Solitaire

I have cited a few games as inspiration for Balatro in the past, but I wanted to talk about one in particular that hasn’t been mentioned much that arguably is the most important. I think if I had some kind of Balatro vision board, solitaire (Klondike) would be right in the middle of it with a big red circle around it. You can probably see some of the similarities between my game and the classic solo card game. I wanted my game to have the same vibe. If you’re somehow unfamiliar, solitaire is a group of card games characterized by solo play. Klondike is usually the variant that most people in the west associate with solitaire, but one could argue even Balatro is technically a solitaire game. Traditional solitaire games exist at the peak of game culture for me. These games are so ubiquitous and accepted by society that almost everyone has some memory of playing them. They have transcended gaming culture more than even the biggest IPs (like Tetris or Mario), and they occupy this very in ... Read full article.