Winner, Winner....you know the rest

It finally happened...I managed to win a full ante in Balatro!  The excitement in that moment is one that I've subsequently had to capture every time that I've won.  If you're feeling sad and unsuccessful, keep your chin up!  The random card gods will eventually grant you a path toward victory.  Here's how I've won the now three times that I've felt the thrill of victory (and how I see the path to potential victory for others):

1.) Good joker combinations

Egg + Swashbuckler for my first win.

I've tried my hardest to try to be smart and strategize as much as I can.  I look at my jokers and try to plan my deck around how I can rack up the biggest multipliers--for example, maybe I have one of the jokers that grants a bonus multiplier for any hearts that you play so I use tarot cards to turn as many of my cards as I can into hearts.  My first victory came from two jokers that worked particularly well together--Egg and Swashbuckler.  On their own, both jokers are generally cards that I would pass on.  Egg seemingly does very little--it accumulates sell value for every hand played, so ideally you could save it until it becomes worth a lot.  Swashbuckler gives you +multiplier for the sell value of all your jokers.  Basically, these two cards are perfect together.

2.) Jokers that suit your playstyle

Spare Trousers is a solid joker for me.

My second victory wasn't necessarily about two jokers that worked well together, but more about two jokers that worked with my playstyle.  The Spare Trousers joker adds +1 multiplier to its value every time you play two pair.  It just so happens that two pair is usually my #1 hand, so it generally works out very well.  The Hologram joker is also a good bet--it grows by X.25 multiplier every time you add a card to your deck.  It's easy to really rack up the multiplier with this card since you can add cards through both tarot cards and standard card packs.  I actually think that any of the jokers that add multiplier for playing tarot cards or adding cards are good to have in your hand.

You can't see my jokers in this hand, but 3 of 5 are foil or polychrome.

3.) Plain dumb luck

My most recent victory was mostly due to the fact that I managed to add a lot of secondary bonuses to my hand of jokers.  I skipped a blind in order to get a free polychrome, foil, or holographic joker and then got lucky a couple of different times--I drew a foil joker and then I used a "the wheel" tarot card and managed to land the 1 in 4 chance to upgrade another joker.  I had at least 3 jokers that were foil or polychrome.  I also managed to open a pack of spectral cards and net a soul card which granted a legendary joker (only my 2nd!).  Unfortunately, I was kind of a dumb dumb about fully utilizing it and ended up selling it (it was the Canio joker that grants a X1 multiplier for every face card you destroy.  I also had the Smile joker that grants bonus multiplier for face cards...so these two jokers worked in opposition to each other).  I had several hands where I managed to barely squeak by, but I managed to finish the full thing.

If you're feeling unsuccessful in Balatro, just keep playing.  Eventually you'll either figure out some good combinations or just have a streak of good luck.  There's definitely some strategy involved when it comes to knowing if it's more beneficial to skip a blind or in figuring out how to most effectively use tarot cards, but dumb luck is also a definite factor.

Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Poker Face

The Steam Summer Sale ended last week so hopefully everyone was able to snatch a few titles off of their wishlists.  Besides my purchase of the new "Alice's Adventures" DLC for PowerWash Simulator, I finally grabbed the "Phantom Liberty" content for CyberPunk 2077 and the poker-based card game Balatro.  I have to be in just the right mood to want to start up another CyberPunk run and it hasn't struck me just yet, so I decided to check out Balatro first.

What is it?

A deckbuilder that is based around poker but that has its own challenge that's much deeper than simply cobbling together decent hands.  Basically, your goal is to build a deck that is strong enough to continually meet a growing target.  Each "ante" consists of 3 rounds--the small blind (with the lowest chip requirement), the big blind, and then a blind with a random set of modifiers.  To "win" in each round you must earn a certain number of chips.  There are several factors that influence this--1.) the cards you play.  Card value follows basic poker rules--aces are worth 11, face cards are worth 10, and number cards are worth their number value.  2.) the hand you play.  You can play 5 cards and they are also scored according to poker rules.  More complex hands are worth more and get a bigger multiplier. (If you're a bit of a poker ding-dong like me, I'd recommend keeping a picture of a scoring chart handy so that you can remember if a straight is worth more than three of a kind)  That's basic scoring, but here's where things get fun.  Each round is made up of 5 hands and you also get a certain number of discards (which can consist of up to 5 cards--you are dealt 8 cards).  At the end of each round you earn money for any remaining hands or discards (and you can also earn interest if you have leftover money).  This money can be used to purchase cards and card packs--this includes special jokers that offer up varying bonuses--these bonuses can include multipliers for certain hands, additional chips/multiplier when you play a certain suit of card, or many, many other bonuses (part of the fun is trying to unlock the 150 jokers).  Your deck can include 5 different jokers and a big part of the strategy is trying to figure out which jokers work well in combination with each other to net the best outcomes.

