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Balatro!

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It’s the hot new indie darling.

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It shifted[br]a million copies in a month,

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it’s been streamed[br]by pretty much everyone on Twitch,

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and it’s one of the top-rated games of 2024 so far.

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I’ve also played it...

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quite a bit.

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But, this game has,[br]according to its own designer,

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a “fundamental design flaw”.

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A “cursed problem” that the designer has been[br]unable to solve.

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Let me explain.

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First, if you somehow haven’t[br]played Balatro,

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it’s a card game about trying[br]to find poker hands

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in order to score points.

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Better hands score bigger points.

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But on top of that,

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you can do all sorts of wily tricks[br]to boost your score.

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Special cards rack up more points.

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Crazy joker cards change[br]the rules of the game.

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And you can stack your deck,[br]or toss away cards,

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to make certain hands more happenable.

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It’s a really fun game.

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A sublime, synergistic slot machine[br]that feels fun to play,

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and is even more fun to break.

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It’s also really elegantly designed

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with its clean UI,[br]straightforward concept,

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and, well,

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just how much depth has been squeezed[br]out of a few key systems.

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But there’s one…[br]interesting design choice in there.

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And it’s this:

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the game doesn’t tell you[br]how many points you’re going to score

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before you play your hand.

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You simply pick your cards,[br]cross your fingers, and hit go.

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Now, this would be really[br]quite helpful information.

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It could tell you to play one hand[br]over another.

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It could tell you if you’re about to[br]scrape past the ante

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or miss it by a few points.

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It could tell you if you’re about[br]to win the entire game

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or lose the whole thing[br]and have to start from scratch.

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And yet…

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Balatro doesn’t give you a,[br]let’s call it a "score preview".

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Of course, this was[br]an entirely intentional design choice.

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LocalThunk, the game’s anonymous[br]Canadian designer,

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has explained that, for him,

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the joy of Balatro lives in[br]that precise moment I just described.

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When you cross your fingers[br]and hit play.

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When you’ve set up[br]your point-scoring engine

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and hope that it will[br]bring home the bacon.

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LocalThunk says: “My personal belief is[br]that the game is more fun when you set up

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your Rube Goldberg machine[br]and watch it go

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before knowing whether or not[br]the hand will win the round.”

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And Balatro totally plays into this!

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There’s so much hype and pageantry[br]after playing your hand.

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The numbers tick up,[br]with escalating sound effects.

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Each card and joker steps forward[br]in turn

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to add their points to the total.

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If you’re lucky,[br]the score multiplier will set on fire

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and start to burn hotter and hotter

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with each multiplication.

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And so, if you already knew[br]how many points you were going to get.

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If a bit of UI had[br]pre-calculated the score

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and told you that you were going to[br]win the ante with this hand…

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well none of that would matter.

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In fact, it would just get in the way.

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This is not the only reason[br]to forgo a score preview, mind.

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It would also add cruft to the UI,

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especially when you need to account[br]for cards that have random properties.

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How do you elegantly show[br]a range of possible scores?

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It would slow the game down,

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incentivising players to check[br]every possible hand

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to find[br]the highest-scoring combination.

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And it would change the entire feel,

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from a chill game about[br]vibing with cards

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to a stern spreadsheet-style[br]strategy game.

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And so this is a totally legit[br]game design decision, right?

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Every game designer has to choose

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how much information[br]to give to the player.

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Like, should you show[br]a boss’s health bar,

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or keep it hidden?

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Should enemies come[br]up with their strategies in secret,

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or should their intent be explained[br]to the player?

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As I’ve explored in[br]various other videos,

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how much information[br]a player has

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will change their behaviour,[br]and change the way the game feels.

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And so, Balatro hides its score preview[br]to make players act more quickly

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and to create[br]a feeling of suspense and drama

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whenever you play a hand.

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LocalThunk had an experience in mind

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and picked mechanics[br]that would nudge players

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towards that feeling.

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A smart design choice.

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However!

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Balatro is not like those other games[br]I just showed.

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Because while the score preview is[br]hidden from the player…

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the information is still[br]technically available!

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Because you can just…[br]you can just calculate it yourself.

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So, like…. a straight is worth[br]30 chips and 4 mult.

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These cards are going to add an extra

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10, 20, 30, 39, 47 chips,

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and then the two face cards will add[br]another 30 each

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thanks to this joker.

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So that’s 137 chips times 4…

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548.

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Not quite enough to beat the ante,

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but close.

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And so,[br]if information in a game can be

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hidden, or visible…

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Balatro’s score preview falls[br]into a weird half category:

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hidden, but attainable[br]if you really want it.

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And that’s the fundamental design flaw[br]at the heart of Balatro.

