At The Game Awards on December 12th, many games were revealed, and many games were praised. A few games won for various aspects, including Best Score and Music or Best Innovations. However, the real winners yesterday were the ones who won in multiple categories. Notably, the much-acclaimed “Poker roguelike” Balatro won in three of its five nominated categories.
According to its Steam page, “Balatro is a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos.” Someone new to the game might wonder how a deckbuilder roguelike would achieve this feat of winning so many awards at The Game Awards. However, it did, in fact, win three times over.
Nomination Breakdown for Balatro
Of the five categories we went over when it was nominated, Balatro easily won three of them. However, as you’ll read below, it wasn’t the only one in the contest for awards.
Best Debut Indie Game
- Balatro – WINNER
- Animal Well
- Manor Lords
- Pacific Drive
- The Plucky Squire
Best Independent Game
- Animal Well
- Balatro – WINNER
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
- Neva
- UFO 50
Here’s where the nominations for card game-based video games get a bit dicey. Pokémon TCG Pocket was also in the running for Best Mobile Game, only to lose against Balatro in that category.
Best Mobile Game
- AFK Journey
- Balatro – WINNER
- Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
- Wuthering Waves
- Zenless Zone Zero
However, with all of its acclaim, it lost in Best Game Direction and Game of the Year, both times against Astro Bot. Both games were faced with stiff competition, such as Metaphor: ReFantazio and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Ultimately, it was nothing short of massive that the game received such nominations.
Best Game Direction
- Astro Bot – WINNER
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
Game of the Year
- Astro Bot – WINNER
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
Even with the losses, this is all big for the roguelike deckbuilder we have come to know and love on Card Gamer. Congratulations to the Balatro team and everyone else who won at The Game Awards!
