Balatro is easily one of our favourite games to come out this year. Smashing our expectations with a killer demo, and then following through with a stellar launch has cemented it as an indie darling. Easy to pick up, devilish to master, we have happily poured over 100 hours into this game, and we are not finished playing our hands.
Of course, not everyone wants to go through the rigorous discovery process Balatro offers, and that’s where we come in. We have prepared 10 beginner tips to help you get in the fast lane and zip to Ante 8. You won’t win every run, but with a bit of know-how, your consistency will skyrocket.
More Balatro content:
Deck Unlock Guide | Planet Card Guide | Tarot Card Guide | Spectral Card Guide | Legendary Joker Guide | Modifier Guide | Blank Voucher Guide | Best Legendary Jokers | Tag Guide | How To Unlock Cavendish
Get Score Modifiers Early
While it is possible to get through several rounds – even Ante’s – in Balatro without any support, it is pretty darn difficult and incredibly unreliable. We highly recommend you spend your early money on a Joker that will generate instant score-based value. Even the bog-standard +4 Mult Joker, Joker, will massively increase your odds of success in the early game.
Naturally, the better the Joker, the easier it will be, but your focus should be to beat every round as quickly as possible, and a score-modifying Joker fulfils that goal. The faster you beat a round, the more money you make, which lets you invest in more things. It’s a win-win.
Focus On Generating Interest
Speaking of money, another reason you want a decent Joker early on is that you almost always want to hit the Interest cap and then stay above it. Ideally, living off the interest. In Balatro, nothing feels worse than encountering a killer Shop and not having the money to indulge.
You want to aim for $25 and above. This will net you +$5 every round in Interest, which is not an insignificant amount. Landing Vouchers like Money Tree will increase this amount even more. Once your early game scoring and economy are locked down, you should have a smooth ride heading into the mid-game.
Start Scaling Once You Are Secure
If you want to beat the game, you are going to have to look at ways to scale. We highly recommend you scale early, but not too early. Scaling Jokers are notoriously dreadful when you first acquire them (most of the time), so if you are relying on them to carry you, you might end your run early.
As a general rule, you want to get a solid early-game Joker, focus on your economy, and during that process, nab some scaling and go from there. There is a balance on when to start scaling because the earlier you start, the stronger you will end, but going in too hard too soon will end your runs.
Don’t Forget Multiplicative Mult
Even with the best scaling in the world, you will struggle to truly hit the big leagues if you aren’t making use of multiplicative mult. Sure, Fortune Teller granting you +50 Mult is nice, but having Ramen double all of your generated Mult, and then having that pentuppled by Yorrick is even nicer.
Many runs will hit a ceiling that they simply can’t breach with standard Jokers. This is where multiplying your mult comes in handy. One card generating hundreds, if not thousands of additional Mult can turn a losing run into an absolute breeze. These Jokers are key to your success. Just remember that similar to scaling, these Jokers can be weak early game. Always secure your scoring first.
Joker & Card Order Matters
Easily the most overlooked aspect of Balatro is card and Joker order. Balatro will always go from left to right when it scores cards and activates abilities, and this is incredibly important to remember. From a card perspective, you always want your Glass cards on the far right, because then they will trigger after your Mult cards, maximising your score.
Similarly, always have your multiplicative Mult Jokers on the far right. This ensures they are always the last to trigger, so all of your generated Mult is being multiplied, not a small portion of it. This is so important, the game has Boss Blinds that specifically disrupt your ordering. If the game thinks it’s important enough to counter, you should consider it vital to your success.
Don’t Skip Too Often
Skipping Blinds can be incredibly powerful, but it comes with a whole bunch of downsides that you need to consider before you jump on the immediate reward. Firstly, skipping blinds means you aren’t playing a Round, which means you aren’t scaling your best Jokers. If you can trigger Trousers 2-3 times per Round, and you skip a Blind, you have just slashed your maximum potential by 4-6 flat Mult. That can be the difference between life and death.
Secondly, you generate no income (unless the Skip gives you money). This can stifle your economy and slow your growth long term. This also directly feeds into the final point – you miss a Shop. Shops are the source of your power. Every Skip is a shop – and all of its contents – missed. Sure, getting a bigger hand size is nice, but you might have missed a run-defining Joker or a lucrative Pack.
Beware Of Boss Blinds
While it is entirely possible to lose in Balatro to the Small and/or Big Blind, most runs will end when you collide with a Boss Blind. These encounters have the highest Chip requirements and come with powerful abilities designed to make your run far more difficult.
Many Blinds specifically target aspects of the game your Deck excels at, such as shutting down a specific suit in a Flush-based deck. You either need to factor this into your strategy and have backup plans ready to go, or you need to have Vouchers/Jokers that can reroll or negate Boss Blind abilities. Never overlook these.
Experiment With Everything
We have been fairly black and white with your guide so far, but it’s still important to experiment. There are all kinds of powerful combinations in Balatro that can completely shatter the game’s balance. With the right combination of Jokers, your score can reach the tens of billions (and then go even further beyond).
Sure, the basics we are teaching dictate a simple formula of ‘get Mult, multiply it’, but there is so much more to Balatro if you go digging. One of our favourites is combining Midas with Vampire to create an infinitely scaling Joker that provides near-infinite wealth. It’s marvellous.
Thin Your Deck
Most runs of Balatro will have you starting with 52 cards. This is a lot of cards to cycle through, and frankly, you don’t want all of them. You want to cut a huge chunk of them. The reason for this is pretty simple, you want to draw into your best cards more often. The more resources you burn playing and discarding bad cards, the harder it will be to win.
The best way to thin your deck is to use Arcana and Spectral Packs. It may feel weird to destroy cards, but it is nearly always worth it. Just be aware your deck never reshuffles during a Round in Balatro, so if you run out of cards, you are dead in the water. Thin decks are amazing, just don’t go overboard with it!
Keep On Trying
Finally, Balatro is a difficult game. Our best advice is simple – don’t give up. The more you play, the better you will get and hopefully, this guide gives you the tools to overcome some of the start hurdles.
Be sure to check out our other tips and tricks guide for more Balatro content.