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The designer wants the excitement[br]of a slot machine,

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but also the numerical predicability

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of an Excel spreadsheet.

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And so the only way[br]to square that circle

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is to hope that players won’t bother[br]to calculate the final score.

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But, if we go back to[br]that timeless Soren Johnson quote:

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“Given the opportunity,[br]players will optimize the fun out of a game.”

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It shouldn’t be surprising that[br]a number of Balatro players

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are playing the game with the calculator app[br]open on their phone,

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or with a spreadsheet[br]set up on a second monitor,

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or with Steam’s in-game overlay

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showing a bespoke website[br]that calculates Balatro hands.

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And, actually this is exactly why[br]Balatro has a deck view.

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During playtesting,[br]the game did not show you

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which cards were left in your deck.

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But, playtesters could technically[br]get that information

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by tracking which cards[br]had already been played.

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And after polling users,

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LocalThunk found[br]that many were doing just that

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even though it really wasn’t much fun.

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So he added[br]a powerful deck peek feature.

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But a score preview felt different.

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It felt like it encroached upon[br]the DNA of the game.

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It stepped on the stuff[br]that made Balatro…

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Balatro.

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And so,[br]while the designer is empathetic

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to people who wish to[br]play more strategically.

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And is bummed out that[br]the optimum way to play involves busywork,

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and doing calculations[br]outside of the game,

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he worries that adding[br]a score preview would spoil the fun

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for those who wish to play[br]more casually.

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And that’s totally true!

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Making a game better for one group[br]can make it worse for another.

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As a designer, you need to be certain[br]who the game is for

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and then protect that player base[br]from certain design decisions.

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Even if that design decision is provided[br]merely as an option.

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Speaking on the Eggplant podcast,[br]LocalThunk says:

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“If I add an option[br]to have this score preview,

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people are just going to click on it,

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and they're not going to experience[br]the game that I wanted to create.”

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And besides, should a designer even have[br]to endorse an option

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that directly goes against[br]their intentions for the game?

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LocalThunk has been clear[br]that he made the game for himself

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and isn’t interested in changing the game for other people.

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Even if there are a million of them.

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But, here’s the rub.

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It’s one thing to make[br]a bold design choice

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and then stand by it, for[br]the betterment of the game.

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To shun the haters[br]and stick by your design.

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But that doesn’t really work

0:08:03.929,0:08:07.739
if there’s a way for players[br]to find a way around your choice,

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no matter how tedious[br]that loophole might be.

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And we know this!

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Because this is not the first time[br]this has happened to a game.

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In fact, it’s not even the first time[br]it’s happened

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to an extremely popular roguelike.

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Enter The Binding of Isaac.

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So this basement-dwelling[br]dungeon crawler

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is packed with powerful[br]items and upgrades…

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but the game doesn’t tell you[br]what they do.

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They just have a name,

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or a cryptic tagline,

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or maybe just three question marks.

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The game’s designer, Edmund McMillen,[br]did this on purpose

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to create[br]a feeling of mystery,

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similar to the sensation he got[br]when playing games as a kid

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like the original Legend of Zelda.

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He described that game by saying:

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“You weren't sure what things did[br]until you experimented with them,

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and you had to brainstorm[br]with your friends

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and put all your findings together[br]in order to progress.”

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And so to mimic[br]that mysterious sensation in Isaac,

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the items are deliberately left[br]unexplained.

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You’ll need to pick things up,[br]try them,

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and puzzle out their properties.

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Finding a new item[br]should lead to curiosity,

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experimentation, and surprise.

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And that worked…

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for about five seconds.

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And then people figured out[br]what all the items did

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and put that information up on wikis[br]and other websites.

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Want to know what[br]this weird little thing will do?

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Just find it on Platinum God

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and mouse over it[br]for a full description.

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So, like Balatro,

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McMillen chose to hide information[br]to create a certain feeling.

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But because that information is[br]technically attainable

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this time with a Google search[br]rather than a spreadsheet,

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a number of players ended up[br]playing the game

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in a completely different way[br]than the designer intended.

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Arguably, a worse way.

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And so after multiple DLC packs[br]which added hundreds of new pick-ups,

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this has become, basically,

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the defacto way to play[br]The Binding of Isaac.

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McMillen says:[br]“People would always say,

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'You can't play Isaac[br]without a browser open on your phone.'

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I hated that that's how everyone played[br]for so long...

0:10:10.703,0:10:11.927
and still play."

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In fact,[br]he’s described the lack of item descriptions

0:10:15.274,0:10:17.800
as the biggest flaw[br]with Binding of Isaac.

0:10:18.147,0:10:20.384
This design choice has[br]basically haunted him

0:10:20.524,0:10:22.475
in the years since Isaac’s release.

