Turns out, what I want from Endless modes is an end.
A brutal and hilariously sudden end.
The first clever touch is presenting Endless as an option at the end of a run.
I don’t know in advance if I’ll want to keep a run going forever.
Not that I’ve ever not wanted to continue a Balatro run, mind.
I need to open up the throttle on the machine I’ve built and see what it can do.
Balatro is only briefly a game of poker.
The very first round, before you buy anything, is unadultered poker hands scoring points.
Balatro’s endgame is building and upgrading a machine to generate big numbers.
At this point, cards are mere fuel.
The best part is that the probable answer is: “A bit further, but not much.”
This is not Balatro.
Score requirements in Endless Balatro starts to scale exponentially and aggressively.
How lovely to be declared the winner then spend a few more hands with my bespoke numbermaking machine!
Ante 10 starts at 509% of Ante 9, which is certainly challenging but rewarding to conquer.
What a treat to hear my machine trilltick-ding-tick-ding-tick-ding-tick-ding-tick-ding-ding-ding-dding-dddding-ddddding-tring-tring-ttrrring!a few extra times!
And Ante 12 is 4166% of 11 and…
I’ve never passed that 300,000,000-point hurdle.
Requirements scale even higher on higher difficulty levels too.
But I’m happy with the point where I die.
I’m not so seriously into numbermaking that I particularly want to watch a machine run itself forever.
It pats me on the back, calls me a winner, then schools me.
Endless mode being fun is certainly a welcome break from the norm.
Balatro is out nowon Steam, priced at 13/14/$15.
