this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2024
699 points (99.3% liked)

Games

16953 readers
416 users here now

Video game news oriented community. No NanoUFO is not a bot :)

Posts.

  1. News oriented content (general reviews, previews or retrospectives allowed).
  2. Broad discussion posts (preferably not only about a specific game).
  3. No humor/memes etc..
  4. No affiliate links
  5. No advertising.
  6. No clickbait, editorialized, sensational titles. State the game in question in the title. No all caps.
  7. No self promotion.
  8. No duplicate posts, newer post will be deleted unless there is more discussion in one of the posts.
  9. No politics.

Comments.

  1. No personal attacks.
  2. Obey instance rules.
  3. No low effort comments(one or two words, emoji etc..)
  4. Please use spoiler tags for spoilers.

My goal is just to have a community where people can go and see what new game news is out for the day and comment on it.

Other communities:

Beehaw.org gaming

Lemmy.ml gaming

lemmy.ca pcgaming

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] spireghost@lemmy.zip 121 points 6 days ago (8 children)

The reasoning in question:

This game teaches - by way of images, information and gameplay - skills and knowledge that are used in poker. During gameplay, the player is rewarded with ‘chips’ for playing certain hands. The player is able to access a list of poker hand names. As the player hovers over these poker hands, the game explains what types of cards the player would need in order to play certain hands. As the game goes on, the player becomes increasingly familiar with which hands would earn more points. Because these are hands that exist in the real world, this knowledge and skill could be transferred to a real-life game of poker

So, this game teaches skills and knowledge that are used in poker. The skills in knowledge are limited to... playing and making poker hands. That's it. Also, "as the game goes on, the player becomes increasingly familiar with which hands would earn more points" -- is hilariously funny. The idea that knowledge of what a poker hand is is anything related to the dangers of gambling is ridiculous.

[–] Takumidesh@lemmy.world 51 points 6 days ago (4 children)

As the game goes on, the poker hands also get increasingly unrealistic and different from real poker including things like five of a kind, and a pair being worth more than a royal flush.

If you tried to take the skills you learn from balatro to a poker table you would get kicked out basically immediately.

[–] Stern@lemmy.world 25 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

I place a torn up joker on the table, a tarot card, a llanowar elf card, and a pair of threes

"So with my score multiplier basically I own the casino."

The dealer frantically calls security

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Localhorst86@feddit.org 17 points 6 days ago

"Sir, you can't bring stone slabs to the table and play them as if they were cards. Also, where did these glass shards come from?"

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

I've never gambled, but I'm pretty sure if I got 1.630e11 chips at a casino, something bad would happen to me, the casino, and the economy if I cashed it out. I think that's 84 billion chips....

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] SpiceDealer@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago

My thief archer build in Morrowind and Skyrim lead me to a life of thievery and now I'm serving a life sentence at maxium security prison. Very sound logic.

[–] scbasteve7@lemm.ee 27 points 6 days ago (1 children)

One "teaches" you to gamble, the other allows you to gamble. And the one that just teaches you has a higher rating. Crazy.

[–] GreenAppleTree@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

Totally his fault for not heeding the ancient warning.

Give a man a fish, you get PEGI 3+. Teach a man to fish, 18+ you sucker.

[–] Laser@feddit.org 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

It's really dumb if you know the two games (poker and Balatro).

Poker is a game of incomplete information where you need one single higher ranked hand than your opponent per round. The stakes are money you bet that your hand is better. Bluffing is an important part of the game.

Balatro is mostly a game with complete information (apart from the order of remaining cards in your deck and certain bosses that flip your cards). You bet no money. There is no bluffing. Money does not correlate to chips. It is about the rating of your hand (poker has no rating, only relative ranking). You play multiple hands. You can't fold. Bluffing doesn't exist. Cards can be improved, ratings can be improved, the decks can look nothing like poker decks, etc.

[–] charade_you_are@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I know this is anecdotal but I'm now living in a ditch because of Balatro. I never gambled before in my life and all the poker knowledge Balatro me taught caused me to start extreme gambling and now I'm dead in a ditch.

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)
[–] charade_you_are@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Can't. I'm a little too dead for pics

[–] Localhorst86@feddit.org 8 points 6 days ago

have some passerby take the picutres, you dummdumm

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] KinglyWeevil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 6 days ago

I keep pulling the hermit card out of my tarot deck, but it hasn't doubled my money! Have I learned incorrectly??

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] simonced@lemmy.one 76 points 6 days ago (8 children)

Tell me you are corrupted to the core, without telling me you are corrupted to the core.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] GhiLA@sh.itjust.works 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Doesn't matter in the slightest.

me, age 12, San Andreas

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (3 children)

18 is the highest rating. It's equivalent to the ESRB "AO" rating, and many storefronts will not sell it, period.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I recently played it. If anything I think it has a subtle anti-gambling message.

The more hands you play, the more you realize you can't actually win without "cheating"

Play it like poker? Congrats, you're fucked, you literally cannot win against the blind.

Stack the deck in your favor with creative use of Joker cards and a few dozen extra aces? The game becomes trivial

If the game teaches you anything it's that if you play by the rules, the house will ALWAYS win.

I just played it last night, and then again today with my kids watching. I explained how the hands are scored, and they seemed to get the gist of it.

It has absolutely nothing to do with gambling. You don't wager anything, there's no opponents, and the terminology is all different, for example:

  • blind - in poker, it's a forced bet based on sitting position from the dealer; in Balatro, it's where you're at in the "level" (and only the "boss blind" is required)
  • ante - in poker, it's the minimum bet to participate; in Balatro, it's the level you're on
  • hand - in poker, it's the cards you are dealt, and you play them all; in Balatro, it's a scoring action, and you only play a subset of your cards in a given "hand"

And so on. The only thing that's actually similar is the hand scoring system, but you mess with that as well with buffs and whatnot. Balatro will make you a worse poker player, and not even teach you the rules.

I don't think it's anti-gambling, it has nothing to do with gambling. It's like saying solitaire and blackjack are similar because they both use playing cards...

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 23 points 6 days ago (2 children)

You didn't ask the question the ea way.

You're supposed to ask with a hefty bribe.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] RedWeasel@lemmy.world 20 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Seems like an advertising opportunity. First solitaire game rated 18+ without any gambling, I assume no nudity, language, etc.

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 25 points 6 days ago

There's actually lots of foul language while playing Balatro, but it all comes from the person playing, not the game itself.

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 3 points 5 days ago

Would love to see thr EFF branch out and take this on. Great opportunity to set precedence.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 6 days ago (2 children)

What does this mean practically? Are they not allowed to sell it some places anymore if it's 18+?

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Theoretically stores in Europe are forbidden from selling 18+ games to underage customers.

Practically, almost no one follows this. Although digital storefronts like Steam do, some parents do, and more importantly there could be age restrictions on Youtube and Twitch gameplays.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›