I put this in the other post too. This is literally their description on steam.
Combine valid poker hands with unique Joker cards in order to create varied synergies and builds. Earn enough chips to beat devious blinds, all while uncovering hidden bonus hands and decks as you progress. You’re going to need every edge you can get in order to reach the boss blind, beat the final ante and secure victory.
Combined with playing actual poker hands, yeah that’s going to get tagged for gambling. They knew what they were doing and this performative outrage is a viral marketing campaign.
If Balatro is gambling then so is every game that has a chance based mechanic. Genshin Impact is PEGI 12 and you can spend money on loot boxes, which is absolutely gambling. Balatro is identical to Hades, except you fight with cards.
The law is poorly written, or is being applied incorrectly here. Balatro is in no way simulating a casino, which I’d be more inclined to say games that do that should have a more mature rating. Bit of a slippery slope though, nothing stops a casino from adding a new game that mimics an existing genre of video game mechanics, and then regulators saying the entire genre is gambling. It’s all pearl clutching, not backed by any science, etc. made by the same people that want to ban Mortal Kombat and think Counter Strike causes school shootings.
They could release just swap a dozen words, it wouldn’t get this rating. None of those words are required for it to be a good game. The essence of gambling that society wants to protect children from is not part of Balatro any more than it is Solitaire.
I’ve played both Balatro and Hades, both are rogue likes, Balatro is just in the subgenre of deck builder. Balatro’s gameplay loop is closer to Hades than to poker, you’re wrong or uninformed to say otherwise. No one is playing Balatro and getting addicted to gambling and going off to play poker, but I can totally see it being a gateway to the rogue-like genre.
I suppose playing cards in Europe are considered “gambling materials” under that logic and aren’t allowed to be sold to people under 18? That would be absurd.
I suppose playing cards in Europe are considered “gambling materials” under that logic and aren’t allowed to be sold to people under 18? That would be absurd.
I would if they were selling them with chips and instructions on betting.
Instructions on betting can be easily found online, and most pick-up games use cash anyway. No kid is going through all the effort of using chips if they’re going to gamble, so getting chips may actually be a deterrent for getting into gambling.
God forbid anyone under 18 knows that gambling exists without actually engaging in it.
You do know that you can play a card game without it being gambling, don’t you? Or that you can gamble on not just any card game, but just about anything?
By your logic we should rank solitaire as 18+, since people actually gamble on it in casinos.
Then how do you reconcile that they aren’t, or what about games that feature real money gambling like sports games? (NBA games feature real gambling with micro transactions and casino games such as slot machines and pachinko machines). NBA 2k games have a pegi rating of 3 and up.
It’s not performative if the industry insider run ratings commission uses their power to give ratings that favor their games and hurt smaller independent studios.
It absolutely will. The game has already been erroneously removed from storefronts in the past.
If an 18+ rating will drive sales, why do the operators of PEGI and ESRB bend the rules to ensure their games (EA sports games being a prime example) get as low of a rating as possible, even when they have actual gambling (slot machines paid for with real money)
I mean your own adamancy shows the damage since you seem to be under the impression that the game involves wagers/betting/gambling or other activities that could be perceived as dangerous.
I have described several times, based on the steam store page, what it involves. Nowhere has been actual gambling. The point is to be up to standard. Not to lower because someone else is behaving badly.
Performative gambling is in no way worse than real gambling. If every other lootbox game got 18+ you would be completely right, but we need to look at the context for this.
If that’s what it is, maybe I’d pick it up to support them, and play it w/ my kids while teaching them how poker works. I’m 100% against gambling, but I’ve taught my kids how blackjack, roulette, etc work because I think they’re interesting games. In fact, I’ve taught my kids how card counting in BJ works, and I do it as a hobby (again, not with real money). I have a zero tolerance policy for gambling (they can do what they like when they’re adults though), but I have absolutely zero problem with gambling games. You do you, as long as you understand the long-term statistics and don’t use actual money while living at my house.
If I lived in the EU, I’d definitely buy this game for my kids as a protest. Screw this pearl clutching.
That said, I have a strict rule about actual gambling in my house. I’ve told my kids I won’t let them play anything that has microtransactions, full stop. They really want to play Fortnite, but that’s a big no from me, even though many of their friends play. I’ve told them they can play pretty much any game they want, as long as there are no MTX, and basically every F2P game has that crap.
The irony is that you can’t really teach someone who doesn’t know anything any poker anything more than what the hands are, and which are considered better than others, by playing Balatro.
Everything else in Balatro is completely divorced from poker. There are a few other shared terms, but they’re defined completely differently in Balatro than in poker (e.g. a “blind” is a stage, 3 stages in a level (small/big/boss), and the levels are called "ante"s, also totally different from what an ante is in poker.
Eh, if it was a management-style game, that might be interesting. I really liked “Game Dev Studio”, and honestly, the only difference here is subject matter. As long as there’s no actual porn, throw a PEGI 12 or 16 on it, depending on how far you take it.
I put this in the other post too. This is literally their description on steam.
Combined with playing actual poker hands, yeah that’s going to get tagged for gambling. They knew what they were doing and this performative outrage is a viral marketing campaign.
If Balatro is gambling then so is every game that has a chance based mechanic. Genshin Impact is PEGI 12 and you can spend money on loot boxes, which is absolutely gambling. Balatro is identical to Hades, except you fight with cards.
The law is poorly written, or is being applied incorrectly here. Balatro is in no way simulating a casino, which I’d be more inclined to say games that do that should have a more mature rating. Bit of a slippery slope though, nothing stops a casino from adding a new game that mimics an existing genre of video game mechanics, and then regulators saying the entire genre is gambling. It’s all pearl clutching, not backed by any science, etc. made by the same people that want to ban Mortal Kombat and think Counter Strike causes school shootings.
