kings — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its challenging, competitive and funny. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
Get personalized picks →Balatro is a 2024 strategy indie deckbuilder where poker meets roguelike mechanics. Players construct custom decks, combining cards and Joker items to trigger increasingly powerful combos, with build optimization and card combinations at the core of its gameplay. Set in a retro action gambling framework, the game has earned a Metacritic score of 90 and maintains a 98% positive rating from nearly 100,000 Steam reviews. Reviewers highlight its accessible rules that mask extreme strategic depth, with players describing the experience as both competitive and hypnotic. The hooks keep drawing people back: chasing personal high scores, chaining combos that produce massive numbers, and discovering Joker synergies that shift entire strategies. The game is verified to run on Steam Deck and is priced at $11.99 USD.
About Balatro: The poker roguelike. Balatro is a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos.
Players who liked Balatro also play
Steam players who put hours into Balatro also tend to own these titles — a signal called collaborative filtering. imho.run cross-references millions of library ownership patterns to surface games whose real audiences overlap, regardless of whether their genre tags match.
Slay the Spire
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, procedural generation and an immersive mood with Balatro.
Top pick for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and Slay the Spire!
Hadean Tactics
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, procedural generation and an intense mood with Balatro.
Second-strongest match for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Hadean Tactics is a roguelike deckbuilding game fused with autobattler elements to create a unique strategy experience. Use your cards to influence the actions of your units and help your Hero defeat the Six Wings of Hell!
9 Kings
WHY THIS
Shares build crafting, endless mode and a competitive mood with Balatro.
Third-strongest match for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy with Balatro.
A fast-paced roguelike kingdom builder. Grow your empire and fight massive battles against powerful rival kings. Break the game with thousands of insane builds to become the King of Kings.
StarVaders
WHY THIS
Shares deck building and a challenging mood with Balatro.
Ranked #4 for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Pilot a powerful mech to fight off the alien invasion in this ULTIMATE fusion of deckbuilding and grid-based tactics. Discover game-breaking combos, rewind time to alter your fate, and protect the future of humanity in this endlessly replayable roguelike.
RogueJack21
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, replayability and a competitive mood with Balatro.
Ranked #5 for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
RogueJack21 is a Blackjack-inspired deckbuilder where you build and upgrade your deck to battle your opponents. Navigate through procedurally generated casinos and take revenge on The House, the ruthless mafia ruling Noir City that stole everything from you.
Skogdal
WHY THIS
Shares roguelike progression, deck building and retro with Balatro.
Ranked #6 for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
A deckbuilding adventure card game set in a rustic Norwegian town during the 90's. Recruit followers, draft cards and build powerful combos. Explore a hand-crafted world across multiple runs and uncover an unsettling mystery…
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles
WHY THIS
Ranked #7 for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Astrea is a DICE-deck-building roguelike that flips the script on deckbuilders by using dice instead of cards and a unique dual “damage” system: Purification vs Corruption. Build a dice pool strong enough to purify Astrea's out-of-control corruption and save the Star System.
Monster Train
WHY THIS
Shares deck building and a challenging mood with Balatro.
Ranked #8 for Balatro fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy with Balatro.
Monster Train is a strategic roguelike deck building game with a twist. Set on a train to hell, you’ll use tactical decision making to defend multiple vertical battlegrounds. With real time competitive multiplayer and endless replayability, Monster Train is always on time.
Reviewers mention these as similar to Balatro
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
Slay the Spire
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, procedural generation and an immersive mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and Slay the Spire!
Luck be a Landlord
WHY THIS
Shares a funny mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Luck be a Landlord is a roguelike deckbuilder about using a slot machine to earn rent money and defeat capitalism. This game does not contain any real-world currency gambling or microtransactions.
Solitaire
WHY THIS
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Casual with Balatro.
The classic card game is back in a digital version that everyone can play! Enjoy a quick game or chase after points to climb up the world rankings. 4 different settings and 3 popular game modes. Quite simply, Solitaire.
DAVE THE DIVER
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Casual with Balatro.
DAVE THE DIVER is a casual, singleplayer adventure RPG featuring deep-sea exploration and fishing during the day and sushi restaurant management at night. Join Dave and his quirky friends as they seek to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Blue Hole.
Risk of Rain 2
WHY THIS
Shares mod support and an intense mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Indie with Balatro.
Escape a chaotic alien planet by fighting through hordes of frenzied monsters – with your friends, or on your own. Combine loot in surprising ways and master each character until you become the havoc you feared upon your first crash landing.
Monster Train 2
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, combo based combat and a competitive mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Monster Train returns with all new clans, new enemy factions, new challenges, new modes and more! Defend your Pyre in the classic three-tiered, vertical gameplay that made the original roguelike deckbuilder a hit.
Noita
WHY THIS
Shares procedural generation and an immersive mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Indie with Balatro.