A boss round featuring a debuff.

Jokers are one way to improve the number of chips (or money) you earn, but you can also buff your deck and increase the amount that each hand is worth.  You can purchase additional standard card packs that can feature "enhanced" cards--there are several varieties of enhancements like glass cards that are worth a 1.5 multiplier but have a 1 in 4 chance of being destroyed when you play them or gold seal cards that award $3 when scored.  There are also tarot cards that can be used to enhance, change, or delete cards in your deck; celestial cards that increase the amount that certain hands are worth; and spectral cards that offer a bit of risk but with a bigger reward.

The third round of each ante features a "boss blind" that poses a randomized challenge--you might face a round that makes all your spades worth 0 or that deals every 7th card face down.  There are 30+ varieties of blind and the 8th ante features a big boss blind that's even tougher than the regular bosses.  Your ultimate goal is to keep making your deck stronger to overcome to increasing challenge.  I've made it to the big boss blind exactly twice...and failed.

Pros:

+ Addictive gameplay that is deceptively simple. It's poker...something that most people are probably somewhat familiar with, but there's also strategy.  You've got to figure out the best joker combos and then try to craft your deck around them.

+ A sort of "roguelike" vibe.  Each round/ante is different and that helps keep the gameplay interesting.  The card packs and jokers you get vary each round.

Some of the jokers in my collection--featuring the Gros Michel!

+ Tons of jokers and other cards to collect.  They're ranked sort of like armor in an RPG--common, uncommon, rare, and even legendary (I've seen exactly 1 legendary card...and I still lost!).  Each joker gives a unique buff--one of my personal favorites is the Gros Michel--a card featuring a banana that rewards a +15 multiplier but that has a 1 in 6 chance of self-destruction.  Basically, it's good while it lasts and part of the fun is seeing how long you can keep that banana in your hand.

+ Low requirements.  Potato-level fun for the whole family.  Runs like a charm.

+ Nice music.

+ Unlockable decks.  Each deck has a specific buff--for example, the red deck offers up 1 additional discard per round.

+ Challenge mode.  I haven't unlocked this because I'm a loser who hasn't managed to down the big boss, but once you've won with 5 different decks you can be a real pro.

+ It's one of those games where you can lose over and over but still want to play.

Cons:

- Just one more round....589258904380258 rounds later.  It's addictive (but so good).  That's my only con.

Recommendation:

If you're looking for a soul-eating card game, this is the one.  Balatro is perfect for short or long gaming sessions and the challenge and randomness keep you coming back.  It seems so simple....but is anything but!  Definitely worth full price.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Although sadly not part of the Steam Summer Sale, PowerWash Simulator released its newest DLC smack dab in the middle of the sale.  The newest expansion features locations based on Alice in Wonderland and is priced like the other DLC's at $7.99.  If you're looking for another opportunity to do some relaxing spraying, it's the perfect chance.

What is it?

The newest expansion for PowerWash Simulator.  It features five new maps to meticulously clean.  You're probably looking at 8-10ish hours of additional gameplay.

Pros:

+ All five locations are on the larger side.  I know that many people have griped about some of the DLC's featuring only vehicles and not enough larger maps.

+ The locations featured all have that distinctive, slightly trippy Alice vibe.  They're colorful and filled with oddly misshapen furniture, melting doors, and lots of other fun details that tie in directly with the classic story.

+ If you're a "cosmetics" kind of player, there is a new sprayer skin, outfit, and gloves.  Like the locations, the cosmetics feature a psychedelic kind of feel.

+ There's not a ton of tiny, little obnoxious parts to track down (like in the "Back to the Future" pack).  Instead, there's a lot of weirdly shaped/stacked objects that can also be a bit tricky to clean.

+ The Cheshire cat spies on you in every map and it's fun to find him.

Cons:

- When are we getting PowerWash Simulator 2?  I'm just kidding.  I can't really think of any cons.  I found this DLC to be nice and relaxing and enjoyed the colorful, larger maps.

Recommendation:

If you're a fan of PowerWash Simulator, this is one of the better DLC's and I think you'll enjoy it.  Drop that $7.99 for hours of relaxing spraying.

We Can be Heroes--Marvel's Midnight Suns

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm a sucker for Epic's free game giveaways.  I don't snag them all, but when they give away positively reviewed games...it's a must grab situation.  This is despite the fact that I know that it's very likely that I won't ever play it.  But it's free, so what the heck, right?  I decided to start scaling the pile of shame with one of the recent "big name" giveaways--Marvel's Midnight Suns.