They could release just swap a dozen words, it wouldn’t get this rating. None of those words are required for it to be a good game. The essence of gambling that society wants to protect children from is not part of Balatro any more than it is Solitaire.
Loot boxes are absolutely gambling and should be regulated as such. But no Balatro is not just Hades with cards.
I’ve played both Balatro and Hades, both are rogue likes, Balatro is just in the subgenre of deck builder. Balatro’s gameplay loop is closer to Hades than to poker, you’re wrong or uninformed to say otherwise. No one is playing Balatro and getting addicted to gambling and going off to play poker, but I can totally see it being a gateway to the rogue-like genre.
They are demonstrably different games, completely different genres.
I suppose playing cards in Europe are considered “gambling materials” under that logic and aren’t allowed to be sold to people under 18? That would be absurd.
I would if they were selling them with chips and instructions on betting.
Why?
Instructions on betting can be easily found online, and most pick-up games use cash anyway. No kid is going through all the effort of using chips if they’re going to gamble, so getting chips may actually be a deterrent for getting into gambling.
Because that’s what tips that product over the line, as sold.
But Balatro doesn’t do that, so how is this a valid addition to the analogy?
There is zero betting in Balatro.
I think it’s becoming more and more clear that this user is a troll.
nah, they’re just THAT dense and have no idea what they’re talking about…not a troll, just too dumb to realize they’re being dumb…
That wasn’t the question posed. As has been said over and over Balatro is more than just “evil cards”
Balatro features no wagering or betting of any kind.
Between you and this news story, I’m pretty sure the rest of the world is dumber than Americans now.
We’re all dumber than each other, it just depends on the category.
Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros both include poker. PEGI rated them 3+.
Then they should have been rated higher.
God forbid anyone under 18 knows that gambling exists without actually engaging in it.
You do know that you can play a card game without it being gambling, don’t you? Or that you can gamble on not just any card game, but just about anything?
By your logic we should rank solitaire as 18+, since people actually gamble on it in casinos.
Then how do you reconcile that they aren’t, or what about games that feature real money gambling like sports games? (NBA games feature real gambling with micro transactions and casino games such as slot machines and pachinko machines). NBA 2k games have a pegi rating of 3 and up.
It’s not performative if the industry insider run ratings commission uses their power to give ratings that favor their games and hurt smaller independent studios.
An 18+ rating isn’t going to hurt a video game. If anything teenagers are going to buy it more.
“It’s okay because laws don’t work” is a buck-wild take.
It absolutely will. The game has already been erroneously removed from storefronts in the past.
If an 18+ rating will drive sales, why do the operators of PEGI and ESRB bend the rules to ensure their games (EA sports games being a prime example) get as low of a rating as possible, even when they have actual gambling (slot machines paid for with real money)
I mean your own adamancy shows the damage since you seem to be under the impression that the game involves wagers/betting/gambling or other activities that could be perceived as dangerous.
I have described several times, based on the steam store page, what it involves. Nowhere has been actual gambling. The point is to be up to standard. Not to lower because someone else is behaving badly.
Performative gambling is in no way worse than real gambling. If every other lootbox game got 18+ you would be completely right, but we need to look at the context for this.
Perform to standard, instead of lowering the standard.
There’s no possible rational standard where balatro could theoretically be age restricted.
It’s dressed up solitaire.
If that’s dressed up solitaire then Vegas is slovenly solitaire.
You’re not gambling🤦♀️
Gambling is what kids shouldn’t be able to do.
Playing at gambling isn’t good either.
Ignoring that that’s complete bullshit, balatro doesn’t even pretend to gamble.
I agree with you completely!
My modest proposal is that if a child is caught flipping a coin their hands should be cut off on the spot.
Lmao
If that’s what it is, maybe I’d pick it up to support them, and play it w/ my kids while teaching them how poker works. I’m 100% against gambling, but I’ve taught my kids how blackjack, roulette, etc work because I think they’re interesting games. In fact, I’ve taught my kids how card counting in BJ works, and I do it as a hobby (again, not with real money). I have a zero tolerance policy for gambling (they can do what they like when they’re adults though), but I have absolutely zero problem with gambling games. You do you, as long as you understand the long-term statistics and don’t use actual money while living at my house.
If I lived in the EU, I’d definitely buy this game for my kids as a protest. Screw this pearl clutching.
That said, I have a strict rule about actual gambling in my house. I’ve told my kids I won’t let them play anything that has microtransactions, full stop. They really want to play Fortnite, but that’s a big no from me, even though many of their friends play. I’ve told them they can play pretty much any game they want, as long as there are no MTX, and basically every F2P game has that crap.
The irony is that you can’t really teach someone who doesn’t know anything any poker anything more than what the hands are, and which are considered better than others, by playing Balatro.
Everything else in Balatro is completely divorced from poker. There are a few other shared terms, but they’re defined completely differently in Balatro than in poker (e.g. a “blind” is a stage, 3 stages in a level (small/big/boss), and the levels are called "ante"s, also totally different from what an ante is in poker.
Hold on, I’m going to go make a game that’s obliquely about a porn studio. Let’s see if you buy that one as a protest too.
Eh, if it was a management-style game, that might be interesting. I really liked “Game Dev Studio”, and honestly, the only difference here is subject matter. As long as there’s no actual porn, throw a PEGI 12 or 16 on it, depending on how far you take it.
For Balatro, PEGI 12 seems more than appropriate.