Video Games

Balatro is now available on iOS and Android, so you can never escape it

Dread it, run from it, but the blind arrives all the same

Marco Wutz

LocalThink

There is good news for everyone who can’t get enough of Balatro, one of 2024’s greatest indie game hits: The poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder is now available on mobile devices running iOS and Android.

What’s more, the title is available on Apple Arcade, making it playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro – there is no escape.

Hitting half a million copies sold in the span of ten days, the game made by a solo developer is the latest representative of the deckbuilder genre to make it big. It recently got a free DLC with cards from The Witcher 3, Dave the Diver, Among Us, and Vampire Survivors and will receive major gameplay updates in 2025.

In Balatro, players are tasked with achieving as high a score as possible with the cards on their hand by adding different jokers to their deck throughout the run, which provide various multipliers. Stacking the cards in their favor in this way is the only path towards beating the Boss-Blinds – unique challenges that block access to the next level.

This week’s Apple Arcade update didn’t just bring Balatro into the service’s library, but also added titles like Temple Run (that one takes you back in time, doesn’t it?) and Crossy Road Castle, yet another game sporting an Among Us crossover.

Here’s the full line-up of the latest update:

  • Balatro+
  • Crossy Road Castle
  • Synth Riders
  • SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit
  • WHAT THE GOLF?
  • Hill Climb Racing+
  • Angry Birds Reloaded
  • Temple Run+
  • Disney Coloring World+

Check out the best mobile games to play in 2024 for even more options.

Published
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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