With humble beginnings as a unique twist on the roguelike genre, Balatro is deceptive. While it may appear to be a simple poker-inspired mobile game at first, it’s actually a roguelike that requires a great deal of learning and forward-thinking, and to make matters more interesting, the indie experience gets more and more challenging the more you play. It’s a brilliant game that deserves its premium price tag, but what if there was a way you could play it for free?
As the best mobile card game right now, Balatro’s simple design is a facade for what ends up being one of 2024’s top mobile games. Earning the coveted award of Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024, Balatro’s gameplay and easy pick-up-and-go style mechanics make it feel at home on mobile phones, but you may be anxious about paying full price when you’re not sure whether you’ll love it as much as I do.
If you’re unaware of the hype around Balatro (or didn’t understand it), this incredible single-player game tasks you with progressing through increasingly difficult challenges. Playing higher-scoring poker hands isn’t enough to complete each of the game’s decks (each with its own strengths or weaknesses), so you’ll need the help of Jokers to get higher scores in the game.
Jokers are the bread and butter of what turns Balatro from an unassuming poker-style game into a fully-fledged roguelike. As you complete various challenges within each Ante, you’ll get more coins to use toward purchasing additional cards (with their own unique effects), spells, fortunes, or Jokers – the latter of which can drastically change the gameplay, by giving you huge benefits to your score or the cards you play. There’s a seemingly endless supply of Jokers to find, with each one’s chances of appearing being completely random, so the game feels hugely different no matter how many times you attempt to beat it.

Not only is Balatro one of the best iPhone games right now, but it’s also our favorite Apple Arcade game. As such, you can use a free trial for Apple Arcade and play the hit indie game without paying a single penny, and if you grow fond of it, you can keep your subscription going to enjoy a huge variety of other games, from the likes of the best cozy games to the best action games.
However, if you don’t enjoy Balatro enough to keep your subscription, you can always cancel it, not paying a single penny to enjoy one of 2024’s best experiences. That being said, even if the poker roguelike doesn’t sound like your type of game, it’s truly worth checking out – you may surprise yourself as many other Balatro fans have.
If you’ve been looking for a reason to finally play Balatro, why not give it a try for free? While it’s not available for free anywhere else, it’s still one of the best Android games and best Steam Deck games out there, so I’d recommend buying it when you can. You won’t regret it.