Noita is a magical action roguelite set in a world where every pixel is physically simulated. Fight, explore, melt, burn, freeze and evaporate your way through the procedurally generated world using spells you've created yourself.
FTL: Faster Than Light
WHY THIS
Shares a stressful mood with Balatro.
Reviewers of Balatro cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
This "spaceship simulation roguelike-like" allows you to take your ship and crew on an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy filled with glory and bitter defeat.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Balatro at current Steam store prices.
Garry's Mod
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Casual with Balatro.
Garry's Mod is a physics sandbox. There aren't any predefined aims or goals. We give you the tools and leave you to play.
Vampire Survivors
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Casual with Balatro.
Mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn! Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror casual game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you. Be the bullet hell!
Slay the Spire
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, procedural generation and an immersive mood with Balatro.
Priced ~48% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and Slay the Spire!
Cookie Clicker
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
An idle game about making cookies! Originally released in 2013 on the web, and actively developed since then. This is the official version for Steam.
WEBFISHING
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Casual with Balatro.
WEBFISHING a multiplayer chatroom-focused fishing game! Relax and fish (on the web!)
POSTAL 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~92% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Balatro.
Live a week in the life of "The POSTAL Dude"; a hapless everyman just trying to check off some chores. Buying milk, returning an overdue library book, getting Gary Coleman's autograph, what could possibly go wrong?
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Strategy with Balatro.
Zombies are invading your home, and the only defense is your arsenal of plants! Armed with an alien nursery-worth of zombie-zapping plants like peashooters and cherry bombs, you'll need to think fast and plant faster to stop dozens of types of zombies dead in their tracks.
Buckshot Roulette
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Balatro on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Balatro.
Play Russian roulette with a 12-gauge shotgun. Four enter. One leaves. Roll the dice with your life. Good luck!
Free alternatives
Free-to-play games that recommended players of this title also tend to enjoy.
Life is Strange - Episode 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
Episode 1 now FREE! Life is Strange is an award-winning and critically acclaimed episodic adventure game that allows the player to rewind time and affect the past, present and future.
Ultimate Custom Night
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Balatro.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
Bongo Cat
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Balatro.
Bongo cat needs your help. Bongo cat needz more hatz!!! Every time you press a key, Bongo cat will punch your taskbar. Type, click, play, work to collect more points. Which hats will you find?
Our Life: Beginnings & Always
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Casual with Balatro.
A twenty-dollar bill, four summers, fifteen years, and a one of a kind life. Create an experience that’s all your own in this near-fully customizable visual novel where you grow from childhood to adulthood with the lonely boy next door.
missed messages.
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Casual with Balatro.
‘goth gf’s iPhone’ airdrops you - accept or decline? A love/horror story about life, death, & memes.
Travellin Cats in Paris
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Casual with Balatro.
Find 100 cats hidden in Paris, France in this cute hand-drawn hidden object game by Travellin Cats - the original viral hidden cat game creator!
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
Plays great on Steam Deck
Valve-Verified or Playable picks from the similar pool — ready to go on Deck out of the box.
Slay the Spire
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, procedural generation and an immersive mood with Balatro.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and Slay the Spire!
Hadean Tactics
WHY THIS
Shares deck building, procedural generation and an intense mood with Balatro.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Hadean Tactics is a roguelike deckbuilding game fused with autobattler elements to create a unique strategy experience. Use your cards to influence the actions of your units and help your Hero defeat the Six Wings of Hell!
9 Kings
WHY THIS
Shares build crafting, endless mode and a competitive mood with Balatro.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Strategy with Balatro.
A fast-paced roguelike kingdom builder. Grow your empire and fight massive battles against powerful rival kings. Break the game with thousands of insane builds to become the King of Kings.
StarVaders
WHY THIS
Shares deck building and a challenging mood with Balatro.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Strategy and Indie with Balatro.
Pilot a powerful mech to fight off the alien invasion in this ULTIMATE fusion of deckbuilding and grid-based tactics. Discover game-breaking combos, rewind time to alter your fate, and protect the future of humanity in this endlessly replayable roguelike.
Frequently asked about Balatro
- Is Balatro verified for Steam Deck?
- Yes — Balatro is Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve has confirmed it runs well on the Deck with full controller, text legibility, and default configuration support.
- How much does Balatro cost?
- Balatro is listed on Steam at 11.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Balatro?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Balatro are Slay the Spire, Hadean Tactics, 9 Kings.
- Who developed Balatro?
- Balatro was developed by LocalThunk and published by Playstack.
imho.run ranks Steam game alternatives using a mix of collaborative filtering (ALS / iALS / EASE / LightGCN), content scoring over genres, categories, Steam tags, developers, and publishers, plus AI-extracted vibes mined from review text. The page above is generated in seed mode anchored on Balatro.
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