Games Like Balatro: The Best Roguelike Deckbuilders to Play Next

Pull up a stool. You did the thing. You told yourself one more run, the sun came up, and now Balatro has quietly eaten a week of your life and you need more of whatever that was. I have good news and a warning: there are excellent games that scratch the same itch, and several of them are every bit as dangerous to your sleep schedule. Tonight we are pouring the best games like Balatro, sorted by exactly which part of it hooked you.

First, a quick word on what Balatro actually is, because it helps you find the right follow-up. Balatro is a roguelike deckbuilder built on poker, where you play hands and chase escalating score targets, with jokers that warp the scoring rules into glorious, exponential absurdity. The hook is the scoring engine: that euphoric moment when your joker combination produces a number so large it barely fits on screen. Different games capture different threads of that, the gambling, the scoring, the deckbuilding, so let me point you at the right one. For the broader genre, our best deckbuilder games guide covers the field.

Luck Be a Landlord, the original that inspired it

Luck Be a Landlord is the game Balatro itself was largely inspired by, which makes it the most essential pick on this list. It is a slot-machine roguelike where you spin reels and build synergies between symbols to earn enough rent each round, with the same compulsive "stack the bonuses" loop that Balatro perfected. The Endless Mode and floor-based difficulty modifiers give it a high replay ceiling, and the demo lets you try before you buy.

It belongs at the top because it is the direct ancestor of the thing you love. If Balatro's symbol-and-synergy stacking is what hooked you, Luck Be a Landlord delivers the purest version of that loop, since it is where the loop largely came from. For a Balatro fan, it is close to required reading, and it stands as an excellent game in its own right.

Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers, the blackjack cousin

Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers swaps poker for blackjack, and the result is one of the most direct Balatro companions going. Developed by Purple Moss Collectors and published by Yogscast Games, it frames every encounter as a blackjack duel: you sum your cards toward 21, deal damage based on the result, and build a deck of wildly imaginative cards that bend the rules in your favor. It was even endorsed by Balatro's own creator around its release.

It earns its place as the blackjack cousin. For a Balatro fan who loves the card-game-as-roguelike concept and wants a fresh ruleset, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers delivers the same playful, synergy-hunting energy through blackjack instead of poker. The chaotic card effects and roguelike structure make it a natural next obsession.

Bingle Bingle, the roulette builder

Bingle Bingle takes the Balatro formula to roulette, letting you build your own wheel by combining betting options and unique balls to create scoring synergies. It uses a chips-times-multiplier system reminiscent of Balatro's, which makes the comparison especially apt, and the goal is the same: engineer combinations that produce absurd, casino-breaking scores. It is one of the most frequently recommended Balatro-likes among players.

It belongs here as the roulette builder. For a Balatro fan drawn to the casino-game-as-roguelike angle, Bingle Bingle offers a fresh wheel to break with the same compulsive synergy-stacking. It is a natural pick for anyone who wants the gambling-builder loop in a new format.

Slay the Spire, the deckbuilder benchmark

Slay the Spire is the recommendation for Balatro fans who realize it was the deckbuilding, not the gambling, that hooked them. It is the genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder, where you climb a tower assembling a deck of cards against tactical combat encounters, with card and relic synergies as deep as anything in the genre. Its sequel continues the formula for players who want even more. It is the cleanest entry point into the wider deckbuilder world.

It earns its place as the deckbuilder benchmark. For a Balatro fan ready to explore combat deckbuilders, Slay the Spire is the essential next step, offering strategic depth that rewards the same combinatorial thinking. We cover it further in our best deckbuilders for beginners guide. It is a masterpiece and a perfect follow-up.

Monster Train, the synergy-heavy climber

Monster Train is ideal for Balatro fans who want deeper tactical decisions and chaotic, synergy-heavy runs. It adds a vertical twist to the deckbuilder, defending a train across multiple floors at once, and the combos can get explosively powerful in a way that echoes Balatro's exponential scoring. Its sequel, Monster Train 2, continues the formula. The constant reward for experimentation will feel familiar.

It belongs here as the synergy-heavy climber. For a Balatro fan who loved building toward absurd, board-breaking power, Monster Train delivers that escalation through a clever multi-floor structure. We cover it in our guide to the best deckbuilders for Steam Deck. It is a deeper strategic well for the synergy-obsessed.

Inscryption, the genre-bending wildcard

Inscryption is the pick for Balatro fans who want a deckbuilder that becomes something far stranger and more ambitious than it first appears. It blends card combat with escape-room puzzles and an unsettling meta-narrative, and while it plays nothing like Balatro mechanically, it shares the quality of a deckbuilder that constantly surprises you. It is best experienced knowing as little as possible.

