Balatro revolutionized the roguelike world by transforming the simple game of poker into the most vivid sober trip you’ve ever been on. Visceral sounds, items that just “click,” and visual feedback, unlike anything before it, made it into the phenomenon we all know.
But a new competitor has emerged, and boy, does it do many things right.
Enter: CloverPit, a gambling roguelike taking heavy inspiration from Balatro, replacing mundane poker with a hellish slot machine. Each pull brings with it much excitement, as you eagerly await the fruits or items to fall into place, form patterns, and start raking in the cash you so desperately need to pay off your debt.
And the debt never stops increasing, forcing you to spin and spin again until the end of time, as you are trapped in a small room with nothing but a table, a slot machine, and a terminal to pay your dues.
The aesthetics and the “story,” if we can call it that, are super similar to Buckshot Roulette, another indie title that entered the mainstream and dominated meme culture for several months. That game, too, is also a twist on a mundane game we all play or have played before, but with lethal consequences.
So, CloverPit is a mashup of contemporary hits, but one that introduces a wave of its own mechanics and ideas, which fit perfectly well with the core gameplay loop of spin-to-win.
Like in Balatro, you go through three rounds per run, having to earn enough money to pay your debt and proceed to the next level. The debt increases with each subsequent level, going from a handful of gold to millions and billions. The only way to boost your chance of survival is to take Lucky Charms, parallels to Balatro‘s Jokers, which will give you better odds, buff the fruits, and provide unique enhancements to your slot and pulls.
You initially start with only a handful of available Charms, with more unlocked as you play through the game. Once a Charm is unlocked, it gets a chance to appear in the store, which can be accessed at any time (unless you’re smack in the middle of a spin), restocked, and re-rolled. Charms range from giving you extra spins to giving extra triggers, money, value boosts, and so on.
Stacking a lot of synergizing Charms can totally break the game, with millions earned per spin, and utter chaos ensuing while the money is tallied, much like how subsequent triggers cause the game to speed up in Balatro.
Successfully beating a run, i.e., paying your debt off, also lets you select one powerful general buff out of three. The options can be rerolled, but cost tickets (also used for purchasing Charms), so choose wisely.
Losing means going back to round one, albeit with more Charms, wisdom, and knowledge, which should help you reach a higher level next time.
It’s addictive, fun, and chaotic, and the best game of its kind since Jimbo took over our lives and culture.
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