Games Like Balatro: Cards, Dice and Chance
Balatro turns poker hands and Jokers into a run-building puzzle. This selection follows the broader appeal of making combinations and managing chance, so it includes dice combat and pachinko as well as cards. These are adjacent ideas, not poker-game substitutes.
The picks, compared
Only published, complete five-dimension reviews qualify. Scores and global ranks come directly from the full rankings; equal displayed scores retain their shared rank. These are site scores out of 100, not user votes or similarity scores.
| Game | Global rank | Score / 100 | Choose it for / What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Slay the SpireReview & evidence ↗ | #1 | 90.3 | Assembling a deck and combining cards with relics. Uses card combat rather than poker-hand scoring. Publisher description ↗ |
 Slice and DiceReview & evidence ↗ | #3 | 87.0 | Making tactical choices from dice results. Control five heroes with individual dice in combat. Publisher description ↗ |
 DiceomancerReview & evidence ↗ | #30 | 79.3 | Connecting a deck with dice-driven possibilities. Dice can change numbers in its card-adventure premise. Publisher description ↗ |
 Astrea: Six-Sided OraclesReview & evidence ↗ | #31 | 79.0 | Building a pool of interacting dice. Dice replace cards; purification and corruption shape the combat system. Publisher description ↗ |
 PeglinReview & evidence ↗ | #72 | 72.3 | Combining collected tools with uncertain outcomes. Aim orbs at pegs to deal damage in a pachinko-inspired battle system. Publisher description ↗ |
 Clover PitReview & evidence ↗ | #80 | 67.3 | Exploring chance through a slot-machine premise. The horror and debt framing gives it a different mood from a card puzzle. Publisher description ↗ |
Follow the combination, not just the playing card
Slay the Spire is the card-combat branch: build a deck, face encounters and collect relics. Slice and Dice shifts to a party with individual dice. Astrea makes the dice pool itself the object you build, while Diceomancer combines a deck with dice that can alter the game’s numbers.
Peglin uses orbs and peg boards to turn aiming into damage. Clover Pit uses a slot-machine and debt premise. Those are deliberately wider comparisons for players interested in chance systems; neither should be mistaken for another version of Balatro’s poker-hand puzzle.
A familiar hook can still be a different mood
A horror-themed slot-machine premise and a tactical party battle ask for different kinds of engagement. The table’s fit notes describe mechanics, not an assurance that the game has the same atmosphere, learning curve or session length as Balatro.
Scores measure the complete reviewed game across five dimensions. A lower-scoring entry may still match your particular interest more closely, so use the score together with the stated differences and the evidence on its game page.
Frequently asked questions
Are these all poker roguelikes?
No. The selection follows combinations and chance across card, dice, pachinko and slot-machine mechanics. Balatro’s poker-hand structure is the reference point, not a feature shared by every entry.
Is the score a measure of similarity to Balatro?
No. It is the same weighted site score used everywhere else. Similarity is described in prose, with the limits of each comparison made explicit.
How are these games scored?
Core gameplay and builds each carry 25%; replayability and randomness/fairness each carry 20%; polish carries 10%. Only complete published reviews enter the rankings. The initial ratings use AI-assisted source research, not hands-on playtesting, and external review scores are kept separate.
Sources and scope
Game mechanics are paraphrased from publisher descriptions. Recommendations about fit are our interpretation. Scores and review evidence are linked separately in the comparison; current availability and features should be checked with the developer.