0:10:22.629,0:10:25.510
And in a post in 2023,[br]McMillen has said

0:10:25.511,0:10:28.320
that he’s considering finally adding[br]item descriptions

0:10:28.320,0:10:30.542
into the game as an optional feature.

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Perhaps deciding that it’s better[br]to support them officially

0:10:33.462,0:10:35.589
than players having a worse time[br]with your game

0:10:35.769,0:10:37.930
because of the way you designed it.

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And I wonder if something similar[br]might happen with Balatro.

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Now, I don’t think the two examples are[br]exactly the same.

0:10:45.742,0:10:49.507
I agree that Balatro is more fun to play[br]without score previews

0:10:49.613,0:10:52.853
and I’ve never once thought[br]to pre-calculate a score

0:10:53.074,0:10:55.244
in the 30-odd hours[br]I’ve played the game.

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This issue only really affects[br]a small portion

0:10:58.166,0:11:02.085
of the game’s most hardcore,[br]strategy-minded audience.

0:11:02.312,0:11:06.035
But over time,[br]as the game’s long tail stretches out,

0:11:06.228,0:11:09.271
I think this decision might come[br]to haunt the developer,

0:11:09.417,0:11:11.392
just like Isaac’s item descriptions.

0:11:11.742,0:11:13.708
But, if you’re watching LocalThunk,

0:11:13.968,0:11:17.407
I think there are ways to provide this[br]as an option to these players…

0:11:17.593,0:11:20.220
without spoiling the game[br]for everyone else.

0:11:20.474,0:11:23.434
For one, a score preview is only needed

0:11:23.487,0:11:26.575
by players who are incredibly invested[br]in the game,

0:11:26.762,0:11:29.810
so the option could be granted[br]as a late-game unlock,

0:11:30.097,0:11:32.687
and not as something[br]you can switch on from the word go.

0:11:33.040,0:11:37.433
Kinda like how Chrono Cross has[br]a fast-forward button,

0:11:37.666,0:11:40.022
but it only unlocks[br]after you’ve beaten the game.

0:11:40.522,0:11:43.800
The option could also be[br]clearly communicated to the player,

0:11:43.954,0:11:47.085
like how Celeste prefaces[br]its powerful assist mode

0:11:47.392,0:11:50.266
with a message that explains[br]who this option is for.

0:11:50.553,0:11:54.254
Or how Heat Signature politely asks you[br]to not turn off Permadeath,

0:11:54.494,0:11:56.539
please, it’s there for a reason.

0:11:56.950,0:11:59.915
Or Balatro could open itself up[br]to mods,

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so users can hack[br]their own score preview into the game,

0:12:03.478,0:12:06.250
without the developer needing to[br]officially support it.

0:12:06.483,0:12:08.962
This is actually what[br]happened to Isaac.

0:12:09.188,0:12:13.359
The ‘External Item Descriptions’ mod is[br]the most popular Isaac add-on

0:12:13.479,0:12:17.398
in the game’s Steam workshop,[br]with almost 2 million subscribers.

0:12:17.531,0:12:19.517
That’s not great for console players,[br]though.

0:12:19.518,0:12:22.258
So it could instead be provided[br]as a cheat code,

0:12:22.319,0:12:25.211
so players have to actively seek[br]this thing out,

0:12:25.451,0:12:29.130
rather than stumble onto it[br]as an innocuous option in the menu.

0:12:29.360,0:12:32.601
As I’ve discussed in my[br]videos about accessibility,

0:12:32.688,0:12:36.150
there are plenty of ways[br]to open a game up to a wider audience,

0:12:36.503,0:12:40.511
without necessarily spoiling it[br]for the target group of players.

0:12:40.983,0:12:43.021
Whatever LocalThunk decides to do,

0:12:43.088,0:12:46.730
this has proven to be[br]a fascinating game design case study.

0:12:46.964,0:12:49.216
About how you can change[br]how a game feels,

0:12:49.423,0:12:52.155
by changing how much information[br]you give to the player.

0:12:52.288,0:12:55.568
About how players won’t always act[br]in the way you want them to,

0:12:55.787,0:12:58.420
especially if you[br]leave open a loophole.

0:12:58.620,0:13:01.173
And about how the best intentions[br]in game design

0:13:01.280,0:13:02.743
sometimes have to change,

0:13:03.050,0:13:06.431
when you see how players[br]actually interact with your game.

0:13:06.988,0:13:10.069
I’ll be curious to see[br]what happens with Balatro.

0:13:10.402,0:13:13.372
For now, check out this video[br]on heads-up displays,

0:13:13.559,0:13:15.707
where I talk more[br]about how information can change

0:13:15.708,0:13:18.540
the way a player acts and feels.

0:13:18.540,0:13:20.921
Thanks for watching.