It earns its place as the genre-bending wildcard. For a Balatro fan who wants a card game that is also a genuine experience, Inscryption delivers something unforgettable. We cover it in our guide to the best underrated deckbuilders. It is the most ambitious detour on this list, and a rewarding one.

Nubby's Number Factory, the cheap chaotic newcomer

Nubby's Number Factory is one of the most talked-about recent additions to the Balatro-like wave, a cheap, chaotic score-chaser that leans into absurd, escalating combinations. At around five dollars it costs less than lunch, and the Steam refund window effectively functions as a trial if you are unsure. It captures the compulsive "engineer a number-go-up machine" loop that makes Balatro so hard to put down, with its own distinct, slightly unhinged personality.

It earns its place as the cheap chaotic newcomer. For a Balatro fan who wants something fresh, affordable, and every bit as compulsive, Nubby's Number Factory is an easy recommendation. It is proof that the score-chaser niche Balatro popularized keeps producing excellent, low-cost entries worth chasing, and it is a fine way to scratch the itch without spending much.

CloverPit, the sinister slot-machine spin

CloverPit is a darker, more sinister take on the slot-machine deckbuilder, often described as an evil version of Luck Be a Landlord. Set in a room straight out of a horror film, with a slot machine, an ATM, and a looming pit, it tasks you with depositing enough money each round or being cast into the abyss by an antagonist who seems to be the devil himself. You spend tickets on eccentric charms that warp your luck and your odds, focusing on changing your deck of symbols through outside sources.

It belongs here as the sinister spin. For a Balatro fan who loved the slot-machine synergy loop but wants a creepier, higher-stakes atmosphere, CloverPit delivers the same compulsive symbol-manipulation with genuine dread layered on top. It is a distinctive entry in the casino-roguelike niche, and a memorable one for players who want their score-chasing with a horror edge.

Which one should you actually play

It is worth being clear about the choice, because these games capture different threads of Balatro. If it was the gambling and symbol-stacking that hooked you, start with Luck Be a Landlord, the direct inspiration, then branch into the blackjack of Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers or the roulette of Bingle Bingle. If you discovered that you actually love deckbuilding itself, the combat-and-synergy kind, then Slay the Spire and Monster Train are the deeper, richer territory waiting for you, with Inscryption as the strange, brilliant outlier.

The honest truth is that nothing replicates Balatro exactly, because its specific fusion of poker and roguelike scoring is genuinely novel. But the niche it lives in, the casino-builder roguelike, has bloomed in its wake, and the broader deckbuilder genre that informed it is one of the deepest in gaming. Whichever thread you follow, you will find games engineered to deliver the same compulsive, "one more run" high. Just clear your calendar first, because every game on this list shares Balatro's talent for swallowing your free time whole.

Why Balatro became a phenomenon

It is worth understanding why Balatro broke out so far beyond the usual deckbuilder audience, because it tells you what to look for in a follow-up. Balatro succeeded on accessibility fused with depth: poker is a foundation almost everyone already understands, which removed the learning curve that keeps people out of the genre, while the joker system hid enormous strategic depth beneath that familiar surface. Anyone could start, but mastering the synergies took hundreds of hours. That combination of an easy on-ramp and a high skill ceiling is the rarest and most valuable quality in game design, and it is exactly why Balatro reached people who had never touched a roguelike before.

The other half of its success was respect. Balatro is a premium game with no manipulation whatsoever, no ads, no microtransactions, no energy timers, just a complete experience sold once at a fair price. In a market full of games engineered to extract money and attention, that integrity earned enormous goodwill, and it is part of why the game is recommended so fiercely. When you hunt for a follow-up, the games that share these qualities, intuitive on the surface, deep underneath, and fair in their business model, are the ones most likely to deliver the same lasting satisfaction. The whole best deckbuilder games shelf is full of titles built on exactly that philosophy.

A different kind of build-craft high

If what truly hooked you about Balatro was the build-craft, the run where your pieces click into an engine greater than the parts, that same high lives outside the deckbuilder genre too. Granny's Rampage delivers it through survivors-like wave survival rather than cards, with the same satisfying arc of assembling something that snowballs from weak to overwhelming. A gun-toting grandmother against demonic suburbia, it lands on Steam June 22, 2026, is on Android now, and has zero microtransactions.

Balatro is a once-in-a-generation kind of hook, the rare game that turns "one more run" into a genuine sleep hazard. Nothing replicates it exactly, but its inspiration Luck Be a Landlord, its casino cousins, and the deep deckbuilders it drew from all deliver versions of the same compulsive high. Figure out which thread grabbed you, pick the matching game, and prepare to lose another week. For more, our guide to the best deckbuilder games keeps the recommendations coming.