What is it?

I knew very little about this game prior to grabbing it--I knew: 1.) It had good reviews on Steam and 2.) It was described as being "like XCOM 2."  I very much enjoyed XCOM 2, so I decided to give it a go.  I didn't grab it for the "MARVEL!" of it all.  I've seen some of the Marvel movies, I'm passingly familiar with many of the heroes but I'm not a huge Marvel fan.  Honestly, that's totally okay--even if you're someone who isn't all that familiar with the Marvel universe, you'll still have fun and get to know some of the marquee level heroes as well as some less familiar faces.

The beginning of each mission features a cool walk up cutscene.

The actual gameplay consists of turn-based battles that are scripted around a story.  It's sort of card-based, but it's not really a deckbuilder.  Basically each battle features 3 heroes that have their own "decks" made up of 8 cards.  These cards can be attacks that generate heroism and damage foes, defensive/buff abilities, or heroic skills (that consume the aforementioned heroism).  These abilities are unique to each hero--so, for example, Captain America's attacks involve lots of shield tossing and Iron Man jets around zapping baddies with his super suit.  The heroes get 3 card plays and then the bad guys get their turn to attack.  Each battle has a specific goal that needs to be achieved and differs from mission to mission.

Once you've finished your battle, there's an entire other part of the game that's part exploration and part gift-giving/friendship building.  Your group of heroes gets an amazing hideout--the Abbey, a magical base that exists in a pocket of reality around Salem, Massachusetts.  Each day follows a cycle:  the day starts with the ability to chat up any other characters who want to talk.  Then there's some business to take care of--you can visit the forge and start a research project (each one takes 1 day to finish), you can head to the training yard to spar with another hero (an activity that grants a buff for the hero you spar with), and then you can head off on a mission.

When you return from a mission, there's occasionally the option to join a "hangout" with a specific hero.  The goal of talking to and hanging out is to build friendship--the entire squad benefits from having a close bond and you get combat (and non-combat) rewards for raising the level.  There's a bit of challenge and need to pay attention when befriending other characters--you earn more friendship for picking activities and giving gifts that heroes like, so the best results come from noting their likes/dislikes.

If there's no hangout option, the other way you can spend your nighttime activity is to explore the grounds around the Abbey.  There are items/reagents that can be gathered, there are collectibles to find, and eventually there are challenge battles that grant abilities that unlock more of the grounds to explore.

This is what a mission looks like.

How long can/does a playthrough last?

This number can likely vary greatly depending on the effort you decide to put into your exploration/befriending efforts.  If you just stuck to the main storyline, I would estimate 40+ hours.  My playthrough clocked in at 74 hours and I was thorough about exploration, but not a total completionist with maxing out friendship level (I only maxed out 1 character...).  If you decided to max out friendships, it could take quite a bit longer (*maybe--I also felt like I made a few mistakes with gifts/activities).  I was surprised at the total playtime and the length of the main storyline.

Pros:

+ You get to design your own unique hero (the protagonist) known as the Hunter.  The character creator options aren't extremely detailed, but there are many choices to give your hero their own look and style.

+ Speaking of creating a unique character...let's just say that there are tons of cosmetic options.  And we're not just talking for the Hunter, but for the entire cast of heroes.  If you've ever felt like Iron Man might look cooler with a blue and silver color scheme, you can try it out.  Since heroes don't wear their armor all the time, each hero also has a casual look that they wear around the Abbey.  Outfits as well as "palettes" that offer up special color schemes for armor can be discovered in special arcane chests that are hidden around the Abbey grounds.  Outfits and palettes can be purchased with a discoverable resource known as "gloss" that can be found through exploration of the Abbey (each day little glowy balls of different resources spawn so it's worthwhile to explore the Abbey itself to gather them) or in arcane chests.  Special armor sets can also be unlocked through certain achievements or (of course) can be purchased with real money (*possibly as part of the "season pass" which I didn't look too closely at seeing as how I got the game for free)

+ Strategizing during battles is challenging, but doable.  There's a star rating system at the end of each battle that ranks you based on how quickly you finished the mission and whether any heroes were knocked out (KO'd).  Besides playing your cards for maximal effect, there are also environmental sources of damage scattered around the site of each battle.  If you run out of card plays you can utilize these options (but do need to be aware of friendly fire) to further cause damage, but they do cost heroism, so you have to decide if it would be better to save it for the next round of card plays.  There are lots of other things to consider too such as using consumables or completing optional side tasks.

I didn't find myself getting a ton of 3 star ratings--my problem is that I'm too slow and focused on eliminating all the enemies rather than just the mission goals--but I found combat (even the boss fights) to be on the easier side of things.  The first few battles were a bit challenging as I figured things out, but overall it wasn't too bad.

