Balatro

Remember when I tried Balatro and didn't like it? Who even was that guy? It's taken me a while to get into it but the detail in this game is incredible. One of my favourite things in games (well, anything really, but for me it's mostly in games) is when you're rewarded for experimenting, and Balatro has so much of that it's great. Got five kings? Five of a kind - we're already not playing poker. Might as well shoot the moon (it's a cards joke. They're rare in these parts). Flush house? You got it (that one might already be a thing but I don't think it is and I'm not Googling it - I will love it more this way).

But Balatro also gets away with punishing you for experimenting because it's funny about it. On a wildcard run, are you? Well if your jokers reward any suits, then debuffs apply to your wildcards. Rude. Funny.

Everything about this game from the way jokers jiggle when they're triggered, to the flames licking up as your multipliers start to grow stupidly high, is like a dopamine button for me. It's similar to the yellow headshot numbers in Destiny. My lizard brain loves that.

Balatro is the perfect game, in my opinion. Leisurely pace, extremely strong and confident visual language (I can't tell you how many games fail to communicate far simpler concepts than this!), impeccable sound design, pause when you want, no in-app purchases, made by one person, no big publishers involved.

Oh and of course they've got a deck of cards coming out. Some people just get it.