Completing missions (story or side missions) rewards different items.  Gamma coils unlock new cards for the heroes who completed the mission; artifacts mostly reward resources that can be used for upgrades; credits are used to purchase upgrades for the various rooms around the Abbey; intel is used to send heroes on "ops" which reward new cards (an option to keep building the decks for characters who aren't on a mission); and blueprints can be used to craft cards.  You can complete as many side missions as you want--they respawn.

+ The story is straight out of a comic book--big bad villains trying to cause chaos/end the world and heroes who must pull out all the stops to find a solution. There are tons of ups and downs and plenty of boss battles with familiar villains.

+ There's a whole cast of very familiar Marvel characters as well as some faces that you might not recognize (unless you're a big Marvel fan).  I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say that two prominent "teams" of heroes wind up fighting together.  I'm not a huge Marvel fan, but found it enjoyable to learn more about the entire cast and "befriend" them.  If you are a Marvel fan...well, this will definitely make you happy.

+ The dialogue is well written and has the exact comic book/Marvel movie vibe--slightly cheesy at certain points with a dash of inspirational/heroic.  Each character has their own personality and there were moments sprinkled throughout that made me chuckle.

+ The voice acting is good and if you're a BioWare fan you will recognize several familiar voices.  There's about half a second of cognitive dissonance if you've seen the movies and are expecting game Tony to sound exactly like movie Tony, but once you get past that, it's golden.

+ Gloss can also be used to purchase upgrades to the Hunter's room.  You can add different pieces of furniture as well as changing the color scheme for curtains and bedding.  It's kind of fun.

One of my customized comic book covers.

+ There are tons of cool comic book-esque moments and features built in.  When you start a mission there's a short cutscene of your team heroically striding toward the portal.  Another really fun cosmetic feature is the ability to create customizable comic book covers at the end of every mission--there are tons of graphical, text, and character options.  You can spend gloss to "print" these covers and place them in empty frames throughout the Abbey.  You can also create "post cards" with customizable scenes from your training sessions with the other heroes.  Honestly, you could spend way too much time making these, but it's kind of fun.  I only made a couple, but they turned out really cool.

+ You can pet the dog!  And the cat!  The Hunter has a hellhound companion who can be pet every day to earn resources.  Your faithful hound can also briefly fight by your side once you've unlocked a certain legendary card.  The cat randomly pops up and gives a variety of nice rewards once you find her and pet her.  If you hear meowing, try to find the cat because it's totally worth it (hint: you can use the map to see the location of both Charlie the hellhound and Ebony the cat).

+ New Game + and the ability to continue playing after you've finished the main storyline.  If you're invested in trying to max out the friendship level with ALL the heroes, this is the perfect opportunity.  Why?  Max friendship level unlocks a challenge mode mission (*with the correct forge upgrade) for that specific hero that unlocks a unique set of legendary armor.

+ There's some replayability built in.  The dialogue options you choose for the Hunter can lean toward either the "dark" or the "light."  (Or you can choose to stay neutral/balanced)  The amount of dark/light does seem to have some impact on dialogue/events, but I'm not sure exactly how much.  I leaned toward the light but would be curious to see if there are any differences between the light & dark.

Charlie is the best hellhound!

Cons:

- Suffers from the curse of the stacking game launchers (which is basically unavoidable).  You have to launch the game through your digital service of choice (Epic or Steam) and THEN from the 2K launcher.  When I first started it up I thought it was crashing because it was taking forever.  It turns out that it was just trying to get to the 2K launcher...so I could launch it again.  It's a common and annoyingly stupid problem.

- I did encounter a few glitches/bugs.  Some of them were of the more comedic variety--a character is sitting through a chair rather than on it or standing in the floor.  Twice, after I had done something at the Forge or Intel center I had the screen blackout.  Luckily it's not totally blacked out and you can still get the the menu and save and quickly re-load which solves the problem.  Minor, but inconvenient.

- If you aren't totally into the whole "friendship"/talking to the other heroes...well, there's a lot of that and you might not like it.  You can skip it, but your friendship level with the team does provide some good bonuses.  There's quite a bit of dialogue, but it's well written.

Recommendation:

I had a shockingly good time with Midnight Suns and if you're either a Marvel fan or an XCOM fan, I can say that you'll undoubtedly enjoy it.  Even though I got it free, it's well worth paying for it (*you can get the "legendary edition" which is the base game and the season pass which features new heroes and missions for $24.99 in the Steam Summer Sale).  It's a truly fun time strategizing to slay baddies and then hanging out with a cast of cool heroes.